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March 16, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2009
Poverty: the winner in war on global warming
By Vaclav Klaus
PRAGUE — I am surprised at how so many people nowadays in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere have come to support policies underpinned by hysteria over global warming, particularly cap-and-trade legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and subsidies for "green" energy sources. I am convinced...
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2009
Misguided standards of global governance
By Lucian Bebchuk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In the wake of last year's global financial meltdown, there is now widespread recognition that inadequate investor protection can significantly affect how stock markets and economies develop, as well as how individual firms perform.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2009
Crony capitalism has taken root in America
By Sin-ming Shaw
BUENOS AIRES — For 20 years, Americans have denounced the "crony capitalism" of Third World countries, especially in Asia. But, just as those regions have been improving their public and corporate governance — Hong Kong just witnessed a breakthrough court decision against a telecom tycoon who is...
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2009
Parliament under attack
By David Howell
LONDON — The Mother of Parliaments at Westminster is in deep trouble. Housed in its venerable Thames-side palace — an instantly recognized icon of democracy around the world — it is today filled with anxious legislators who feel a mixture of anger, apprehension and bewilderment.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2009
Recognizing the 'pale blue dot' is to revere it
By Peter Singer
MELBOURNE — The 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote: "Two things fill the heart with ever renewed and increasing awe and reverence, the more often and more steadily we meditate upon them: the starry firmament above and the moral law within."
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2009
Pope discovers his voice in a pilgrimage of learning
By Kevin Rafferty
HONG KONG — Pope Benedict XVI's leaving the home comforts of the Vatican for the political and religious mine field called the Holy Land proved to be his own difficult pilgrimage in which a learned, but aloof, theologian discovered in Palestinian pain and suffering his own authentic cry for peace in...
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2009
Co-opting terror in Saudi Arabia's neighbor
By Mai Yamani
LONDON — In a prominent hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said: "If disorder threatens, take refuge in Yemen." The prophet was referring to the prosperous and civilized Yemen. But today disorder and radicalization in Yemen are beginning to infect Saudi Arabia, and thus the safety of the world's largest...
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2009
A story line to push the economy
By Robert J. Shiller
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Since hitting bottom in early March, the world's major stock markets have all risen dramatically. Some, notably in China and Brazil, reached lows last fall and again in March, before rebounding sharply, with Brazil's Bovespa up 75 percent in May compared to late October 2008, and...
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2009
California dream-makers in the driver's seat
By Tom Plate
LOS ANGELES — Sometimes it's not that easy living in Los Angeles. Despite splendid weather, sprawling beaches and gorgeous mountain ranges — not to mention the well-tanned Hollywood stars — you face the unrelenting, withering scorn of smug colleagues long established in New York and Washington....
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 17, 2009
1989: A year of hopes turned sour that we all must live with today
By Roger Pulvers
Anniversaries do sometimes matter, but it's not often that the anniversary of an entire year deserves noting and celebrating. However, the year 1989, now 20 years past, marks a crucial turning point in history.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2009
Hurdles to a Japanese F-22
By Weston S. Konishi and Robert Dujarric
North Korea's return to saber-rattling has brought military affairs back to the top of the Japan-U.S. agenda. As many Japanese continue to have — unfounded — doubts about the commitment of the Obama administration to the bilateral alliance, they are pushing for Washington to allow Japan to purchase...
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2009
Building trust between contentious brothers
By Pavin Chachavalpongpun
SINGAPORE — Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya recently announced that Thailand would facilitate resettlement in third countries for 158 Hmong refugees detained in Nong Khai province.
Canada has a new prime minister with a very hard first assignment
Mark Carney, Canada's incoming prime minister (center), during a swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday. Carney has been sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister, bringing the former central banker to power in the middle of an explosive trade war with the U.S.
Despite tough talk, economic woes may force Iran to bargain with Trump
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei looks on during a meeting with students in Tehran on Wednesday.
The U.S. says Japan has a 700% tariff on American rice. Is that the case?
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up a piece of paper with information about tariff rates at the White House on Tuesday.
As Trump thaws ties, Russia has a new public enemy number one: Britain
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he arrives to attend a summit held at Lancaster House in central London on March 2.
Japanese superfans turn dental clinic into Ohtani mini-museum
Japanese dentist Yusuke Kamimura poses for a photograph in front of a private collection dedicated to MLB player Shohei Ohtani, inside his dental clinic in Koshigaya, north of Tokyo, on Feb. 28, 2025.
Ishiba on shaky ground over budget and gift vouchers
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's reversal over medical co-payments late last week and the revelation he gave gift vouchers to lawmakers have weakened his political standing.
As pollen season peaks, Japan's allergy struggle emerges from hibernation
Urbanization is amplifying pollen-related allergies as grasslands and soft soil give way to concrete and asphalt.
Japan to get tough on businesses not taking heatstroke countermeasures
A construction site in Tokyo in July 2018. Businesses failing to take measures to prevent severe heatstroke among employees will be subjected to criminal punishment from June.
In a sea of Dodger Blue, Japanese superfan ready to cheer on the Cubs
Takuya “Moby” Okamoto after Game 5 of the 2016 World Series, which the Cubs went on to win in seven games to snap a 108-year drought

Podcast

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

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly
By Tomoko Otake

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