By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese lawmaker is being criticized for saying President Barack Obama was a descendant of Black slaves and so would have been an unthinkable presidential choice in America’s early history. Kazuya Maruyama, a lawyer-turned-lawmaker in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party, apologized hours after making the remark […]
COMMENTARY: Mike Huckabee tweets racist anti-Asian joke
By Jenn Fang For Northwest Asian Weekly Several of the candidates for the GOP nomination took the opportunity of the Democratic Party’s first presidential primary debate of the season to live-tweet. And, by live-tweet, I mean troll. In stark contrast to the nuanced policy debate taking place on stage in Las Vegas where candidates were […]
Summons of Japanese media raises complaints of interference
By Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s ruling party summoned executives from two leading television networks Friday, the latest in a series of actions that opponents say endanger press freedom and intimidate the media. The Liberal Democratic Party’s panel on information and communications strategy questioned the executives from Asahi TV and public broadcaster […]
Hawaii Democrats seek unity after dramatic races
By Cathy Bussewitz and Juliet Williams Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) – Hawaii’s Democratic Unity Breakfast the morning after the primary election is traditionally a time for candidates to set aside their differences and coalesce against the Republican candidates they will face in November.
Opponents to fight new U.S. military base on Okinawa
By Ken Moritsugu Associated Press TOKYO (AP) – Threatening lawsuits and protests, opponents are gearing up to fight a decision by Okinawa’s governor that could pave the way for a new U.S. military base on the southern Japanese island.
LETTER: Clarifying Thailand
Dear Editor, I applaud you and your reporting team for doing an excellent job with your report on the mass protests of Thai people. You are so keen on current events that happen not only in our local area (around Seattle and Washington state), but also overseas.
MDC announces new interim president Kiku Hayashi
The Metropolitan Democratic Club (MDC) announced on Friday, March 1, the appointment of MDC Vice President Kiku Hayashi as interim president to replace Justin Simmons, who has stepped down due to personal reasons.
COMMENTARY: Is Obama a man of the people?
By Hai Tran For Northwest Asian Weekly Several days ago, I received an e-mail from President Barack Obama with the subject line “Do you want to have dinner with me?” A thought ran through my mind, “Wow, only in America would a president ask to have dinner with regular folk like me.” I understood, of […]
Jindal takes an easy ride back into La. office
By Melinda DeSlatte The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — It was a landslide win by any measure. Gov. Bobby Jindal had a cake walk into a second term, turning back nine challengers who couldn’t muster name recognition or significant financing to put up a major challenge.
Japan PM says he’ll reassess U.S. Marine base pact
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister pledged Monday, Jan. 25, to “start from scratch” in re-examining a key military deal with Washington on relocating American troops, risking the ire of its key ally after a local election in Okinawa showed that residents oppose any new Marine bases in their region.