Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
World Sep 19, 2013
Iran frees well-known activist and 10 other political prisoners
In a sign Iran's government is loosening its grip on domestic security, several political prisoners, including a prominent human rights lawyer, are freed.
Editorial Sep 14, 2013
Pyongyang must honor pledge
North Korea cannot be allowed to blackmail the world into once again buying its nuclear weapon-making potential.
Asia Pacific Sep 9, 2013
Kim 'good dad' to baby girl: Rodman
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a baby daughter named Ju Ae, according to former NBA star Dennis Rodman, who labeled the supreme ruler of the isolated, authoritarian state a “good dad.” Rodman, who calls Kim a friend and just returned from his ...
Asia Pacific | Focus Sep 3, 2013
Nukes, terrorists, intel gaps: U.S. 'black budget' shows extent of distrust toward Pakistan
by Barton Gellman
The $52.6 billion U.S. intelligence arsenal is aimed mainly at unambiguous adversaries, including al-Qaida, North Korea and Iran. But top-secret budget documents reveal an equally intense focus on one purported ally: Pakistan, which appears at the top of charts listing critical U.S. intelligence gaps.
World Aug 19, 2013
Joint drill begins, even as tensions ease with North
South Korea launched a military drill Monday with the United States against a simulated North Korean invasion, even as a recent easing of tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang gathered momentum. Although the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill is largely played out on computers, it ...
World Aug 10, 2013
Zimbabwe in 'secret deal' to sell Iran uranium
Zimbabwe has signed a secret deal to supply Iran with the raw materials needed to develop a nuclear weapon, in breach of international sanctions, The Times reported on Saturday. “I have seen [a memorandum of understanding] to export uranium to the Iranians,” Zimbabwean Deputy ...
National Aug 8, 2013
Film director Stone dismisses U.S. A-bomb claim as 'tremendous lie'
by Mai Iida
American film director Oliver Stone has challenged the commonly held U.S. perception that the 1945 atomic bombing of Japan ended World War II — saving a huge number of American lives in the process — as “a tremendous lie” during his visit to Hiroshima ...
Global-related Aug 7, 2013
'No more hibakusha' takes on new meaning after 3/11
by Ryan Masaaki Yokota
A Japanese scholar writes of his outrage in 2011 over the realization that the Fukushima nuclear plant accidents would produce a new generation of hibakusha.
World Aug 7, 2013
Iran ready for 'serious negotiations' on nuclear program: new president
In his first news conference since taking office, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, the man known as the "diplomat sheik," reiterated his willingness to participate in nuclear negotiations with the international community but stopped short of saying he would welcome direct talks with the United ...
National Aug 6, 2013
Hiroshima mayor skeptical of Abe atomic arms vow
At the ceremony Tuesday marking the 68th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to do whatever he can to achieve a world without nuclear arms and to offer better support to atomic-bomb survivors fighting radiation-caused health problems. ...
Politics & Diplomacy Aug 5, 2013
Iran's Rouhani sworn in as president, vows shift in relations with West
U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Muslim world will be closed through the end of the week as a precaution, the State Department announces.
World | ANALYSIS Aug 3, 2013
Iran's Rouhani faces pressure over economy
by Joby Warrick and Jason Rezaian
Iran’s economy is showing signs of foundering just as the country prepares to inaugurate its first new president in eight years, with Western sanctions cutting ever deeper into the Islamic republic’s financial lifelines and increasing pressure for a nuclear deal with the West. New ...