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US CONGRESS

Taiwanese flags are seen at the island's Defense Ministry in Taipei in December 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 21, 2024
Taiwan says it will discuss with U.S. how to use new funding
The funds were part of a $95 billion legislative package mostly providing security aid to Ukraine and Israel passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
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.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2024
'The world needs the United States': Kishida warns Congress over risk of American retreat
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became just the second Japanese leader to address a joint meeting of Congress, pledging to stand side-by-side with the U.S.
An image taken from video of a U.S. Navy F/A-18 jet crew’s encounter with an unexplained anomalous phenomena
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024
Pentagon review finds no evidence of alien cover-up
But the new report suggests that the public’s belief that the government is hiding what it knows will probably continue.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson walks out of a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2024
U.S. House speaker must now confront his own party’s sabotage
Multiple senior House Republicans, granted anonymity to speak frankly, now portray Mike Johnson as an insecure leader who faces a steep learning curve.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 16, 2024
Anxious over funding delay, Pacific island nations warn about China
The additional amount currently needed is a relatively small $2.3 billion.
A law making its way through the U.S. Congress would authorize the confiscation of billions of dollars in frozen assets owned by the Russian central bank, that would then be handed over to Ukraine as compensation for the war.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024
Seizing Russia's central bank funds is illegal and unwise
A big question about giving Ukraine seized Russian funds is would such an asset grab break international law?
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House during an event to welcome mayors attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting in Washington, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 20, 2024
Biden open to asylum changes to clinch Ukraine and border deals
The U.S. president said he is open to "massive changes” in border policy, including to asylum laws, in order to secure a deal that would unlock Ukraine aid.
David Grusch, former National Reconnaissance Office representative on the Defense Department's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, testifies during a House subcommittee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington last July.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 13, 2024
UFOs remain a mystery to lawmakers after classified briefing
Members of the House went into a confidential briefing hoping for answers about what the government knows about alien life. They emerged with more questions.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears during a campaign event in Durham, New Hampshire on Dec. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024
How Trump has used fear and favor to win Republican endorsements
The former president keeps careful watch over his endorsements from elected Republicans, aided by a disciplined and methodical behind-the-scenes operation.
Ukrainian soldier fire a mortar near Kyiv on Nov. 8.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2023
Pentagon has a workaround to send Ukraine arms despite aid stalemate
The tactic: Continue to provide arms from U.S. stockpiles in hopes of waiting until later for the money to replace them.
U.S. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 21, 2023
New field of would-be U.S. House speakers takes shape
The GOP has dispensed with Jim Jordan as their nominee for the U.S. speakership and now several more representatives are preparing to enter the fray.
Rep. Jim Jordan after a vote for House speaker on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2023
Jordan defeated again for speaker as Republican stalemate deepens
The hard-line Republican from Ohio lost a second bid for speaker after running headlong into opposition from a group of mainstream GOP holdouts.
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan departs a Republican caucus meeting at the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2023
U.S. House Republicans nominate Jim Jordan for speaker
The hard-line conservative appears to be well short of the support he would need to seize the speaker's gavel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accompanied by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Old Senate Chamber, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2023
Ukraine aid falls by wayside as Congress passes spending bill
The Biden administration and lawmakers from both parties sought to reassure Ukraine that assistance may be supplied in a separate bill down the road.
U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2023
Last-gasp deal averts U.S. government shutdown
The U.S. Congress passed an 11th-hour funding bill Saturday to keep federal agencies running for another 45 days.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2023
GOP rejects own funding bill; U.S. government shutdown imminent
In a 232-198 vote, the House defeated a measure that would extend government funding by 30 days and avert a shutdown.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute 46th Annual Gala at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2023
Biden allies seize on impeachment as weapon against Republicans
Tapping White House aides and veterans of Donald Trump impeachments, the plan is to paint the picture of an evidence-free stunt.
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2023
Charged with bribery, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez vows not to resign
U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged powerful Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife with taking bribes from three New Jersey businessmen, which could complicate Democrats' efforts to keep their slim majority in the U.S. Senate in next year's elections.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the media Wednesday after a closed-door Senate meeting on how artificial intelligence should be regulated.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 14, 2023
Tech leaders discuss AI policy in closed-door senate meeting
The meeting included a prestigious, and possibly combustible, mix of personalities with diverging views on how to write the rules for AI.

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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