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 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty June 25, 2020 By Amos Chapple Photographs tell the story of a “forgotten war” that began 70 years ago and has never formally ended. At the close of World War II, the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Soviet troops in the north and U.S. forces in […]
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 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 Since mid-March the American economy has been on pandemic lockdown. Commercial, social and educational interaction have faced a form of limbo, forced to follow a still uncertain script dictated by the deadly coronavirus and decreed by state governors. For many of us, the world seems suspended in time; […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler It’s easy to point fingers during a deadly pandemic, and let’s do so. WHO first sounded the alarm? WHO downplayed real medical risks? WHO calmed or stoked irrational fears? WHO in this case, is the global medical monitor providing us with real time warnings and assessments. Governments and […]