Japan

He had asked a conductor, who did not have a driver's licence, to man the train which was travelling at 150km/h (93mph), according to local media.

The Hikari 633 was carrying 160 passengers at the time. The incident reportedly did not affect the journey.

But the railway company has reported it to authorities and apologised.

The Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) said the incident took place on Sunday morning while the train was travelling in the central Shizuoka prefecture.

Officials were leaning toward an extension of the measures in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures beyond 11 May as the country battles a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Wednesday.

Extending the measures, which were imposed on 25 April, would likely fan persistent concerns about whether the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin on 23 July, can be held as planned.

The games have already been delayed once from last year due to the pandemic.

The 13 metre-long sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.

It reportedly used 25 million yen (NZ$320,300) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

Noto officials have told local media it is part of a long term plan to lure tourists back after the pandemic.

Japan is battling another surge in coronavirus cases, and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency - the third for the country since the pandemic began.

The 13m-long (43ft) sea creature lies in the port of Noto, where flying squid is the town's delicacy.

It reportedly used 25m yen ($228,500; £164,700) of the emergency funding to build the statue.

Noto officials have told local media it is part of a long term plan to lure tourists back after the pandemic.

Japan is battling another surge in coronavirus cases, and Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency - the third for the country since the pandemic began.

Nauru Tourism has partnered with Japan International Relations Organisation (JIRO) to promote Nauru and has attracted over 165,000 Twitters followers mostly in Japan.

Nauru Bulletin reports JIRO Deputy Director Tatsuya Haga, who co-partners the tourism promotion of Nauru says in February, JIROs Twitter account for Nauru attracted over 165,000 followers in four months, exceeding Finland, France, Germany and the USA.

The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007.

The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.

The US said the "massive joint commitment" would initially focus on delivering doses to South East Asia.

The 7.3-magnitude quake was felt strongly in Tokyo, but a tsunami warning has not been issued.

There are reports of about 50 people injured, officials say, and almost one million homes are without power.

The quake struck near the epicentre of a 2011 earthquake which triggered a tsunami and killed over 18,000 people.

That tsunami caused a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant - the world's most severe nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

With less than six months to go until the troubled Games are due to start, the board will instead tackle questions over the vaccination of athletes, international visitors and the attendance of spectators, and safety regulations among other matters.

The Olympic body, which will meet remotely, nevertheless finds itself in a similar situation to March last year, when it was forced to postpone the Games by 12 months as the Covid-19 pandemic shut down sport worldwide.

A set of criteria have been established in conjunction with coach Gareth Baber to try and sidestep the kind of pandemic problems that restricted the Fijian 15s team to just one game during the recent Autumn Nations Cup in Europe which saw numerous players and staff return positive tests. Bristol’s Semi Radradra has made it clear he wants to be part of the gold medal defence and Baber would like to include other European based players if they can be released for pre-Games camps and matches.

Ms. Jacob, virtually presented her Master's research thesis on "Impacts of Nurition oriented Agriculture: A Case Study of the Republic of Nauru", whilst in quarantine in Nadi.

The main objective of the research was to find correlation between kitchen garden and household diet for people living in Nauru.

Ms Jacob was nominated by the Nauru Government to pursue further studies through the P-LEADS programme.

The programme supports long-term training for Bachelors, Masters and PhD studies implemented under Official Development Assistance by Government of Japan.