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Opinion: AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine withdrawn – right to the end it was the victim of misinformation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

Opinion: Boeing's Starliner launch – delayed again – will be an important milestone for commercial spaceflight

SEOUL, May 09 (AJU PRESS) - Already years late, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft continues to face delays as it prepares to launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams into space. The latest delay came as a problem with its ride to orbit, an Atlas V rocket, caused the first launch attempt late on May 6, 2024, to be scrubbed. When it does launch from the Kennedy Space Center, no earlier than May 17, this last crucial test for Starliner will try out the new spacecraft an

May 9, 2024

Opinion: What a second Trump presidency might mean for the rest of the world

SEOUL, May 07 (AJU PRESS) - Just over six months ahead of the U.S. election, the world is starting to consider what a return to a Trump presidency might mean. While Americans might be weighing up the difference between the two candidates domestic policies, the rest of the globe is more interested in what foreign policy decisions he might make. Donald Trump has already hinted at some areas he is particularly likely to address: China, NATO, Ukraine and Gaza among them. Recent statem

May 7, 2024

Opinion: Global auditions are changing the 'K' in K-pop

SEOUL, May 07 (AJU PRESS) - K-pop giant JYP Entertainment recently launched VCHA, an all-female idol group composed entirely of members from Canada and the United States, who had passed auditions held in North America. The band says its members' backgrounds include Korean, white, Latino, Black, Vietnamese and Hmong ancestries. The once-novel idea of a K-pop group without Korean members, which caught the attention of the BBC and CNN, now seems on the brink of becoming the norm.

May 7, 2024

Africa represents important, often overlooked security challenge

KENOSHA, May 03 (AJU PRESS) - The United States is being unceremoniously evicted from the African nation of Niger. Meeting in Washington D.C., Niger Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine informed Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell that all 1,000 U.S. special operations troops and other personnel must vacate the country. This is a major setback, during a time of general instability in that region. Last year, the leader of Gabon, Ali Bongo, was removed in a sudden military coup on A

May 3, 2024

Opinion: High interest rates aren't going away anytime soon – business economist explains why

SEOUL, May 02 (AJU PRESS) - The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its May 1, 2024, policy meeting, dashing the hopes of potential homebuyers and others who were hoping for a cut. Not only will rates remain at their current level – a 23-year high – for at least another month, there's little reason to believe the Fed will start tapering until the fall. Indeed, if inflation starts to heat back up, it's plausible – though at the moment unlikely &ndas

May 2, 2024