Search - health

 
 
People applying for My Number cards are likely to be able to present digital IDs as valid identification documents when receiving the card starting next month.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2024

Government plans to allow digital IDs to receive My Number cards

The move is aimed at broadening the scope of acceptable ID methods to encourage students and workers to sign up for the cards.
Protesters hold images of Aung San Suu Kyi and a flag of Myanmar during a demonstration outside the Embassy of Myanmar in Bangkok on Feb. 1, 2023, to mark the second anniversary of the coup in Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 17, 2024

Jailed Myanmar leader Suu Kyi moved to house arrest

During her months-long trial, Suu Kyi reportedly suffered dizzy spells, vomiting and at times had been unable to eat because of a tooth infection.
Palestinians gather to receive aid outside a UNRWA warehouse on March 18 as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger.
WORLD
Apr 18, 2024

UNRWA chief warns human-caused famine 'tightening its grip' across Gaza

The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees accused Israel of blocking their ability to deliver aid to Gaza, where many are starving.
People work to move into a cemetery bodies of Palestinians killed during Israel's military offensive and buried at Nasser hospital, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 22, 2024

Bodies found at Gaza hospital as Israel vows to 'increase pressure' on Hamas

Gaza's civil defense agency said its teams had discovered 50 bodies buried in the courtyard of the Nasser Medical Complex.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

As Iran tensions ease, Israel turns sights back on Hamas and Rafah

The Israeli prime minister has pledged to "increase the military and diplomatic pressure” on Hamas, aiming to free hostages and declare victory.
After a string of contractual issues over guarantor service for the elderly, the government aims to introduce specific regulations to ensure that users can access support with confidence.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 25, 2024

Japan to draw up guidelines for elderly guarantor services

Demand for guarantor services is rising due to the growing number of elderly living alone
TikTok raised eyebrows last month when it mobilized users to petition against a potential ban, demonstrating its influence on Americans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 30, 2024

TikTok and Tesla just the start of U.S.-China clash over Big Data

Data security is again taking center stage in the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China.
A rickshaw driver drinks water as he rests during ongoing heat-wave in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 1, 2024

Islamic charitable giving may offer Bangladesh a route to climate adaptation

Global faith-based finance could support poor countries whose needs for funds are 10 to 18 times greater than the financing they currently receive.
A Palestinian girl holding a child is silhouetted against the lights of an oncoming car in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2024

Hamas official says group will not accept truce that does not end Gaza war

Qatari, Egyptian and U.S. mediators met a Hamas delegation in Cairo on Saturday in the latest bid to halt the fighting.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes in Rafah on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2024

Israel strikes eastern Rafah as cease-fire talks end with no deal

A senior Israeli official said the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo had ended, and Israel would proceed with its attack on Rafah.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits a child care support facility in Hiezu, Tottori Prefecture, in July.
JAPAN / Society
May 12, 2024

Government plans nationwide database to enhance child care support

Child care support measures and ways to apply for them differ according to each municipality.
Palestinians who fled Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip transport their belongings in the back of a truck as they arrive to take shelter in Khan Yunis on Sunday.
WORLD
May 13, 2024

Israel pushes back into northern Gaza and ups military pressure on Rafah

Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, hosts over 100,000 people, mainly descendants of Palestinians displaced during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Displaced Palestinians travel in the Al-Mawasi area of the southern Gaza Strip on May 6.
WORLD / Society
May 17, 2024

'Our supplies will not last,' warns doctor at Gaza trauma center

Javed Ali says the situation around the southern city of Rafah is "dire."
Samples of cannabis edibles are offered during The 1st Phuket Cannabis Cup in Phuket, Thailand, in March 2023. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said marijuana should soon be classified as a narcotic again and its use limited to medical and health purposes.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2024

Thailand’s cannabis U-turn is a cautionary tale

Banning the drug outright will no doubt cause a lot of pain to farmers, small business owners and consumers. A middle-ground approach to return to medical usage would be wise.
People hold pictures of victims of the contaminated blood scandal, at a vigil to remember those that lost their lives, ahead of the release of the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, in London on Sunday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2024

