Whether as a haven for political exiles or playground for the power elite, Paris has been a cherished destination for Latin Americans. But since the rise of Emmanuel Macron, Francophilia has taken on a whole new meaning. Young, camera-friendly, fiscally sensible and -- most importantly -- unbeholden to legacy parties and their bosses, Macron is a new French leader for disenchanted times. Little wonder the presidents of Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, all struggling in polls, have reached o

July 17, 2017

The diplomatic machinations that have enveloped Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar may seem like a membership feud in a Persian Gulf club for the wealthy. But their quarrel highlights battles that have been roiling the Middle East since the Arab Spring began nearly seven years ago.The boycott against Qatar announced last month by the Saudis, Emiratis, Bahrainis and Egyptians took the President Donald Trump administration by surprise -- and triggered a mediation effort this week by

July 17, 2017

The unraveling mystery of whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russia just produced a smoking gun: those emails from Donald Trump Jr. welcoming an offer from Moscow to supply dirt on Hillary Clinton.This wasn’t a casual meeting between the candidate’s impetuous son and some random peddler of political gossip. Trump Jr. was explicitly offered “sensitive information (as) part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” He recruited two other top aides, campaign Cha

July 17, 2017

Let’s talk about one of our favorite things: cars. And more specifically, how the internal combustion engine is on the verge of extinction.Not only that, but we’re also being told that in five years we’re going to be driving self-driving cars. OK, that’s not accurate. They will be driving us — or at least a lot of us.Unless you were at the beach and had your head buried in the sand because of worries about Russia’s determination to wipe out democracy on the planet, you undoubtedly heard that Vol

July 16, 2017

When Japan’s parliament legalized casino gambling last year, it created a wave of excitement among casino operators and institutional investors. But sensitivities about gambling addiction have now focused the policy discussion on a concept known as responsible gaming. This is industry terminology for programs designed to deter customers with known gambling problems from entering casinos. Although well-intentioned, lawmakers are risking a litany of unintended consequences with these policies.Casi

July 16, 2017

A lot has been going on with the new Korean administration. Cabinet appointments have been contentious and public expectations high. A host of economic policies are on the table but one conspicuous absence remains: a plan for enhancing senior employment. The issue is simple. With an aging population, Korean social programs will become more burdened to support seniors. Monthly payments will decrease as people leave the workforce and enter retirement. Premiums for those still working will rise and

July 16, 2017

Donald Trump Jr. is clearly his father’s son. Just look at the evolving strategies he employed to answer questions on meeting with a Russian Kremlin-affiliated lawyer during the presidential campaign: Denial, deflection and finger-pointing.First, the junior Donald said no meetings with Russian officials had been “set up,” and none discussed government policies.Then on Saturday, he said the June 2016 meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya was about the adoption of Russian children. He noted that wasn

July 14, 2017

If you closed your eyes and listened to the words emanating from President Trump’s meetings in Europe last week -- instead of, say, reading his tweets -- it sounded as if American foreign policy had suddenly been hijacked by adults. Most of the time, at least.At the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, Trump returned US policy on Russia toward something resembling normalcy. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the very model of a pragmat

July 13, 2017

As something of an expert in the communications field, I’d like to offer my services to United Airlines.The company has been going through a rough patch of late on the public relations front. The latest oopsie involved a middle school teacher from Hawaii who had to hold her 27-month-old son (a 2-year-old, if my math is correct) in her lap for an entire three-hour flight from Houston to Boston.According to a report in the Washington Post, the child had a ticket that cost nearly $1,000. But a Unit

July 13, 2017

Some Americans believe voter fraud is essentially a non-issue. They insist voting irregularities seldom occur and are almost always accidental.Hard evidence, however, proves this is wishful thinking. Voter fraud is a more widespread, frequent and serious problem than many people are willing to admit.Indeed, the Heritage Foundation recently updated its Voter Fraud Database with 89 new entries, including 75 convictions and a slew of overturned elections and civil fines targeting vote fraudsters. W

July 13, 2017

For leaders as well as friends, spouses and colleagues, grace is a precious characteristic. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump’s policy choices, our nation has never had a president more lacking in grace.Whether or not Abraham Lincoln was the greatest American president, he was certainly its most gracious. Here’s the close of his brief Second Inaugural, delivered toward the end of the Civil War, when the nation was a house divided:With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in

July 13, 2017

Accompanied by the customary cautionary note about analysis based on one month’s figures, June’s job creation rate, provided by the US Department of Labor, should have provided Americans with a shaft of light Friday.June produced a better-than-expected 222,000 new jobs, supplemented by an adjustment upward of 47,000 of April and May figures. Unemployment rose a tick, to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent, but that is still low. Average hourly wages were up 2.5 percent from a year ago. Labor-force part

July 13, 2017

Since President Donald Trump has taken office, reporting in the public interest has seen an encouraging resurgence. There is a renewed sense of purpose among reporters covering the White House and a renaissance in investigative journalism. All this should help burnish the media’s tarnished credibility.But this good work is competing with a less admirable trend. The media have a bad habit of turning themselves into the story. And their tendency toward solipsism is as unbecoming as the president’s

July 13, 2017