Tag - barack-obama

 
 

BARACK OBAMA

Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2014
Ahead of anticipated electoral drubbing, Obama faces pressure to reboot presidency
A reshuffling of President Barack Obama's staff looks all but certain after Tuesday's congressional elections, which were likely to bring humbling losses to his Democratic party and could add to pressure on him to reboot his presidency.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 4, 2014
White House blames D.C. gridlock for Democrats' unpopularity
With many races tight but polls showing a general trend in favor of Republicans, the White House on Monday blamed voter dissatisfaction with Washington for what could be an Election Day rout for President Barack Obama's Democrats.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 3, 2014
Fight against Islamic State gives Obama, Xi a rare chance to agree
When the United States and China discuss cooperating against Islamic State later this month, the most prominent outcome is likely to be less criticism of each other's anti-terrorism policies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2014
Jerusalem passport case poses foreign policy headache for Washington
The United States is facing an unconventional challenge as it seeks to project credibility as a neutral peacemaker between the Israelis and Palestinians: a case before the Supreme Court involving a 12-year-old boy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2014
Republicans poised to ride Obama's unpopularity to gains in U.S. midterm elections
Republicans are poised to pick up seats and could win control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in midterm elections heavily influenced by deep voter dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama's job performance.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2014
Obama makes final campaign push, hoping to avert electoral rout
President Barack Obama made a final push on Sunday to help struggling Democrats before this week's midterm elections, making campaign stops in Connecticut and Pennsylvania to try to avert a "shellacking" at the polls like the one in 2010.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 1, 2014
Christian right still key to GOP plans in South
If Republicans win control of the Senate in the midterm elections they should say a prayer of thanks for Christian conservatives.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 30, 2014
Assad's warnings start to ring true as Syrian strife arrives at Turkey's doorstep
When Sunni rebels rose up against Syria's Bashar Assad in 2011, Turkey reclassified its protege as a pariah, expecting him to lose power within months and join the autocrats of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen on the scrap heap of the Arab Spring.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 29, 2014
Imminent U.S. revamp of nuclear weapons, subs and planes is too costly, some say
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel grabbed a ladder extending through the sleek black hull of the USS Tennessee at a U.S. Navy submarine base in Kings Bay and disappeared down the hatch for a close look at one of the Pentagon's most daunting budget issues.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2014
Iraqis defy breakup of nation by sending aid to neighboring town
On one side of a bombed out street in Duloaiya, a black flag marks the territory of Islamic State. On the other, Shiite militia snipers perch on the roof of a school, their sights trained on the Sunni extremists.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2014
After victory in key Iraqi town, Shiite militias take revenge
After helping government forces break the Islamic State's grip over a strategic town just south of Baghdad on Saturday, Shiite militias decided it was time for payback.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2014
Americans back travel ban from Ebola outbreak countries: poll
Nearly three-fourths of Americans support a ban on civilian air travel in and out of the West African countries that have experienced an Ebola outbreak, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows, suggesting growing pressure on President Barack Obama over the issue.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 17, 2014
Rule 1: 'Don't do stupid stuff'
The challenge for the Obama administration as it 'rebalances' toward the Asia-Pacific is that diplomatic and economic interactions lag military ties. That's why a system of trans-Pacific free trade in the region is vital.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2014
Obama, foreign military chiefs to thrash out plans to halt Islamic State advance
President Barack Obama was to hash out a strategy to counter the Islamic State group on Tuesday with military leaders from some 20 countries including Turkey and Saudi Arabia amid growing pressure on the U.S.-led coalition to do more to halt the militants' advance.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2014
Let the neighbors take care of Islamic State's ambitions
President Barack Obama is channeling George W. Bush in launching a new war in the Middle East. Why is Washington involved? Let Iraq's and Syria's neighbors take care of Islamic State's ambitions.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2014
Modi's outreach to U.S. more than pageantry
Though some critics view the Indian prime minister's recent visit to the U.S. as puff and pageantry with no concrete results, Narendra Modi laid the foundation for long-term changes in the way India conducts its international affairs.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 11, 2014
Kobani's fall would be symbolic setback for Obama Syria strategy
It's not a particularly strategic location, the United States and its allies never pledged to defend it, and few people outside the region had even heard of it before this month.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 11, 2014
Thousands will be massacred if jihadis take key Syrian-Turkish border town: U.N. envoy
Thousands of people most likely will be massacred if Kobani falls to Islamic State group fighters, a U.N. envoy said Friday, as militants fought deeper into the besieged Syrian-Kurdish town in full view of Turkish tanks that have done nothing to intervene.
WORLD
Oct 10, 2014
Airstrikes don't stop Islamic State from taking wide area of Syrian town
Islamic State fighters seized more than a third of the Syrian border town of Kobani, a monitoring group said Thursday, as U.S.-led airstrikes failed to halt their advance and Turkish forces looked on without intervening.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2014
Lawmakers want U.S. to bar entry of West Africans over Ebola fears
More than two dozen lawmakers want the United States government to ban travelers from the West African countries hit hardest by the Ebola virus until the outbreak is under control.

Longform

A woman passes an "akichi" (vacant lot) in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. The capital is littered with such small lots in part because of Japan's aging and shrinking population.
Dealing with rising land vacancies as Japan shrinks