Kyodo News Digest: Feb. 23, 2025
A man removes snow from a car at temporary housing in quake-hit Wajima in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, on Feb. 22, 2025, following heavy snowfall. (Kyodo)
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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G7 chair Canada struggles with planning for climate meeting
TOKYO – Canada, which holds this year’s Group of Seven presidency, is struggling to plan the environment ministers’ meeting ahead of the leaders’ summit following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement of his resignation, a Japanese government source said Sunday.
The G7 ministerial meeting on climate, energy, and the environment is traditionally held in April or May to set the tone ahead of the leaders’ talks in June. However, Ottawa has been cautious about setting the agenda after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement once again.
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Japan emperor greets public on his 65th birthday, hopes for happiness
TOKYO – Emperor Naruhito on Sunday greeted thousands who gathered to celebrate his 65th birthday, joined by Empress Masako, their daughter Princess Aiko and other imperial family members, expressing hope for the people’s happiness and good health.
Ahead of his birthday, the emperor expressed hope at a press conference that the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II later this year would serve as an occasion to renew a pledge for peace.
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Japanese anime wins 2nd prize at Berlin film festival
BERLIN – Japanese animated film “Ordinary Life” (Futsu no Seikatsu) won the runner-up jury prize in the short film category on Saturday at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.
Directed by Yoriko Mizushiri, the film took the Silver Bear Jury Prize Short Film for her anime work in soft and pastel-colored tones that portrays the everyday interactions in the world of a collection of human and animal characters.
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Indonesia glaciers may vanish by 2026 due to global warming: expert
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s only glaciers could disappear by next year due to global warming, an expert has said, in a phenomenon that may affect the island’s flora and fauna including indigenous species.
The glaciers — on the 4,862-meter-high peak Puncak Jaya located in the Jayawijaya Mountains in the Indonesian part of the island that the country shares with Papua New Guinea — are called “eternal snow” by locals. They are the last remaining ones in tropical western Pacific, said Donaldi Sukma Permana from Indonesia’s Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency.
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Basketball: Hachimura scores 21, stops Jokic, Nuggets’ win streak
DENVER – Rui Hachimura scored 21 points, had four assists and helped limit Denver Nuggets linchpin Nikola Jokic to a season-low two field goals Saturday in a 123-100 win for the Los Angeles Lakers, who snapped their opponent’s nine-game win streak.
The Japanese forward went 7-from-12 from the field, including 4-from-9 from three-point range, while playing tight defense on the 211-centimeter Serbian star, whose seven field goal attempts were also a season-low.
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Japan team develops world’s largest “biohybrid” robot hand
TOKYO – A team of researchers in Japan says it has developed a robot hand that moves using cultivated human muscle tissues and is the largest of its kind yet developed, with the hope of applying the technology to prosthetic hands.
The biohybrid hand has five fingers that move individually using multiple joints and can perform complex finger movements, such as grasping and moving the tip of a small object, said the researchers at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University. It measures 18 centimeters in length, including a forearm section.
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ANA to serve U.S.-brewed Dassai on international flights
TOKYO – All Nippon Airways Co. will offer the U.S.-brewed version of the popular Japanese sake “Dassai” to passengers on some international flights, the Japanese airline has said.
Dassai Blue, produced in New York by Asahi Shuzo Co., will be available to passengers on business class between March and May as well as first class between June and August.
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Speed skating: Olympic champ Takagi extends win streak in Poland
TOMASZOW MAZOWIECKI, Poland – Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi maintained her dominance in the women’s 1,000 meters at the World Cup round in Poland on Saturday, earning her fifth win from five starts over the distance this season.
The reigning Olympic 1,000 champion clocked 1 minute, 14.80 seconds at the Arena Lodowa in Tomaszow Mazowiecki to finish 1.51 seconds ahead of China’s Han Mei in second place.
Video: Dog sled race in Hokkaido
