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COMMENTARY

Aug 16, 2007

Scrambling among the Arctic players

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON — Among the headlines I never expected to see, the top three were "Pope marries," "President Bush admits error" and "Canada uses military might," but there it was, staring up at me from a British newspaper: "Canada uses military might in Arctic scramble."

COMMENTARY

Aug 16, 2007

Taiwan sets itself up for yet another fall

By Tom Plate

LOS ANGELES — Of all the countries of Asia, Taiwan deserves to be near the top of the list in terms of having earned the world's respect. Therein we find the tale.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 15, 2007

U.S.-India agreement threatens to fuel nuclear proliferation as well as arms race

By Sandeep Pandey

PRINCETON, New Jersey — The United States is having a difficult time trying to justify the U.S.-India nuclear deal that will be brought into effect by the "123 agreement" that has just been concluded between the two countries.

COMMENTARY

Aug 14, 2007

Why test just the teachers?

By Takamitsu Sawa

Medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses, jurists and certified public accountants are among the professionals who have had to pass national licensing examinations to get started. As professionals, they must have specialized knowledge and skills.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 14, 2007

Health-care costs to squeeze capitalism

By Kenneth Rogoff

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Will the inexorable rise in medical costs around the world someday pose a major challenge to contemporary capitalism? I submit that in the not-so-distant future, moral, social and political support for capitalism will be severely tested as would-be egalitarian health systems face...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 12, 2007

India set to enter Africa as a competitor

By Gareth Price and Alex Vines

LONDON — China's increasing influence in Africa has attracted great attention in recent years. But Asia's other rising power, India, is also becoming more active on this front, as its economic links are moving beyond its traditional partners in the British Commonwealth.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Aug 12, 2007

Forsake not the elderly, for they bear a great bounty

By Roger Pulvers

They are remodeling the station near where I work in Tokyo, and I marvel at the diligence of the security guards directing pedestrians inconvenienced by the building work. Virtually all the guards are seniors, most likely retirees from other forms of employment. I usually arrive at my station by 6 a.m.,...

COMMENTARY

Aug 9, 2007

How to deal with disasters

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — Britain is notorious for its weather. This year April was unusually fine and warm. May, June and July were unseasonably cool. To describe these months as "wet" would be an English understatement. There was record rainfall with some places being deluged by rains normally only seen in the tropics....

COMMENTARY

Aug 9, 2007

Product safety issue a blessing in disguise?

By Frank Ching

HONG KONG — China's preliminary agreement with the United States on measures to deal with food and drug safety worked out last week is an encouraging development that may well avert a confrontation that could poison the relationship, which is already beset by trade and other economic disputes.

COMMENTARY

Aug 9, 2007

Odds in democracy's favor

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON — "There's going to be a civil war." You heard it all the time in the old Soviet Union at the end of the 1980s. People fretted about it constantly in South Africa in 1994. They have been worrying about it in Lebanon for the past year. Now they're predicting it for Pakistan — but nine times...

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 9, 2007

High expectations for APEC meeting

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY — Ten years after the last Asian financial crisis hit world markets, the leading countries in the region need to work harder to ensure that the next downturn does not descend into a global collapse. Have the region's financial regulators gotten the message?

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 8, 2007

Should Abe stay or go? Japan debates the LDP's electoral defeat

By Sheila A. Smith

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has told the Japanese public that despite his ruling coalition government's devastating defeat in the July 29 Upper House elections, he will do "the responsible thing": He will stay on as the party's leader and as Japan's prime minister.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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