Names In The News

IOC President THOMAS BACH will speak at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in N.Y. on Saturday. The Summit will adopt the post-'15 Development Agenda on Sept. 25. Three days of debate about the realization of these goals by world leaders will follow (IOC). ... TORU MATSUBARA, who organized Japanese baseball's only players' strike as the secretary general of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association, died of urinary tract cancer on Sunday. He was 58. Matsubara said in December, "The strike changed the landscape. No longer can owners hand down arbitrary decisions without consideration for the players or the fans." Matsubara, a native of Kawasaki, entered professional baseball after leaving university in '81, when he was hired by the Lotte Orions. He was hired by the players union in '88 and became the secretary general in '00 (KYODO, 9/22).