The scenes have become strangely familiar by now.　The latest videos and pictures, streaming since Saturday from war-torn Syria, show the dead bodies of children and women, crowded in basements and littering the stairs of shelters. White foam covers their mouths and noses. They look asleep, but they are dead. There are no external wounds to explain why they are dead, a hallmark of exposure to chemical agents.　Another suspected chemical attack has occurred in Syria. Bushra is a medical student who

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is at the center of a controversy over its decision to disclose reports on the working environments of Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display factories.　According to the decision, what the companies deem as critical information in the reports they have regularly submitted to the ministry -- such as the layout of semiconductor production facilities and chemicals used at each stage of the manufacturing process -- can be released to the public. However, they fe

Like many pedestrians, I’ve learned to treat Los Angeles streets as an obstacle course of distracted drivers. Rule No. 1: Make sure a vehicle is stopped or braking before stepping off the curb. But even that didn’t save me at a corner near my West Hollywood home.The approaching car was on my right, slowing for the stop sign ahead. I started across, but midway I realized the driver’s attention had drifted and her car was regaining speed, veering my way. It was too late to dodge it, so I threw mys

Fast fashion giant H&M has lost its luster. Its stock price dropped more than 40 percent in the last six months. It will close 170 stores this year, more than it has in two decades. It suffered a string of public relations missteps, including launching an ad campaign viewed as racist and getting caught incinerating tons of leftover goods. Then last week news broke that the company is sitting on a staggering $4.3 billion in unsold apparel.　The internet is flooded with schadenfreude over H&M’s woe

Samsung Securities’ erroneous dividend payment on April 6 is a preposterous accident that has left a big mark on investors’ confidence in the Korean stock market.　The company wrongly issued 2.8 billion shares, when it was supposed to pay dividends worth 2.8 billion won ($2.62 million) to employees under a stock ownership plan. This accident was caused by an incorrect input into its stock trading network. It should have input the dividend payment of 1,000 won per employee share, but it erroneousl

If the past is a prelude, we should expect a US strike sometime soon against Syrian airfields.　A little more than a year ago, Syrian forces gassed rebels. The grotesque crime earned a condemnation tweet from President Donald Trump. And on April 7, 2017, the president ordered 59 Tomahawk missiles to the Shayrat Airfield, the base from which the attack had been launched. He told his Chinese counterpart about it over chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago.　Over the weekend it looked like history repeating. T

The trade skirmish between the United States and China on steel, aluminum and other goods is a product of US President Donald Trump’s scorn for multilateral trade arrangements and the World Trade Organization.Before announcing import tariffs on more than 1,300 types of Chinese-made goods worth around $60 billion per year, in early March, Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, which he justified on the basis of national security. Trump insists that a ta

Over two decades ago, I relentlessly pursued a few score folks, who -- for reasons of forgetfulness, fear, apathy, orneriness, principle or a combination thereof -- had neglected or deliberately refused to fill in the decennial census questionnaire previously mailed to them.　It was a “temporary enumerator” summer job, paying $15.25 an hour, and, more to the point for this contracted government retiree, offering a chance to get out of my comfort zone.　Most of the people I tracked down were foreig

With controversies simmering over the appointment of Kim Ki-sik as governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, Cheong Wa Dae shows characteristic intransigence again, as is often the case with its personnel decisions.　Opposition parties have raised pressure on Kim to resign voluntarily and on Cheong Wa Dae to withdraw its appointment, saying he is ethically unqualified for the job. Local news media is seeking answers from him regarding the questionable purposes of his overseas trips sponsored