Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Seventy years ago, on June 25, 1950, North Korean troops attacked South Korea launching an unexpected military blitz. Kim Il-Sung’s communists had as their aim the forcible reunification of the divided Korean peninsula, itself a recent legacy of Japan’s defeat in WWII. The South was stunned and Seoul, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler It’s one of those rites of late Spring when members of the UN’s General Assembly come together to choose five new non-permanent members of the fifteen-member Security Council. But what’s usually a spirited but pro-forma election of candidates, this year was carried out in the shadow of the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler In a surprisingly understated but inspirational address to the cadets on the historic Parade Field, President Donald Trump spoke to the graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. But the remarks to 1,100 newly minted second lieutenants in the U.S. Army was not a call […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Defying all expectations, the U.S. job numbers surged back in early June in a surprise and stunning rebound. While the usual gaggle of “experts” were somberly predicting an additional eight or nine million job losses, the actual numbers showed 2.5 million jobs gained! Despite massive job cuts from […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler The crisis was brewing for months. Storm clouds were gathering around Hong Kong’s splendid bay as China’s communist authorities have put the vice grip squeeze on democratic Hong Kong’s political rights and social freedoms. The world has watched aimlessly until the United States and a few fellow democracies […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler The World Health Organization (WHO) held its annual Assembly with barely a mention of the member state which brought this UN agency so much political grief — China. But this year’s Assembly convened not in the alpine splendor of its Geneva headquarters, but in virtual reality of cyberspace […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler After years of consistent economic expansion and growth throughout much of the world, the global economy is facing tectonic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic. For developed states such as the United States and Western Europe, the “unseen enemy” of the virus has shattered economic forecasts and international commerce; […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Can we economically sustain a prolonged lockdown? Well the stunningly high unemployment numbers for April, just over 20 million lost jobs, should answer that question and serve as yet another jolting wake-up call that while we are wisely protecting ourselves from wider exposure to the deadly coronavirus, the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler Syria’s devastating conflict continues despite the spread of coronavirus and calls by the international community for a ceasefire to stop the fighting which has continued for over nine years and killed more than 500,000 people. Now, an uneasy calm seems to be setting in as the threat of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler North Korea’s Marxist “Monarchy” could be at a critical crossroads as recurring rumors about the death or incapacitation of the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un swirl around the nervous Korean peninsula. Despite a wildfire of media speculation, pending the definitive outcome of Kim’s health, the hard reality remains that […]