Saturday 15 June 2013

Iran reformist surges to big lead in vote

Iran's reformist presidential candidate takes a huge lead in vote counting, suggesting late support may sway a race that once appeared solidly in the ruling ...

Google experiment uses balloons to beam Internet down to Earthlings

Google revealed top-secret plans Saturday to send balloons to the edge of space with the lofty aim of bringing Internet to the two-thirds of the ...

Rebels cool to U.S. arms aid

Syria's rebels Friday criticized the U.S. decision to offer small-scale military assistance as late and inadequate, saying they will need heavy weapons to counter the ...

Miura oldest to climb Everest but some facts overlooked

The government has just established a new public award named after alpinist-skier Yuichiro Miura for "adventurers who challenge themselves to the limit of human potential." ...

Airbus A350 completes maiden flight over France

Airbus sent a new wide-body plane into the skies Friday that sets the stage for intensifying competition with U.S. rival Boeing — with consequences for ...

Iran’s Rowhani favors nuanced tack

Just weeks after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in Iran's 2005 presidential election, the country's top nuclear negotiator, Hasan Rowhani, resigned after quarrelsome meetings with the new ...

Too many inward-looking students

At least half of the Japanese high school and university students surveyed say it's too late for them to become a "globally active person." Is ...

Family-crest master fears he’s one of a dying breed

Dressed in a black kimono and wearing a pair of eye-catching black, triple-framed spectacles, Shoryu Hatoba straightens his back as he sits on the tatami ...

Insecticides pit trees against bees

"That's where they're going to spray." Organic farmer Naoki Tachikawa, 43, is standing on the edge of one of his tiny rice fields in the Shiga ...

Death threats sparked Japan’s first cricket game

On June 25, 1863, a Royal Navy team drawn from officers on ships sent to protect British expats in Japan had plenty to worry about ...

Sand, sea and stars on idyllic Akajima

Back in 1972 when I first lived on Denman Island in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, I was one ...

Historical biography captures the spirit of early feminist Japan

Time distorts, concealing the individual drops of humanity within the great tide of history. "Beauty in Disarray" attempts to reveal one such individual threatened to ...

Real-life celebrity drama; the Akihabara idol underground; CM of the week: Asahi Soft Drinks

The Takashimas were once the first family of Japanese show business. Tadao Takashima was a popular stage musical actor in the 1960s and Hanayo Sumi ...

Lefty tied for U.S. Open lead

Phil Mickelson birdied his last putt while Billy Horschel never missed a green and they still only just broke par at the U.S. Open on ...

Japan rugby squad trounces undermanned Wales

Japan recorded its first official test-match win against a Tier One nation Saturday, when it defeated Wales 23-8 at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground. But ...

Jones to make history in draft

By chance, Ronald "Popeye" Jones bumped into Joe Sakic in the weight room of the arena in Denver way back when. It shouldn't have been a ...

Manchester City makes it official, hires Pellegrini as manager

Manchester City revealed one of the worst-kept secrets in soccer by hiring Manuel Pellegrini as its new manager on Friday, entrusting a man nicknamed "The ...

Orioles blank listless BoSox

Ryan Dempster pitched well enough to win. Boston's offense didn't do enough to make it happen. The Red Sox wasted a solid start by Dempster, managing ...

Nara selects Toyama as first coach

It didn't take long. Koto Toyama has landed another coaching gig. The Bambitious Nara have handed the reins to Toyama for the team's inaugural season, 2013-14. The ...