Sinn Fein’s electoral smash in Ireland is a historic moment for a party that has long had difficulty shaking off its past ties to the sectarian violence of the “troubles.” It’s clear that the party’s new leader and a policy platform based around fixing the country’s housing crisis and improving public services have struck a chord with the public. That was especially true with the under-35s, for whom peace in Ireland has been the norm rather than the exception.

It is a crime story with enough sinister plots that Bong Joon-ho or even Martin Scorsese might be interested in making it into a movie. After several months of investigation, the South Korean prosecution under Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-yul indicted 13 people, including current and former senior secretaries of President Moon Jae-in, for abuse of power and violating the election law in relation to the Ulsan mayoral election in 2018. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae involved herself in the affair

The news that the Korean film “Parasite” won Oscars in four categories, marking the first such wins in Korean film history, came as a pleasant surprise. Initially, people expected the celebrated Korean film would easily win for best international film and possibly best original screenplay. However, it looked difficult for “Parasite” to win for best picture, because it had to compete with such distinguished films as “The Irishman,” “Joker” and &ld

On the eve of his impeachment acquittal, President Donald Trump gave his annual State of the Union address. Instead of outlining proposals for the coming year, Trump turned the address into a rally for his reelection campaign. He stoked his base while pivoting to groups that he wants to reach to bolster his chances of reelection. Absent from the speech was any reference to North Korea. In his 2019 State of the Union address, shortly before the summit with Kim Jong-un in Vietnam, President Trump

The geopolitical upheavals we are witnessing today underline the urgency with which the European Union must find its way in a world increasingly characterized by raw power politics. We Europeans must adjust our mental maps to deal with the world as it is, not as we hoped it would be. This is a world of geostrategic competition, in which some leaders have no scruples about using force, and economic and other instruments are weaponized. To avoid being the losers in today’s US-China competi

The coronavirus crisis represents the single biggest challenge for Xi Jinping since he became general secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012. Individuals and families across China are living in fear. Multiple Chinese provinces are under virtual lockdown. The virus has brought significant parts of the economy to a grinding halt, as firms instruct their employees to work from home. Politically, the blame game bounces between local authorities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and

The death of a young Chinese doctor who was silenced by authorities when he tried to warn about the outbreak of the coronavirus has lit up the country’s social media with outrage. By Friday, references to the death of whistleblower Li Wenliang from the virus had been viewed 270 million times on Weibo, one of the biggest social media platforms in China. The public is so angry that Chinese censors haven’t yet shut the topic down. This 34-year-old ophthalmologist from Wuhan, who left

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously said at the iPhone launch event in 2007, “Who wants a stylus?” As of February, most iPads come with a stylus called the Apple Pencil. So, my quick answer to Jobs’ rhetorical question is, “At least millions of Apple device users across the world.” And millions more, if I may add Samsung’s stylus-enabled Galaxy Note smartphones. The point is not that Jobs failed to see a new digital culture blossoming about a decade later.

In April 2003, I was evacuated from my post teaching English in Guangzhou, China, at the height of the SARS epidemic. I was 23. While transiting in Chicago on my way home to Philadelphia, I called my parents. That’s when they informed me that they were not coming to pick me up. Convinced that I was going to be “patient zero” for an American outbreak of SARS, they told me to take a cab to my sister’s apartment, where they intended to lock me up for 10 days with only a bag

Fears that the coronavirus will ravage global supply chains rooted in China are spreading fast. For automakers, a hiatus from production in the world’s largest car market may force them to take some needed rebalancing. Provinces that extended the Lunar New Year holiday period include Guangdong, which accounts for 12.8 percent of light vehicle production, and Hubei, where the outbreak’s epicenter Wuhan is located. Hubei, in central China, chalks up 9 percent of Chinese auto producti

“Remember when we all believed in Emmanuel Macron?” The question comes not from an angry trade unionist but a stand-up comedian in central Paris, facing a crowd of 30-something urbanites cut from the same cloth as France’s 42-year-old president. A collective groan of “yes” rises from the audience, many of whom spent the winter struggling through transport strikes triggered by a flagship pension reform that crippled the city. Only one dismissive “no!” rin

When I saw “Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope,” the first of its series, in 1977, I was mesmerized. The fabulous galactic imagination of George Lucas led me on a true adventure through a vast, unknown universe. Since I was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy already, this futuristic movie enthralled me, as it magically transported me to a fantastic future land. There was another reason why I liked the movie. When I watched the original Star Wars trilogy, Korea was still under

Every society in the world is going to pay a price for global warming. But it’s the poorest countries and communities who will suffer the most from rising seas and burning lands -- and likely also from any drastic measures taken to prevent climate change. The environmental crisis is closely linked to the humanitarian one, and requires the joint action of climate and human rights activists. They’d seem to be natural allies. They both regard (with good reason) today’s situation

Outside China, Thailand has the largest number of patients infected by the novel coronavirus. Unfortunately, the export-reliant $500 billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, was sickly even before the outbreak of the pneumonia-like illness. That reflects simultaneous blows from the Sino-US trade war, the worst drought in decades and a stubbornly strong currency. Add in Beijing’s newly imposed restrictions on Chinese travelers, who account for the lion’s share of arriva

Airlines are perpetually on the alert against crashes. That doesn’t mean the coronavirus epidemic will lead to any corporate disasters. The outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan could push some airlines in Asia to the wall, according to Alan Joyce, chief executive officer of Australia’s biggest carrier Qantas Airways. “A lot of airlines may not be able to keep some of these operations going,” he told Bloomberg News. “It’s survival of the fitte