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November 22, 2024
 

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Cesar Chelala

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Cesar Chelala
Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, is an international public health consultant for several UN agencies, and a writer on human rights, medical and foreign policy issues. He is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America Award. His articles have been published in more than 70 countries worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2013
The sounds of neighbors being ravaged in Syria
How does one assess Syrians' losses? People are behaving at the most base level in a conflict that shows no sign of ending two years after it started.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2013
Afghanistan's legacy of child opium addiction
A report just released by the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan states that there were 2,754 civilian deaths and 4,805 civilian injuries in that country during 2012. Unmentioned is a serious side effect of the conflict: the high number of opium-addicted children in Afghanistan.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2013
Healthy paths to inevitable peace in the Mideast
Peace between Israelis and Palestinians will not be achieved overnight, but it is only through a massive effort involving the citizenry that reconciliation and cooperation can occur between both peoples.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2013
U.S. should extradite ex-officer under Pinochet
On Dec. 28, 2012, Judge Miguel Vásquez charged eight retired army officers with the murder of Victor Jara, a popular songwriter, guitarist and theater director who was killed days after the 1973 military coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2013
What's the point in working yourself to death?
Working for long periods under extreme stressful work conditions can lead to sudden death, a phenomenon the Japanese call karoshi, literally translated as "death from overwork," or occupational sudden death, mainly from heart attack and stroke due to stress. Karoshi has been more widely studied in Japan,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 17, 2012
The focusing ability of an extraterrestrial canine
By topping Gerd ("Torpedo") Muller's record of goals scored in a year, Lionel Messi only confirmed what many people until now believed to be the truth: He doesn't belong to planet Earth, he is an extraterrestrial being.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2012
Mom's lesson in the sand offers hope for peace
As a writer on human rights issues I don't lack reasons for concern. There are not too many countries nowadays where human rights in some form are not abused, where violence does not strike in one of its multiple forms.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2012
The politics and insanity of the Cuba embargo
An open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama:
COMMENTARY
Sep 21, 2012
What grooms a physician to oversee torture?
It was an unusual event in July at the Libertad (Freedom) prison in Uruguay. Miguel Angel Estrella, an Argentine pianist, was giving a concert in the same prison where he had been imprisoned and tortured 32 years earlier.
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2012
Should Bush and Blair be tried for war crimes?
In what is the latest of many calls for the trial of former U.S. President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner has demanded that both leaders be tried for their role in the Iraq war. Given the tremendous loss of lives and the...
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2012
Disease hindering the development of Africa
The high cost of treating certain diseases, most notably HIV/AIDS, when coupled with the indirect costs from lost worker productivity, is having a serious negative impact on African economies. More effort must go toward primary care, especially in rural areas, accompanied by activities to promote health,...
COMMENTARY
Jul 25, 2012
When babies were kidnap victims in Argentina
The recent conviction of two former Argentine dictators for their role in baby thefts brings to my mind a meeting I had in 1991 with Adriana Calvo de Laborde, an Argentine physicist who in 1977 had been imprisoned by the military while she was 6½ months pregnant.
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2012
Why 'Burma' should remain the country's name
Myanmar's electoral commission has told opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to stop calling the country Burma and instead call it Myanmar, its official name.
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2012
Two Peace Prize laureates fail to communicate
"The lead interrogator at the Division Interrogation Facility had given me specific instructions: I was to deprive the detainee of sleep during my 12-hour shift by opening his cell every hour, forcing him to stand in a corner and stripping him of his clothes. Three years later the tables have turned....
COMMENTARY
Jun 27, 2012
A woman of courage in war-ravaged Somalia
Somalia can be considered one of the most troublesome countries in the world, one frequently called a "failed state," ravaged by violence and instability.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2012
Demographic threat shadows a world power
For the last two decades, demographics and its effect on Russian society and future development prospects have been at the center of discussions on that country.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2012
Unforgivable crimes against the people of Syria
That some of my ancestors came from Syria may be one reason for the horror I feel over the tragic events in Houla, Syria, where at least 108 villagers, including 34 women and 49 children were massacred last month. Who is responsible for this tragedy?
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2012
China, too, faces challenge of an aging society
Parallel to its economic development, China is facing the challenge of a rapidly aging population. This is happening at a time when urbanization and industrialization is quickly increasing in the country. It is a trend that has weakened traditional family support networks, particularly for the elderly....
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2012
Lorca would have cheered Obama's decision
You will never know how much I love you
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2012
Chance to improve public health in Myanmar
In 1998, the publication Burma Debate included my article "The Health of Burma's Women and Children," which was a critical assessment of the health situation in the country. It was a groundbreaking article in that as soon as it was published I received a midnight call from UNICEF's representative in...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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