Middle East after Assad
BERLIN ― What will the Middle East look like once the Syrian civil war brings about the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, whose clan has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 40 years? Given the recent dramatic turn of events that has pushed the battle for Syria to a new stage, […]
Hoping to taste a Jeju beer before long
Jeju-do, the nation’s southernmost island province, is now embroiled in a controversy over having its own brand of beer. If Jeju has a beer brand that can make people, residents and visitors alike, easily associate with the subtropical island, this will surely help increase its tourism income, the main source of the province’s revenue. The […]
Myanmar Media Law Reform A Key Test of Non-Partisan Press-2
*Editor’s note: This is the last of two part stories on Myanmar Media Law. To Thailand-based editor Aung Zaw the Press reforms represent the government’s switch to a more sophisticated approach in handling the media. He would like to see Unescos best practices reflected in the Press charter. As highlighted at the Unesco media conference […]
Bangladesh PM refuses to take in any more Rohingya
DHAKA, 29 July: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government cannot afford to allow in any more Rohingyas fleeing persecution in the neighbouring Myanmar. She said her country is already overpopulated and it is not Bangladesh’s responsibility to help all those coming in from across the border. Hasina made the observations in an interview […]
Leadership secrets
At a recent seminar with senior journalists in Seoul, a leading presidential contender of the Saenuri Party, Rep. Park Geun-hye, was asked to characterize the May 16 military coup d’etat of 1961, through which her late father took power. In her response, she defended the coup as “inevitable and the best possible choice,’’ and further […]
Women in North Korea
In most post-socialist nations, the collapse of the state socialist system had a rather ambiguous impact on the social and economic position of women. Clearly the advent of the market economy brought with it some advantages, especially in those countries where its introduction brought an economic boom. Women often have far more choice, freed from […]
New signs in N. Korea
It’s official now: North Korea is changing, or at least is trying to change. That is, if the report by the National Intelligence Service submitted to the National Assembly Thursday is any guide. The spy agency’s intelligence capability has often been in doubt, but we hope the NIS is right this time around. The latest […]
Korea at crossroads: back to Confucianism or further Westernization
Korean culture has typically been characterized as a unique hybrid of traditional Confucian values coupled with a modern, pragmatic and dynamic approach to the economy. Since the mid-1990s this balance has been shifting more clearly toward Westernization: workers’ productivity is slowly shifting to Western levels, car worker strikes are not uncommon and savings rates have […]
[London Olympics] ⑥ A logo, posters and two mascots
*Editor’s note: This is the last of six-part stories on the London Olympics Nobody denies the power of trademarks. That’s why international companies and institutions race to sponsor this Olympic event and put their logos beside their products’ logos. As represented in the logo, art gives enormous economic power. I followed up the row over […]
Pakistan: Endangered species Smooth Coated Otter found in Sindh
The Pakistan chapter of an international organization working for conservation of nature has found the rare and endangered species Smooth Coated Otter, locally known as Ludhra, near wetlands of southeastern district Sanghar of Sindh province of Pakistan. World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF- P) recently located smooth coated otters in Makhi area of […]
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