Latest Tokyo News

The candidates to be Japan's next leader include a former premier's son and a defense expert

Sep. 11, 2024 23:33 PM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan will have a new leader after outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party holds a vote on Sept. 27 to choose his replacement. They hope to shake off scandals that have dogged his government and regain public support. A record nine...

Australian field hockey player suspended over attempted cocaine purchase at Paris Olympics

Sep. 10, 2024 22:26 PM EDT

SYDNEY (AP) — Field hockey player Tom Craig has been suspended for 12 months by the sport's Australian governing body for attempting to purchase cocaine at the Paris Olympics. Craig was arrested but released without charge after trying to purchase the drug in Paris on Aug. 7 during...

Two Delta planes collide on an Atlanta taxiway, knocking the tail off one

Sep. 10, 2024 16:55 PM EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — Two Delta Air Lines planes collided on a taxiway at Atlanta's airport Tuesday morning, with a larger plane knocking over the tail of a smaller regional jet. No injuries were reported and Delta said passengers were rebooked on other flights that departed Tuesday...

Top Olympic sponsor Panasonic is ending its contract with the IOC

Sep. 10, 2024 08:44 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It's not known the value of the...

A robot has begun a 2-week mission to retrieve melted fuel from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant

Sep. 10, 2024 08:12 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — An extendable robot began on Tuesday a two-week mission to retrieve the first sample of melted fuel debris from inside one of three damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Highly radioactive fuel and other materials in the reactors melted when a...

Japanese 7-Eleven convenience store chain operator turns down Couche-Tard takeover offer

Sep. 06, 2024 08:31 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — The parent company of the Japanese 7-Eleven convenience store chain said Friday that it’s turning down a takeover offer from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. of Canada. In a letter made public, Stephen Dacus, who heads a special committee of outsiders examining the...

Salman Rushdie's memoir of his attack is among 12 books up for a top nonfiction prize

Sep. 05, 2024 07:48 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Salman Rushdie’s account of a stabbing attack that blinded him in one eye is among contenders announced Thursday for a prestigious nonfiction book prize. Rushdie’s memoir “ Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder ” is among 12 books on the long list for...

Japan and Australia agree to increase joint military training

Sep. 05, 2024 06:50 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Japan and Australia agreed on Thursday to increase joint military training exercises as their government ministers shared concerns over China’s recent incursions into Japanese airspace and territorial waters. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and...

For many investors and intellectuals leaving China, it's Japan — not the US — that's the bigger draw

Sep. 05, 2024 00:54 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — One by one, the students, lawyers and others filed into a classroom in a central Tokyo university for a lecture by a Chinese journalist on Taiwan and democracy — taboo topics that can't be discussed publicly back home in China. “Taiwan’s modern-day democracy took...

New to long jump, U.S. Paralympians Lambert and Wallace form unlikely partnership

Sep. 04, 2024 09:36 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — After an early workout session at Team USA’s high-performance center at the Paralympics, Noelle Lambert spots Jarryd Wallace by the side of the track. Loaded down with bags and a full-leg prosthetic, she stops to tell him that she’s switching blades. The new, softer one she...