Showing 1 - 10 of 74
Sumo diplomacy: Japan's heavyweight 'soft power' ambassadors
AFP, Published on 30/01/2026
» TOKYO - Two giants stare each other down before colliding with a dull thud. After years on the sidelines, sumo is back centrestage as part of Japan's soft power arsenal overseas.
Japan's beloved last pandas leave for China as ties fray
AFP, Published on 27/01/2026
» TOKYO — Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbours fray.
Tokyo pandas head for China, leaving Japan bereft of beloved bears
AFP, Published on 27/01/2026
» TOKYO - Two hugely popular pandas are set to depart from a Tokyo zoo for China on Tuesday, leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in more than 50 years.
Dissident Iranian filmmaker Panahi wins top prize at Cannes
AFP, Published on 25/05/2025
» CANNES (FRANCE) - "It Was Just an Accident" by dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Festival on Saturday.
Cannes closes with Iranian, Ukrainian films in spotlight
AFP, Published on 24/05/2025
» CANNES, France - The Cannes Festival draws to a close on Saturday, with a wry Iranian film about political prisoners and a Ukrainian-directed drama about despotism among the frontrunners to pick up the Palme d’Or top prize.
Experts warn 'AI-written' paper is latest spin on climate change denial
AFP, Published on 04/04/2025
» WASHINGTON - Climate change deniers are pushing an AI-generated paper questioning human-induced warming, leading experts to warn against the rise of research that is inherently flawed but marketed as neutral and scrupulously logical.
Nepal community efforts revive red panda population
AFP, Published on 14/03/2025
» TāPLEJUNG — Nepali police officer Jiwan Subba still feels pangs of regret decades after he bludgeoned a strange creature he found wandering in his barn, not realising it was an endangered red panda.
Pandas, like Trump, are back in Washington
AFP, Published on 25/01/2025
» WASHINGTON - Move over President Trump -- the newest stars in Washington are two giant pandas who made their public debut on Friday in front of hundreds of adoring fans.
Bamboo farm gets chopping for US zoo's hungry new pandas
AFP, Published on 24/01/2025
» FRONT ROYAL (UNITED STATES) — On a snow-blanketed field in Virginia, a handful of workers were silent but for the groan of a chainsaw chopping through bamboo -- a delicacy for their furry clients down the road in the US capital of Washington.
Singapore bids farewell to China-bound panda cub
AFP, Published on 13/12/2023
» SINGAPORE - Singaporeans bid farewell to a two-year-old panda cub on Wednesday as authorities prepared to send him to China where he will join the country's breeding program.