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November 27, 2024

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COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2002

Israel may push U.S. to deal with Iran

By David Hirst

BEIRUT -- As America's campaign in Afghanistan winds down, who the next target will be in the promised "phase two" of the "war on terror" remains firmly in the realm of conjecture. Speculation has focused most intensely on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein himself. Yet, if Israel gets its way, Iran could...

EDITORIALS

Jan 27, 2002

Back on the trolley

The objects of nostalgia are always receding. In the stories of Nagai Kafu, for example, electric trolleys (also called trams or streetcars) are viewed as ugly symbols of everything that is new and un-Japanese. His characters ride them out of necessity, but walk or take a rickshaw whenever they can....

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2002

Outsiders didn't dig the Argentine hole

By Bruce Stokes

WASHINGTON -- It is always politically incorrect to blame the victim. But Argentina is an exception. Argentines have no one to blame but themselves for their current economic mess. They have long lived beyond their means. And now the piper must be paid.

EDITORIALS

Jan 26, 2002

Taiwanese 'creativity'

A decision designed to end confusion at borders is the latest source of unease in relations between Taiwan and China. The Taiwan government decided recently to add the words "issued in Taiwan" to the passports it supplies its citizens. The move was criticized at home and abroad. If that energy could...

EDITORIALS

Jan 26, 2002

Three little words

The United States is holding prisoner some 500 men that it captured in Afghanistan. According to the U.S. government, those detainees are "unlawful combatants," not prisoners of war. The distinction is an important one: In addition to depriving the men of their rights, it mocks the principles that the...

COMMENTARY

Jan 26, 2002

A revolution in British politics

By David Howell

LONDON -- The British Constitution has long been widely admired, if not always understood.

COMMENTARY

Jan 26, 2002

Bush gets it right in East Asia

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- As we mark the Bush administration's first anniversary, U.S.-East Asia relations, after an early rough start, appear on an upswing. The one exception is on the Korean Peninsula, where Pyongyang's refusal to take "yes" for an answer has resulted in a decline in U.S.-North Korean relations...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 25, 2002

Heightened fear of radicals gives Mahathir a big win

By David Chew

KANGAR, Malaysia -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has cleverly manipulated the Sept. 11 Islamic terrorist attacks in the United States and their aftermath to crush his political rivals in a crucial by-election in the north Malaysian state of Perlis over the weekend.

EDITORIALS

Jan 25, 2002

Ms. Macapagal Arroyo's gamble

The second front on the war against terrorism is opening up. The United States has dispatched military advisers to the Philippines to assist that country's armed forces as they fight a Muslim extremist group that is alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda. While the move was expected, it is not without risks....

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 25, 2002

Daring assault in Calcutta hijacks peace moves

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's landmark pledge on television two weeks ago to crack down on religious extremist groups appears to have been hijacked by terrorists.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 24, 2002

Forget peace if the rules differ for Israel

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to keep Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat under siege in the West Bank city of Ra- mallah shows an utter disrespect for the Palestinian leader and for the Palestinians. While Sharon insists that Arafat will not leave the city until...

COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE

Jan 24, 2002

A case for campaign finance reform

By Bob Keefe

WASHINGTON -- Controversy is raging about the Enron collapse. Is it a political story? Is it a criminal story? Is it a business story? Is it a story about personalities? The Enron story is all three. The real question is which category is the most important. and that all depends on your perspective....

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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