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COMMENTARY

Apr 28, 2002

Can Musharraf stabilize what he wins?

By Farhan Bokhari

ISLAMABAD -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, is set to position himself for a five-year term following Tuesday's referendum, but questions are mounting over his ability to give much needed stability to South Asia's second-largest country. Pakistan remains under the global spotlight...

COMMENTARY

Apr 27, 2002

Pyongyang prod that works

By Ralph Cossa

HONOLULU -- "Our firm stance toward North Korea is working!" So goes the conventional wisdom in Washington these days, as supporters of President George W. Bush's "hardline" policy claim credit for Pyongyang's recent decision to resume its dialogue with Seoul.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 27, 2002

Greek Cypriots bluster over Israeli snub

By Russell Working

NICOSIA -- At first glance, Cyprus might seem a likely friend for Israel in a hostile region. An eastern Mediterranean island just 105 km from Syria, the Republic of Cyprus is a democracy with a free press, thriving banking and shipping industries, and a per capita gross domestic product of $16,000,...

COMMENTARY

Apr 27, 2002

'Cures' are killing the patient

By Gregory Clark

The Japanese economy is said to be showing signs of recovery. And so it should. You can't keep a strong economy down for ever -- though a lot of people have been trying hard to do just that.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 27, 2002

The truth can help set Afghanistan free

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- The coming meeting in June of a "loya jirga," or national council, that will name members of a transitional government to rule the country for the next 18 months, offers hope for a return to normalcy in beleagered Afghanistan. An essential component in this process should be the creation...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 26, 2002

Revulsion grows toward Vajpayee's party

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

NEW DELHI -- India's secularism is in flames. The western Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps the most economically prosperous region in the entire country, has been in the midst of communal carnage for many weeks now. The majority Hindu population there has been systematically butchering members of the...

COMMENTARY

Apr 26, 2002

Le Pen's success is no shock

By Glyn Ford

BRUSSELS -- Last Sunday's results from France saw Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the extreme-right Front National, finish just behind French President Jacques Chirac, eliminating Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin from the May 5 second round of voting and prompting him to retire from politics. Yet...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 25, 2002

Time to engage, not bully, North Korea

By David Wall

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Since January 2001, relations between Pyongyang and Seoul have been tense. The various confidence-building measures agreed to at the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in June 2000 came to a halt after newly elected U.S. President...

COMMENTARY

Apr 25, 2002

Regret on the morning after

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- Until last Sunday, the campaign for the French presidency seemed to be the dullest ever. But when the returns of the first round were made public at 8 p.m., commentators were shocked by an earthquake that President Jacques Chirac's wife, Bernadette, had been, according to her husband, the only...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 25, 2002

Former Soviet dissident: U.S. overconfidence poses danger

By Shigeyuki Yoshida

MOSCOW -- Roi Medvedev, a Russian historian, was born in 1925 in Tbilisi, Georgia. After graduating from Leningrad University, he joined the Soviet Communist Party in 1956 and became a researcher at the Education Academy. In 1969 he was purged from the party following the publication of his book "Let...

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 25, 2002

Australia moves closer to approving research using human embryo cells

By Alan Goodall

SYDNEY -- Like a newborn baby, it's a miracle. At least, that's what cynics are calling Australia's political approval of state-supervised destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research.

COMMENTARY / World

Apr 24, 2002

Le Pen's shocking win shakes France to the core

By Jonathan Fenby

PARIS -- France's presidential election system is meant to ensure both a maximum of democracy and the emergence of a strong national leadership at the end of the two rounds of voting. That was the model set by Gen. Charles de Gaulle when he established the Fifth Republic four decades ago.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

By Hanako Lowry

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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