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August 26, 2025

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COMMENTARY / World

Jan 19, 2009

In vitro fertilization stands test of 30 years

By Peter Singer

MELBOURNE, Australia — Louise Brown, the first person to be conceived outside a human body, turned 30 last year. The birth of a "test-tube baby," as the headlines described in vitro fertilization, was highly controversial at the time.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 18, 2009

The long-term security threat to Arab states

By Barry Rubin

JERUSALEM — In Iran, elements from within the regime are reportedly offering a $1 million reward for the assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak because of his opposition to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In Lebanon, the leader of Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, merely calls for the Egyptian...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 18, 2009

Obama among the Lilliputians

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG — Tuesday will be an historic day when Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. He is not only the first African-American president to hold the highest office, but his swearing in is also a triumph of the Great American Dream.

COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT

Jan 18, 2009

Dialing up the decider one last time before he leaves the Oval Office

By Roger Pulvers

With only days left in office for the 43rd president of the United States of America, George W. Bush, I decided, on a lark — or a duck, if you will — to Skype the soon to be ex-commander in chief to find out what preoccupies his thoughts as he bids us a solemn farewell. I want to share this very...

EDITORIALS

Jan 18, 2009

Househusbands on the rise

A recent survey conducted by the Kaji Kentei Jikko Iinkai (Housework Aptitude Test Association) reveals a great deal about the aspirations inside Japanese homes. Apparently, a surprisingly large number of married Japanese men — nearly 30 percent — would not mind being househusbands. This may not...

EDITORIALS

Jan 18, 2009

Regrettable admission in court

In the trial of a psychiatrist charged with disclosing investigative materials on a teenage boy who set a house fire that killed his stepmother, half-brother and half-sister about 2 1/2 years ago, a journalist has testified in court that the psychiatrist was the news source.

EDITORIALS

Jan 17, 2009

Peace at last for Sri Lanka?

Could the end be near for the Tamil Tigers? A military offensive by the Sri Lankan government has made historic gains against the rebel force and appears set to conclude the bloody civil war that has lasted a quarter of a century and devastated the country. This vicious insurgency has claimed far too...

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 17, 2009

Regulations set up crisis

By Christopher Lingle

BALI — Claims that "unbridled capitalism" is behind the current credit crunch and financial turmoil are misleading and remarkably uninformed. This is usually accompanied by suggestions that "blind faith" in market self-regulation was a handmaiden in this mess. We are then told that the future must...

COMMENTARY

Jan 16, 2009

Right place for a command of composure

By Tom Plate

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Dennis Blair, the man who is to become the new U.S. director of national intelligence, distinguished himself as chief of the U.S. military's Pacific Command, an important fact behind his appointment by President-elect Barack Obama. He will oversee all U.S. intelligence organizations....

COMMENTARY

Jan 16, 2009

Enough to put off a multi-tasker

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON — President-elect Barack Obama assumes power (Tuesday) at a time when the United States faces huge problems at home and abroad. Americans and people all around the world are looking to him for leadership and a return to the ideals set out in the U.S. Constitution.

EDITORIALS

Jan 16, 2009

Lay judiciary on track

The lay judge system for trials of suspects indicted on charges of serious crimes will start May 21. By mid-July, lay judges chosen from among ordinary citizens, together with professional judges, may have already handed down rulings.

EDITORIALS

Jan 16, 2009

Battle over work begins

The season of annual wage negotiations has started just as a large number of workers, especially irregular employees, have lost or are set to lose their jobs. Both labor and management should set their respective resolve on finding ways to protect employment.

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.

From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past

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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