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COMMENTARY / World

Oct 22, 2005

Sex inequality slows growth

By Cesar Chelala

NEW YORK -- A growing number of countries have adopted population and development policies to meet the health-care and education needs of women, including their reproductive health needs. In spite of that, gender inequality persists in most countries around the world. According to the United Nations...

EDITORIALS

Oct 21, 2005

China tackles its growing pains

The title is dry -- the "Communist Party of China Central Committee Proposal Regarding the Formulation of the 11th Five-Year Program for National Economic and Social Development" -- but its contents are very important. The document is an outline of how China can tackle the pressing problems created by...

EDITORIALS

Oct 20, 2005

The squeeze on Syria

The suicide of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan is a sign of the steadily growing pressure on the Syrian government. Mr. Kanaan's death eliminates a central figure in the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, but it will not end the inquiry, nor is it likely...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 20, 2005

Panic over bird flu isn't wholly misplaced

By Gwynne Dyer

LONDON -- It would be funny if it were not so serious. As migratory birds carry the avian influenza virus west across Europe, Britain is following in the footsteps of Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Turkey and asking hunters to shoot down as many incoming ducks and geese as possible. They have been issued...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 20, 2005

Proposals threaten South Korean growth

By Christopher Lingle

NEW DELHI -- Han Duck Soo, South Korea's deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy, has unleashed a perfect storm of destructive policy proposals that may ensure that his country's economy remains stuck in under-performance mode. His declarations reveal him to be an inept custodian of...

EDITORIALS

Oct 19, 2005

What is Mr. Koizumi thinking?

His landslide victory in the Sept. 11 snap elections and the Diet passage on Oct. 14 of the postal services privatization bills apparently have emboldened Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He made his fifth visit to the Yasukuni Shrine since he came to power in 2001 on Monday, which marked the start...

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 19, 2005

U.N. University takes on environmental challenges

By Hans Van Ginkel

Few realize that in the three decades of its existence, United Nations University (UNU) has been developing into a global organization comprising UNU enter in To- kyo and 12 Research and Training Centers and Programs (RTC/Ps) around the world, working in cooperation with a large, global network of associated...

COMMENTARY

Oct 19, 2005

Building a 21st-century Commonwealth

By David Howell

LONDON -- On the historic Mediterranean island of Malta there will take place in a few weeks time a meeting of nations with colossal potential significance for world peace and development.

EDITORIALS

Oct 18, 2005

Toward the final frontier

China's successful launching last week of its second manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 6, coming just two years after its historic first flight, demonstrates that the country's space program is making steady progress. China's goal, obviously, is to become a "space power."

COMMENTARY

Oct 18, 2005

Miers pick reflects Bush's flaky nature

By Doug Bandow

WASHINGTON -- For most men who hold the office of America's president, government is serious business. For George W. Bush it apparently is a hobby. That's the only explanation for his "trust me" nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 17, 2005

On the precipice in Iraq

By Michael O'Hanlon

WASHINGTON-- How are things going in Iraq? The short answer, unfortunately -- based on Brookings' Iraq Index and my own assessments -- is not very well. There is still considerable hope, and much that does go well in Iraq. But on balance, there is more reason for worry than optimism right now.

EDITORIALS

Oct 17, 2005

Marriage of convenience in Germany

Germany has a new government. After weeks of grueling negotiations, a grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats has emerged. Ms. Angela Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will take over as chancellor, presiding over a Cabinet in which the Social Democratic Party (SDP)...

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

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.

How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan

By Megha Wadhwa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

Ishii Iron Works remakes self for workers, new energy

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