Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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[Anne Michaud] The world has passed U.S. students by
In these days of tiger-mother hysteria about raising children with academic backbone, President Barack Obama has weighed in with yet another cause for paranoia. The president dropped India and China into his State of the Union speech, just long enough to say they are educating their children earlier and longer.Generally, school days are longer in Asian countries, and vacation breaks, though more f
Feb. 8, 2011
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[Kim Seong-kon] What to do with bullies around us?
Koreans are very proud of the recent successful rescue of the sailors of the Samho Jewelry by the UDT (Korea’s equivalent of the U.S. SEAL team). Instead of yielding to the Somali pirates’ demand for ransom, the Korean government decided to take military action this time to rescue the Korean captives, perhaps for the first time in Korea’s history, in international waters. During the operation, the
Feb. 8, 2011
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Fairer economic growth to escape income trap
With its per capita gross domestic product rising to about 30,000 yuan ($4,500), China is at a critical point if it is to avoid the middle income trap and push living standards closer to those of rich economies. Robust economic growth in 2010 has allowed China much of the wherewithal to underpin an encouraging rise in average income levels. But if the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) is to become a c
Feb. 7, 2011
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Change and continuity in Egypt after Mubarak
No sooner had President Hosni Mubarak announced that he wouldn’t seek re-election than the protesters who brought him low rejected his gesture. As a result, it’s still unclear whether Mubarak will leave abruptly or after a period of transition; that, ultimately, will be up to the Egyptian people. But either way, the country appears to be on the verge of a post-Mubarak order. It’s not too soon to p
Feb. 7, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Egypt seen through Obama’s lens
WASHINGTON ― As President Obama watched events unfold this past week in Egypt and the surrounding Arab world, he is said to have reflected on his own boyhood experiences in Indonesia ― when the country was ruled by a corrupt, authoritarian leader who was later toppled by a reform movement. Obama looks at the Egyptian drama through an unusual lens. He has experienced dictatorship first-hand, a worl
Feb. 7, 2011
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[Brian W. Walsh] No tolerance on U.S. school property
“Zero tolerance” policies continue to result in injustices to our nation’s public school students. In one of the latest examples, a North Carolina school district’s application of zero tolerance may cause 17-year-old senior Ashley Smithwick, described by local media as a standout student-athlete, to miss the rest of her senior year.Far worse, local prosecutors’ apparently wooden enforcement agains
Feb. 7, 2011
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[John R. Bolton] Lebanon, not Egypt, may determine fate of Mideast democracy
Despite the media’s recent focus on Egypt, events in Lebanon may well tell us more about the troubled prospects for Middle Eastern democracy. The fall of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government, replaced by a Hezbollah-dominated coalition, dramatically imperils Beirut’s democratic Cedar Revolution.Financed and dominated by Iran, terrorist Hezbollah has consistently refused to disarm and b
Feb. 7, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] In praise of snail mail in an era of e-mail
I’ve always loved mail. By that I mean the mail that arrives in a physical mailbox six days a week, not e-mail. Well, I love that too, but it’s a cheap thrill. My heart belongs to snail mail.This love affair began decades ago, back when the “snail” qualifier wasn’t necessary. As a child, I’d sort through the mail that came every afternoon, seeing in it clues to the inner lives of my parents. Among
Feb. 7, 2011
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[Yuliya Tymoshenko] Ukraine’s desire for democracy and revolution betrayed
KYIV ― From snowy Kyiv, I have watched the revolutions in Cairo and Tunis with joy and admiration. Egyptians and Tunisians are right to be proud of their desire to peacefully overthrow despotic governments. But, as someone who led a peaceful revolution, I hope that pride is tempered by pragmatism, because a change of regime is only the first step in establishing a democracy backed by the rule of l
Feb. 7, 2011
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Russian government’s enduring terrorism
A suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport last month has reminded Russians, and the world, of the country’s continuing vulnerability to terrorist attacks. As in the past, the Russian authorities blamed Islamic extremists for the violence and promised retaliation. That reaction is certain to intensify the cycle of violence that has left a bloody trail of victims in its wake. Islamic extremis
