The Japanese government presented two former baseball players with the People's Honor Award recently, causing a sensation in the country. The two winners were Shigeo Nagashima in his late 70s and Hideki Matsui who has just retired. Once a player and coach of a famous Japanese professional baseball team Yomiuri Giants, Nagashima is one of the most celebrated baseball players in postwar Japan

Japan called on China to do more to restrain North Korea and its nuclear program during a visit to Tokyo by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday, a day after the American diplomat and Beijing leaders pledged to work together to restart talks with Pyongyang. Mr. Kerry shuttled between North Asian capitals over the weekend in a bid to avert a broader crisis in the region fueled by Pyongyang's threats to attack U.S. and allied targets in the Pacific.

The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks if North Korea lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as the saber-rattling government rejected South Korea's latest offer of dialogue as a "crafty trick." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Tokyo that North Korea would find "ready partners" in the United States if it began abandoning its nuclear program.

The recent cases of Russian Work and Travel visa applicants being denied American visas indicates that the visa issue hasn't being resolved yet. While some observers claim that the stance taken by the U.S. Embassy might be politically motivated, Russian experts see these restrictions as a reasonable response to the lack of control on Work and Travel participants. Likewise, U.S. officials view the move as an attempt to introduce higher requirements for students.

While the Fulbright educational program celebrated its 40th anniversary in Russia on April 10, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Tara Sonenshine, took the opportunity to drop in on the American Center in Moscow. She delivered a speech on the importance of soft power and how it can be used to cope with and minimize political differences.

aiwan should increase efforts to foster creativity and boost the nation’s soft power in the face of China’s rapid development in the arts sphere, Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) said yesterday, urging the government to recognize China’s strength in this regard amid a recent frenzy over a Chinese TV show.

Steven Partyka, drummer for Capital Region jazz group the Arch Stanton Quartet, wasn’t in the best of moods when the group went to perform for high school students in Egypt. But the experience turned out to be the highlight of the band’s weeklong tour in the country from March 20-26, not just for Partyka but indeed for the whole band — guitarist Roger Noyes, bassist Chris Macchia and trumpeter Terry Gordon.

On Saturday, Russian officials released a list of 18 American citizens who are accused of human rights abuses and will henceforth be banned from entering Russia. The list was made public a day after the United States released a list of 18 Moscow officials accused of human rights abuses in the case of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian citizen who died in prison four years ago.