Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Japanese Princess Mako's fiance returned to Japan on Monday for their marriage, which was suspended for more than three years because of a financial dispute involving his mother.
Kei Komuro, 29, arrived from New York, where he studied law and plans to work as a lawyer, with his hair in a ponytail, a bold statement by Japanese standards for someone marrying a princess in the tradition-bound imperial family.
Mako, also 29, is a niece of Emperor Naruhito. She and Komuro, who were classmates at Tokyo's International Christian University, announced in September 2017 their intent to marry the following year, but the financial dispute surfaced two months later and resulted in their wedding being suspended.
The financial dispute involved whether 4 million yen ($36,000) his mother received from her former fiance and spent on Komuro's education in Japan was a loan or a gift.
Komuro left for New York in 2018 to study law, and this is the first time he has returned since then. He made no comments at the airport, bowed silently and left in a car.
He and Mako are to hold a news conference after his two-week coronavirus quarantine, according to Kyodo News and other Japanese media.
The couple is expected to register their marriage in October and start a new life together in New York.
His mother's financial dispute was an embarrassment for the imperial family and divided public opinion. Mako's father, Crown Prince Akishino, asked Komuro to provide a clear explanation and expressed mixed feelings about the marriage plans.
Many Japanese said the marriage should be scrapped, while others said the couple should pursue their romance.
Mako, apparently aware that her wedding is not fully celebrated by the people, reportedly offered to decline all official wedding rituals and a payment of up to 150 million yen ($1.35 million) she is entitled to receive when leaving the imperial family.
The payment, funded by taxpayers, is meant to maintain the image of former royal members. Mako would be the first female imperial family member since World War II to not receive the payment when marrying a commoner.
The Imperial House Law allows only male-line succession. Female members of the royal family must renounce their royal status when they marry a commoner -- a practice that has resulted in a decline in the size of the royal family and a shortage of successors to the throne.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.