TOKYO — British comedian John Oliver, known for his satirical news show “Last Week Tonight,” dove into the cute yet weird world of Japanese mascots and ended up in a feud with a particularly rogue otter character that wears a turtle as a hat.
Confused? Perhaps this short film will help.
No? Okay. John Oliver explains it all far better than The Washington Post ever could.
Up to speed? What you need to know is Japanese people are crazy about mascots, or yuru-chara, and everything from cities to museums, products to the police, sports teams to the military and prisons have their own, very cute, mascots. Read More...
The mystery surrounding the identity of “Anonymous” — the unnamed “senior official in the Trump administration” who wrote a damning New York Times opinion piece and best-selling book criticizing the president — was resolved by the author’s self-reveal on Tuesday. But the lifting of veil only opened other questions:
Was it really accurate to describe the author as a “senior” official? Was the anonymity granted by his book publisher and the New York Times justified? Read More...
By Stephen DowlingFeatures correspondent
(US Navy)The Tupolev Tu-95 first thundered over Soviet parades in the mid-1950s. Why does this giant, propeller-driven bomber still make headlines nearly 60 years later? Stephen Dowling investigates.
It first rumbled into the skies back in the early 1950s, an aerial giant that epitomised Soviet military might. Even its codename – ‘Bear’ – underlined its great size and strength.
When the Tupolev Tu-95 first appeared in front of Western observers in 1956, it did so amid a revolutionary surge in aviation design; the decade after the end of World War II saw jet technology become ascendant. Read More...
