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Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 23, 2013

Woman who 'found' Renoir at flea market disputes museum's claim

Martha Fuqua, "Renoir Girl," has denounced as "improperly authenticated" a museum's evidence that it owns the long-lost Renoir painting she claims and has asked a judge to dismiss the Baltimore Museum of Art's motion for summary judgment.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2013

2013 Mideast twists give lessons in democracy

The news that Tunisia's competing political factions have broken months of logjam and appointed a technocrat as interim prime minister sets the stage for a yearend review of the events that have followed the Arab Spring.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

All bets off as Syrian rebels fracture

The Bab al-Hawa crossing post sits under a low ridge on the Syrian-Turkish border, not far from the Turkish town of Reyhanli. There is a concrete canopy and a handful of buildings. It is important because of what lies not far away in the village of Babisqa — one of the main storage depots for the Supreme...
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

Land grabs and melting ice: five misconceptions about the North Pole

Forget Santa Claus' ethnicity — what is his nationality? Canada's recent announcement that it may try to extend its territory to include the North Pole has led to a debate over who owns this Arctic area, about 1.3 times the size of the United States. Let us consider some of the biggest misconceptions...
WORLD
Dec 22, 2013

U.S. secretly helps Colombia kill rebel leaders

The 50-year-old Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once considered the best-funded insurgency in the world, is at its smallest and most vulnerable state in decades, due in part to a CIA covert action program that has helped Colombian forces kill at least two dozen rebel leaders, according...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2013

Japan hits top in use of apps

Japan may have become the world's top country for generating mobile app revenue, but this brave new world poses dangers to unwary customers.
Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2013

Hard-liners play to home crowd

Regarding the Dec. 15 feature article “Kim purge puts world on alert”: I vividly remember the tense atmosphere that often existed in Japan amid the Cold War, when we would be intimidated by news of Russian fighters intruding on our territory. We’d worry about the Kremlin’s every movement and...
BASKETBALL
Dec 21, 2013

FIBA warns JBA about problems

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann has advised the Japan Basketball Association to resolve issues that exist inside the nation's basketball circles or face greater problems in the future, according to Japanese media reports.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 21, 2013

Yanks introduce outfielder Beltran

AP— Eight-time All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran was introduced at a news conference Friday, a day after finalizing a $45 million, three-year contract with the New York Yankees.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2013

Challenges highlight need for better government

U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously insisted that 'government is not the solution to our problem.' Today we know better: If government is not part of the solution, our problems will only get bigger.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2013

Diplomat's arrest sparks clash of political cultures

The escalating diplomatic spat between India and the U.S. over the treatment of an Indian deputy consul-general who was arrested in New York highlights a clash of pathologies of two political cultures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2013

Japan Inc. builds mountain of cash

Japanese companies' cash holdings rose to a record last quarter, highlighting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's struggle to spur the investment and wage increases needed to end a 15-year deflationary malaise.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2013

Monitor sees improvement in Tepco culture

Forcing Tokyo Electric Power Co. into bankruptcy so the battered utility can get a fresh start is a notion that has been floated by critics and lawmakers, but it's a bad idea, says Barbara Judge, deputy chairwoman of Tepco's nuclear reform monitoring committee.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 20, 2013

Target security breach exposed up to 40 million credit, debit cards

Hackers gained access to as many as 40 million credit and debit cards used by customers of Target during the height of the holiday shopping season, the company reported Thursday, in one of the biggest data breaches in history.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2013

Congress approves changes to address sex assault, rape in military

Congress passed a broad set of changes to U.S. military personnel policy late Thursday, forcing the Pentagon to revamp how it deals with cases of sexual assault and rape in the ranks.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2013

Is wife Abe's main opposition rival?

Akie Abe is Japan's first lady of conviction and action, describing herself as an 'opposition force at home' who doesn't shy away from speaking out in public against the policies of her husband, Shinzo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 19, 2013

Confidant of hedge-fund billionaire Cohen found guilty of insider trading

A top lieutenant to billionaire Steven A. Cohen was convicted of insider trading Wednesday in a verdict that could strengthen the government's outstanding cases involving the storied hedge fund Cohen created two decades ago.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2013

Defectors from Your Party form new opposition force

Former Your Party Secretary-General Kenu00adji Eda launches his new party with 14 fellow defectors hoping to build a viable counter to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
WORLD
Dec 18, 2013

Obama, Biden to skip Sochi Games

The White House announced Tuesday that President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the first lady will not attend the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in February, a pointed snub by an administration that is feuding with Russian leaders on a range of foreign policy and human rights issues....
LIFE / Digital
Dec 17, 2013

Why do governments make such a mess of IT?

This is a tale of two cities — Washington and London — and of the governments that rule from them. What links the pair is the puzzling failure of said governments to manage two vital IT projects. In both cases, the projects are critically important for the political credibility of their respective...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2013

Media get first tour of fish radiation check process

With the continued flow of radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant, consumers at home and abroad are concerned about the safety of seafood around Japan.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2013

'Tankan' signals drop in spending

Big businesses pare their spending projections for the year, signaling headwinds for 'Abenomics' ahead of April's tax hike and doubts the recovery is sustainable, the 'tankan' report says.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 16, 2013

Two U.S. senators vow support in Ukraine

A showdown between Russia on one side and the United States and the European Union on the other drew closer Sunday, as two American senators told a crowd of hundreds of thousands of protesters that Ukraine's future lies to the west, not east.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Dec 16, 2013

India gang rapes rise despite growing awareness

The chauffeur's boss was out of town, so the driver called a friend and said "Let's have some fun" — which police say meant finding a woman to rape.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2013

Deceptive rice price reforms viewed as too late for industry

Toru Wakui has defied the government's “gentan” rice production controls since the 1970s, but the farm ministry's plans to abolish them haven't made him any happier.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo