- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
Celestial clean: Japanese duo spruce up world's tallest bronze Buddha
Emerging from the head of the world's tallest bronze Buddha and climbing down to its right ear, two specialist cleaners gave the imposing Japanese statue an annual spruce up Monday to help it look its gleaming best.
Using high-pressure water guns, the pair blasted dust and bird droppings off the Ushiku Daibutsu monument, which soars skywards over Ushiku city, northeast of Tokyo.
The 120-metre (393-foot) structure is spruced up once a year by the two men, who have been entrusted with the job for nearly a quarter of a century.
"It's a very unusual task," one of the veteran cleaners, 54-year-old Kazuyoshi Taguchi, told AFP.
When he and Kazumi Minowa, 51, first took on the annual duty, "we had no idea how to clean the statue and faced many difficulties, like our bodies being rolled and blown around by the wind", Taguchi said.
On Monday they carried rope and buckets of water up ladders to the very top of the Buddha, which is three times as tall as the Statue of Liberty without its plinth.
They then descended through the 480 coils of curly hair, each one a metre wide, before blasting a year's worth of white and grey dirt from the statue's ear.
As the city where revered 13th century priest Shinran Shonin is believed to have established the popular Jodo Shinshu sect, Ushiku is an important place for Japanese Buddhism.
Visitors to the monument can take an elevator inside the massive body and peer out of windows at its chest, 85 metres above the ground.
Neither amateur boxer Taguchi nor fishing fan Minowa had a background in climbing, but Taguchi is "proud" to have carried out the special task -- traditionally known as "soot removal" -- for such a long time.
"Soot removal" is an annual event at Japanese temples, where monks and worshippers wipe dust from altars and clean buildings.
"Usually we use bamboo brooms, but they are just too small for this Buddha statue," said Ushiku temple representative Masahiro Maekawa.
"This event also has the meaning for us of reflecting on the year, and starting a new one with a fresh mindset," he added.
F.Bennett--AMWN