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November 30, 2024

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COMMENTARY

Oct 20, 2003

Pension plans on life-support

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- A flood of articles in the European media recently has warned about the growing problem of paying pensions as the populations of European countries age and birthrates decline. For Japan, this problem looks especially acute.

EDITORIALS

Oct 19, 2003

A year after Bali

Just over a year ago, a man wearing a bomb concealed in his clothes walked into Paddy's Bar, a popular nightspot for tourists in Bali, Indonesia, and launched a suicide attack. When the survivors fled into the streets, a minivan loaded with 50 kg of explosives went off. The attacks claimed 202 lives...

COMMENTARY

Oct 19, 2003

More trouble for Pakistan's democracy

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- The first anniversary this month of the restoration of Pakistan's democracy following the three years of military rule has brought little joy over the future prospects of the South Asian nuclear-armed state.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 18, 2003

Beijing's political reform has yet to get off the ground

By Wenran Jiang

EDMONTON, Canada -- While China is celebrating the successful launch of its first manned spacecraft into orbit, there is indication that its political reform program is grounded for now.

EDITORIALS

Oct 18, 2003

A divine vessel takes flight

Forty-two years after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin pioneered manned space flight, China has joined the exclusive club of nations that has put a man into space. The successful launch of the Shenzhou 5 ("divine vessel") carrying "taikonaut" Yang Liwei is a milestone in China's space program. It is a boost...

EDITORIALS

Oct 17, 2003

NPT regime must not collapse

Suspicions about the nuclear-development programs of North Korea and Iran are shaking the foundation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. First, North Korea announced its withdrawal from the NPT; now, serious concerns exist regarding the intent behind Iran's secret operations to enrich uranium.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 17, 2003

Bubbles feed on more than irrationality

By Christopher Lingle

GUATEMALA CITY -- Government officials in China and South Korea are confronted with the troubling prospects of a real estate bubble evident in soaring prices in parts of Shanghai and Seoul. After all, it was the bursting of the asset bubbles in Japan that set the stage for a lost decade of sluggish economic...

EDITORIALS

Oct 16, 2003

New banking hope for small firms

It appears that small-business banking in Japan is about to enter a new era. In May, the Tokyo metropolitan government unveiled a plan to create a new bank to serve smaller businesses. Now, members of the Japan Junior Chamber are pushing a similar plan. In August, they applied for permission from the...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 16, 2003

South Africa's challenge

By Ramesh Thakur

We were in Pretoria in August. That month, a baby, its mother and grandmother were shot to death and their car stolen; a man visited his wife in the hospital only to be "carjacked" and shot dead when he came back to the car park; a woman was critically wounded when she was shot in her car as she visited...

EDITORIALS

Oct 15, 2003

Settling for less than peace

The Israeli government's recent announcement that it planned to build more than 600 homes in West Bank settlements is another stake through the heart of the "road map" for peace between Palestinians and Israelis. There is no reason to expand this construction -- other than a desire to create "facts on...

COMMENTARY

Oct 15, 2003

Schwarzenegger should learn from Asia's strongmen

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES -- It looks as though California is getting some Southeast Asian strongman-style leadership. But will Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's new governor, prove half as effective as the two dominant personalities that have run Malaysia and Singapore these past decades? Or, in the end, will Schwarzenegger...

EDITORIALS

Oct 13, 2003

To text or not to text

You knew it had to come. When it was reported last week that a British rehabilitation clinic had begun treating patients for an uncontrollable addiction to text messaging, it certainly sounded like a sign of the times. Or something. It was hard to be sure of the precise significance of the announcement...

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

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

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