The destruction of a mausoleum cannot compare to the rape and murder of innocents. But it is a war crime nonetheless -- and the importance of prosecuting it should not be underestimated, for the present day or for posterity.When the terrorist group Ansar Dine invaded Timbuktu, Mali, in 2012, it not only attacked the local population, but also destroyed a historic mosque and several graves. Now its leader, Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, is before the International Criminal Court, charged with the destru

The United Nations Security Council last week answered North Korea’s latest misdeeds on nuclear and other weapons testing by increasing the severity and sweep of sanctions against it.These include an obligation by Pyongyang’s trading partners to inspect its imports and exports to prevent it from moving goods that contribute to the advancement of its weapons programs. This puts a particular burden on China, the only nation other than South Korea and Russia that borders North Korea.China voted for

China has been quite the wet blanket in international efforts to seek stronger sanctions against North Korea. In the period between North Korea’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and the point when China finally agreed on the new United Nations Security Council resolution, Beijing repeatedly called for dialogue and negotiations, knowing full well they would fall short of curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear ambition. The Chinese government’s duplicity can be attributed to the coexistence of two factions in

This week in Seoul, in what has been dubbed the “ultimate challenge” for artificial intelligence, a man will face off against a computer in the ancient game of Go. If you’re reading this, you may be tempted to cheer for the man. But this is the rare battle of wits in which you should actually root for the robot.AI is the next frontier in applying intelligent machines to the solution of human problems. Go is a revealing test because it has long bedeviled AI programs. Computer algorithms can’t eas

I take it all back. I take back the irritated look I gave a mother whose toddler was throwing a fit at a grocery store. I take back the snide comments I made about mothers fretting about how to teach their 3-year-olds to babble away in English.Unless you are in their shoes, you never, really, actually know. And I am guilty as charged -- all the judging I made in the past seemed to come back to haunt me once I became a mother myself.Doctors, nannies and even caretakers at the postnatal houses mak

These days some of our newspaper articles and columns diagnose that we have failed in three critical areas: national defense, diplomacy, and education.Others maintain that we have also not succeeded in boosting the economy, creating enough jobs, and checking the influence of labor unions. They also lament the chauvinism and child abuse that is still rampant in our society. If these critiques are valid, South Korea is in crisis.The newspaper columns argue that our national defense strategy has fa

For two years now, as Brazilians have watched a widening corruption scandal drag the economy and some of the country’s most storied names in politics and business into disrepute, I’ve kept a running conversation with my disgruntled neighborhood grocer. “Do you really think they’ll get to Lula?” Avelino scoffed the other day at his small market in Rio de Janeiro, referring to the ultrapopular former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom he blames for the country’s sinking fortunes. “Ha, that’

This is how a political party looks when it’s coming unglued.Last week, the Republicans’ two most recent presidential candidates, Mitt Romney and John McCain, denounced this year’s likely nominee, Donald Trump.“Donald Trump is phony, a fraud,” Romney said. “His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.”McCain piled on, warning that Trump’s views on foreign policy were “dangerous.”Dozens of other Republicans, including a conservative U.S. senator, declared that they would not v

　A new reality is emerging in Asia. In recent decades, many of Asia’s economies have boomed. The region today accounts for about 40 percent of the world’s GDP -- up from 25 percent in 1990 -- and contributes about two-thirds of global economic growth.There’s more. Asia has made unprecedented strides in reducing poverty and improving broad development indicators. The poverty rate fell from 55 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2010, while education and health outcomes have improved significantly. H

　　On the U.S. Supreme Court, both conservatives and liberals admire bold, heroic figures, invoking the U.S. Constitution to strike down what they dislike most -- whether it’s Obamacare, affirmative action programs, restrictions on abortion, bans on same-sex marriage or executive actions by Democratic or Republican presidents. But the U.S. has had enough of judicial heroism. As the nation debates the future membership and direction of the court, it‘s a good time for minimalists, who speak softly

　Call me old fashioned, but I still think prices matter. I vividly recall the first time I studied those simple supply-and-demand graphs as a college freshman, and today, far too many years later, their basic logic remains undeniable. When prices are right, money flows to the most productive endeavors and economies work efficiently. When prices are wrong, crazy things eventually happen, with potentially dire consequences.　That’s why we should be very worried about Japan, where things are getting