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JAPAN
Feb 24, 2020

Coronavirus outbreak highlights need for independent CDC-style body in Japan

Experts say the agency taking point on the current health crisis lacks the administrative autonomy and power to take effective action.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020

Democratic candidates aim to change U.S. foreign policy

The Democratic presidential candidates have no shortage of issues on which to criticize Trump for his handling of foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020

The end of the EU's Brexit bounce

Negotiations over the future of U.K.-EU relations will divide Europeans and offer fodder to Euroskeptics
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020

Hun Sen's political gamble: The COVID-19 epidemic

Cambodia's leader is playing a high-stakes game by downplaying fear of the coronavirus.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020

Why would Trump offer a pardon to Julian Assange?

Assange had already said that Russia was not responsible for the hacked emails about the 2016 election.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2020

Young climate leaders gather in Tokyo for inaugural Climate Crisis Youth Summit

Leaders of Japan's youth climate movement gathered in Tokyo over the weekend to attend the inaugural Climate Crisis Youth Summit.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 24, 2020

Global spread of coronavirus raises pandemic fears

Fears of a coronavirus pandemic grew on Monday after sharp rises in new cases reported in Iran, Italy and South Korea, but China relaxed restrictions on movements in several places including Beijing as its rates of new infections eased.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2020

China pushes plants to reopen, risking renewed spread of coronavirus

China is trying to get people back to work, risking a renewed spread of the coronavirus.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 24, 2020

South Korean primaries could make or break Moon Jae-in's presidency

South Korean President Moon Jae-in must win upcoming elections to avoid becoming a lame duck in the second half of his single, five-year term. But first he's got to consolidate power within his own party.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2020

As pandemic looms, world's top disease fighter engages Xi in delicate quest for cooperation

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has perhaps the most thankless job in global public health. As director-general of the World Health Organization, the former Ethiopian health minister is racing against time to prevent a dangerous new coronavirus in China from precipitating a worldwide pandemic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 24, 2020

Behind the mask: The show must go on

As the impact of COVID-19 leads to the postponement or cancelation of various fashion events, the industry faces a quandary — it is unseemly to focus on the relatively trivial business of style at a time of great concern?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2020

Personal stress, not laziness, perpetuates the poverty rut

Many believe lifestyles are due to low effort, but economists are starting to accumulate evidence that the stress of living in poverty drives people to subpar decisions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2020

With biryani and rice balls, Malaysia aims for halal Olympic gold

A small factory in Malaysia's capital is preparing thousands of ready-to-eat halal meals, from fried rice to chicken biryani, to be shipped off to Japan for 2020's biggest sporting event.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2020

Japan's next restroom revolution? Phasing out squat toilets for Tokyo 2020

On southwestern Miyajima island, Hiroshima Prefecture, a short walk from one of the country's most famous ancient temple sites, there's a brand new attraction for tourists — a state-of-the art public toilet block nearly as big as a tennis court.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2020

Climate change gets first mention in G20 finance communique of Trump era

Finance officials from the world's 20 biggest economies (G20) on Sunday referenced climate change in their final communique for the first time in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, but stopped short of calling it a major risk to the economy.
Japan Times
SATOYAMA CONSORTIUM
Feb 23, 2020

Proper data breakdown key to good policy

"Data forms only part of the truth. It does not explain everything," said Naoyuki Sawa at the 11th Satoyama Cafe held on Dec. 16 in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Feb 23, 2020

Olympic prep underway for fully booked Conrad

Can an event define a city? By all accounts, the Glasgow Garden Festival, held in 1988, was a raging success with over 4 million visitors attending the riverside event. For Conrad Tokyo General Manager Neil McInnes who hails from Glasgow, the festival was a source of wonderment and excitement.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2020

Can Michael Bloomberg make America proud again?

The electoral odds inside the Democratic Party are aligning in such a manner that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg could end up as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency on Nov. 3.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2020

From Japan to the United Kingdom, the world loves hosting U.S. troops

Contrary to claims of anti-American backlash, a study finds that the military is a great brand ambassador.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2020

Big data won't save you from COVID-19

In an era where everything seems quantifiable, it's unsettling that the information we've got on this deadly outbreak is approximate at best.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2020

Germany's mighty carmakers watch with fear as 'golden age' fades

When Kristin and Thomas Schmitt took out a mortgage and bought a house last summer, the German couple's dream looked as if it was coming true. Two months later, they learned that the tire factory where both work would be shut down early next year.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 23, 2020

'Superspreaders': What are they and what do they do?

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described an outbreak of coronavirus infections linked to a church in the city of Daegu as a "superspreading event." But experts, including the WHO, say the term is poorly defined.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 23, 2020

The Japanese Communist Party's quest to unify a shattered opposition

Last month, for the first time in 16 years, the Japanese Communist Party met to revise its basic political program. Part of the reason was that the party hopes a change of rhetoric, at least, will make it easier to form an opposition coalition to challenge the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2020

Survey finds most Japanese do not want to attend live Olympic or Paralympic events

Fewer than 40 percent of Japanese want to watch live Tokyo Olympic or Paralympic events at venues, a recent poll found.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 23, 2020

Brazil's Carnival kicks off with political divisions front and center

Brazil's famed Carnival kicked off in earnest on Saturday as millions of scantily clad revelers poured into the streets, many of whom took the opportunity to parody or otherwise comment on the nation's deeply polarized political climate.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past