Japan

[ad_1] Reuters – China's annual Ice and Snow Festival, with its fairy-tale ice sculptures, opened late last week, attracting throngs of tourists who shuffled carefully over the slippy ice and snow and dragged their children in sledges around the park.This year the ice park spans 810,000 square meters with 250,000 cubic meters of sculptured ice, harvested from the nearby frozen Songhua River, and lit up at night with colorful lights.The […]

[ad_1] GAZA/JERUSALEM – Water purifiers, medical supplies and tent poles are among items Israel has blocked from entering Gaza on aid trucks, according to an Egyptian Red Crescent document seen by Reuters and sources in Gaza, but Israel denied blocking any such items.Under a policy that long pre-dates the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and ensuing war in Gaza, Israel inspects trucks bound for the Palestinian enclave to stop […]

[ad_1] U.S. President Joe Biden learned of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization last week several days after the fact and received no advance notice from Pentagon officials, people familiar with the matter said.The Defense Department announced Austin’s hospitalization at Walter Reed Medical Center on Friday, four days after he was admitted on Jan. 1 and without providing specifics on his ailment or the elective treatment he received.Several U.S. senators privately […]

[ad_1] Washington – U.S. President Joe Biden kicked off his first campaign event of the year, squarely making the case to voters that his predecessor Donald Trump is a danger to democracy and shouldn’t be returned to the White House.Biden’s remarks Friday offered some of his sharpest warnings yet about the threat he says Trump poses to the country’s institutions, a message Biden is placing at the center of his […]

[ad_1] English words can be heard amid the general hubbub in Japanese at the counter as a small group of overseas tourists mingle with locals over drinks and food at a homey bar in a big-city neighborhood.The group of travelers is on a "snack" tour in which they bar hop through an area of Tokyo with an English-speaking guide — just one activity that has sprung up to cater to […]

[ad_1] Japan and Peru may seem to have little in common, but as Peruvian cuisine has gained global recognition this year, chefs with roots in the South American country are serving up meals to treat Japanese taste buds with a side of history.With the two countries celebrating 150 years of diplomatic relations in 2023, restauranteurs and members of the Peruvian-Japanese community are also reflecting on how their culinary traditions have […]

[ad_1] The good news is that it’s been a great year for movies. The bad news is that, now, the battle for best picture will be bloodier than ever.With such a wide field of acclaimed contenders, plenty of worthy films will be dealt a bad hand when the Oscar nominations are announced Jan. 23. Even today’s self-imposed assignment to narrow the list to the 10 likeliest nominees proved a harrowing […]

[ad_1] More than one-third of unmarried adults in their 20s to 40s have never been in a relationship and one-fourth have no intention of ever getting married, a recent survey found. At 34.1%, the ratio of single men and women who have never had a romantic relationship was at a record high since Recruit Holdings Co., a staffing service group, began conducting surveys on people's views on marriage in 2017. […]

[ad_1] Insured losses from the devastating earthquake in Japan could reach $6.4 billion, according to an estimate from U.S.-based catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. Losses from residential properties account for more than two thirds of the total, according to KCC, as most commercial and industrial buildings in the affected cities are more seismic-resistant because of their predominantly steel construction. The government is considering designating the powerful earthquake as […]