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A wildfire continued to burn through the forested areas of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday, forcing city officials to issue evacuation orders. The blaze was first detected at 11:55 a.m. Wednesday in the city’s Sanriku district. Despite ongoing firefighting efforts, the fire remains uncontained. Helicopters conducted aerial water drops on Wednesday in an attempt to control the flames. By 8:00 a.m. Friday, approximately 225 hectares had burned, according to NHK. As the flames crept dangerously close to residential neighborhoods, city officials issued evacuation orders late Thursday. Around 300 personnel from firefighting units, police and other agencies have been deployed on the ground, while seven helicopters from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures and the Self-Defense Forces are conducting aerial water drops. No injuries or property damage have been reported so far. However, with the fire posing an increasing threat to nearby homes, officials ordered 62 households — covering 157 residents — in the Tahama district to evacuate Thursday night. Footage from NHK showed flames and thick smoke engulfing large sections of forest Friday morning as SDF helicopters continued their water-drop efforts. A dry-air advisory from the Meteorological Agency remains in effect for Ofunato as of 10:16 a.m. Friday, with officials concerned that parched conditions could accelerate the fire’s spread. “The mayor and the local government are continuing to work alongside fire and emergency departments in order to ensure the safety of all residents,” said Daiki Inomata, a spokesperson from the city’s general affairs department. Source link

Mina Tanaka struck twice as Japan outclassed Australia in a 4-0 win in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup in Houston on Thursday, giving new coach Nils Nielsen the perfect start. Japan dominated the match from the outset, taking the lead in the sixth minute when a low shot from Fuka Nagano was directed into the bottom corner of the net by Tanaka. Tanaka doubled the lead in the 32nd minute when Hikaru Kitagawa crossed from the left, and the Japan striker took advantage of hesitant Australian defending to sneak in and slide the ball home. Source link

Japan’s inflation accelerated more than expected on higher food prices, rising at the fastest pace since the middle of 2023 and keeping the Bank of Japan on track to raise its benchmark interest rate further. Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2% last month from a year earlier, the biggest gain since June 2023, according to the ministry of internal affairs Friday. The acceleration was slightly faster than expected, and was pushed up by higher processed food prices including a record 70.9% jump in the cost of rice, the country’s staple food. Overall inflation accelerated to 4% from 3.6%, according to the ministry, hitting that mark for the first time in two years. Fresh food prices rising at the fastest pace in two decades also contributed to the acceleration in overall inflation, as vegetable prices, including cabbage, soared. Source link

Some U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists have been told to stop using the words “woman,” “disabled” and “elderly” in external communications, two sources familiar with the matter said, part of a list of banned terms that a White House spokesman said had misinterpreted President Donald Trump’s executive order. A list with the file name “Prohibited words” has been circulating since at least last week in official work chats, according to two FDA scientists with direct knowledge of the matter who requested anonymity for fear of professional repercussions. The list, which has not been previously reported, is sowing further confusion at an agency struggling with the Trump administration’s sweeping firings. Source link

A Japanese government panel agreed Thursday to promote digital transformation to tackle the aging of public infrastructure, including water supply and sewage systems. This followed a high-profile road collapse incident in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, last month, which is believed to have been caused by a broken sewage pipe. At a meeting of the digital administrative and fiscal reform panel, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the group, instructed related officials to urgently work on the use of digital technologies for water and sewage systems to ensure that their operations by local governments are sustainable. He called for introducing such technologies within about three years, against the previous deadline of five years. For water and sewage systems, satellites and artificial intelligence systems will be used to collect and analyze data on temperature, geology and other factors to identify areas where water leaks may occur. Drones will be employed for inspections inside water pipes in order to find spots requiring repairs early. Ishiba also announced a plan to establish a public-private team to discuss how to develop AI data centers and power infrastructure in an integrated way. Details will be worked out as early as June. Source link

