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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 14, 2021

Alzheimer’s drug furor highlights U.S. health system’s failures

The FDA didn't deny that the clinical-trial evidence was poor. It simply ignored that problem and used different reasoning to grant the drug 'accelerated approval.”
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 13, 2021

Sari Kaede: 'It's possible to be an ordinary person who just happens to be a trans woman'

Sari Kaede brings her journey as a transgender woman to the screen in a documentary titled 'You Decide.' She hopes to provide some support for young people in the process.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 12, 2021

South Korea's opposition picks Harvard graduate to lead push to power

South Korea's main opposition party picked a 36-year-old who has never served in parliament as its leader, turning to a reform advocate as it tries to reclaim the presidency next year.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2021

JOC executive Kaori Yamaguchi says Tokyo Games should be held without spectators

Yamaguchi said the government was 'confusing' the public by asking them to stay at home and imposing curbs while putting on the global sports showpiece.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 11, 2021

Attending her last G7, Merkel has had enough of U.S. leadership

For Merkel, the relief is genuine at the prospect of dealing with Biden rather than Trump. Still, Europe is determined to carve out a bigger global role on a par with the U.S.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2021

Facebook, YouTube erred in censoring COVID-19 ‘misinformation’

Social media fact-checkers don't have any special knowledge or ability to sort fact from misinformation. What they have is extraordinary power to shape what people believe.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 10, 2021

Young voter anger over housing and jobs threatens Moon's legacy in South Korea

With one year left in his single five-year term, Moon's promise for a more just, compassionate and equitable society rings hollow to many.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 10, 2021

Australia stays sidelined as West unites to sanction China

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been outspoken in calling for multilateral action against China, but the government is wary about further provoking Beijing.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2021

Art is sometimes in the eye of the accountant

Art as investment is a tricky business. Stocks and bonds have cash flows that can be projected and discounted to arrive at a theoretical value. Even commodities are subject to supply and demand curves. Art is altogether more nebulous.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2021

Keeping free speech safe

There was a time when the threat to academic freedom in democratic countries came primarily from the right. Today, however, most of the opposition to freedom of thought comes from the left.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 9, 2021

Japan's chip future lies in a Taiwan science park

Once a dominant name in electronic components, the nation has been overtaken by South Korea, Taiwan and China. Yet Tokyo may have a viable plan to revitalize its domestic sector.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2021

The NBA is making a risky bet with gambling

Basketball is a team game, so it's harder to throw or fix than a tennis match. Still, a clumsy foul or two in the last minute could alter the point spread without affecting the final result.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2021

Legacy weapons are eroding the military’s edge

Though the U.S. spends three times more on defense than any other country, its technological edge is eroding — due in part to the cost of maintaining aging weapons programs.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2021

Despite danger and cost, Japan gambles on successful Olympics

The Tokyo Olympic Games are reaching the point of no return.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2021

Hungary appears to back-pedal on Chinese university plans after protests

Hungary appeared to backtrack on plans to build a Chinese university in Budapest after thousands took to the streets at the weekend accusing the government of cozying up to Beijing, provoking an angry Chinese response.
The panic over Nvidia’s stock drop following China's DeepSeek AI breakthrough has subsided. Nvidia’s stock has rebounded, fueled by Elon Musk’s xAI and its latest chatbot, Grok-3, which benefits from an enormous Nvidia GPU stockpile.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Nvidia revival marks the end of the great DeepSeek AI panic

Despite competition from other chipmakers and concerns over U.S. export restrictions, Nvidia remains central to AI development due to its CUDA software platform.
Former death row inmate Iwao Hakamata (left) and his sister, Hideko, attend a gathering of his supporters after his acquittal in a retrial over a 1966 murder case was finalized in October last year.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 22, 2025

Over 80% of Japanese say death penalty system is 'unavoidable'

The Cabinet Office survey, which is conducted every five years, found that 16.5% of respondents believe the death penalty should be abolished.
Economic pessimism is rife in the U.K., with households looking to cut their expenses,
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 23, 2025

The reluctant British consumer is a problem for Keir Starmer

Pessimism is rife and households are looking to cut expenses as fear rises over inflation and job losses.
Ancient trees and animals play crucial roles in ecosystems, carbon storage and even human health, yet their populations are dwindling due to deforestation, fishing and climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025

Who will speak for the trees?

A slew of scientific discoveries shows why we should protect not just 1,000-year-old trees but also 200-year-old whales, 400-year-old fish and 10,000-year-old sea sponges.
A makeshift memorial for Ukrainian soldiers who died fighting invading Russian forces and the Monument to Independence in Kyiv on Feb. 14
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025

Ukraine can survive with the ‘least worst’ peace deal

Clearly the main issue and unfortunately it looks like Trump’s idea of ending the war fast means doing very little for the people who were actually invaded.
Demonstrators rally in support of USAID in Boston on Feb 17. Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with the agency’s closure.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2025

Mr. President, foreign aid does put America first

Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with USAID's closure .
A rally in support of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan. 18. Young men have emerged as a key demographic that has come out in support of Yoon, in contrast to the many young women participating in protests opposing him.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2025

Men, media and MAGA deepen South Korea’s split

Political polarization in South Korea is evermore extreme, with many young men rallying around impeached President Yoon, fueled by online media and a MAGA-inspired movement.
Germany’s new leader, Friedrich Merz, aims to revive the economy with tax cuts and pro-business reforms, but an aging population, labor shortages and rising social costs may limit growth and strain public finances.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025

Germany needs an economic miracle. Merz's odds don’t look good.

Merz faces an aging population that’s set to hold back growth and exacerbate strains on the federal budget and social security system.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre have called for placing levies on the U.S. that are similar to those the U.S. places on Canada.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2025

Something is rotten in Canada

So while Trump is right to say Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. has grown, he’s wrong about why it has expanded.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and wife Usha stand in front of an iron gate with the slogan "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work will set you free") as they arrive for a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp memorial site in southern Germany on Feb. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2025

Without America, ‘the West’ will splinter, wither and die

Trump and his movement do not share similar values, at least not unequivocally, and that is now sinking in across the rest of the West, which the U.S. has led for eight decades.
The then-Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump greets a Michigan Muslim community leader at a rally in Novi, Michigan, on Oct. 26.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2025

Why are pro-Palestinian activists suddenly so quiet?

Pro-Palestinian and Arab-American groups that urged voters to withhold support from Biden over Gaza now face regret as Trump embraces Israel’s hard-line stance.
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the White House on Monday. The French leader has been forced to appease Trump knowing Europe is unprepared to defend itself without U.S. support.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2025

America is turning its alliances into a protection racket

Trump has no compunction in using his leverage as a global security provider for extortion of allies.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years