Feb. 6, 2011
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[Chen Weihua] A canny way to get things done
When China first opened up to the outside world 30 years ago, Chinese people applying for jobs at foreign-funded ventures learned that they had a better chance of getting the job by answering questions in the way a U.S. jobseeker would. For example, a Chinese engineer who had operated machine tools for 20 years would previously have modestly said “I know a little bit” when asked how familiar he wa
Feb. 6, 2011
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[J. Bradford DeLong] Intelligent design of the U.S. economy
BERKELEY ― As Stephen Cohen, with whom I wrote “The End of Influence: What Happens When Other Countries Have the Money,” likes to say, economies do not evolve; they are, rather, intelligently designed. He also likes to say that, though there is an intelligence behind their design, this does not mean that the design is in any sense wise.The first claim is, I think, incontrovertible. Since long befo
Feb. 6, 2011
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[Michael Smerconish] Exploring a U.S. stranger’s generosity
In the height of the Great Depression, Myrna Jury was in economic despair, which explains her reply to the advertisement of a stranger who had run an ad in the Dec. 18, 1933, issue of the Canton (Ohio) Repository. The ad was titled “In Consideration of the White Collar Man!” and offered assistance from an anonymous source to families in need.Jury wrote and reported that her husband had been out of
Feb. 6, 2011
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[Gregory Rodriguez] Take that, Travel + Leisure magazine
I demand a recount! Or a re-survey! Or some form of redress for the aspersions Travel + Leisure magazine has cast not only on the City of Angels but on all of us Angelenos.Recently, the magazine released a survey of travelers who, in all their wisdom, concluded that Los Angeles surpasses New York as the rudest city in America.Excuse me?My first reaction was fear that I would never again be able to
Feb. 6, 2011
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[Yves Mersch] Preventing the euro area’s next crisis
LUXEMBOURG ― Much dedication and energy are currently being devoted to institutionalizing a crisis-management mechanism for the euro area. This is a good and important goal. But a far more significant challenge ― largely covered in the accompanying debate ― is the need for crisis prevention.At the European Union’s pre-Christmas summit, European heads of state and government agreed in principle to
Feb. 6, 2011
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Your medical prescription or your privacy
IMS Health Inc. operates in the shadows of the healthcare industry, gathering data that drug makers can use to sell medications more effectively. The data, however, are taken from the prescriptions that doctors write for their patients. That information is at the heart of a dispute over how far states can go to protect privacy ― a dispute that has reached the Supreme Court, and one that could broa
Feb. 1, 2011
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[Zhang Monan] China’s quality time for development
China’s double-digital economic growth over the past years has helped it replace Japan as the world’s second largest economy. In terms of gross domestic product China exceeded Japan from the second quarter of 2010 and its full-year GDP was more than 39 trillion yuan ($5.93 trillion), as indicated by statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics. That means China now has the second largest glob
Feb. 1, 2011
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[Jeffrey D. Sachs] America’s ungovernable budget policy
NEW YORK ― The heart of any government is found in its budget. Politicians can make endless promises, but if the budget doesn’t add up, politics is little more than mere words.The United States is now caught in such a bind. In his recent State of the Union address, President Barack Obama painted a convincing picture of modern, 21st century government. His Republican Party opponents complained that
Feb. 1, 2011
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[Saree Makdisi] Craven ‘leaders’ offer to sell out Palestinian people
A massive archive of documents leaked to al-Jazeera and Britain’s Guardian newspaper offers irrefutable proof that years of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians have been an empty sham. The papers make clear that the time has come for Palestinians and anyone interested in the cause of justice to abandon the charade of official diplomacy and pursue other, more creative and nonviolent path
Feb. 1, 2011
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[Brian Blase] Repealing new entitlements to reduce deficit
In his State of the Union address, President Obama said that repealing his health-care law would increase the deficit by $230 billion. While technically true according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, this statement is misleading.In CBO’s own words: “(the) legislation contained a set of provisions ... which CBO and (Joint Committee on Taxation) estimated would have a gross cost of about $
Feb. 1, 2011