Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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[Shlomo Ben Ami] The chaotic birth of South Sudan
MADRID ― The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that was reached in 2005 between mostly Christian southern Sudan and the country’s Muslim North, ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern times. Lasting 22 years, that war left more than two million dead. Now the CPA is poised to face its most vital test: the South’s referendum on independence, scheduled for Jan. 9.Whether or not a new state
Jan. 9, 2011
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The consequences of choosing bigger vehicles
Good news: With recession loosening its grip, about 1.1 million more Americans bought new cars last year than in 2009.Not only did sales pick up, more Americans opted for bigger vehicles. Sales of midsize SUVs like Jeep Grand Cherokees and Honda Pilots jumped 41 percent during the first 11 months of the year.That increase came at the expense of smaller economy cars, whose sales remained flat in 20
Jan. 7, 2011
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Gun tracing: A weapon against drug cartels
Mexico has some of the strictest gun laws in the hemisphere. Citizens are permitted to buy low-caliber firearms for self-protection or hunting, but only after a background check and approval by the defense ministry; they must also purchase the guns directly from the ministry. The goal of this parsimonious approach to allotting firearms is a society free from gun violence. Unfortunately for Mexico,
Jan. 7, 2011
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[Marvin Weinbaum and Waris Husain] A blow to a liberal Pakistan
The assassination of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, has illustrated the increasingly chaotic environment in that country, which only promises to get worse in the new year. Weeks before his death, Taseer had the courage to say what his fellow politicians were unwilling to: that Pakistan’s blasphemy law must be repealed in order for Pakistan to enter the communit
Jan. 7, 2011
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[Daoud Kuttab] Gap between peace and peace process
RAMALLAH ― The United States should stop pushing for the resumption of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Doing so might be the best way to achieve peace ― a paradox that reflects the huge gap between a peace process and achieving genuine peace.Make no mistake: this is not a call to arms or an appeal for a violent uprising. Peace between the conflicting parties east of the Mediterranean and we
Jan. 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Risk of relying on China for rare earths
China’s new policy on rare earth mineral exports is causing concern that Japan will face another reduction in supplies of the valuable raw materials from that country in 2011.Chinese authorities have announced their country will lower its ceiling on rare earth exports for the first half of this year by 35 percent from the same period last year. It appears likely that China will eventually impose t
Jan. 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Too many bad losers
Politicians in Taiwan are bad losers. They won’t take their losses lying down. They will whine, complain, protest, and go to court, even though they know they were beaten in elections fair and square. Tsai Ing-wen, chairperson of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, has joined their ranks after she lost the mayoral election in the special municipality of New Taipei City a little more than
Jan. 7, 2011
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[Andrew Sheng] Will breakthroughs in thinking come from the East?
Every year end, I would do a review of what I personally achieved and did not achieve. It is a useful reminder of what we might have missed and should really be doing in the coming year. 2010 went by like a flash. At the global level, it was a year of broad recovery from the crash of 2007-09. The emerging markets grew strongly, whilst the advanced markets still struggled with deleveraging and high
Jan. 7, 2011
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China abuses its monopoly over rare earths
China’s decision to further cut exports of rare-earth elements last week should serve as a wake-up call to Washington: The Chinese monopoly in these minerals ― essential for precision-guided munitions, cruise missiles, radar, high-tech gadgets, solar panels and wind turbines ― must be broken.There are substantial rare-earth deposits outside China, including within the United States. But China’s re
Jan. 6, 2011
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Diplomacy equals optimism over North Korea
If frequent-flier points convert to diplomatic progress, the endless tensions with North Korea might be reduced by a flurry of air travel.This week, U.S. special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will be in South Korea, China and Japan. His trip and others hint at a return by North Korea to six-party talks that stalled two years ago, when the government in Pyongyang walked away.After a letha
Jan. 6, 2011
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[Caryl Stern] Don’t stop providing aid to children in Haiti
If you’ve never seen a child die, consider yourself very lucky. A few years ago I sat with a 19-year-old mother watching her daughter in a fast, agonized decline. The small hospital lacked the needed medicines to help. For hours the child battled for every single breath, then lost the fight. Suddenly, she was limp, gray ... gone. All hope and possibility for an entire life suspended in that last,
Jan. 6, 2011
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[Yuriko Koike] Is Cold War II under way in Asia?
