Tokyo’s twin panda babies officially named
11 October 2021 |
6:51 am
The twin pandas born at Tokyo's Ueno zoo in June have been named Xiao Xiao for the male and Lei Lei for the female. There are an estimated 1,800 giant pandas left in the wild, mainly in bamboo forests in the mountains of China, according to environmental group WWF. Around 600 more live in zoos and breeding centres around the world.
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Families of refugee athletes who come from Kenya's Kakuma settlement have been sending them prayers and messages of hope, before they compete at the Olympic Games.
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Hundreds of people wait to have their picture taken with the famous Olympic rings outside the Olympic stadium as Japan extends a state of emergency, a week after the start of the Games.
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Baseball fan Masamitsu Takahashi opened his "izakaya" bar-restaurant in 2013, when Tokyo was chosen to host the 2020 Olympics. Never had he imagined that, eight years later, he would be watching Japan beating the USA in the quarter-final there all alone. Other bars have decided to stay open despite the state of emergency, but Takahashi says he prefers "to avoid the situation deteriorating to the point where there isn't even baseball".
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When Tokyo last hosted the Olympics, in 1964, Itsuo Masuda was deeply depressed, struggling with his sexuality. This year he watched openly gay and transgender athletes compete with pride, in the most LGBTQ-friendly games yet.
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Tokyo 2020 mascot's Miraitowa tours the main press centre, greeting and posing for photos with media from around the world.
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Residents in Shanghai react as China takes home 38 gold medals, the second-highest number at the Tokyo Olympics and one less than the United States. Morning commuters say they are proud of Chinese athletes' "historic" achievements, and look forward to Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, which they hope will be "better" than Tokyo's Games.
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The Japanese authorities install a giant symbol of the Paralympic Games off the coast of Tokyo, just days before the competition begins.
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Twins Aminata and Ramatoulaye Diaw have impressed Senegal by achieving their baccalaureate at the age of only 13, a new record in the African nation.
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