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Ugandan Olympic team member tests positive for coronavirus upon arrival in Japan
A member of Uganda’s Olympic team has tested positive for the coronavirus and was barred entry into Japan, in the first detected infection among arriving athletes for the Tokyo Games opening in five weeks. The eight other members of the team left early Sunday by chartered bus for host city… Read
Alcohol allowed but no condom distribution in Tokyo Olympic village
The organizing committee of this summer's Tokyo Olympics said Sunday that participants will be allowed to bring alcoholic beverages into the athletes' village but only for consumption in their rooms, as part of efforts to ensure the safety of the games amid the coronavirus pandemic. The organizing committee also said… Read
Suga calls on public to watch Olympics on TV as Japan eases state of emergency
Japan said on Thursday it would ease emergency coronavirus curbs in nine prefectures including Tokyo while keeping some measures, including limiting spectator numbers at big events, amid fears that next month's Olympics could trigger a surge in infections. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called on the Japanese public to watch the… Read
New Zealand selects transgender athlete Hubbard for Olympic women's weightlifting team
Laurel Hubbard hefted 185 kilograms in two lifts on the way to qualifying in the women’s super-heavyweight division for the Tokyo Olympics. That's heavy. But it's nowhere near the figurative weight Hubbard has carried to become the first transgender athlete to compete at an Olympic Games. Hubbard was among five… Read
Bear shot dead after rampaging through Sapporo
Hunters shot and killed a brown bear in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on Friday after it rampaged through the city, injuring four people including a Self-Defense Forces member and lumbering across busy roads. City officials tweeted that the bear had been "exterminated," with a local television station saying hunters had shot the… Read
Organizers show off athletes' village a month before Tokyo Olympics begin
Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics opened the 44-hectare athletes' village to the media on Sunday, showing off rooms and a timber-laced shopping plaza where 18,000 athletes and officials will stay during the sporting extravaganza. The once-delayed Games are due to start on July 23 amid concern that the influx of… Read
All Olympic live viewing events in Tokyo to be canceled: Koike
Tokyo Gov Yuriko Koike said Saturday that all mass public viewings of this summer's Olympics and Paralympics in the Japanese capital will be canceled as part of precautions against the coronavirus. After holding talks with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for about an hour, the governor told reporters that some of… Read
Juneteenth, recalling end of slavery, marked across U.S.
Parades, picnics and lessons in history marked Juneteenth celebrations Saturday in the U.S., a day that carried even more significance after Congress and President Joe Biden created a federal holiday to commemorate the end of slavery. A new national holiday was “really awesome. It’s starting to recognize the African American… Read
No time to waste, warns Japanese climate activist
Kimiko Hirata has spent nearly half her life fighting to wean Japan off its dependence on coal, and now isn't the time to slow down, the award-winning activist warns. "I'm hopeful, but we have no time to waste," said Hirata, the international director of Japan's Kiko Network NGO. "Our future… Read
Why are Olympics going on despite public opposition, medical warnings?
Public sentiment in Japan has been generally opposed to holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, partly based on fears the coronavirus will spike as almost 100,000 people — athletes and others — enter for both events. The Japanese medical community is largely against it. The government's main medical adviser Dr… Read