TOKYO ― Mesmerized by China’s vast military buildup, a new constellation of strategic partnerships among its neighbors, and America’s revitalized commitment to Asian security, many shrewd observers suggest that 2010 saw the first sparks of a new Cold War in Asia. But is “Cold War II” really inevitable?Although appeasing China’s drive for hegemony in Asia is unthinkable, every realistic effort must
Jan. 6, 2011
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[Chris Monday] Prisoner of the Russian system: V.V. Putin
The Christmas to New Year’s period (Gregorian-style) is popular for conducting controversial business. During the little-covered Belarusian “elections,” President Alexander Lukashenko arrested his other competitors, even threatening to send the 3-year-old son of one presidential hopeful to an orphanage. At the same time, Ukraine’s president rounded up his political opponents. In Russia, Mikhail Kh
Jan. 6, 2011
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[William Pesek] Bubbles galore will make 2011 year to remember
Welcome to the year of the bubble.It may seem an odd assertion at a time when many key economies are in, or on the verge of, recession. Yet near-zero interest rates in Washington, Tokyo and Frankfurt have a way of wreaking havoc with markets and human psychology. It’s not a reach to say we have a bubble in bubbles.The forces that will make for an interesting 2011 go beyond monetary policies. A var
Jan. 6, 2011
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[Lee Hsien Loong] Yuan revaluation benefits China, U.S.
The world has recovered remarkably quickly from the financial crisis. But growth is now on two tracks: developed economies still struggling with fiscal, financial and structural problems, while emerging economies, especially in Asia, are growing robustly. The resulting global imbalances have created international tensions. The Group of 20 has emerged as a forum to tackle these issues. It was espec
Jan. 6, 2011
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Efforts needed to plug big welfare loopholes
Only when those in need receive the minimum living allowance will this form of state aid fulfill its proper role of redistributing social wealth in a fair manner and thus ease the gap between the haves and have-nots. The fact that more than 7,000 relatives of officials at various levels were deprived of the privilege to such allowances in East China’s Jiangxi province alone sends the message that
Jan. 5, 2011
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Investors need to check what they’re buying
Housing prices are sliding again, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Factors include the sluggish recovery, ineffective private and public efforts to prevent foreclosures, suddenly risk-averse lenders and temporary tax credits that generated a short-lived and artificial rally in home sales. But a lawsuit filed last week provides a pointed reminder that the bubble would never have happened
Jan. 5, 2011
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[Bob Ray Sanders] Talking frankly about planning for end-of-life decisions
“You come into this world on the way out.”All my life, I have heard that axiom. Even as a child, I understood it meant I would die. Of course, as a youngster, I assumed that day would be many years away.Over time, I learned that death is not reserved for the old. Children, young adults and people in their prime could also get a visit from the Grim Reaper.Death is no respecter of persons ― no one c
Jan. 5, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Is the U.S. economic engine repaired?
WASHINGTON ― “We have magneto trouble. How, then, can we start up again?” mused John Maynard Keynes in December 1930, likening the stagnant economy of the Great Depression to a broken generator in an automobile. Fear not, he wrote, the car eventually would get rolling again, and “we need not assume ... that motoring is over.” As 2011 begins, many investors are acting as if Keynes’ “magneto trouble
Jan. 5, 2011
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[Doyle McManus] The upward mobility gap widening in the U.S.
Here’s a familiar fact: Economic inequality is rising in the United States. The rich have gotten richer, the poor have stayed poor, and families in the middle have seen their incomes stagnate.Here’s a less-familiar fact: Opportunity in America isn’t what it used to be either. Among children born into low-income households, more than two-thirds grow up to earn a below-average income, and only 6 per
Jan. 5, 2011