The definition of good music may differ from person to person, but it seems certain that good music soothes souls. It helps us vent emotional catharsis in its own way. There are two ways when it comes to how good music usually does it; it has beautifully resounding lyrics or its melodies and beat make our hearts beat faster.　BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, seem to manage both. They have swept across the world with their music, writing a new chapter in the history of K-pop. Their music seems

Ice is thawing in China, and that’s a good thing.Fiscal and monetary measures should be deployed to give the economy a fillip when it’s most needed. The scope of tax cuts detailed over the weekend is a great first step: They boost consumers and might also, in the process, shore up Chinese demand for trade with the rest of Asia.Until now, policy seemed frozen in Beijing and hamstrung by competing goals. Choices are still constrained relative to past episodes of slackening economic life, but thank

Somewhere in the West Wing, there is doubtless a White House staffer assigned the task of collecting dehumanizing language for the administration to use to describe the thousands of Central American migrants on their journey in southern Mexico headed to the United States. They are a “horde,” a “swarm,” an “invasion.” They include “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners,” and such caravans are a “disgrace to the Democrat Party.” Those last two quotes may seem far-fetched, by they were offered by

The audio quality is poor and the sound of gunshots muffled, but the agony in Ekramul Haque’s voice is unmistakable. On May 26, while speaking with his family by phone, Haque, an elected official in southern Bangladesh, was gunned down by police in an apparent extrajudicial killing.Bangladeshi authorities insist Haque was a drug dealer who died in an exchange of gunfire, but the audio evidence -- captured by his wife as she listened to her husband die -- suggests that the officers involved kille

What’s the most important bit of infrastructure to connect an international metropolis like China’s Pearl River Delta? A demolished border post.For all the excitement around the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge Wednesday, that’s probably the best lesson to draw from Beijing’s plan to draw Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dongguan, Foshan and other cities into a single megalopolis. As my colleague Nisha Gopalan wrote last month, “Build it and they will come” is a lot easier said than d

South Korea is consistently ranked as one of the most innovative countries, and the fuel that has powered this astonishing metamorphosis is technology. But there are a number of challenges looming over the horizon that will hamper South Korea’s growth if not effectively addressed. As Korean policymakers, aid workers and scientists look to solve challenges, they should turn to Israel to find existing innovations that can make a difference, or create new ones together. Since the Republic of Korea

Asia’s makeup brands are starting to look ugly.Shares of Japanese and South Korean cosmetics makers have been melting this month, as Beijing cracks down on daigou, Chinese travelers who buy everything from infant formula to skin care products for resale at home, often to friends and relatives. These shoppers tend to be university students looking to make a little extra cash or tourists scooping up duty-free items.　Added together, this is no mere pocket change. As my colleague David Fickling wrot

Following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, there have been many calls for re-examining the US-Saudi relationship, even for imposing sanctions. As an economist, I understand there are diplomatic fine points to this relationship that lie beyond my expertise, but still: It is worth reviewing the economic and exchange-based reasons US-Saudi relations have been so robust.First, trade between the US and Saudi Arabia is currently about $24 billion per year. You might think the US is now energy

The Korean Ministry of Justice’s recent decision to deny refugee status to around 550 Yemeni asylum seekers -- granting most of them “humanitarian protection” instead -- represents a predictable ending point for one of the country’s least laudable episodes of recent years. In short, the Korean Immigration Service had earlier this year included Yemen on the list of countries whose nationals could travel to the resort island of Jeju without a visa. Perhaps unsurprisingly (at least in retrospect),