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November 29, 2024

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EDITORIALS

Mar 13, 2003

Greater patience could pay off

The world is holding its collective breath as the U.N. Security Council moves toward a crucial vote on a U.S.-British draft resolution laying the groundwork for war against Iraq. At the moment, the outcome of the vote is a matter of conjecture. Yet the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush...

EDITORIALS

Mar 12, 2003

After hemming and hawing

After months of hemming and hawing, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has officially announced his bid for re-election, ending speculation that he might return to national politics. His solid popularity makes it almost certain that he will win a second four-year term in the April 13 election. So far only...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 12, 2003

U.S. bears costs as U.N. is challenged

By Ramesh Thakur

As the issue of Iraq comes to a head, the United Nations faces a grave challenge. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are deeply divided; many governments -- British, Japanese, Spanish, Turkish -- are at odds with their own people; and the divisions have hardened since U.S. President...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 12, 2003

Preparing news reporters for surviving a nightmare

By Chris Cramer

As the world stands on the brink of what could be the most dangerous war ever, there is one question facing those of us in the news media: How far should a journalist go to get the story? With rogue groups in parts of the world appearing to regard journalists as legitimate targets, the inherently unsafe...

EDITORIALS

Mar 11, 2003

The perils of arms control 'lite'

Last May, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a treaty that mandates deep cuts in both countries' strategic nuclear arsenals. Last week, the U.S. Senate ratified the accord. While any nuclear arms reductions are to be welcomed, this document is troubling. It is...

COMMENTARY

Mar 11, 2003

Japan's nation-building role

By Keizo Nabeshima

Amid escalating tension over the Iraqi situation, the international community, including Japan, has again pledged contributions toward reconstructing war-torn Afghanistan. The pledges came at the Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace on Feb. 22, attended by officials from 34 countries, including...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 11, 2003

EU keeps channel open with Pyongyang

By Thanos Kafopoulos

The withdrawal of North Korea from the Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, has caused great concern among members of the international community. The pillars of the 1994 Framework Agreement between the United States and North Korea and the policy that led to the establishment of the Korean Peninsula Energy...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Mar 9, 2003

Rifts widen for U.S. ahead of war vote

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- We wait and watch. Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein is cooperating. Or is he? He is destroying some missiles that United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix says are too powerful. But is that enough? U.S. President George W. Bush does not seem convinced. "Pure showmanship and more stalling,"...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Mar 9, 2003

Sordid offspring of Uncle Joe

By Constantine Pleshakov

MOSCOW -- Wednesday was the anniversary of Joseph Stalin's death. The sordid man who for 30 years held the Soviet Union in an iron grip expired 50 years ago, but still casts a long shadow.

COMMENTARY

Mar 9, 2003

Bush will need a quick victory over Iraq

By Brad Glosserman

HONOLULU -- Last week U.S. President George W. Bush laid out his vision for the Middle East. For the most part, the text read like any other: It was a stump speech designed to drum up support for "regime change" in Iraq.

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 9, 2003

Glimpses of Indochina life 330 years ago

By George Sioris

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Against the current drama of the Iraqi issue, other national and regional developments seem to fade out of focus. One such "minor event" that is heading toward oblivion concerns the tiny landlocked country of Laos. At the beginning of the year, unexpected news from there made...

EDITORIALS

Mar 9, 2003

Written in stone and light

Poised on the edge of a war of their own seeking, Americans have not forgotten the event that, in their leaders' minds, at least, brought them to this point: the three-pronged attack of Sept. 11, 2001. While the plans to invade Iraq proceeded, so did the competitions to design fitting monuments to the...

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

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

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