He may have been the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He may have written a book extolling constitutional values in a democracy. And he may have run for president on a civil liberties banner, pledging to reverse the legacy of George W. Bush.

With its disaster-strewn garment industry in turmoil and strikes paralyzing the country on a near weekly basis, Bangladesh is in danger of unraveling hard-won progress in a one-time “basket case” economy.

A string of serious cyberattacks and cyberterrorism incidents have occurred around the world. The government should promote extensive cooperation with the United States and reinforce its countermeasures against such attacks.

The questioning of Japanese sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa, by Chinese scholars appears to reflect a new Beijing approach towards antagonistic foreign governments.

U.S. President Barack Obama learned on Monday what can happen to presidents caught up in allegations of scandal: they have to address them instead of anything else.

Occasionally a public opinion survey surfaces that signals a seismic event. That is the case with a new report from the Pew Research Center that measures the widening tremors of a political earthquake now shaking Europe.

It's not your average cross-town city bus: the new Papa Tour of Buenos Aires is packing them in for a nostalgic swing past local landmarks in the life of the man who became Pope Francis.

The day before the start of the official campaign period, we proposed the following reading of the 2013 elections: “The fate of reform hangs in the balance.” The mandate from 2010 was clear: Clean up the mess left behind by the previous administration.

Any Thai who marks the anniversaries of the May 1992 “mobile phone mob” uprising and May 2010 red-shirt uprising with the same solemn sincerity should be commended. From a general observation, it's unlikely that there are many such people. The country's political divide has run deep and the two bloody events do not share many crucial things in common.

On Thursday, May 9, Hung Shih-cheng died from gunfire while hiding in the cabin of the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, a Taiwanese fishing vessel plying its trade in the South China Sea.