Search - question

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2020

Ethiopia’s prime minister trades his Nobel Peace Prize for civil war

We may be long past holding laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize to its lofty standards — the cruel cynicism of Henry Kissinger and open bigotry of Aung San Suu Kyi are just two instances of honorees behaving dishonorably — but Abiy Ahmed’s belly flop from the pedestal is nonetheless remarkable....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 23, 2020

Biden to prioritize COVID-19, but Kim Jong Un may have other ideas

'The Biden administration cannot afford to ignore Pyongyang — and North Korea has ways of ensuring it is not ignored,' says former U.S. State Department official Evans Revere.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 23, 2020

World moves on from Trump, but multilateralism is left struggling

One of the starkest moments from the Group of 20 came when U.S. President Donald Trump skipped a session on the pandemic to hit the golf course. Just as telling was how many other leaders seemed checked out.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2020

Trump’s Afghan troop withdrawal puts Biden in a jam

Avoiding calamity is not the same as wise statecraft. Trump's final military act is reckless, particularly in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Nov 22, 2020

COVID-19 toll turns spotlight on Europe's taboo of data by race

Many European countries avoid breaking down data along racial lines out of concern over discrimination, but COVID-19's outsized impact on Black and Asian people has exposed flaws.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 21, 2020

A frank conversation is needed on euthanasia

In October, New Zealand voters approved a referendum proposal to legalize medically assisted suicide, thus joining a small group of countries and territories that allow euthanasia under specific circumstances. The proposal sprang from a lawsuit brought by a lawyer dying from a brain tumor, and while...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2020

Japan's need for a clear U.S. commitment over the Senkakus

Since 2010, Washington has stated and reiterated its position that the Senkakus fall under U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty obligations.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 20, 2020

Shame and vindication as Australia digests report of Afghan killings

A report has found Australian special forces allegedly killed 39 unarmed prisoners and civilians in Afghanistan, with senior commandos forcing junior soldiers to kill defenseless captives.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2020

What Biden owes the Palestinians

Under President-elect Joe Biden, the Palestinian leadership is looking forward to getting back to the negotiating table.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 19, 2020

Nissan’s U.K. arm tough to sustain without Brexit deal, chief says

The Japanese carmaker says the U.K. provided reassurances in 2016 that Brexit would not affect its competitiveness, when the firm announced a plan to expand operations in the country.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2020

A new study questions whether masks protect wearers. You need to wear them anyway.

Researchers in Denmark reported on Wednesday that surgical masks did not protect the wearers against infection with the coronavirus in a large randomized clinical trial. But the findings conflict with those from a number of other studies, experts said, and is not likely to alter public health recommendations...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2020

Boeing Max cleared to fly in U.S. as FAA lifts longest grounding

The U.S. actions set the stage for other regulators to clear the Max, which would allow airlines worldwide to resume passenger service with the plane.
Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 18, 2020

Episode 73: Japan's third wave of COVID-19

Gearoid Reidy, a senior editor at Bloomberg, joins us to discuss whether we might see a new state of emergency and the hope provided by the recent news about vaccines.
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Nov 18, 2020

As nuclear worries linger, Tohoku plant heads for landmark restart

The restart, the first in the northeast, comes amidst controversial restarts in the country's west and debates over the energy source's role in a carbon neutral target.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2020

U.K. green plan backs 250,000 jobs and bans petrol and diesel car sales

Under the proposals, sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030 and the government will back investment in electric vehicles, hydrogen, wind and nuclear power.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 18, 2020

Corporations and foreign nations pivot to lobby Biden

While Biden has taken steps to demonstrate his distance from lobbyists, his presidency is being welcomed in Washington's influence industry.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2020

Trump’s near-concession shows he recognizes loss, allies say

Republicans outside Trump's innermost circle are increasingly showing their frustration with the president's rejection of his defeat.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 16, 2020

Drugmaker Moderna says COVID-19 vaccine shows nearly 95% protection

A key advantage of Moderna's vaccine is that it does not need ultracold storage like Pfizer's, making it easier to distribute.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 16, 2020

Remembering the Okinawa rape incident that changed Japan-U.S. military relations

It was twenty-five years ago nearly to the day, following the tragic early September 1995 rape of an Okinawan school girl in Kin Village, Okinawa Prefecture, by three U.S. servicemen — two Marines and a Navy medic — that the Commander-in-Chief U.S. Pacific Command made an inexcusable remark during...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 15, 2020

Thai women use pro-democracy protests to challenge sexism

Napawn Somsak took to the stage in her school uniform, her hair in pigtails, to denounce sexism in Thai society and question the treatment of a royal princess — an act unthinkable before the protests that have roiled the country in recent months.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 14, 2020

Boris Johnson clears out his Brexit gang to take back control

Boris Johnson was livid, and so was Dominic Cummings. After a series of rows that boiled down to who was really running Britain, the prime minister threw his most powerful adviser out of Downing Street on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / View from Osaka
Nov 14, 2020

Osaka Ishin and Nippon Ishin must adapt or risk extinction

Despite polls showing Osaka Ishin remains popular that the anti-merger faction won by only 17,000 votes of over 1.37 million cast, the party and its movement are in deep trouble.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 13, 2020

Japan faces another coronavirus wave, but this one’s different

A high number of asymptomatic cases compared to previous outbreaks, as well as more transmissions in households and workplaces, are forcing a rethink.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 13, 2020

Trump’s Taiwan and Hong Kong support poses early test for Biden

Biden faces a tough choice on China: Restore the status quo and face accusations of weakness, or continue Trump's provocations and risk undercutting cooperation with Beijing.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2020

Biden set to ‘undo the Trump years’ with civil rights pivot

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department is headed for a dramatic makeover under President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to make racial equality a centerpiece of his agenda.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 11, 2020

Does Trump’s defeat signal the start of populism’s decline?

The economic, social and political grievances that fed populist and xenophobic movements in many countries are still alive.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 11, 2020

Brazil halts trial of Chinese vaccine. But was science or politics to blame?

Brazil's health regulator provided little information on its decision to suspend the trial, including whether a reported adverse reaction was related to the vaccine.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight