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January 27, 2025

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COMMENTARY / World

Jul 14, 2005

Tokyo-Seoul rift threatens U.S. interest

By Scott Snyder

WASHINGTON -- Despite efforts during last month's summit between South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and President George W. Bush in Washington to speak with "one voice" about the health of the alliance and to improve policy coordination toward North Korea, the summit saw the emergence of a potentially...

COMMENTARY

Jul 14, 2005

Unraveling motives of terror

By David Howell

LONDON -- After months of careful planning, it has been the turn of London to suffer the carnage already familiar to the people of Madrid, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Istanbul, New York (although not on the same scale) and many other world cities.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 13, 2005

New Delhi gets serious about cigarettes

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

MADRAS, India -- A recent study in the United States revealed that films have a powerful effect on viewers' behavior. When actors smoke on screen, they serve as a link between big tobacco companies and impressionable young people.

COMMENTARY

Jul 13, 2005

Sinophobia complicates takeover bids

By Harvey Stockwin

HONG KONG -- In quick succession, the previously intangible reality of "China Rising" has taken on tangible form for Americans, as China has used the wealth that has accrued as a result of its rapid development and huge trade surpluses to try and takeover three U.S. businesses.

COMMENTARY

Jul 12, 2005

A skittish reform pendulum

By Keizo Nabeshima

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills cleared the Lower House on July 5 by only five votes, demonstrating the strength of anti-Koizumi forces in the governing Liberal Democratic Party. The narrow margin reflected severe criticism of not only the legislation but also Koizumi's...

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jul 10, 2005

New horizons beckon as Train Man heads nowhere fast

By Roger Pulvers

The Japanese nation seems to be firmly in the grip of the otaku.

COMMENTARY

Jul 9, 2005

Blair pinpoints EU challenges

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- In his speech to the European Parliament in Brussels on June 23, British Prime Minister Tony Blair set out in stark terms the main challenges facing Europe (and in different ways perhaps, the United States and Japan) from China and India.

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Jul 9, 2005

Brace for more bipartisan battles in wake of Supreme Court justice's retirement

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- The July 1 announcement by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that she is retiring marks the end of a distinguished 24-year career, and the beginning of a crucial struggle by President George W. Bush to find a replacement.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 9, 2005

Beijing aims to politically isolate Koizumi

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- The feud between China and Japan over the contents of Japanese history textbooks, sovereignty of the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's periodic visits to Yasukuni Shrine came to a head in April when anti-Japanese riots broke out in some Chinese cities.

COMMENTARY

Jul 8, 2005

Deceits enervate an Iraq exit

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush's latest attempt to justify his Iraq policy with a televised address to America comes as more evidence emerges that the invasion of Iraq was a war of choice. In arguing that the United States must persevere because Iraq has become "a central front in the war on...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 7, 2005

Hungry underclass growing

By Olusegun Obasanjo

There is a pain in the belly of Africa that just will not go away. It is gnawing at our development goals and undermining our economies. It is blighting the lives of the young and shortening the life span of the old, yet somehow it is being forgotten. What is this scourge that stalks our continent? A...

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 6, 2005

Africa's health challenges

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Persistent poverty in most African countries is seriously effecting the health and quality of life for children and adults. Diarrheal and respiratory infections, measles, malaria and perinatal pose the most serious threats to children's lives, while HIV/AIDS and malnutrition cast an ominous...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.

Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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