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Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani singles during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 7, 2024

MLB commissioner says Ohtani and interpreter gambling probe to wrap up in 'short' time

The top MLB official also praised the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar for his move to stem questions over his involvement in the scandal.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2024

Kishida’s U.S. trip highlights economic and political compatibility

Kishida has worked closely with Biden to enhance the Japan-U.S. alliance, with the countries labeling their bilateral ties a “global partnership.”
U.S. Steel said that over 98% of the votes were in favor of the deal under which Nippon will pay $55 per share, an amount that represented a hefty premium when the takeover was announced in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 13, 2024

U.S. Steel shareholders approve $14.9 billion buyout by Nippon Steel

The move takes the merger one step closer to completion even as political opposition to the deal mounts.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington in May last year. Austin held talks with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday for the first time in nearly a year and a half.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024

U.S. and China defense chiefs hold first talks in nearly 18 months

While the talks signaled improving military-to-military ties, the two superpowers remain at odds over a number of issues.
As of April 4, the bird flu virus had been confirmed in more than a dozen herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2024

Bird flu in cows demands vigilance, not panic

Bird flu had been confirmed in herds across six U.S. states, with Kansas, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas all reporting infected cows.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry dribbes around a defender during a game against the Pelicans earlier this month.
BASKETBALL
Apr 18, 2024

LeBron, Curry and Durant head U.S. Olympic 'Dream Team'

USA Basketball confirmed a formidable 12-man roster bristling with NBA talent that also includes reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
U.S. soldiers from the Eighth Army participate in a competition at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, on April 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 27, 2024

U.S., South Korea outline visions for cost-sharing on troops

The allies named envoys last month to launch early talks for a new deal to take effect in 2026.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump announces Jerome Powell as his nominee to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in November 2017.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 29, 2024

Trump’s economic confidants battle for sway on taxes and Fed policy

For months, the Trump campaign has been trying to rein in proposals from various factions with limited success.
Counter-protesters strike a barricade at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 2, 2024

Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests at New York's Columbia

Police said UCLA had called them to restore order and maintain public safety "due to multiple acts of violence" within the encampment.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) speaks to reporters with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at the ambassador's official residence in Tokyo last month. An officer to monitor problematic behavior from China will be stationed at the embassy in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 19, 2024

U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to have officer for China affairs

Nearly 20 such officers have been dispatched to U.S. embassies abroad, according to data from the department.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean defense chief Shin Won-sik attend a trilateral meeting on sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2024

Japan, South Korea and U.S. unveil new initiatives to cement defense ties

The three partner nations agreed to develop a framework to institutionalize trilateral cooperation within the year.
Donald Trump after attending a meeting in Washington on Thursday. The Republican former president celebrates his 78th birthday on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 14, 2024

At 78, Trump too is showing signs of aging

While he tries to position himself as an energetic alternative to Joe Biden, recent events show the ex-president give off the "old, drunken uncle vibe."
A building in Naha housing the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 28, 2024

Another U.S. soldier charged with sexual assault in Okinawa

The U.S. soldier allegedly squeezed a woman's head causing subconjunctival hemorrhage and other injuries that required about two weeks to heal.
An unarmed AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile is released from a B-52 bomber over the Utah Test and Training Range during a Nuclear Weapons System Evaluation Program sortie in September 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2024

Trump advisers call for U.S. nuclear weapons testing if he is elected

A number of nuclear experts reject a resumption as unnecessary and say it would threaten to end a testing moratorium that has been honored for decades.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel prepare rubber fenders after China Coast Guard vessels blocked their way to a resupply mission at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2024

Philippines turned down U.S. help amid South China Sea tensions

The U.S., a treaty ally, has offered support but Manila prefers to handle operations on its own, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a joint amphibious landing exercise with Philippine and U.S. troops in San Antonio, in the Philippines' Zambales province, in October 2018.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2024

Japan and Philippines ink key military pact in defense ties upgrade

The agreement — Tokyo's first with a Southeast Asian nation — will facilitate mutual military visits.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Sunday, following an assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2024

Biden asks Americans to ‘cool it down’ after Trump shooting

In a rare Oval Office address, the U.S. president said the assassination attempt on his predecessor “calls on all of us to take a step back.”
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to his vice presidential pick, Sen. J.D. Vance, during the second day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2024

Trump's VP pick signals stronger focus on China

J.D. Vance represents a hardening of Trump’s “America First” stance, but could also help push a tougher line on China and support for democratic Taiwan.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2024

What the ‘extreme’ Project 2025 says and who wrote it

Recent polling shows there has been a dramatic uptick in awareness and negative views of Project 2025 since late June, when U.S. Democrats began emphasizing it.
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2024

As U.S. ‘minilateral’ diplomacy grows, Japan emerges as key actor

As geopolitical tensions in the region rise, the breakout of any conflict would put Tokyo on the front lines alongside Washington.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2024

Trump offers three September debates against surging Harris

Donald Trump has found himself on unfamiliar ground as something of a bystander, eclipsed by Kamala Harris' rise as he has scaled back his own campaigning.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at the entrance of the Mariinskyi Palace ahead of their meeting in Kyiv on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

After Russia, Modi visits Ukraine as he walks diplomatic tightrope

The Indian leader reiterated the need for “dialogue and diplomacy” to end the war, during talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024

Special counsel investigating Trump proceeds with 2020 election case

Special Counsel Jack Smith filed an updated indictment that removes several pages of allegations following a Supreme Court ruling.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign event she attended with U.S. President Joe Biden at IBEW Local Union 5 in Pittsburgh on Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

Harris says U.S. Steel should remain American owned and run

It’s not clear whether a decision on the takeover will land on U.S. President Joe Biden’s desk or that of his successor — or even if it will proceed at all.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2024

U.S. Steel to remain American-led, Nippon Steel says

The Japanese firm said post-acquisition the majority of U.S. Steel's board of directors and all members of core senior management would be U.S. citizens.
Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel is opposed by politicians across the political spectrum, including both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2024

Japan miffed but reaction muted after shocking twist to U.S. Steel deal

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to reject Nippon Steel's acquisition of the American steelmaker, according to multiple unconfirmed reports released in recent days.
A voter casts a mail-in ballot at a drop box outside the Maricopa County Recorder and Elections Department's southeast Mesa office during the Arizona state primary election in Mesa, Arizona, on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

U.S. election prompts cities to get a grip on fake news

Local officials are increasingly forced to address false information about public health, migration, and urban planning strategies, which intensify during polls.
Atsushi Sakima (center) celebrates his victory in the Ginowan mayoral election with his supporters in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

Ruling camp-backed candidate wins Ginowan mayoral election

Atsushi Sakima, a former Ginowan mayor, defeated Isao Tobaru, a former member of the Ginowan assembly, and corporate representative Takashi Higa.
With the world's democracies and authoritarian regimes watching, the U.S. election on Nov. 5 will have global implications.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2024

The choice confronting American voters

Republicans and Democrats differ significantly on the role of government in society, a divide that the U.S. Supreme Court used to mediate.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly