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May 22, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2011
The microfinance catalyst
By Jayant Sinha and Tarun Khanna
So-called impact investors — providers of capital to businesses that solve social challenges while generating a profit — are the current rage in economic development. U.S. President Barack Obama's Office for Social Innovation and Civic Participation recently convened more than 100 practitioners to...
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2011
China's unparalleled rise as a hydro-hegemon
By Brahma Chellaney
International discussion about China's rise has focused on its increasing trade muscle, growing maritime ambitions and expanding capacity to project military power. One critical issue, however, usually escapes attention: China's rise as a hydro-hegemon with no modern historical parallel.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2011
NBA labor dispute illustrates an economic truth
By George Will
Kevin Garnett, 35, the Boston Celtics forward who has had a stellar career, was with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2004 when a teammate, Latrell Sprewell, augmented the national stock of unfortunate pronouncements. Dissatisfied with a three-year $21 million contract extension offer, Sprewell said: "I've...
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2011
A decade of Afghan tragedy
By Ramzy Baroud
On July 1, 2002, the United States bombed an Afghan wedding in the small village of Deh Rawud. Located to the north of Kandahar, the village seemed fortified by the region's many mountains. For a few hours, its people thought they were safe from a war they had never invited. They celebrated, and as customs...
COMMENTARY
Oct 18, 2011
Time is running out to avoid civil war in Syria
By Gwynne Dyer
Back in 1989, when the communist regimes of Europe were tottering, almost every day somebody would say "There's going to be a civil war." And our job, as foreign journalists who allegedly had their finger on the pulse of events, was to say: "No, there won't." So most of us did say that, as if we actually...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2011
The EU's clean-air turbulence
By Kevin Rafferty
Passengers flying to and from Europe face higher fares from next year, and anyone flying to Japan or Asia will pay sharply more than those staying within Europe or going to the Middle East, thanks to new rules from the European Union in pursuit of an oxymoron, making air travel environmentally friendly....
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2011
Steady growth in euro-skeptic club
By Hugh Cortazzi
The governor of The Bank of England in announcing recently another round of quantative easing said that he feared there might be an economic slowdown worse than in the 1930s. He may have been exaggerating in order to justify the bank's decision to print more money at a time when inflation in Britain...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2011
Unjustness of death penalty underlined again
By Peter Singer
Three significant events relating to the death penalty occurred in the United States during September. The one that gained the most publicity was the execution in Georgia of Troy Davis, who had been convicted of the 1989 murder of Mark McPhail, an off-duty police officer.
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2011
Worrisome link between diabetes, Alzheimer's
By Cesar Chelala
In 1999, the Rotterdam Study uncovered the strong association between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. In this landmark study carried out in the Netherlands, 6,370 elderly men and women were followed for an average of two years. In what was perhaps one of the first reports on this issue, they found...
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2011
The ethics of compensation
By Takamitsu Sawa
On the evening of Sept. 10, I watched a NHK "Special" television program titled "The Ultimate Choice: Michael Sandel's global classroom." The theme of the 75-minute program was who should pick up the bill for reconstructing areas devastated by natural calamities like earthquakes and hurricanes, and especially...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 16, 2011
Don't look back, Tohoku: It's time to look far beyond the Japanese box
By Roger Pulvers
Iam just back from a five-day journey around Iwate Prefecture in Tohoku with an NHK TV crew.
COMMENTARY
Oct 15, 2011
OWS protesters demanding ultimate entitlement
By George Will
The tea party's splendid successes, which have altered the nation's political vocabulary and agenda, have inspired a countermovement — Occupy Wall Street. Conservatives should rejoice and wish for it long life, abundant publicity and sufficient organization to endorse congressional candidates deemed...
Shinjiro Koizumi takes farm ministry reins after predecessor's rice gaffe
Agriculture minister Taku Eto (left), who resigned on Wednesday, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.
Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.
Tokyo to cover cost of base service fees for water utilities through summer
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to make the cost of base service fees in water utility bills free during the summer, hoping the financial support will allow residents to turn on their air conditioners and protect themselves against heatstroke.
Japan sets goal of having doors on 4,000 train station platforms by fiscal 2030
While the cost and logistics of installing platform doors have proven challenging, railway operators are adopting new solutions to lower expenses and increase flexibility.
Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
A window into the mind of Esperantist and political activist Teru Hasegawa
Teru Hasegawa, Esperanto name Verda Majo, wrote leftist political essays during WWII.
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.
Random stabbing cases in Japan raise fears: Could the next victim be me?
Police officers stand guard on May 7 outside Todaimae Station in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward after a random stabbing that injured a University of Tokyo student.
Japan confirms hard-line position ahead of possible tariff talks in Washington
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that when Japan states it wants the tariffs reviewed, it means Tokyo wants them removed.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

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