Opinion: Iranian President Raisi reported dead – what that might mean for country and region

SEOUL, May 20 (AJU PRESS) - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who has been reported dead after the helicopter he was in crashed on May 19, 2024, is a consummate loyalist whose passing will be a severe blow to the country's conservative leadership. While search and rescue teams – hampered by rain, fog, forests and mountains – searched for wreckage, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the nation "should pray" for Raisi. As an expert on I

May 20, 2024

Opinion: History says tariffs rarely work, but Biden's 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs could defy trend

SEOUL, May 20 (AJU PRESS) - In June 2019, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted: "Trump doesn't get the basics. He thinks his tariffs are being paid by China. Any freshman econ student could tell you that the American people are paying his tariffs." Fast-forward five years to May 2024, and President Biden has announced a hike in tariffs on a variety of Chinese imports, including a 100-percent tariff that would significantly increase the price of Chinese-made

May 20, 2024

Opinion: Dow tops 40,000 as stock indexes continue to cross milestones − making many investors feel wealthier

SEOUL, May 17 (AJU PRESS) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 40,000 for the first time on May 16, 2024. It spent the next few hours hovering around that mark, occasionally dipping under. But the breakthrough, even if fleeting, nonetheless marks another symbolic milestone in a monthslong bull market, coming three months after the S&P 500 index surpassed 5,000 for the first time. The Conversation asked Alexander Kurov, a financial markets scholar, to explain what stock in

May 17, 2024

British local government elections have national – and international - implications

KENOSHA, May 17 (AJU PRESS) - Britain’s local elections do not receive much international attention. That is a mistake. Generally, they are an excellent indicator of how the parties will do in the national elections. In the May 2 elections, the Liberal Democrats won big, with 768 gains. The Labour Party gained 545, the Greens 480, while the governing Conservative Party lost a massive 1783. This is the third successive year of significant Liberal Democrat advance.

May 17, 2024

Opinion: From Barbie to Thomas the Tank Engine: How entertainment brands are adapting to Generation Alpha

SEOUL, May 16 (AJU PRESS) - Growing up, did you play with hyper-sexualized Barbie dolls, boys-only Thomas the Tank Engine trains, or slim, white Disney princesses? If so, you're not alone, but this is no longer the case for Generation Alpha. Brands like Mattel, once criticized for promoting unrealistic body standards and gender stereotypes, now portray themselves as feminist and progressive. The recent Barbie movie serves as a prime example of this shift. Millennial parents

May 16, 2024

Opinion: International Booker prize 2024: six expert reviews of shortlisted books

SEOUL, May 14 (AJU PRESS) - From a longlist of 12, six novels have been shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker prize. Our academics review the finalists ahead of the announcement of the winner on May 21. Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott In Not a River, the final instalment in Selva Almada's "trilogy of men," past and present collide in a nightmarish sleepwalk towards inevitable violence. Two men take Tilo, the son of their friend E

May 14, 2024

Opinion: Paris 2024 Olympics: How the Games are being used to marginalize the most vulnerable

SEOUL, May 13 (AJU PRESS) - Athletes from around the world are gearing up for the 2024 Summer Olympics that are being held in Paris this year. While the Games are often billed as a beacon of global unity, they have historically marginalized the most vulnerable communities in host cities. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) routinely makes grandiose claims about its commitment to humanity. Looking over the Olympic Charter and the IOC's guiding philosophy of "Olympism

May 13, 2024

House Speaker Mike Johnson's ourage in Ukraine vote

KENOSHA, May 10 (AJU PRESS) - “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.“ — “Julius Caesar“ by William Shakespeare, Act II, Scene ii Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) of the United States House of Representatives rose to the stature deserved of his office and decided to put what he considered right for his nation and the world, today and even more so tomorrow, in voting to support aid for Ukraine along with Israel.

May 10, 2024

Opinion: AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine withdrawn – right to the end it was the victim of misinformation

SEOUL, May 10 (AJU PRESS) - The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was a critical part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. However, on May 7, 2024, the European Commission announced the vaccine is no longer authorized for use. This EU announcement was preceded by an application from AstraZeneca on March 27, 2024 to withdraw the EU marketing authorization. This development has been covered in various media outlets as primarily related to the known "adverse events," namely a very s

May 10, 2024

Opinion: Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections – but is it playing into the far right's hands?

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - Ahead of the European parliament elections in June, Germany has lowered the age limit on participation to 16. This makes it the largest of just a handful of states in the EU to allow people under the age of 18 to vote. Austria, Belgium and Malta have already enfranchised 16 and 17-year-olds, and Greece is to allow anyone turning 17 in 2024 to participate in the June vote. Around 4.8 million young Germans – plus about 300,000 young people from othe

May 9, 2024