Following the news that US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked by phone on Sept. 9, there has been much speculation about what the two discussed. Biden has denied a report that Xi turned down a proposed summit, and China’s government spokesman has said only that both sides “agreed to maintain regular contact through various means.” Still, it is clear that the Biden administration is seeking a relationship that manages, if not resolves, areas of diverge

Two weeks ago, I went to the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit with my mother in Los Angeles. Because she majored in art in college, she knew a lot about Van Gogh. Van Gogh certainly had amazing artistic talent; however, he did not get recognition and respect he deserved. He was poor and relied heavily on his brother for financial assistance. He did not gain reputation and fame during his lifetime. Many years after his death, he was at last recognized for his artistic talent. His paintings are now pric

The coronavirus pandemic makes it a new normal to stay home rather than venture out to meet with people. Consequently, a wide variety of indoor activities ranging from home renovation to binge-watching videos on streaming services are booming. The trend offers a unique chance for those who want to upgrade their outdated gadgets in the name of improving the quality of life at home. Of course, I proudly belong to the group keen on justifying spending on new gadgets. The item that has kept me read

Last Monday, Canada held an election to choose a new House of Commons. Next Sunday, Germany will hold an election to choose a new Bundestag. And sometime in October, Japan will hold an election to choose a new House of Representatives. Rarely have major elections in G-7 powers taken place close together. Last August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election in the hope of strengthening his hand, but results yielded almost no change. Trudeau’s Liberal Party emerged wit

The world stands at a critical juncture of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries that lack the first round of vaccine coverage are extraordinarily vulnerable to the highly infectious delta variant, and are also seedbeds for new variants that could quickly spread worldwide. The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, which I chair, is working urgently with the United Nations system to strengthen the multilateral response. Governments of countries where vaccines are being produced -- the United States, European Un

When the head of South Korea’s main intelligence agency meets a young woman in an exclusive hotel restaurant on a weekday, common sense has it that they must either have serious business of public importance or an intimate relationship. But National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won and Cho Sung-eun, a 33-year-old former staffer with the main opposition People Power Party, deny either possibility and call it a simple social event. The Hotel Lotte luncheon on Aug. 11 has become a

When I heard a friend who is a few years older say that she missed the chaos of the kitchen before “jesa,” or ancestral rite, I was incredulous. She described how the women of her family would line the kitchen floor with layers of old newspaper to prevent the cooking oil from splattering and set up an electric griddle on top of it. “I miss the sound of sizzling jeon and the smell of cooking oil that wafted through the house,” she said. The kitchen countertop was not lar

In the days before COVID-19, I’d often get frustrated by the response that doctors would give when I turned up at their clinics with some infection or other: “It’s just a virus,” they’d say. As someone who’s long been fascinated by the detective work that goes into tracing the origins and history of infections, the answer always seemed too perfunctory. Which virus was it? Where and when did this strain emerge? How many other people were getting infected wit

Most of the talk this year about the labor market recovery has focused on leisure and hospitality, and the struggles that restaurant and hotel owners have had trying to staff up. Under the radar, it’s a different industry -- manufacturing – that’s having even more difficulty finding the workers it needs. And that’s what this week’s job openings report hammered home. Despite its reputation for high wages, the manufacturing sector is falling behind on the compensatio

The cascading events that followed the US exit from Afghanistan reminded me of a poem written by a young Buddhist monk of the eighth century. Hyecho, from the Silla Kingdom, upon meeting a fellow traveler from China in Fayzabad, in present-day northeast Afghanistan, wrote:  You bemoan the distance to the western frontier. I lament the long road east. Rugged roads cross colossal snow ridges, Dangerous ravines where bandits wander. Even birds in flight fear the soaring cliffs. Travelers

When Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games, a reporter asked a famous Japanese judoka if he expected to win gold. The former gold medalist answered, smiling pleasantly, “I’m working at a bank. That is my job. Judo is merely my hobby. I will just do my best, but a gold medal is not my primary concern.” His answer was cool and impressive. Then, the same reporter turned to a Korean judoka who was also a strong candidate for the gold medal and asked the same question. The Korean ath

The planned fall 2021 return to the office is being delayed. Until January, purportedly. That’s when Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and some other major employers of knowledge workers now say they expect people back at their desks, 22 months after sending everybody home at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the current high US levels of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and in some places deaths, it’s understandable that companies don’t want to do a big ret

As the news shifts, many Americans may think the Afghan war is over. Not so. The searing scenes of Kabul’s fall are having a powerful impact on America’s global image, including the abandonment of Afghan allies. Chinese and Russian propaganda outlets are gleefully trumpeting scenes of America’s “defeat.” NATO allies who had troops in Afghanistan are bitter that they were forced to leave Afghan staff and their own nationals -- because President Joe Biden didn&rsquo

It is understandable, given the chaos surrounding the US exit from Afghanistan -- especially the murder of the 13 US troops -- that our attention has been focused on the ending of America’s longest war. The statistics are sobering. Length of the war: 20 years. Total number of US fatalities: 2,461. US wounded: more than 20,000. Afghan fatalities: more than 70,000. Cost of the war: $2.3 trillion. Major goal achieved: The Taliban were removed in late 2001 as the head of the Afghan governmen

There are optimistic suggestions that the hard-won integration of Afghanistan into the global economy will remain despite the ascendancy of the Taliban and the withdrawal of the US. A number of commentators have suggested that China -- which the Taliban have declared their strongest ally -- could become Afghanistan’s primary economic supporter and help the country stay part of the global system. That analysis is unrealistic. For one, it ignores the sanctions regime imposed by the internat