Probe into infected blood scandal slams U.K. state over ‘chilling’ cover-up

More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C in the U.K. in the 1970s and 1980s after receiving treatments with contaminated blood products.
Palestinian kids stand in a house an Israeli strike destroyed, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 23, 2024

Israeli forces move deeper into Rafah in night of heavy fighting

Israel's assault on the city has set hundreds of thousands of people fleeing in what had been a refuge for half of the enclave's 2.3 million people.
Judge Nawaf Salam (from left), Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf and Judge Georg Nolte attend a hearing at the International Court of Justice as part of South Africa's request on a Gaza cease-fire, at The Hague on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2024

Top U.N. court orders Israel to halt Rafah offensive

The landmark ruling is likely to increase international pressure for a cease-fire more than seven months into the war sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
A woman looks on during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in front of a U.S. consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on June 1, 2020.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 27, 2024

Four years after George Floyd killing, police reform slow to follow

Despite the initial surge of calls for change, federal attempts at wide-ranging reform have been mostly unsuccessful.
Volunteers from a neighborhood committee stand watch on a street in Beijing on April 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 27, 2024

Xi Jinping’s recipe for total control: An army of eyes and ears

The goal is no longer just to address specific threats, but to embed the Chinese Communist Party so deeply in daily life that no trouble can even arise.
Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko attend a World War II memorial service held at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2024

World War II memorial service held in Tokyo without COVID-19 restrictions

The number of people whose remains are placed at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery now totals 370,700.
A man looks on as Palestinians inspect a tent camp damaged in an Israeli strike during an Israeli military operation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

U.S. says latest Rafah deaths won't change its Israel policy

Recent deaths in Rafah have tested U.S. President Joe Biden's promise to withhold weapons from Israel if it put displaced persons there at risk.
Israeli soldiers ready a tank near the border with Gaza on Thursday. The Jewish state's victory in the Gaza conflict will depend on addressing Palestinian despair.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2024

Israel will always be held to a different standard

Arrest warrants, campus protests and genocide accusations were not inevitable. These were the direct results of Netanyahu’s choices.
Korean skincare routines tend to be more complex than Japan’s counterpart beauty industry of “less is more,” making K-beauty something of a sweet spot between Japan and the West.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 9, 2024

K-beauty or J-beauty? The two 'are not so different these days.'

In early 2024, imports of Korean beauty products to Japan topped French cosmetics for the first time.
Amid the rising popularity of saunas, the Consumer Affairs Agency is urging users to exercise caution following a spike in the number of sauna-related accidents.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 7, 2024

Japan's consumer watchdog warns of accidents in the sauna

Users are urged to exercise caution to avoid severe injuries amid a spike in accidents as saunas become more popular.
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo speaks about the planned new capital Nusantara, at Ecosperity Week in Singapore on June 7, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 7, 2024

Indonesian president in damage control over new capital

The abrupt resignations of two officials make it harder for Joko Widodo to allay fears about Nusantara, his legacy project.
Palestinians flee Rafah on Friday. Residents say Israeli tank-led forces have advanced to the southwest fringes of the city that skirts the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 8, 2024

Israeli forces batter central and south Gaza as tanks advance in Rafah

The latest attack killed at least 28 Palestinians, with a breakthrough in cease-fire talks nowhere in sight.
A health worker prepares a dose of the Covishield vaccine, co-developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, and manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2024

World’s largest vaccine maker sees demand doubling in five years

Serum Institute of India plans to double its vaccine production to 3 billion doses annually over five years, expecting a surge in demand as global health budgets rise.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and digital minister Taro Kono attend a digitalization panel in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 11, 2024

Japan's parliament faces a long road to digitalization

Concerns over decorum and the possibility of the use of electronic devices being obtrusive to proceedings are among reasons cited for maintaining restrictions.
Pilgrims circle Kaaba as they perform Tawaf at the Grand Mosque, ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on June 11.
WORLD / Society
Jun 12, 2024

Gaza war hangs over Hajj as pilgrims flock to Mecca

Saudi Arabia's minister in charge of religious pilgrimages warned last week that "no political activity" will be tolerated.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past