Japan

[ad_1] The quake-hit Noto Peninsula and other areas facing the Sea of Japan will see heavy snow through Thursday, with the weather agency warning of high levels of accumulation within a short period of time in Fukui and Shiga prefectures.The Meteorological Agency is asking people to refrain from nonessential and nonurgent outings if their areas are experiencing heavy snow. In the past, cars have become stranded on roads for days […]

[ad_1] Next week, three foreign residents of Japan will file a lawsuit against the government over alleged racial profiling by police, in a case that would be the first of its kind, their lawyers said Wednesday.The three men — one born in Pakistan, an African American and a Pacific Islander — have been repeatedly questioned by police because of their ethnicity or appearance, their lawyers said in a statement."It would […]

[ad_1] MELBOURNE – Third seed Daniil Medvedev was forced to dig deep into his reserves to outlast Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in an epic quarterfinal on Wednesday and reach the last four of the Australian Open for the third time.The Russian, twice a losing finalist at Melbourne Park, went toe-to-toe with the big Pole for almost four energy-sapping hours on Rod Laver Arena before finally setting […]

[ad_1] Doha – Japan cruised into the last 16 of the Asian Cup and a possible showdown with South Korea after a 3-1 win over Indonesia on Wednesday.Ayase Ueda struck in each half to go with a late Indonesia own goal in Doha to send the pre-tournament favorites through as group runners-up behind Iraq.Sandy Walsh scored a consolation goal for Indonesia in injury time at the end of the game. […]

[ad_1] Russia has said that a military plane carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners as well as nine crew and guards has crashed in Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine. The IL-76 aircraft came down while transporting the prisoners for an exchange with Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said Wednesday, according to the state-run Tass news service. A senior Russian lawmaker claimed the aircraft was downed by a Ukrainian missile […]

[ad_1] Carmaker Daihatsu recalled more than 320,000 vehicles and extended a factory shutdown on Wednesday, deepening troubles sparked by a major safety testing scandal last month. The Toyota-owned firm notified the transport ministry that it would recall a total of 322,700 vehicles of two models due to a door defect. The company also announced that operations at three of its four factories would stay suspended until Feb. 16, with the […]

[ad_1] The Justice Ministry is to allow male prisoners to have face lotion and hair conditioner, which women inmates may already use, in light of changing gender norms, an official said Wednesday. Under previous rules, the in-prison purchase and gift acceptance of the toiletry items were allowed only for female inmates, based on the notion that those items tend to be used by women. But the ministry notified prisons nationwide […]

[ad_1] Promotion-seeking sekiwake Kotonowaka retained sole possession of first place Wednesday at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament as he comfortably took care of rank-and-file opponent Oho. The 26-year-old Kotonowaka (10-1) inched closer to both a maiden Emperor's Cup and the 13 wins needed to meet the unofficial ozeki promotion benchmark of 33 wins over three consecutive meets as a sekiwake or komusubi. Lone yokozuna Terunofuji and both healthy ozeki, […]

[ad_1] An animated fantasy film directed by renowned artist Hayao Miyazaki and the latest Godzilla movie were among the Japanese films nominated for U.S. Academy awards on Tuesday. Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" took the prize for best animated feature at the U.S. Golden Globes earlier this month. The 83-year-old anime giant won an Oscar for "Spirited Away" in 2003. His nomination for this year's Oscar in the animated […]