NEW YORK Bette Midler is using words and pictures to tell a New York story. Midler's picture book The Tale of the Mandarin Duck will be published Feb. 16, Random House Books for Young Readers announced Thursday. With a story based on a real duck seen in Central Park in 2018, the book combines Midler's words, photographs by former New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani and illustrations by Joana Avillez. Midler said in a statement she thought of the book after seeing Kakutani's pictures of the duck in the park. The real ducks visit to New York was a cause for celebration; everyone who saw him fell instantly in love.

The fear of death, prejudice and discrimination at work and in marriage continues, and nuclear weapons still exist. Some 20,000 ethnic Korean residents of Hiroshima are believed to have died in the nuclear attack. So Lee lived under a Japanese name, Masaichi Egawa, until eight years ago, when he first publicly revealed his identity during a cruise where atomic bomb survivors shared their stories. Japanese bomb survivors had no government support until 1957, when their yearslong efforts won official medical support. The fear of death, prejudice and discrimination continues, and nuclear weapons still exist.

Japanese Emperor Naruhito, left, and Empress Masako, right, wave during the royal motorcade in Tokyo, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)TOKYO – Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako waved and smiled from an open car in a parade Sunday marking Naruhito's enthronement as more than 100,000 delighted well-wishers cheered, waved small flags and took photos from packed sidewalks. Under Japan's postwar constitution, the emperor has no political power and is limited to ceremonial roles. Sunday's parade started from the Imperial Palace, with the Kimigayo national anthem played by a marching band. The parade wraps up Naruhito's official succession events, though he'll perform a highly religious imperial rite later this week.