TBLISI, Georgia ― Nearly 70 years after being deported by Stalin, members of the Meskhetian Turkish community are preparing to return to Georgia. But after all this time, it’s unclear exactly what kind of welcome they will receive.The Meskhetians were one of several ethnic groups who were deported from the Caucasus region during World War II because Stalin feared they might form a fifth column wit

Linguists assert that men and women talk differently and, as a result, run into communication problems. Their assertion may be true to some degree, but they are not always right. For example, some linguists contend that women are more garrulous than men. That is not true. For example, men tend to talk vociferously while conversing over drinks at a bar, and are usually more talkative than women whe

The rapidly increasing demand for smartphones and mobile bandwidth has prompted some analysts and regulators to warn of a looming wireless traffic jam ― an irritant that some iPhone users in major cities have already experienced. Now, AT&T is proposing what it says is the fastest way to boost the capacity of its wireless network: buying T-Mobile. The $39-billion purchase would eliminate one of the

A disruption in the supply of one key part or component of a product may halt operations at assembly lines. A case in point involves the microcontrollers Korean companies import from Japan.Microcontrollers are systems, each with a processor, memory and peripherals, that are embedded in a wide range of home appliances and other sophisticated products. Samsung, LG, Daewoo and other Korean companies

The Korean currency is strengthening fast, pushing the exchange rate to below the level of 1,100 won per U.S. dollar. In the past, such a rapid gain would have invited intervention immediately. A strong won was an anathema to top Korean economic policymakers, who wanted to generate high rates of growth by promoting exports.But the government does not even hint at intervening in the market, be it v

Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, Calif., plus an additional 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind.That is, in effect, what has happened to the city of Detroit, according to 2010 U.S. Census data. The city that boasted 1.8 million residents in 1950, and was the nation’s economi

For a burgeoning world power with the planet’s second-largest economy, China may be the most paranoid nation on earth.Chinese leaders, utterly terrified of their own people, are taking every possible step to avert an uprising like those under way in the Middle East ― even though the only signs of fomentation so far have been vague musings on obscure blog posts.The anonymous calls for peaceful demo

This may come as a surprise, but Phyllis Schlafly, legendary conservative and leader (that is, victor) in the battle against the Equal Rights Amendment, is alive and well and still publishing books. At 86, she just collaborated with her 43-year-old niece Suzanne Venker on “The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know ― and Men Can’t Say.”If you’ve heard about this book, it might be becau

Stop for a moment. Look around you and make a note of this time and place, because years from now you will want to remember where you were when 2011 happened.Moving along the path of human events, we have reached a fork in the road, a turning point in history. We don’t know what lies ahead.As this is written, the United States has ― most reluctantly ― entered another war in the Middle East, ostens

When “Tik” Root’s parents saw him off for junior year abroad in Damascus, they never imagined he’d wind up in a Syrian prison.But Tik, who’s pursuing Middle East studies at Vermont’s Middlebury College, where his parents are professors, disappeared March 18. He was last seen walking near a mosque where protests had broken out. His father, Tom, told me the Syrian Interior Ministry has confirmed it

Washington, D.C. ― The Bank of China was the first of the country’s Big Four to deliver its results late last week, with the others to follow shortly. Profit in 2010 was up 28 percent. The most encouraging figure was the decline in the proportion of nonperforming loans (NPLs) which fell to 1.1 percent, down from 1.52 percent in 2009. Similarly impressive figures are expected for the other Chinese

Proposed dam on the Mekong should not go ahead until all social and environmental concerns are addressedInternational pressure is mounting as 263 non-governmental organizations from 51 countries step up their campaign to get Thailand to cancel the proposed Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River’s mainstream in northern Laos. In a recent letter sent to the governments of Laos and Thailand, the NGOs urged

Taiwanese women are known for delaying marriage or seemingly choosing to stay single, depending on how you look at it. The average age of marriage for women in 2009 was 30 to 31. In 2010, 31 percent of women above the age of 15 were single, an all-time low for marriage, especially compared to the 7.3 percent of unmarried women in 2007.The largely single status of Taiwan’s most popular female enter

It will take time, possibly around six months, before the Japanese automotive and other industries hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami will achieve a full recovery.However, most partial operations could be resumed much sooner, as early as the start of April. Substantial damage, especially in the northeastern part of Japan, was caused by the magnitude-9 quake and ensuing massive tsunami

MUNICH ― Events surrounding the military intervention in Libya these last two weeks, and what already has happened in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain, and what continues elsewhere in the region, have produced two unplanned but important results.The always-implausible notion that the European Union could have a common foreign policy has been exploded. Since early in the Libyan crisis, France and Britain

For-profit colleges have successfully marketed a compelling story in which they star front and center as benevolent purveyors of the American dream through education and gainful employment.The reality is the complete opposite. Former students testified before a U.S. Senate oversight committee this month about exorbitant tuition costs and unfulfilled promises of good jobs. One student spoke of comp

Koreans are rightly angered each time Japan renews an unwarranted claim to Korea’s easternmost rocky islets of Dokdo. This time, however, many of them voiced as much disappointment as anger on hearing that the Japanese government approved of junior high school textbooks describing the islets as part of Japanese territory. They apparently felt disappointed that their goodwill was not reciprocated.S

It must undoubtedly have been humiliating to President Lee Myung-bak to abandon one of his campaign promises ― building a new international airport. On the other hand, it was an act of courage, given that his administration did so at the risk of a voter revolt.On Wednesday, the Lee administration scrapped a plan to construct an international airport in South Gyeongsang Province. A viable alternati

Before President Obama’s address to the nation about Libya, three questions about U.S. involvement there loomed large: Why, among all the places with vulnerable civilian populations, did the U.S. and its allies choose to intervene in Libya? Was the mission designed to prevent civilian suffering or to topple Moammar Gadhafi? How (and how quickly) would the U.S. extricate itself from this engagement

The Obama administration says the goals of its bombing campaign in Libya are crystal clear, but it has tied itself in knots trying to explain them.This isn’t a war, White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week, “it’s a time-limited, scope-limited military action.”“What we are doing is enforcing a (United Nations) resolution that has a very clear set of goals, which is protecting the Libyan peop