New rules upend House re-election races in California
PLEASANTON, Calif. — Running against the Vietnam War, Rep. Pete Stark entered Congress the year that Richard M. Nixon was re-elected president. Since then, ensconced in Democratic strongholds here in the Bay Area, Stark was easily re-elected 19 times. But Stark, 80, the dean of California’s congressional delegation, is facing a serious challenge for the first time. That is because Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat who became a city councilman less than two years ago in Dublin, his hometown near here, came just a few points behind Stark in the primary. Now Swalwell gets to carry the fight into November — thanks to a new primary system in California under which the top two vote getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
Quake Toll Reaches 1,100 in a Chaotic Indonesia
No tractors were available to move the rubble that was their office building before Wednesday’s mighty earthquake felled this modest port city, so workers started digging feverishly with their bare hands.
Japan’s Governing Party Is Plunging in Polls
Is this the beginning of the end for Japan’s long-governing Liberal Democratic Party?
Japan Wages War on Its Widening Waistlines
Japan, a country not known for its overweight people, has undertaken one of the most ambitious campaigns ever by a nation to slim down its citizenry.
Japan Ends Naval Support for Military Mission in Afghanistan
Japan’s Defense Ministry ordered home its naval ships from the Indian Ocean on Thursday, ending for now a six-year mission in support of the war in Afghanistan that raised the nation’s military presence overseas but has recently drawn increasing criticism domestically.