South Korea has lost patience with North Korea after the nation stepped up missile and nuclear tests. “Kim Jong Un, who came to power in December 2011, is impatient to gain recognition as a nuclear state, apparently regarding this as a means to guarantee survival of his state and own life,"...
Missile grin: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a bunker for a ballistic missile launch; South Korean President Park Geun Hye urges North Koreans to defect
SEOUL: In August, a flash flood in parts of North Korea bordering China wiped out entire...
Economists and art historians are taking inventory of artwork and cultural artifacts removed from their lands decades or even centuries ago. The British Museum is returning an unknown number of artifacts, and France is returning 25 pieces to Benin. “The decision was made after French President...
Scientists have long warned that temperatures will soar and people swelter as rising levels of greenhouse gases lead to global warming. However, new evidence suggests that these conclusions were somewhat off-base. Instead of sweating, people around the world may soon be shivering as high...
If you can remember back to the bitter winters of the late 1970s and early 80s you might also recall that there was much discussion in scientific circles at the time about whether or not the freezing winter conditions...
Wars and the technology for fighting them have evolved rapidly in recent decades. “We never win, and we don’t fight to win,” lamented US president Donald Trump shortly before announcing plans to increase US military spending. “We’ve either got to win, or don’t fight it at all.” However, Louis René...
Chimera of victory: President Donald Trump, seen here with Secretary of Defense General James Mattis, wants the United States to win a war; in the battle of Thermopylae, the Ancient Greeks learned the cost of war
LAYFAYETTE, INDIANA: President...
Governments have long encouraged minimal or no taxation in free trade zones and freeports to encourage commerce and economic activity, and the concept of secure warehouses for luxury goods in transit began with the Geneva Freeport in the late 19th century. Such complexes expand worldwide as...
The art of hiding: An Etruscan sarcophagus stored by a shell company in a Swiss freeport was later returned to Italy; museums can warehouse treasures, too (Source: New York Times, AP)
SAN FRANCISCO: An archipelago of tax-free storage facilities...
Donald Trump won the US presidency with less than a majority vote and governs with a level of support that struggles to reach 40 percent. The administration’s ineffective policies reflect a larger society that thrives on “an unrelenting barrage of crude and voyeuristic entertainments, most of which...
Reality TV presidency: Donald Trump shows his own rubber mask; Willie Robertson, actor with reality TV show Duck Dynasty, addresses the Republican National Convention
LAFAYETTE, INDIANA: Even now, polls suggest that about 40 percent of Americans...
CHICAGO: Unprecedented global travel and cultural exchange help make the world a smaller place but, ironically, they also stir national pride. Nationalism, combined with business calculation, now threaten to segregate antiquity that belongs to...
Globalization and an unchecked quest for economic growth have rapidly changed the world. Growing numbers of people expect a standard of living substantially higher than what the earth has capacity to provide. Humans increasingly confront problems global in scope, yet the world lacks a cohesive form...
The price of growth: As carbon emissions and greenhouse gases raise the earth's temperature, those who scrounge the earth for a living suffer Enlarge image
STOCKHOLM: The process of globalization has transpired for ages...
