The shutdown of the ALPS water treatment system at the Fukushima No. 1 plant is linked to a rubber mat apparently left in a water tank.

Mayor Osami Takeyama’s victory Sunday in the Sakai mayoral election in Osaka Prefecture has cast a shadow over the political future of brash Nippon Ishin co-leader Toru Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka. Takeyama, a 63-year-old independent, defeated former Sakai Assemblyman Katsutoshi Nishibayashi, his sole ...

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved legislation early Sunday imposing a one-year delay on key parts of America’s health care law and repealing a tax on medical devices as the price for avoiding a partial government shutdown Tuesday. Senate Democrats had already pledged to ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision on the tax hike this week is a major gamble, but his biggest challenge may be convincing companies to hike wages.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is praised by the head of the U.N. agency promoting women's rights for his speech last week but faces criticism from Time magazine.

A shoe was thrown at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s motorcade as he arrived home to a mixed reception after his historic call with U.S. President Barack Obama. Newspapers hailed the first contact with a U.S. president in more than three decades as the ending ...

First, Vladimir Putin accused Hillary Rodham Clinton of inciting protests against him at the end of 2011. The next fall, the Russian president threw the U.S. Agency for International Development out of his country. Then he decided civic groups that get U.S. financing must ...

Thirty years ago, a good girl didn’t walk into an establishment plastered with images of dragons and flames, hike her shirt up over one shoulder and let her body be injected with ink. Especially not if she was, like Darlene Nash, a 57-year-old grandmother. ...

China launched a free trade zone in the commercial hub of Shanghai on Sunday, state media reported, with the project seen as a testing ground for much-needed reforms in the world’s second-largest economy. The zone, which covers 29 sq. km, “started operating Sunday,” the ...

Something was definitely lost in translation when Shinzo Abe spoke in New York on Thursday. First, Japan’s self-described reformist prime minister raised the specter of Gordon Gekko, the greed-is-good villain of Oliver Stone’s 1987 film “Wall Street.” Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange ...

Four years into an economic recovery in which most of the benefits have flowed to the top earners, a majority believes that the American Dream is becoming markedly more elusive, according to the results of a Washington Post-Miller Center poll exploring Americans’ changing definition ...

The hourlong walk from the local railway station to the Morteratsch glacier is a winding trek through a valley littered with rocks that the retreating ice left behind. The walk was not always this long. In the mid-19th century, the Morteratsch glacier stretched all ...

Nippon Professional Baseball has crowned its 2013 league champions and most of the spots in the Climax Series have already been spoken for. Even so, there are still a number of questions remaining and storylines to be wrapped up as the season enters the ...

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya set a world record in winning the 40th Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 23 seconds on Sunday. The 31-year-old Kipsang knocked 15 seconds off compatriot Patrick Makau’s previous mark of 2:03:38 set in Berlin in 2011. Kipsang was ...

Kan Otake threw seven shutout innings en route to notching double-digit wins for the second year in a row in the Hiroshima Carp’s 4-0 blanking of the Yomiuri Giants on Sunday. Otake (10-10) struck out five and walked one. Yuki Koyama (0-1) allowed two ...

A day after wrapping up his 27th career championship, Hakuho put an exclamation mark on his fourth consecutive title with a convincing win over rival yokozuna Harumafuji on the final day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday. Hakuho, whose left eye was ...

The two Manchester clubs slumped to shock defeats and Arsenal moved two points clear with a win at Swansea on Saturday, extending the unpredictable start to the English Premier League. Five months after capturing a 20th English title, Manchester United is languishing in 12th ...

The playoff scenario for the Cleveland Indians is simple: win Sunday and they are in. The Indians moved into sole possession of the AL wild-card lead on the next-to-last scheduled day of the regular season, beating the Minnesota Twins 5-1 Saturday behind Scott Kazmir’s ...

Alex Ovechkin said he is thrilled to kick off Russia’s Olympic torch relay for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi — a mammoth effort covering the country’s nine time zones that will include a trip to outer space. “I’m going to be probably smiling ...

Andy Pettitte completed his career in a most fitting fashion. The 41-year-old left-hander pitched a five-hitter for his first complete game since 2006, leading the New York Yankees over his hometown Houston Astros 2-1 Saturday. “It couldn’t end any better,” Pettitte said, trying to ...

Two out of three ain’t bad. Georgia is certainly not complaining. Aaron Murray threw four touchdown passes, including a 25-yarder to Justin Scott-Wesley with 1:47 remaining, and the No. 9 Bulldogs rallied to beat No. 6 LSU 44-41 in a thrilling game between Southeastern ...

New Zealand put one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy by outclassing Argentina 33-15 with a key bonus point on Saturday. Still perfect after five matches, the All Blacks head to Ellis Park next weekend for a fitting finale against archrival South Africa and ...

Nobunari Oda won his second straight title at the Nebelhorn Trophy on Saturday, easily beating junior world silver medalist Jason Brown. Oda finished with 262.98 points, more than 34 in front of the American. Jeremy Ten of Canada, who has been battling injuries for ...