Latest news with #Tokyo
CNA
3 minutes ago
- Business
- CNA
Japan June retail sales rise 2.0% year/year
TOKYO :Japanese retail sales rose 2.0 per cent in June from a year earlier, against the median market forecast for a 1.8 per cent rise, government data showed on view full tables, go to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at:
Reuters
4 minutes ago
- Business
- Reuters
Japan June retail sales rise 2.0% year/year
TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japanese retail sales rose 2.0% in June from a year earlier, against the median market forecast for a 1.8% rise, government data showed on Thursday. To view full tables, go to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry at: opens new tab
Daily Mail
4 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Major airline offering tourists FREE flights - but there's a catch
Japan Airlines is offering international tourists the opportunity to explore more of Japan at no extra cost - but there are some conditions. The carrier is giving away free domestic flights to travellers who book round-trip international flights with them. This initiative is more than a flight promotion, as it aims to combat overtourism in popular cities, such as Tokyo and Kyoto, and encourage exploration of less-frequented areas of Japan. It can be especially useful for holidaymakers interested in combining a visit to a major hub with a historic deep dive in Hiroshima or a skiing excursion in Hokkaido. To qualify, passengers must book an international flight with JAL and include a domestic leg within the same reservation. As of the latest, there is no announced end date for the promotion, so there is no rush for travellers to book now. However, there are a number of requirements the airline has laid out to be eligible for the deal. The offer will be available to travellers from specific countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, India, China and Taiwan. Currently, only passengers from the US, Canada, Mexico, Thailand and Singapore are eligible for the deal. However, from September 19, the offer will become available to Australia and New Zealand, later extending to travellers from Vietnam and the Philippines on September 25, and on September 27, to India, Indonesia, China, and Taiwan. Travellers from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and China may also be subject to a stopover fee of ¥300 ($100 USD) if they stay in the first destination in Japan for more than 24 hours before flying on their domestic leg. No extra charges will be applied to passengers from other countries for the domestic segments, as reported by Points Passport.
RNZ News
34 minutes ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
World Athletics mandates gene test for female category eligibility
Competitors jump in the Women 100 Metre Hurdles Photo: PHOTOSPORT Athletes will be eligible to compete in the female category for world ranking competitions such as the World Championships only if they clear a one-time gene test in a bid to protect the integrity of women's sport, World Athletics said. The once-in-a-lifetime test for the SRY gene, which helps in determining biological sex, can be conducted via a cheek swab or blood test. The testing protocol will be overseen by member federations and the new regulations come into effect on September 1, ahead of the September 13-21 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. "It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement. "The test to confirm biological sex is a very important step in ensuring this is the case. We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female. "It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology. We particularly want to thank our member federations for their support and commitment in the implementation of these new regulations." Athletics has spent years debating eligibility criteria to compete in women's events, amid questions over biological advantages for transgender athletes and those with differences of sex development (DSD). World Athletics bans transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in women's events, while it requires female DSD athletes whose bodies produce high testosterone levels to lower them in order to be eligible. Earlier this year, a working group found that those rules were not tight enough, with a pre-clearance test for the SRY gene being one of several recommendations the group made for revised rules. The SRY gene reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is an indicator of biological sex. The test was also approved by World Boxing in May when they introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers. Earlier this month, the European Court upheld a 2023 ruling that double 800 metres Olympic champion Caster Semenya's appeal to a Swiss Federal Tribunal against regulations that barred her from competing had not been properly heard. Semenya was appealing against World Athletics regulations that female athletes with DSDs medically reduce their testosterone levels. - Reuters
ABC News
35 minutes ago
- Sport
- ABC News
World Athletics sets September 1 deadline for athletes to pass chromosome tests
World Athletics has set a September 1 deadline for athletes to pass a gene test for competing at the world championships. Track and field's governing body said in March it would require chromosome testing by cheek swabs or dried blood-spot tests for female athletes to be eligible for elite-level events. The next championship opens on September 13 in Tokyo, and September 1 is "the closing date for entries and the date the regulations come into effect," World Athletics said in a statement. The latest rules update gives certainty for the 2025 championships in an issue that has been controversial on the track and in multiple courts since Caster Semenya won her first 800m world title as a teenager in 2009. Semenya won a ruling at the European Court of Human Rights three weeks ago in Strasbourg, France, in the South Africa star's years-long challenge to a previous version of track and field's eligibility rules affecting athletes with medical conditions known as Differences in Sex Development (DSD). That legal win, because she did not get a fair hearing at the Swiss Supreme Court, did not overturn track's rules. World Athletics drew up rules in 2018 forcing two-time Olympic champion Semenya and other athletes with DSD to suppress their elevated natural testosterone levels to be eligible for international women's events. Semenya refused to take medication. Now, the Monaco-based track body requires a "once-in-a-lifetime test" to determine athletes it says are biologically male with a Y chromosome. "We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said. The governing body is covering up to $100 of the costs for each test, with the protocol overseen by its member federations at national level. Test results should be ready within two weeks. "The SRY test is extremely accurate and the risk of false negative or positive is extremely unlikely," World Athletics said. World Athletics has combined its eligibility framework for DSD and transgender athletes, with transitional rules that let "a very small number of known DSD athletes" continue competing if they are taking medication to suppress natural testosterone. "The transitional provisions do not apply to transgender women as there are none competing at the elite international level under the current regulations," World Athletics said. Now age 34, and her track career effectively over, Semenya should now see her legal case go back to the Swiss federal court in Lausanne, where she lost her original appeal against track and field's rules at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. AP