Meta Platforms, TikTok, Snapchat and other leading social media platforms probably have more than 1 million underage users in Australia, a regulatory report said, highlighting the scale of policy failure at the companies before the country enforces unprecedented user age limits this year. About 80% of children in Australia between 8 and 12 used at least one platform in 2024, research by the country’s eSafety Commissioner released Thursday showed. The findings indicate social media companies are allowing about 1.3 million children nationwide to flout their own rules barring under-13s from their platforms, the regulator said. The watchdog’s research depicted a social media industry with few effective controls over who signs up to their services, despite the risks to children from harmful content and other users. The report suggests the platforms are largely ill-prepared for controversial legislation, due to take effect by December, that will raise the minimum age for social media users in Australia to 16 years. Source link

Amid a boom in small theater groups in 1980s Tokyo, the Waseda University campus emerged as the epicenter for companies that would go on to become established in the theater scene. The Yamanote Jijosha company was also founded there in 1984 by Masahiro Yasuda, then student at Waseda, now a playwright, director and university lecturer. Yasuda and his team have built an international reputation for Yamanote Jijosha’s collaborative philosophy of theater, its Yamanote Method for actor training and its yojōhan nonrealism acting style. In 2013, Yasuda’s work with his company earned him the Special Achievement Award at the influential Sibiu International Theater Festival in Romania, the third-largest of its kind in the world. Yamanote Jijosha has toured Europe with Shakespeare productions such as “Titus Andronicus” and “The Tempest,” and staged other classics by the Bard such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” as well as Chekhov’s “The Seagull” and a dramatized version of influential 14th-century Italian story collection “The Decameron.” Source link

Just where this cute fellow with the odd name of Mushroom came from is a mystery. But like his name, he popped up one day in Gunma Prefecture and was taken in just last month. Unlike most of the tightly wound Shibas that come to ARK, Mushroom is laidback and very chill. Gentle and affectionate, he is believed to be around 8 years old and weighs just shy of 13 kilograms. He is great with people of all ages, as well as other dogs, but untested with cats. Mushroom, believed to be around 8 years old, was found wandering in Gunma Prefecture and is in need of a new home. | Yukari Yamaguchi It’s a small miracle that easygoing Mushroom hasn’t already been snatched up. He loves walks and exhibits an impressive air of purpose when he’s out and about. He appears to be on a mission — and we’re hoping it’s to find his way to a loving home. If you are interested in adopting, email ARK at [email protected] or call 050-1557-2763 (English or Japanese) Monday to Saturday (bilingual) for more information. Animal Refuge Kansai (with offices in Kansai and Tokyo) is an NPO founded by U.K. native Elizabeth Oliver. It is dedicated to rescuing and rehoming abandoned animals. All animals are vaccinated, neutered and microchipped. Prospective owners are required to undergo a screening process. Web: www.arkbark.net Source link

Hong Kong – The death sentence for the Chinese man who stabbed a Japanese boy to death in Shenzhen last September is likely to be finalized, it was learned Wednesday. The man, Zhong Changchun, did not appeal against his sentence handed down by a Chinese regional court last month, according to officials of the Japanese Consulate-General in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province. The sentence is expected to be finalized after it is examined by a high court in Guangdong and approved by China’s Supreme Court. On Sept. 18 last year, the boy, 10, was stabbed in the stomach when he was heading to a Japanese school in Shenzhen. Zhong was captured at the scene. The boy died in the small hours of the following day. The Jan. 24 regional court ruling said that the act by the accused was extremely malicious, noting that he purchased a knife and killed the innocent boy to attract attention on the internet and called the media after the crime. The court concluded that Zhong deserves capital punishment. Source link

Australia’s spy chief, Mike Burgess, has revealed that almost all foiled terrorist attacks over the past year involved the radicalization of children, while adding that the range of threats to national security is increasing exponentially. In his annual assessment delivered in Canberra on Wednesday evening, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general said the threat of terrorism and politically motivated violence is rising, with individuals “self-radicalizing” through complicated and contradictory systems of belief. “Of all the potential terrorist matters investigated last year, fewer than half were religiously motivated. The majority involved mixed ideologies or nationalist and racist ideologies,” Burgess said in a speech. Source link