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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2014

Chinese military's ability to wage war eroded by graft, its generals warn

As tensions spike between China and other countries in Asia's disputed waters, serving and retired Chinese military officers as well as state media are questioning whether China's armed forces are too corrupt to fight and win a war.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2014

Higher standards for assemblies

Recent instances of strange or illegal behavior on the part of municipal and prefectural assembly members, including a bawling jag by a Hyogo assemblymen whose hand was caught in the cookie jar, have given many citizens cause to suspect that the overall quality of their local lawmakers is deteriorating.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2014

Two California youths accused of plotting high school shooting spree

Police in the Los Angeles suburb of South Pasadena said Monday they had thwarted a mass shooting plot with the arrest of two teenagers who were conspiring to kill several staffers and as many fellow students as possible at their high school.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 19, 2014

Obama sending Holder to Ferguson; National Guard deploys

President Barack Obama said he has dispatched Attorney General Eric Holder to meet with federal and local authorities in Ferguson, Missouri, where the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by police has sparked days of protests and violence.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2014

Julian Assange hopes to exit embassy in London if U.K. lets him, spokesman says

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has spent over two years inside Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, said on Monday he planned to leave the building "soon," but his spokesman said that could only happen if Britain lets him.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 17, 2014

Ukraine rebels gearing up for eastern counterstrike

Pro-Russian separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine are receiving new armored vehicles and fighters trained in Russia, and plan to launch a major counteroffensive against government forces, a rebel leader said in a video released on Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 14, 2014

Surrender had lasting impact on many Japanese after war's end

Many Japanese people remember Aug. 15 as the day World War II ended. Sixty-nine years ago today, in a speech broadcast on the radio, Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan had notified the Allied powers of its acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2014

Obama can't afford to wage another Cold War

The U.S. may not be facing a new Cold War, but it will only weaken its position in the world, and especially against Russia, if it fails to heed the lessons of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 12, 2014

Crzkny unites artists against nuclear power

Electronic-music producer Kenji Takikawa's work took a major detour following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Aug 9, 2014

Legacy of 1984 Olympics still growing strong

What will be the legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics?
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 8, 2014

China to build lighthouses on disputed isles

China plans to build lighthouses on five islands in the South China Sea, state media reported Thursday, in defiance of calls from the United States and the Philippines for a freeze on such activity to ease tension over rival claims.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2014

China auto factory ignored warnings about dust blast risk

Local government officials in China repeatedly warned a car parts factory that was rocked by a deadly blast over the weekend that high levels of dust could spark an explosion, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported Monday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2014

Aid workers with Ebola head to U.S.

Two American aid workers, both seriously ill after being infected with the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, will be flown to the United States and treated in isolation at an Atlanta hospital, officials said on Friday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jul 30, 2014

Massive graft, rivalry behind purge of China's oil mandarins

Oil executive Jiang Jiemin rose to power in communist China in time-honored fashion: by hitching his star to a mighty mentor.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 25, 2014

With poll numbers falling, Abe turns to suffering local economies

As his polling numbers dive, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe turns his attention and bluster to the nation's rural economies, vowing to work his 'Abenomics' magic outside Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 25, 2014

Air Algerie plane latest to crash; 110 feared dead

An Air Algerie flight crashed Thursday while en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, an Algerian aviation official said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

Clues to the evolution of warfare

As no great power has fought any other for the past 69 years, is it possible that humans are in the midst of a 'peaceful' transformation as a result of war becoming too dangerous and expensive to risk waging?
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 20, 2014

Ukraine, rebels argue over access to downed airliner site; Europeans give Putin 'last chance'

Ukraine on Saturday accused Russia and pro-Moscow rebels of destroying evidence to cover up their guilt in the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner that has accelerated a showdown between the Kremlin and Western powers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 19, 2014

Politician Nonomura weeps and the world laughs

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone. For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, but has trouble enough of its own."
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jul 19, 2014

Time for legislation to prevent spread of hate speech

On July 8, the Osaka High Court ruled that, yes, standing in front of a primary school while kids are in class, shouting through a megaphone that they and their parents are not human, and then vandalizing the school's property, is legal discrimination.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jul 17, 2014

Responsibility for reactor restarts a hot potato

Regulators, politicians and bureaucrats bob and weave as the public asks one question: Who will take responsibility for the decision to authorize reactor restarts?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2014

Sendai nuclear plant gets first restart OK

Japan is a step closer to resuming suspended nuclear power operations, after the Sendai plant in Kyushu becomes the first to meet strict new safety standards.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jul 14, 2014

LDP lawmaker apologizes for sexist jibe

A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker apologized on June 23 for shouting a sexist remark at a female colleague from Your Party while she was asking questions about maternity support measures during a plenary session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 10, 2014

Angelina Jolie takes evil to new places in 'Maleficent'

Websites such as Buzzfeed have made an art of the "listicle," a news article that comprises a top 10 on a designated topic. Thanks to childhood nostalgia, Walt Disney characters often make their way onto such listicles, and a quick look at the Top 10 Disney villains of all time often ends with one woman...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2014

North Korea test-fires more missiles, but abduction talks likely to continue

North Korea's launch Wednesday morning of what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles prompted a fresh protest from Tokyo, but appears unlikely to derail ongoing talks over the abduction of Japanese nationals.

Longform

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