TOKYO

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s public persona is as distinctive as her politics. She is a heavy metal fan, a motorcycle enthusiast, and famously declared that her formula for leadership is to “work, work, work, work, work.”

This charismatic combination of toughness and playfulness has made her exceptionally popular in Japan—a rare feat for a recent leader from the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

Breaking the mold of the country’s often-elderly male leadership, Takaichi has cultivated a strong connection with younger voters. They affectionately call her “Sana,” follow her fashion and favorite stationery, and even share her taste for steamed pork buns.

Now, this personal appeal is translating into political momentum. Polls show the LDP, despite its own deep-rooted problems, is poised to make significant gains in Sunday’s election for the lower house of Parliament, largely on the strength of Takaichi’s popularity.

A decisive victory would allow Takaichi to consolidate power and steer Japan further down the hawkish, deeply conservative path set by her mentor, the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

By James Kisoo

MUSCAT, Oman

Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, negotiations that appeared to reset to the starting point over Tehran’s nuclear program.

However, the discussions gained a new military dimension with the unprecedented presence of America’s top commander in the Middle East.

The inclusion of U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, underscored the high stakes.

His attendance in dress uniform in Muscat, the Omani capital, served as a visible reminder of American military power nearby, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group operating in the Arabian Sea off Iran’s coast.

Despite the diplomatic effort, President Donald Trump maintained public pressure.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Friday, he called the talks “very good” and said more were planned for early next week.

“Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly — as they should,” Trump said. He suggested Iran was willing to “do more” than in previous discussions but offered no specifics, warning that if no deal is reached, “the consequences are very steep.”

By James Kisoo

WASHINGTON

The Pentagon announced Friday it is cutting all military training, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University, marking the latest escalation in a protracted standoff between the Trump administration and the Ivy League school.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that Harvard “no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services.” He argued that the university’s ideological environment was undermining military readiness.

“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” Hegseth said.

“Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”

In a separate post on X, Hegseth added: “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not.”

The new policy, effective with the 2026-27 academic year, will discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships, and certificate programs at Harvard. Personnel currently enrolled will be allowed to complete their courses.

By James Kisoo

MILTON, Ga.

A body believed to be the 27-year-old son of rapper Lil Jon has been found in a pond north of Atlanta, police said Friday.

Nathan Smith, a disc jockey known professionally as D.J. Young Slade, was reported missing earlier this week after leaving his home in Milton “under unusual circumstances” on Tuesday morning.

Police said he “ran out of his house” on foot without his phone and may have been disoriented, prompting significant concern from family and friends.

In a statement posted to his Instagram, Lil Jon confirmed the loss alongside Smith’s mother, Nicole Smith.

“Nathan was the kindest human being you would ever meet,” the statement read. “He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warmhearted — he loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest.”

Authorities have not yet released an official identification or a cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.

By James Kisoo

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

A Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday for stashing 189 decomposing bodies in a building over four years and giving grieving families fake ashes.

At his sentencing, Jon Hallford was denounced by heartbroken families as a “monster.” Relatives told Judge Eric Bentley they have suffered recurring nightmares about decomposing flesh and maggots since discovering what happened to their loved ones.

They urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence of 50 years.

Bentley told Hallford his crimes had caused “unspeakable and incomprehensible” harm.

“It is my personal belief that every one of us, every human being, is basically good at the core, but we live in a world that tests that belief every day, and Mr. Hallford, your crimes are testing that belief,” the judge said.

Before his sentencing, Hallford apologized, saying he would regret his actions for the rest of his life. “I had so many chances to put a stop to everything and walk away, but I did not,” he said.

“My mistakes will echo for a generation. Everything I did was wrong.”

By James Kisoo

MINNEAPOLIS

Alberto Castañeda Mondragón’s memory is fractured. The beating he says he received from immigration officers last month was so severe that afterward, he could not remember he had a daughter. He still struggles to recall treasured moments, like the night he taught her to dance.

But the violence of his arrest is seared into his consciousness.

He remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend’s car on Jan. 8 outside a St. Paul shopping center, throwing him to the ground, and handcuffing him.

He remembers being punched and struck in the head with a steel baton, then dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he says the beating continued.

He remembers, too, the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.

“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” the Mexican immigrant told The Associated Press this week. His case, recently detailed by the AP, has fueled mounting friction between federal immigration agents and a Minneapolis hospital.

By James Kisoo

ATLANTA

As President Donald Trump’s second term unfolds, Democrats are presented with a range of political openings—from immigration crackdowns and lingering inflation to institutional clashes and diplomatic friction.

Yet many in the party are sharpening their focus on one issue in particular: health care. Once a political liability, it has now become a foundation of Democratic strategy, one they believe can help them regain control of Congress in the midterms rather than chasing the daily headlines from the White House.

Republicans last year cut roughly $1 trillion over a decade from Medicaid and allowed COVID-era subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans to expire—moves that Democrats are turning into the centerpiece of their campaign message.

Across the country, Democratic candidates are filming ads outside struggling rural hospitals, spotlighting families facing spiking insurance premiums, and sharing personal health care stories. The party aims to frame the election as a choice over pocketbook security and access to care.

In Georgia, one of the most closely watched Senate battlegrounds, Sen. Jon Ossoff is expected to highlight those challenges at a campaign rally Saturday in suburban Atlanta. His race is seen as a test of whether the party’s health care-centered strategy can hold in a competitive state.

By James Kisoo

WASHINGTON

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday reapproved the weed killer dicamba for use on genetically modified soybeans and cotton, extending the use of a pesticide known to drift from its target and damage neighboring crops.

The agency described the decision as critical for farmers battling fast-growing weeds, and said it had imposed “strong protections and limits” to ensure safe application.

Dicamba has been used for decades but saw a dramatic increase in use after crops engineered to resist it were introduced.

While it kills weeds without harming the modified plants, its volatility has sparked years of legal battles and widespread complaints from farmers whose orchards, vineyards, and vegetable fields have been injured.

The move drew sharp criticism from environmental and public health advocates.

They argue that reauthorizing the chemical for two of America’s most common crops will lead to a vast expansion in its use and increased harm, defying recent court rulings that blocked similar EPA approvals in 2020 and 2024.

“To see the administration move forward with this is disheartening,” said Kelly Ryerson, an activist with the group Make American Healthy Again, which has forged a fragile political alliance with the Trump administration on other issues.

“This decision directly contradicts their promises to listen to farmers and protect public health.”

By James Kisoo

WASHINGTON

A racist social media post by President Donald Trump featuring imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as primates was deleted by the White House Friday following a swift, bipartisan backlash.

The deletion marked a rare public retreat for an administration that had initially defended the video.

The post, which appeared on Trump’s Truth Social account Thursday night, sparked immediate condemnation from civil rights leaders, Democratic lawmakers, and veteran Republican senators alike.

Critics denounced the video’s treatment of the nation’s first Black first couple as deeply offensive.

In a reversal, the White House attributed the post to a staffer who had acted “erroneously.” This explanation came hours after press secretary Karoline Leavitt had dismissed the controversy as “fake outrage.” The video was removed only after prominent Republicans joined calls for its deletion.

Asked about the incident later Friday, Trump refused to apologize. “I didn’t make a mistake,” he said.

The post was part of a series of overnight updates to Trump’s account that amplified his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen—assertions repeatedly rejected by courts across the country and by his own former Attorney General, who found no evidence of widespread fraud.

By James Kisoo