A senior official in the Saudi Arabian Justice Ministry boldly declared that the government is finally going to attack a significant national problem: child marriage.It’s not uncommon to hear about girls 12 years old or younger being forced to marry men in their 70s or 80s. For many years now, news stories about this problem have been tarnishing the Saudi government’s image.“The ministry has adopted a clear stance on underage marriages, and the issue was raised to the regulators,” Mohammed al-Ba

South Korea’s economy has yet to catch up to its people. They are the world’s most-wired citizenry and the most advanced at using smartphones. Korean stars are Asia’s most popular; Korean gadgets and fashions the coolest. Yet at home, huge manufacturing conglomerates, or chaebol, such as Hyundai Motor Group, Samsung Group and LG Group remain the mainstays of an export-focused system established after the Korean War by strongman Park Chung-hee. In fact, as the July edition of Bloomberg Markets ma

Washington has recently become an unlikely hotbed of culinary innovation, with entrepreneurs flocking to this historically stodgy meat-and-two-veg city for the chance to feed dulce de leche cupcakes and kimchi tacos to the masses. Office drones rejoice at the expanded lunch options, but restaurants are less happy. So, unsurprisingly, they have turned to the government. In the epic war between upstart little guys and the alliance of big business and government, Capitol Hill isn’t the only battleg

Last Thursday while Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at his residence and urging Japan to invest in the mega-project in Dawei, there were news headlines in Myanmar that Abe would be visiting Yangon the next day ― offering loads of financial assistance and long-term economic development plans worth nearly $1 billion. Both Japan and Myanmar have the Thilawa port in mind, not the proposed Dawei development plan, for the time being.Earlier i

Stock prices have suddenly turned volatile after steadily soaring on the high regard market players have for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies, which have been dubbed “Abenomics.”People should not overreact to daily market fluctuations. The government and the Bank of Japan should steadily proceed with Abenomics and expedite measures to realise a full recovery of the nation’s economy, whose prospects have become increasingly rosy.The key stock average index on the Tokyo marke

One more hurdle is cleared. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee gave its approval last week to comprehensive immigration legislation. Happy news, though the risk is still high that compromise will be supplanted by ideological conviction. To get the bill through the Senate committee with Republican support, Democrats had to abandon an amendment that would have given gay and lesbian spouses of U.S. citizens the same immigration prospects as heterosexual spouses. Thus, basic equity was sacrificed f

In connection with the article of Mr. Nikoloz Apkhazava, Georgian ambassador to Korea (May 24, 2013), I would like to set forth the Russian position on the tragic events in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in August 2008, which is shared by the international community. The president of Georgia, having crossed out 17 years of intensive international negotiations and rather successful work by the Joint Control Commission, the OSCE Mission as well as very complicated service by Russian, Ossetinian and Ge

Whatever the investigation into misconduct at the Internal Revenue Service reveals, we already have all the evidence we need to understand President Barack Obama’s fundamental attitude toward the rule of law. That evidence is right there in the public record, and what it shows is indifference and contempt. The Constitution gives the president the power to appoint officials to fill vacancies when the Senate isn’t in session. In 2012, Obama made such “recess appointments” to the National Labor Rel

SINGAPORE ― The time has come to think the unthinkable: the era of American dominance in international affairs may well be coming to an end. As that moment approaches, the main question will be how well the United States is prepared for it.Asia’s rise over the last few decades is more than a story of rapid economic growth. It is the story of a region undergoing a renaissance in which people’s minds are re-opened and their outlook refreshed. Asia’s movement toward resuming its former central role