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November 28, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Jun 28, 2004

People of Myanmar need Asia's help

By Nyunt Shwe

Myanmar's stubborn military regime has decided to carry on with its controversial constitutional convention even as National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her lieutenant, U Tin U, remain under house arrest. The last time a free and fair election was held -- in 1990 -- the NLD won a...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 28, 2004

Deflate tension with dialogue

By Ronald A. Rodriguez

HONOLULU -- Recent events confirm that maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea remain an issue for East Asian governments. Ownership of the Spratly Islands is claimed, in whole or in part, by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2004

Flagging heart for the EU

By Kevin Rafferty

LONDON -- More than 40,000 Britons have made a special trip to Portugal for a two-week European festival while, back at home, tens of millions of others are following the festival, alternatively rejoicing and groaning, on television screens in pubs and bars, city centers and homes. Euro 2004 is the most...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 27, 2004

Middle East policy banks on destruction

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by...

COMMENTARY

Jun 27, 2004

Asian antiterror group finds its footing

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG -- Last week the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international antiterrorist group formed by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries only months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, inaugurated a new antiterrorism center in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan....

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2004

Few surprises in EU elections

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- The European parliamentary elections June 13 turned out largely as forecast. Despite a sharp fillip in Britain's voter turnout, spurred by the rise of the anti-European U.K. Independence Party, or UKIP, voter turnout as a whole continued its generation-long decline across Europe, with less...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Jun 26, 2004

Internet revolutionizing American politics

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- The campaign of 2004 is different from any that came before. The reason is the Internet. For the first time, we have Meetup, MoveOn, Right March, Bloggers, E-Voting and political Spam. Good, bad or indifferent, the Internet is proving to be a major player in the prosecution of the presidential...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 26, 2004

Dowry custom killing India's daughters

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- Recently a mother strangled her newborn baby in a well-known hospital in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. The infant was a girl.

COMMENTARY

Jun 24, 2004

Constitution faces hard sell

By David Howell

LONDON -- So the great battle of the new European Constitution is over -- at least for the moment. The leaders of 25 member-states of the European Union have agreed and signed up to a massive document, entitled a Constitution, which for the first time gives the EU a legal personality and an authority...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 23, 2004

New approach needed in six-party talks

By Michael O'Hanlon

WASHINGTON -- As the six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program resume late this month, the outlook for success remains as poor as ever. The Bush administration continues to take a firm stand, insisting on complete, verifiable and irreversible North Korean nuclear disarmament before any discussions...

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 22, 2004

One country, many systems?

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- China is said to be changing fast and profoundly, but three recent issues highlight best the changing concept of regionalism in China:

COMMENTARY

Jun 21, 2004

'Kanazawa Process' pays off

By Brahma Chellaney

KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Prefecture -- The "Kanazawa Process," a unique initiative sponsored by the United Nations for promoting peace and stability in Northeast Asia, is now celebrating its 10th anniversary. During the decade, this region and the wider world have been radically transformed.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.

Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat

By Greg Dvorak

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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