| What Ghouta tells us about the world's ability to protect civilians Posted: 09 Mar 2018 12:37 PM PST ![What Ghouta tells us about the world's ability to protect civilians]( "What Ghouta tells us about the world's ability to protect civilians") What can other countries do to save eastern Ghouta's non-combatants, caught in crossfire between Islamist rebel forces and advancing Syrian troops, backed by Russian air power, who have killed more than 800 civilians in indiscriminate bombardment over the past two weeks? Washington has shown signs of shrugging off its role as a world leader, and nations such as Russia and China, which do not see Western humanitarian values as universal, wield growing global clout. "Unfortunately, scandalously, there is nothing to be done but wait for Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin to achieve their goal" of capturing eastern Ghouta, says Bernard Kouchner, the founder of "Doctors Without Borders" and an early champion of the idea that governments have a humanitarian duty to intervene forcefully to defend human rights internationally.
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| The art of listening in a Trump-Kim summit Posted: 09 Mar 2018 11:46 AM PST ![The art of listening in a Trump-Kim summit]( "The art of listening in a Trump-Kim summit") In the history of diplomatic firsts, there has never been something quite like this: Over the past year, President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have called each other nothing but belittling names. Then suddenly on March 8, they called for a befriending summit, perhaps by May.
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| Japan builds a head of steam for an alternative to nuclear Posted: 09 Mar 2018 08:30 AM PST ![Japan builds a head of steam for an alternative to nuclear]( "Japan builds a head of steam for an alternative to nuclear") White plumes of steam billow from dozens of metal chimneys that sprout from rooftops across the neighborhood, fed by the hot springs that lie underground and pipe scalding spring water into baths known in Japan as onsens. When Kazunori Ueda sees this steam, he doesn't think of a two-hour soak in a tub (not that he minds taking one). Mr. Ueda is the managing director of Sanko Electric, a company founded by his father in 1975.
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