Nuclear-armed North Korea’s launch of four missiles on Monday was a training exercise for a strike on US bases in Japan, Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday. Leader Kim Jong-Un supervised the drill and gave the order for it to start, it said. “Feasting his eyes on the trails of ballistic rockets”, he praised … Read more
Papa Massata Diack, son of disgraced former IAAF chief Lamine Diack, slammed corruption allegations against him over the awarding of the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio as a “witch hunt”, in an exclusive interview with AFP on Monday. “Rio won fairly,” Papa Massata Diack, who rarely speaks to the international media, insisted to AFP, as … Read more
South Korea play surprise package Israel in the opening game of the World Baseball Classic on Monday, kicking off a 16-team tournament spread across four countries. Japan, who are two-time winners, and Mexico are also hosting pools of four teams, along with the United States — who are looking for their first Classic title. South … Read more
Sixty years of independence has brought with it some remarkable Ghanaian sporting moments – many great, some not so good, but generally a lot of unforgettable ones. Ghana is by no means a two-sport country, but there is also no denying the fact that football and boxing has dominated literally everything from Olympic medals, to … Read more
They may look good enough to eat, but Japan’s mouthwatering food replicas are only for show as restaurateurs compete for the attention of hungry customers. They’re common sights in this food-obsessed nation, with everything from sudsy beers and perfectly glazed sushi to hamburgers and deep-fried pork cutlets, known as tonkatsu, on display. Making fake food … Read more
Defending Super Rugby champions the Wellington Hurricanes trounced the Melbourne Rebels 71-6 Saturday, with returning All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Nehe Milner-Skudder playing starring roles. Milner-Skudder scored three of the Hurricanes’ 11 unanswered tries, while Barrett set up three and kicked six conversions. It was the Hurricanes second highest score ever, bettered only by the … Read more
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to visit Japan, China and South Korea later this month to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes, local media reported on Saturday. Tillerson has so far kept a low profile and it will be his first visit to the region since he became President Donald Trump’s … Read more
Japan seeks a third title, the Dominican Republic wants to defend the crown and Americans wonder how they might ever win as the fourth World Baseball Classic opens Monday in Seoul. Elite Major League Baseball talent, with 63 former all-stars including 25 from last season, will play for their homelands against top global standouts in … Read more
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday issued a sharp warning to the private club set to host golf at the 2020 Tokyo Games: admit women or you’re out. On a visit to Tokyo to check on the city’s Olympic preparations, IOC vice president John Coates said the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama prefecture was … Read more
Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles will participate in the 24th season of US reality show “Dancing With the Stars,” broadcaster ABC said Wednesday, joining a lineup that also includes former figure skating darling Nancy Kerrigan and 1980s star Mr T. Starting in 2005 and modeled on the British program “Strictly Come Dancing,” the show pairs … Read more
Olympic silver medallist Lydia Ko said on Thursday she hoped the popularity of women’s golf in Japan could help solve a row over female members at Tokyo 2020 Games host course. Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama does not allow women as full members and hin January postponed a review of the policy, despite coming under … Read more
Leading auto manufacturers, including BMW and Nissan, equipped their cars with Takata airbags despite knowing they were dangerous, according to legal filings reviewed Tuesday by AFP. The claims, laid out in a civil case against Takata and leading automakers, broadens responsibility for the scandal to auto manufacturers, who have largely been seen as victims in … Read more
Olympic golf champion Park In-Bee on Tuesday said she didn’t expect Tokyo 2020 to be hit by serial withdrawals, after a number of top men’s players skipped the Rio Games last year. Park, who won women’s gold as golf returned to the Games after a 112-year absence, said Tokyo should see a better turn-out after … Read more
US track queen Allyson Felix said on Monday she has set her sights on the 2020 Olympics after winning a record sixth gold medal at last year’s Rio games. The 31-year-old 400m and 200m star revealed she plans to compete in at least one more Olympics after being honored as female athlete of the year … Read more
Japan’s emperor left for Vietnam on Tuesday to meet families of Japanese soldiers sent there by his father more than seven decades earlier during World War II. The 83-year-old Akihito and his wife, Michiko, are making their first visit to the country, the latest in a series of trips to former battlegrounds. “It is our … Read more
Polish-French art enthusiast Jerzy Leskowicz is obsessed with first-edition Japanese woodblock prints, and Katsushika Hokusai’s iconic 19th-century “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa” is only one of many in his collection. Part of that collection went on display at the weekend in Poland at the National Museum in Warsaw, where visitors can also admire Utagawa Hiroshige’s … Read more
Two giant pandas at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo mated for the first time in four years Monday — a 52-second effort that boosted hopes for a baby as well as shares in a nearby Chinese restaurant. Public viewing of pandas at the zoo has been halted since last week as the mating season got into full … Read more
Asian markets kicked the week off with broad losses Monday, with Tokyo hit by a stronger yen, as the global Trump rally shows signs of fragility ahead of a key speech by the new president to Congress. A record 11th successive all-time high close for New York’s Dow was not enough to inspire investors who … Read more
Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang stormed to victory in the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday in the fastest race ever run in Japan. The former world record holder clocked 2hr 3min 58sec over a flatter course than in previous years as he added the Tokyo title to victories in London, New York and Berlin. Sarah Chepchirchir won the … Read more
The Wellington Hurricanes swamped Japan’s hapless Sunwolves to launch the defence of their Super Rugby title in spectacular fashion as New Zealand teams again dominated in the opening round of the new season. The Hurricanes demolished the second-season Sunwolves 83-17 in Tokyo in an embarrassingly lopsided game, while fellow Kiwi teams, Canterbury Crusaders, Auckland Blues … Read more