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 Oct 1, 2013
Germany admits chemical exports to Assad in '11
The German government admits it had approved as recently as 2011 the export to Syria of chemicals that could be weaponized, and in larger quantities than previously known.
World Oct 1, 2013
Syria foreign minister likens civil war to 9/11
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Monday pledged to cooperate with international inspectors charged with dismantling Syria’s chemical weapons program, but he vowed to crush a rebellion that he said has drawn strength from al-Qaida and other internationalist jihadists. Addressing a gathering of world ...
World Sep 30, 2013
Chemical inspectors detail Syria arms plan
Syria's government has been "businesslike and efficient" ahead of meetings this week to lay the groundwork for the destruction of the country's chemical weapons, officials charged with overseeing the effort said say.
World Sep 29, 2013
U.N. secretary-general holds first meeting with Syrian opposition chief
U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon held his first meeting Saturday with the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition in a bid to press for a Syria peace conference. The meeting is likely to infuriate President Bashar Assad’s government, which routinely calls the coalition and ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 29, 2013
Politics and pride drive Putin's anti-U.S. shift
by Kathy Lally
First, Vladimir Putin accused Hillary Rodham Clinton of inciting protests against him at the end of 2011. The next fall, the Russian president threw the U.S. Agency for International Development out of his country. Then he decided civic groups that get U.S. financing must ...
World Sep 28, 2013
U.N. passes resolution on Syrian chemicals
The U.N. Security Council approves an ambitious plan for Syria to surrender its chemical arms but does not spell out penalties if Damascus fails to comply.
World Sep 27, 2013
U.N. Security Council resolution deal reached on Syria chemical weapons
The five permanent members of the deeply divided U.N. Security Council reached agreement Thursday on a resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, British and U.S. diplomats said, and the full council was set to discuss later Thursday night. The agreement represents a major ...
World Sep 26, 2013
Syrian rebel groups ally to create Islamic state, reject West
U.S. hopes of winning more influence over Syria’s fractious rebel movement faded Wednesday after 11 of the biggest armed factions repudiated the Western-backed opposition coalition and announced the formation of a new alliance dedicated to creating an Islamic state. The al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, designated ...
National Sep 25, 2013
Japan, France agree on need for strong U.N. resolution on Syria
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and French President Francois Hollande have agreed at a summit on the need for a strong U.N. resolution to stop Syria from using chemical weapons, while pledging cooperation on decommissioning the Fukushima No. 1 plant, a Japanese official said. At ...
National Sep 25, 2013
Humanitarian aid for refugees key: Kishida, Hague
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, agreed Tuesday on the importance of humanitarian aid in tackling the Syrian crisis. Kishida and Hague agreed on the necessity of a ...
National Sep 25, 2013
Canada agrees to begin exporting shale gas to Japan
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed Tuesday that Canada will begin exporting shale gas to Japan, making it the second country after the U.S. to provide the nation with the natural gas. During the summit talks in Ottawa, Abe ...
Politics & Diplomacy Sep 23, 2013
Abe heads to Canada, U.S. for PR offensive
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads to Canada and the United States for political talks and to attend a U.N. meeting to pledge support for Syrian civilians.