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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2015

Putin finds warm welcome in Hungary, despite European chill

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed a deal to keep supplying gas to Hungary on Tuesday during a visit to Budapest that cemented Hungary's close ties with the Kremlin as the rest of Europe gives Russia the cold shoulder over the fighting in Ukraine.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 17, 2015

EU hangs tough, waiting for Greece to bend as euro wilts

European Union finance ministers piled pressure on Greece on Tuesday to remain in an international financial rescue program as the euro weakened on fears of disruption when Athens' credit lines expire in 10 days.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2015

Minsk II: a pause, not peace

The second Minsk accord in six months, which was 16 hours in the making, may freeze the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia rebels, but it appears to lock in Russia's ability to meddle in Ukrainian affairs.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 15, 2015

Kerry's international order challenges disorder

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry disagrees with cynics who say the international order is unraveling. He sees the world working together as hard as ever to end the Ebola pandemic, reduce nuclear proliferation, achieve an accord on climate change and curb strife in Africa and the Mideast.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2015

Iranian leader Khamenei sent Obama secret letter: report

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has responded to overtures from U.S. President Barack Obama amid nuclear talks by sending him a secret letter, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

The pope prompts a rethink about contraception

As Pope Francis was returning from the Philippines to Rome last month, he raised the issue of whether it is legitimate for outside agencies to promote family planning in developing countries. There are several reasons why it is.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 13, 2015

Ukraine deal leaves Putin stronger, and he loses little if cease-fire fails

The peace agreement in the Ukrainian conflict may be tailor-made to satisfy Russian President Vladimir Putin: It keeps the authorities in Kiev under his thumb while avoiding an escalation of the confrontation that would tip his country's economy deeper into crisis.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 12, 2015

Ceasefire agreed on for eastern Ukraine

The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed on a deal to end fighting in eastern Ukraine, participants at the summit talks said on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Feb 12, 2015

Yazidis take revenge as Islamic State atrocities unearthed

Some members of Iraq's Yazidi minority are turning on their Arab neighbors, staging deadly reprisals against Sunni villagers they believe collaborated in atrocities inflicted by Islamic State on their community.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 12, 2015

Costa Concordia skipper Schettino gets 16 years for fatal shipwreck

An Italian court sentenced the former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in the 2012 shipwreck that killed 32 people off the Tuscan holiday island of Giglio.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 11, 2015

A search for meaning in the arc of Goto’s life and the horror of his death

The frenzy of the hostage crisis and the visceral terror of the Islamic State group's executions have for a moment ushered Syria into Japanese youth's sphere of concern.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2015

Obama urges Xi to help end conflicts over cybersecurity

President Barack Obama in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for "swift work" to narrow the countries' differences over cybersecurity issues, the White House said.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 10, 2015

Australia sub deal puts Abe in precarious position

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott survived a leadership challenge on Monday, but his last-minute pledge to allow an open tender on the construction of new submarines poses a challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who must weigh the political risks of becoming more public about his ambition to tap...
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2015

Abe, Thai junta leader agree to cooperate on railway development, special economic zone

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed Monday in Tokyo to further develop the strategic partnership between their nations, pledging to deepen economic cooperation to develop Thailand's railway networks and promote a special economic zone in Southeast Asia.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2015

U.S. historians slam Abe effort to change textbook dealing with 'comfort women'

Nineteen U.S.-based historians protest attempts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration to suppress statements in U.S. and Japanese history textbooks about 'comfort women.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2015

Iran tells West: Rouhani at risk if nuclear talks fizzle

Iran's foreign minister has warned the United States that failure to agree a nuclear deal would likely herald the political demise of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian officials said, raising the stakes as the decade-old standoff nears its end-game.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 7, 2015

Breaking down the barriers: Can Tokyo improve access for people with disabilities?

In the summer of 2020, Tokyo will once again host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It's the first time the Paralympics will be hosted by a city for the second time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 7, 2015

In violent times, young Japanese just shrug

The weekly Shukan Kinyobi discerns a "new fatalism" among young people. Meaning what? A feeling that effort reaps no rewards and so is not worth making; that the world is what it is and cannot be changed — at least not by me, even if I felt like changing it, which I don't; that luck or inborn talent...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015

Limiting the Security Council's veto power

In the lead-up to the commemoration of this year's 70th anniversary of the U.N., the French government is again pursuing the idea of getting the five permanent members of the Security Council to agree to refrain from using their veto power when dealing with mass-atrocity crimes.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Feb 4, 2015

Readers' letters: bursting bubbles on gaijin life and the Hague child-abduction treaty

A couple of readers' mails in response to recent Just Be Cause columns by Debito Arudou.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2015

What does Vladimir Putin really want in Ukraine?

Sowing confusion is how Russian President Vladimir Putin, increasingly isolated from Western conversations, keeps the world on its toes about the conflict in Ukraine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 4, 2015

In shrinking villages, abandoned graves are a sign of generational flight

In the nation's declining provinces, it is not only the living who are neglected.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2015

'Selma' and the biopic perversion of history

The Ava DuVernay-directed film 'Selma' is at the center of controversy due to its semi-snubbing by the Oscars and correct observations that it plays loose with history.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2015

As islanders face off with administration over bases, a new battle for Okinawa

Okinawa Prefecture looks and feels almost like a different country. And a growing number of islanders say it should be just that.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 30, 2015

Mourinho's tactics, whining tarnish impressive record

Having been fined £25,000 by the Football Association for comments made about match officials after last month's game against Southampton and seeing his star striker Diego Costa charged with violent conduct on successive days, in the private world of Jose Mourinho it was further proof, if indeed it...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb