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Jason Horowitz
For Jason Horowitz's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Pope Francis presides over a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024
Pope says Ukraine should have the ‘courage of the white flag’
Pope Francis has reiterated in a new interview that Ukraine should negotiate to end the war with Russia, but this time he used language — adopting his interviewer’s expression, "white flag” — that has drawn attention and raised questions about whether the pope was suggesting that Ukraine surrender.
Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and a professor at the Gregorian, the Harvard of Rome's pontifical universities, in his office at the university in Rome on Jan. 29. Benanti advises the Vatican and the Italian government on navigating the tricky questions — moral and otherwise — raised by artificial intelligence.
WORLD / Society
Feb 14, 2024
The friar who became the Vatican’s go-to guy on AI
Father Paolo Benanti, an ethics professor and self-proclaimed geek, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 26, 2023
Who will take care of Italy’s older people? Robots, maybe.
The Western world’s oldest population is facing a crisis of caregivers. Some are looking for a little helping, plastic, hand.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 13, 2022
Shelling of Ukraine nuclear plant raising fears and outrage
The war in Ukraine has had no shortage of devastation, yet the repeated shelling of the sprawling Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in recent days has particularly roused widespread fears.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 25, 2022
Mario Draghi’s fall reverberates beyond Italy
Draghi's downfall already amounts to the toppling of the establishment that populist forces across Europe dream of.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2022
Vladimir Putin, family man
As Western nations place sanctions on people close to the Russian leader, including family members, the strict secrecy surrounding his private life is being punctured.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2022
He knows Putin well. And he fears for Ukraine.
The Finnish president, Sauli Niinisto, has carved out a vital role as interpreter between East and West, and he is not optimistic about the prospects for peace.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 10, 2022
Finns don’t wish ‘Finlandization’ on Ukraine — or anyone
Invoked by some as a solution to the Ukraine standoff, the term reminds many of a time when smaller nations were mere pawns in a game they didn't control.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 1, 2022
COVID’s new divide: risk takers vs. the risk averse
In Italy, with its high vaccination rate, the social schism revolves less around who's gotten a shot, and more around lifestyles and comfort levels of living with the coronavirus.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 27, 2022
The world awaits Putin’s word on Ukraine, but on that, he is silent
A news conference more than a month ago was the last time that Putin spoke publicly about the current crisis over Ukraine.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 12, 2021
A surprise sports hero broadens Italy’s image of itself
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the son of a Black American father and white Italian mother, has broadened the public imagination of what Italian athletes, and Italians, can look like.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2021
A giant of Europe prepares to head Italy’s new unity government
Mario Draghi presented his Cabinet to Italy's president on Friday, all but assuring that he will become prime minister at a precarious moment for the country and the European Union.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 28, 2013
Weiner wife emerges as husband's chief defender despite repeat of sex scandal
It was his news conference, but it was hard to take your eyes off her. With Huma Abedin's emergence as her husband's chief defender and protector in a second sex scandal, she made a public transformation from being the victim of Anthony Weiner's transgressions to a full partner in his ambition.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2013
Liberal hawks mum on U.S. intervention in Syria
For interests on both sides of Syria's civil war, the past two weeks have been the time to increase the pressure. Hezbollah sent reinforcements to the troops of President Bashar Assad, and Russia reiterated its intention to furnish the regime with weapons. At the same time, Republican Sen. John McCain secretly visited rebels and promised to push the administration of President Barack Obama to arm the retreating forces. The European Union allowed its weapons embargo to lapse as nations such as Britain and France appear increasingly eager to aid the opposition fighters.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2013
Four core 2008 Clinton staffers would pass on a 2016 bid
Howard Wolfson, the 2008 communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has said he will not return for a 2016 presidential campaign. Neither, for that matter, will Neera Tanden, the campaign's policy director. Ditto for Mark Penn, the chief strategist, and Patti Solis Doyle, the embattled campaign manager.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2013
Who is the real John McCain?
John McCain was excited. It was late January, and the following day, he and a group of bipartisan senators were set to announce their framework for comprehensive immigration reform. He picked up the phone and called an old friend in Arizona.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 13, 2013
Pope leaves legacy of impartial governance
Yes, Pope Benedict XVI came into the Vatican with the reputation as God's Rottweiler. Yes, he was an archconservative who seemed to care a lot more about liturgical orthodoxy than the plight of the church's progressives. Yes, he never escaped the shadow of the superstar and sanctified pope who preceded him. And yes, he largely failed in his placeholder pontificate to establish an emotional connection with the billions of people he led as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?