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EDITORIALS

Dec 30, 2005

Carrying on with fewer people

Japan's population started shrinking this year, according to two separate reports by the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The shrinkage began one year earlier than the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had projected....

COMMENTARY

Dec 30, 2005

Decline of three EU leaders

By Andre Fontaine

PARIS -- At the end of last May, French and Dutch voters rejected by a strong majority the draft European constitution worked out by a convention chaired by former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Since all 25 member-states of the European Union had to approve the treaty, the chances of it...

EDITORIALS

Dec 29, 2005

China's new 'peace offensive'

China has launched a public-relations offensive. The publication of a white paper on the country's "peaceful development" is designed to quiet concerns about China's growing affluence and how Beijing intends to use the influence that it wields. It is a difficult assignment. China may be assured of its...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 29, 2005

Lack of English endangers immigrants

By Domenico Maceri

SANTA MARIA, California -- Imagine being a 12-year-old boy and interpreting for your mother. The doctor says your mother has a prolapsed uterus and you need to explain it to her in her language. Difficult? Embarrassing? Impossible?

EDITORIALS

Dec 28, 2005

Portrait of a year in buzzwords

If it's December, it's time for those list-loving dictionary folks to be announcing their Words of the Year again -- and in the process providing editorial writers with a revealing lens on the past 12 months. This year, their labors yielded a couple of startlingly different scenarios.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 28, 2005

INEPT LEADERSHIP CONTINUES

By Kevin Rafferty

HONG KONG -- A controversial plan to extend democracy in Hong Kong died Dec. 21 when the legislature failed to pass it by a big enough majority. Hopes of true democracy in the special region of China have thus been put into deep freeze, with recriminations reverberating from Hong Kong to Beijing and...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 28, 2005

Democratization process brings Palestinian politics to a crossroad

By Ramzy Baroud

KUALA LUMPUR -- Palestinian political life seems to be unwittingly embracing a distinctive style, contradicting its own traditional political parameters. The last few weeks clearly attest to this political divergence.

EDITORIALS

Dec 27, 2005

Front line on health-care costs

The government has decided to lower medical fees paid through the public health-insurance systems to hospitals, clinics and pharmacies, beginning in April. Fees paid to doctors will be reduced by 1.36 percent; fees for drugs and medical supplies will be cut by 1.8 percent. The decision is in line with...

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 27, 2005

Religious revival fills a void in China

By Eric Teo Chu Cheow

SINGAPORE -- As constitutional debate gathers steam in Japan over the separation of state and religion, Japanese ma want to consider China's efforts to resuscitate participation in religion.

EDITORIALS

Dec 26, 2005

Fitness for a Kyoto upgrade

The recent Montreal meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol marked an important step forward toward post-Kyoto initiatives. Despite a frustrating start, the meeting, held to give further impetus to global-warming prevention efforts, ended with a promising decision: Major developed countries, including...

COMMENTARY

Dec 26, 2005

End of exploitation past due

By Kiroku Hanai

Okinawans are embittered over an interim report on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, issued by a Japan-U.S. ministerial conference on security in October. There is a widespread public feeling that the plan will not reduce Okinawa's burden of hosting U.S. military installations -- the keystone...

COMMENTARY

Dec 26, 2005

Amazing grace toward torture

By Hugh Cortazzi

LONDON -- It beggars belief that U.S. President George W. Bush took so long to endorse Sen. John McCain's resolution against the use of torture by the CIA or any other U.S. organization. The resolution has been passed by an overwhelming majority in the U.S. Senate and by Congress but was, it seems, fiercely...

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

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

Looking ahead to Yokohama’s Green × Expo 2027

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