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November 24, 2024

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EDITORIALS

Apr 2, 1999

Stumbling over Myanmar

Relations between Europe and Asia continue to be the weakest link in the three-legged global economy. Efforts to remedy that defect have been made. One of the most important is the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process that began in 1997. Those meetings have made some progress, but a deeper dialogue between...

EDITORIALS

Apr 1, 1999

A warning to tyrants everywhere

In a landmark decision, Britain's Law Lords last week ruled 6-1 that Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, could be extradited to Spain on charges of human-rights abuses during his rule. The vote was even more decisive than the earlier 3-2 ruling that dismissed Mr. Pinochet's immunity claim...

EDITORIALS

Apr 1, 1999

Russia's shaky vote of confidence

Russia and the International Monetary Fund this week agreed on a framework that will permit the organization to resume lending to the beleaguered country. Only the outlines of the deal have emerged; final details are to be worked out next week. But the particulars of the package are less important than...

COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW

Apr 1, 1999

Russia's new paranoia

By Constantine Pleshakov

If one nation is totally infuriated by the current bombing of Serbia, it's Russia. After numerous assaults by angry crowds, the imposing building of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Moscow now looks like an expensive piece of furniture despoiled by a wild party, its walls covered with ketchup and ink. It...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 1, 1999

Pinochet advances human rights after all

By Myint Zan

Both the anti-Pinochet crowd that had gathered outside the House of Lords in London and the Pinochet supporters at the Pinochet Foundation in Santiago, Chile, cheered and celebrated soon after the seven Law Lords gave the gist of their judgments live on radio and television. Both pro-Pinochet and anti-Pinochet...

EDITORIALS

Mar 31, 1999

A token gesture ...

Here is an apt symbol for our era. At a news conference in New York earlier this month -- actually, on the very day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly bested the 10,000 mark for the first time -- the U.S. toy and game maker Hasbro Inc. announced the results of a campaign to choose a new token...

EDITORIALS

Mar 30, 1999

Prodi steps into the breach

Wasting no time, the leaders of the 15 members of the European Union last week nominated former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to be the new president of the European Commission. Mr. Prodi replaces Mr. Jacques San ter, who resigned March 15 along with the 19 other commission ers after an independent...

EDITORIALS

Mar 27, 1999

Vote local, think national

Campaigning has started for 12 gubernatorial elections, including the all-important race for Tokyo governor. These are part of a series of local elections to be held in April, the results of which will have a significant impact on national politics. As it enters the 21st century, Japan must implement...

EDITORIALS

Mar 26, 1999

High stakes in Kosovo

Wednesday evening, NATO attacked a sovereign nation for the first time in the alliance's 50-year history. The initial strikes against Yugoslavia, carried out by B-2 "stealth" bombers and cruise missiles, were designed to suppress air-defense systems and other military targets and are the first steps...

EDITORIALS

Mar 25, 1999

Banking on the euro

The euro was designed to create economies of scale. A single European currency zone was expected to maximize the reach of companies looking to exploit the new supermarket by rationalizing planning and production costs. Proof of the idea's appeal -- and its inevitability -- is the wave of mergers and...

EDITORIALS

Mar 24, 1999

Fingerprints on cyberspace

Now, more than ever before, knowledge is power. The information society puts such a premium on sorting the wheat from the chaff, that relevant facts -- real knowledge -- are invaluable. There is a less recognized corollary of that truism: Data represent profit. Virtual mountains of data are accumulating...

COMMENTARY / World

Mar 24, 1999

Chinese cronyism hinders reform efforts

By Shoichi Kobayashi

The People's Republic of China will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding Oct. 1, and major national events are scheduled to take place at that time. President Jiang Zemin has been promoting the slogan of "stability first" -- a reflection of his desire to complete the ceremonies successfully...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

Azabudai Hills, Tokyo’s green new downtown ‘village’

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