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Peter Baker
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Maryland, on June 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2024
Inside the weekend when Biden decided to withdraw
U.S. President Joe Biden did not tell most of his staff until a minute before making his announcement to the world on social media on Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama attend a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024
Secluded at beach house, Biden stews at allies’ pressure to drop out
He considers former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the main instigator but is irritated at ex-President Barack Obama, seeing him as a puppet master behind the scenes.
U.S. President Joe Biden disembarks Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2024
Biden called ‘more receptive’ to hearing pleas to step aside
Biden has not given any indication that he is changing his mind about staying in the race, but has been willing to listen to rundowns of new and worrying polling data.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 6, 2024
Crisis? What crisis? Biden rejects Democratic pessimism.
After last week’s devastating debate performance, the president’s prime-time interview with ABC News was an exercise in not just damage control but reality control.
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, en route to Paris for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2024
Traveling to Europe, Biden will find both solidarity and isolation
Critics of Biden said he has no one to blame for his diplomatic challenges in Europe but himself for an inconsistent approach to international crises.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right, center) speaks next to Poland's President Andrzej Duda (right, second from right) during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden (left, second from left), at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024
Biden offers ‘ironclad’ commitment to allies, defying Russia
The U.S. president's meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk marked the 25th year since Poland's accession to NATO.
U.S. President Joe Biden makes a campaign stop at Strath Haven Middle School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 9, 2024
Providing both bombs and food, Biden puts himself in the middle of Gaza’s war
Biden's decision to send aid by air and sea represents a shift prompted by the growing humanitarian crisis. But it also raised uncomfortable questions.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2024
For Democrats pining for an alternative, Biden team has a message: Get over it.
While a new poll shows that 2 in 5 Democrats say the president shouldn't be the nominee, no one who matters to Biden is willing to suggest he step aside.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024
‘Dictators do not go on vacation,’ Zelenskyy warns Washington and Europe
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on world leaders not to abandon his country saying that Russia would continue to test the international order.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a hearing in Washington on Nov. 8. The chances of Mayorkas being convicted in the Senate seem to be almost zero.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2024
Inside impeachment’s rise as a weapon of partisan warfare in the U.S.
Impeachment has essentially become just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 28, 2024
Negotiators close to hostage deal halting Gaza fighting for weeks
Negotiators have a draft agreement that merges Israel and Hamas proposals into a basic framework for talks in Paris on Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives in the country amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2024
The U.S. and Israel: An embrace shows signs of strain after Oct. 7
No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Saturday, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2023
Biden’s hopes for the Middle East imperiled by eruption of violence
The Hamas attack on Israel could narrow the chances of Saudi Arabia and Israel normalizing relations — and a new alignment in the region.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July 2022
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2023
Biden presses ahead with effort to broker Israeli-Saudi rapprochement
The fact that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan returned to Jeddah so soon after his last visit suggests prospects for an accord.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 25, 2023
Short-lived mutiny in Russia sheds light on Putin’s hold on power
Could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lead to the downfall of Vladimir Putin? For a few chaotic, head-snapping hours this weekend, the notion did not seem so far-fetched.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 9, 2023
Indictment brings Trump story full circle
The former U.S. president assailed Hillary Clinton for her handling of sensitive information. Now, the same issue threatens his chances of reclaiming the presidency.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 6, 2023
Robert Hanssen, FBI agent exposed as spy for Moscow, dies at 79
Hanssen was sentenced to life in prison in 2002, bringing to a close one of the most lurid and damaging espionage cases in American history.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2023
Chinese-brokered deal upends Middle East diplomacy and challenges U.S.
The Americans, who have been the central actors in the Middle East for the past three-quarters of a century, now find themselves on the sidelines during a moment of significant change.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 19, 2023
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 98, opts for hospice care
Defying illness and death for years, Carter outlasted the two presidents who followed him, becoming the longest-living president in 2019.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2022
Biden celebrates beating the odds, but he faces a new challenge
The president conceded that Donald Trump's supporters retain enormous influence and will be a challenge for him.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals