Latest news with #Akane
New Straits Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
The world is trying to catch up with Se Young
KUALA LUMPUR: South Korea's women's shuttler An Se Young has surged so far ahead, that the rest of the world is struggling to catch up with her. That was the admission by Japan's world No. 4 Akane Yamaguchi after she reached the Malaysia Masters semi-finals after beating China's world No. 14, Gao Fang Jie, 18-21, 21-16, 22-20 at the Axiata Arena on Friday. Akane is impressed by the arcane rise of Olympic champion and world No. 1 Se Young. "Previously, we were rivals and there was not much that separated us. But she has now surged ahead of everyone and we are all trying to catch up to her," she said. Although Akane holds a 14-12 edge in her head-to-head record against Se Young, the Korean has claimed victory in three of their last five meetings. Se Young aside, Akane, 27, will have to deal with the rise of Chinese shuttlers. She will next face China's world No. 3 Han Yue — who ousted Indonesia's world No. 13, Putri Kusuma Wardani, 21-12, 21-13 — in the Malaysia Masters quarter-finals. Akane, who used to battle stalwarts such as 2012 Olympic gold medallist Li Xuerui and former world champion Wang Yihan, has witnessed a changing of the guard among China's women's singles players on the World Tour. While the current crop — including world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi, Han Yue and Chen Yufei — remain formidable, Akane felt they lack the dominance of their predecessors. "Chinese players have always been strong. But compared to Xuerui and Yihan, the current generation is not as dominant," she added.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pro-Duterte posts misrepresent ICC chief's comments on court's jurisdiction
"Update from ICC with Judge Tomoko Akane," reads the caption of a Facebook reel shared on March 24, 2025. The clip shows ICC President Tomoko Akane saying the court does not have jurisdiction if "crimes occur on the soil of non-state parties by non-state parties or persons". Tagalog-language text on the video, using a popular nickname for Duterte, reads: "This is it! The ICC president herself said it. Father Digong can go home early." The post surfaced following Duterte's arrest on March 11; he was then put on plane to the ICC in the Netherlands to face a crimes against humanity charge tied to his drug war in which thousands were killed (archived link). The 79-year-old is awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for September 23 where he will have the opportunity to contest the accusations against him (archived link). The clip also circulated in other social media posts alongside the same claim, racking up over 150,000 views in total. But the clip does not show the ICC president speaking about Duterte's case or whether it falls within the court's jurisdiction. While Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, in 2019 after the tribunal began looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings during his term, the court ruled that alleged crimes committed prior to the withdrawal remained under its jurisdiction (archived link). The ICC reiterated this position after Duterte's arrest, saying the case "falls within the jurisdiction of the Court as the alleged crimes occurred during the period when the Philippines was a State Party to the Rome Statute" (archived link). A keyword search on Google found the falsely shared clip corresponds to a longer video posted on the website of the European Parliament (archived link). Akane was addressing a joint meeting of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee and legal affairs committee on March 19 (archived link). The clip used in the false posts shows part of Akane's response to a question raised by Dainius Zalimas, a member of the European Parliament from Lithuania. At the video's 11:13:40 mark, Zalimas asks Akane whether there is any need to adjust the Rome Statute to include crimes such as ecocide or other crimes against the environment. She begins her response at the 11:30:30 mark by stating that ecocide is not in the statute, and it is "up to the state parties to amend the Rome Statute if you feel it is necessary to incorporate it, likewise with other crimes as well". The clip used in the false posts follows at the 11:31:40 mark, where she lays out the limits of the ICC's jurisdiction. She does not mention Duterte's case in the answer, or in response to any other questions at the European Parliament meeting. AFP has previously debunked a similar false claim spread by Duterte's supporters suggesting the ICC lacks jurisdiction to charge the former president here.
AFP
26-03-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Pro-Duterte posts misrepresent ICC chief's comments on court's jurisdiction
"Update from ICC with Judge Tomoko Akane," reads the caption of a Facebook reel shared on March 24, 2025. The clip shows ICC President Tomoko Akane saying the court does not have jurisdiction if "crimes occur on the soil of non-state parties by non-state parties or persons". Tagalog-language text on the video, using a popular nickname for Duterte, reads: "This is it! The ICC president herself said it. Father Digong can go home early." The post surfaced following Duterte's arrest on March 11; he was then put on plane to the ICC in the Netherlands to face a crimes against humanity charge tied to his drug war in which thousands were killed (archived link). The 79-year-old is awaiting a confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for September 23 where he will have the opportunity to contest the accusations against him (archived link). Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on March 26, 2025 The clip also circulated in other social media posts alongside the same claim, racking up over 150,000 views in total. But the clip does not show the ICC president speaking about Duterte's case or whether it falls within the court's jurisdiction. While Duterte pulled the Philippines out of the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, in 2019 after the tribunal began looking into allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings during his term, the court ruled that alleged crimes committed prior to the withdrawal remained under its jurisdiction (archived link). The ICC reiterated this position after Duterte's arrest, saying the case "falls within the jurisdiction of the Court as the alleged crimes occurred during the period when the Philippines was a State Party to the Rome Statute" (archived link). European Parliament meeting A keyword search on Google found the falsely shared clip corresponds to a longer video posted on the website of the European Parliament (archived link). Akane was addressing a joint meeting of the European Parliament's human rights subcommittee and legal affairs committee on March 19 (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the European Parliament video (right) The clip used in the false posts shows part of Akane's response to a question raised by Dainius Zalimas, a member of the European Parliament from Lithuania. At the video's 11:13:40 mark, Zalimas asks Akane whether there is any need to adjust the Rome Statute to include crimes such as ecocide or other crimes against the environment. She begins her response at the 11:30:30 mark by stating that ecocide is not in the statute, and it is "up to the state parties to amend the Rome Statute if you feel it is necessary to incorporate it, likewise with other crimes as well". The clip used in the false posts follows at the 11:31:40 mark, where she lays out the limits of the ICC's jurisdiction. She does not mention Duterte's case in the answer, or in response to any other questions at the European Parliament meeting. AFP has previously debunked a similar false claim spread by Duterte's supporters suggesting the ICC lacks jurisdiction to charge the former president here.
Japan Times
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999' shows that even stoic gamers can fall in love
Male heartthrobs in movies based on shōjo manga (girls' comics) generally share one attribute: They're romantically unavailable to the frustrated female protagonist in the opening scenes — or even for much of the film. The latter dynamic is at work in 'My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999,' Yuka Yasukawa's sweet, leisurely paced romantic comedy based on a bestselling manga by the single-named artist Mashiro. The college student protagonist, Akane Kinoshita (Mizuki Yamashita) falls madly in love with Akito Yamada (Ryuto Sakuma), a high school student who is not only uninterested in romance (and tells her so to her face) but also emotionally blank with a vocabulary that doesn't extend far beyond 'yes' or 'no.' Nonetheless, at his elite high school Akito makes female classmates swoon just by walking through the halls. Seeing this comically staged spectacle, Akane starts to lose hope. Given this swarm of rivals, what chance does she really have? Akito is also a pro gamer who dominates an online RPG called 'Forest Of Savior,' and Akane first meets him through the game, of which she is a novice player. (Her ex-boyfriend got her into it before brutally dumping her in the film's first scene.) Invited to a party for the game's hardcore devotees, she spends days slimming down, shaping up and refreshing her wardrobe with the aim of showing up the ex, who has since acquired a new girlfriend. Once at the party, however, she embarrassingly trips and loses a shoe. The good-looking guy with kind eyes who hands it back to her is none other than Akito. Her new Prince Charming helps her in other ways, too, from bandaging her bruised ankle to taking her home after she passes out drunk. Thankfully, he never takes advantage of the situation, and Akane sees signs — or perhaps just imagines? — that he might, in his own inscrutable way, reciprocate her one-sided love for him. The story unfolds slowly with feather-light comedy inserted between the highly charged encounters of Akane and Akito at meetings of their game 'guild,' of which he is a much-admired leader, and elsewhere. Though her bestie, Momoko (Mahiru Coda), urges her to make her feelings known, Akane hesitates. That is until a rival appears, Akito's nerdy classmate Yukari (Mizuki Kayashima), who is even more hopelessly head-over-heels than Akane is. How this love triangle will resolve itself is hardly a mystery, but Akito proves to be more than a living simulacrum of his expressionless game avatar. As played by ACEes boy band member Sakuma, Akito is gently ghost-like through much of the film, but gives subtle indications early on of suffering an inner pain that has left him wary of expressing emotions despite his good heart. As Akane, former Nogizaka 46 idol group member Yamashita lights up the screen with a perfect, if often forced, smile and makes her character both relatable and sympathetic in her abject misery. To brighten the gloomy clouds hanging over the film's central relationship, everything from Akane's room to the coffee shop where she meets Akito and other guild friends is filmed in perky pastel shades. But 'My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999' is more than a warmly colored romantic fantasy, exemplifying as it does that ancient truth: It hurts to be in love, but it hurts even more not to take a chance
