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April 03, 2025
 

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CONGRESS

Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks to reporters after surpassing the record for the longest Senate speech at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 2, 2025
Cory Booker condemns Trump’s policies in longest senate speech on record
Cheers broke out in the chamber when the senator passed Strom Thurmond's record for longest speech.
Democratic-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Susan Crawford gestures to supporters after voters elected her to the state Supreme Court, at her election night headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 2, 2025
Liberal wins Wisconsin Supreme Court election in setback for Trump and Musk
The election was widely seen as an early referendum on Trump's presidency, and the campaign easily became the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history.
Both houses of the U.S. Congress have effectively become a subordinate branch of government, ceding power to the executive, especially when the president's party also controls Capitol Hill.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2025
U.S. Congress began ceding power to presidents long before Trump
Since the turn of the century, Congress has increasingly functioned as a quasi-parliament rather than as an independent branch of government
Judge James Boasberg in his chambers at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington in March 2023. Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to cease its use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 as a pretext for the expulsion of migrants.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025
Trump’s deportation push tests courts’ ability to check his power
The legal clash, which ultimately could land at the Supreme Court, quickly emerged as a test of the ability of the judiciary to act as a check on Trump’s agenda.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer takes part in a television interview at the Capitol in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2025
Relief as U.S. Congress averts government shutdown
Lawmakers already reeling from President Donald Trump's radical federal spending cuts voted to keep the lights on through September.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Japan, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Trump's ambassador pick to press Japan to spend more to host U.S. troops
The remarks by George Glass were the latest volley from the Trump administration to target Japan, following comments by other nominees.
President Donald Trump delivers an address to a joint session of Congress in Washington on Tuesday. Some critics are questioning if the U.S. is shifting away from global leadership under his stewardship.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2025
Trump's speech was more campaign rhetoric than leadership
Trump's speech to Congress, like the one eight years ago, was little more than domestic political propaganda.
U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded by Vice President JD Vance (center) and House Speaker Mike Johnson, as Trump arrives to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025
In speech, Trump warns of tariff ‘disturbance’ as he touts trade plans
Data shows new strains on the economy as factory activity stagnates, inflation simmers, consumer confidence ebbs and stocks lag behind equity markets in other countries.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy either "needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that."
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2025
Trump allies pressure Zelenskyy to change course or resign
Democrats, meanwhile, have expressed disgust over the tenor of U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 16, 2025
Trump suggests no laws are broken if he’s ‘saving his country’
U.S. President Donald Trump shared a quotation on social media, making it clear it was one he wanted people to absorb.
Scott Bessent, then nominee for U.S. treasury secretary, arrives for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 28, 2025
Billionaire financier Bessent confirmed as Trump's treasury chief
The new treasury secretary will be the chief economic spokesman for President Donald Trump and his sweeping agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and trade rebalancing.
More than a dozen Justice Department lawyers were fired after Acting Attorney General James McHenry, a Trump appointee, concluded they "could not be trusted to faithfully implement the President’s agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the President," a Justice Department official said.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2025
Trump administration fires team of lawyers who prosecuted him
The officials were fired after the administration concluded they "could not be trusted to faithfully implement the President’s agenda."
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as reporters ask questions aboard Air Force One during a flight from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2025
Trump, at zenith of power, moves quickly to 'take over' Washington
Trump's agenda faces roadblocks going forward, and the opening weeks of his administration may represent the height of his power, some supporters acknowledge.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks after being sworn in during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025
Pete Hegseth vote portends glide path for other Trump nominees
Trump's success in pushing through his Pentagon chief nomination despite private doubts among lawmakers amounted to a fresh testament to his hold over the GOP.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event about the economy at the Circa Resort and Casino in Las Vegas on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 26, 2025
Trump’s frenzied debut delights base as thornier decisions await
The honeymoon is hardly assured to last, with the U.S. president so far avoiding drastic steps that would tempt backlash from his party, Wall Street or both.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One upon departure from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025
Trump's firing of independent watchdog officials draws criticism
Donald Trump's late-night firing of inspectors general was called illegal by Democrats and others and drew concern from at least one fellow Republican.
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on her nomination to be secretary of homeland security, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 17.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2025
Noem confirmed as DHS head to move Trump’s immigration plans forward
The vote clears the way for her to lead a 260,000-person department that will have a key role in Trump’s border security and immigration enforcement agenda.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 Washington. U.S. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, as U.S. defense chief late Friday — despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other concerns about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025
Pete Hegseth confirmed in knife-edge vote to be new U.S. defense chief
In a mostly party-line result that saw no Democrats vote for Hegseth, three Republicans — including former GOP leader Mitch McConnell — also voted no.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025
Trump pledges to save U.S. from 'decline,' vowing new 'golden age'
Trump quickly signed a series of executive actions to curb immigration and roll back environmental regulations, but did not take immediate action to raise tariffs.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio arrives ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025
Rubio wins unanimous nod to be top U.S. diplomat
Unusually in a highly partisan era, Rubio was confirmed 99-0, with several senators from the rival Democratic Party describing Rubio as a friend.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Trump unveils 10% global tariff, with Japan levy set at 24%
Trump tosses a MAGA hat to the crowd during an event in which he unveiled new tariffs in the White House on Wednesday.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
By Johan Brooks

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