TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – On November 8 the SSG Landers, of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), put the final stamp on its incredible season, winning the Korean Series by defeating the Kiwoom Heroes in six games. This marked the fifth championship in franchise history for the Landers, and the first…
GABY RUSLI WRITES — Sometimes in our younger, more vulnerable years, we find ourselves roaming the world, trying to find out who we are and what we are meant to do. Set between the Netherlands and Indonesia, Dewi Lestari’s Paper Boats (2017) serves to remind younger Indonesian generations to march to the beat…
CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES — Maybe the lady intel officer who sought to recruit me for a CIA operation involving PRC espionage on the U.S. West Coast didn’t look the part – though, then again, perhaps she did. Modest in dress, controlled in comportment, she sat with me in…
ABDULLAH ALHAJERI WRITES – “We too will make satellites.” These are the words of the ever-ambitious Mao Zedong, late leader of the Republic of China — words that have since reigned true. Zedong had dreams of making China the powerhouse of not only Asia but the world. How positively spacey…
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – With the Russian invasion of Ukraine dragging into its eighth month, Russian military forces are growing more and more desperate to bring a resilient Ukraine to its knees. This has forced Moscow to look beyond its borders for new weapons to bolster its beleaguered military. As…
SAMANTHA LUNDIN WRITES – Who runs the country? Women! In the last week of October, when Soraya Peke-Mason became the 60th female representative sworn in among the 59 male representatives, Parliament gained a female majority. New Zealand has a history of pioneering women in politics. In 1893, New Zealand women…
ALEXANDER KYDONIEFS WRITES – Philippine police officials are scrambling to find the killers of Percival Mabasa, late host of the “Lapid Fire” program on the Philippine DWBL 1242 radio station. On October 4th, at 8:30pm, motor-cycle-riding gunmen killed longstanding Filipino journalist and radio personality Percival Mabasa, known to audiences as…
HEATHER CREAMER WRITES – Documents with highly sensitive intelligence on Iran’s missile program and China were part of materials recovered by the FBI during an August search of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s home in Florida, according to recent reporting from The Washington Post. Citing at least two sources familiar…
PAVIN CHACHAVALPONGPUN WRITES – Thailand has become a “forgotten kingdom.” Despite a myriad of domestic troubles, ranging from the growing absolutist monarchic power, the remaining authoritarian rule, the highly politicized judiciaries, to the heightened legal harassments against pro-democracy youths, Thailand is virtually free from international pressure and sanctions. Even its…
HEATHER CREAMER WRITES – In Los Angeles, the 2.7 square mile Koreatown neighborhood is the densest in the city and one of the densest in the United States. It is also one of the most resilient, as it bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic. A study by UCLA showed that…
AGNES CHONG WRITES — Can the Plastic Resource Circulation Strategy put an end to the extensive amount of plastic embedded in Japan’s food culture? In Japan, food has both cultural and gastronomic appeal. A key element of the national food is its appearance, emphasizing arrangement and stylization as well as…
RYAN BYRNE – Invented nearly one thousand years ago and spread around the world by English colonists, cricket is one of the most popular sports globally. From England to Australia, Afghanistan to India, the sport is played, watched and loved by millions. While cricket has a massive following, especially in…
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – October is the culmination of a long baseball season, with the potential for team jubilance at winning the championship or the despair of final defeat. Look towards either side of the Pacific Ocean and you will see the glorious moments of postseason baseball that both fans…
ABDULLAH AL HAJERI WRITES – A vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation-these are the three pillars of Saudi Arabia’s mapped-out expansion of its 2030 Vision, a vision increasingly under world scrutiny. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman’s 2030 vision, which includes reduced carbon…
SAMANTHA LUNDIN WRITES – 2010 and now 2022… Pakistan is devastated by floods once again. Millions of lives are affected, with over a thousand dead, including pregnant women and children. These monsoon rains and floods came after the deadly heatwave that may have exacerbated the conditions for the flooding. Satellite…
AGNES CHONG WRITES — Can the rising popularity of online therapy transform the current landscape of mental health practice in Japan? Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, online healthcare services were considered a risky niche practice, but now telehealth has emerged as a prominent force in the healthcare industry—especially…
