Travel
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Have you ever travelled outside your country?
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What do you think is the best way to travel?
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If you were going on a long trip, who would
you prefer to go with?
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What are some of the benefits of travelling?
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The Yomiuri Shimbun-The
government will shelve its plan to
extend the compulsory retirement age for national
government employees from 60 to 65, according to sources.
Instead, it plans
increase the number of employees working until the age of 65 by rehiring
workers who retired at 60 at wages lower than preretirement levels. Extending
the retirement age would mean maintaining salaries at the same high levels
and inevitably increase labor
costs. The government plans to expand the reemployment system from fiscal
2013, when the eligibility age for
mutual pension payments will begin to be raised to 65 in stages.
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Most of us don't
leave the house without checking that we have our keys, wallet and phone. But
soon our pockets may be a little lighter. New technology will let us leave
our wallets behind and pay for goods and services with our mobile phones.
But mobile-wallets
have now been available in Japan for more than six years, so it is an ideal
place to see how this technology works. Over 70 million people in Japan own
tap-and-go phones, and their use is on the rise. The country's rulers and
other vested interests have pushed
the new technology hard so a robust network is now in place.
However, despite the availability of this technology, this is still a country
that loves cash – and plastic cards, particularly the dreaded foreign visa/debit card, can be looked on askance.
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The clothing chain
is one of Japan’s biggest exports today and is owned by Japan’s richest (or
second richest, depending on who you ask) man. It claims to be
the world’s fastest-growing apparel retailer.
Uniqlo’s parent
company, Fast Retailing Inc., has partnered with the Sy family’s SM Retail
Inc. to form Fast Retailing Phils. Inc. Uniqlo’s first Philippine store opens
in June at SM Mall of Asia. The shop, to cover 1,500 sq m, will carry the
men’s, women’s and children’s lines.
Tadashi Yanai, chair
and chief executive of Fast Retailing Inc., said in an interview early this
year that Uniqlo is going into developing countries with a fast-growing
middle class, naming the Philippines and other Asian countries.
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Nearly 1 in 4 of the
6,000 college students who took a test last year on basic math skills
incorrectly answered a question taught to elementary school sixth-graders,
according to the Mathematical Society of Japan. The society, which carried
out the basic math test between April and July to gauge college students'
mathematical ability, said Friday that 18 percent of those who incorrectly
answered the question — which involved averages — were science
majors. Science students accounted for around 40 percent of
the students who took the test, which was held for the first time in 2011.
In a multiple-choice
question on what could be inferred from a sentence stating
that the average height of 100 students was 163.5 cm, 76 percent chose
the right answer: the total height of the 100 students was 16,350 cm. The
other 24 percent selected either an answer stating that students whose height
was around 163.5 cm formed the largest group among the 100, or an answer that
the number of students taller or shorter than the average was the same.
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PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) —
No one really knows when Ichiro Suzuki will retire. The 38-year-old
outfielder
is heading into the final year of his contract with Seattle and isn't
discussing a new deal.
There he was on
Saturday, though, beginning his 12th spring training with
the Mariners as the team held its first full-squad workout
of 2012.
Naturally, there was
a bit more buzz around camp than usual. More fans showed up to watch and
get autographs. More media from Japan arrived, following Suzuki's every move.
And when asked about his future, Suzuki said it was difficult to say how long
he plans to keep playing.
"When I first
came in 2001, I never thought that I would be here in 2012," he said
through translator Antony Suzuki. "You can wish you'd be there, but you
never know. So it's the little things that count and it's the little things
that you build off, to where you've come this far."
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It might be the stuff
of science fiction dreams, but a Japanese construction company has
announced that it will build a working space elevator by 2050. According to
the Daily Yomiuri, construction company Obayashi Corp has announced it will build
a space elevator capable of shuttling passengers 36,000
kilometers above the Earth by 2050. The company plans to use carbon
nanontubes, which are 20 times stronger than steel, to produce the cables
required for the elevator. Those cables will be stretched to a counterweight
96,000 kilometers above our planet, about one-fourth of the distance between
the Earth and the moon. The terminal station, 36,000 kilometers above Earth,
will be reached by cars that can carry 30 people and travel at 200 kilometers
per hour.
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Japan on Monday
began a process that will see another one of the country's nuclear
reactors
go offline, leaving just two of 54 in operation. Kansai Electric Power Co
(KEPCO), the largest utility firm after Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO),
began lowering power generation in unit three at the
Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, a KEPCO spokeswoman said. The
reactor is expected to be shut down completely by midnight, leaving all 11
reactors around the country owned by KEPCO idle, she said.
The move comes on
the day that Japan announced a record trade deficit in January as
fuel imports soared for the resource-poor nation following the nuclear
disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March.
Before the accident,
which was caused by a deadly earthquake and tsunami, Japan had relied
for one third of its power supply on nuclear energy.
But power companies
including KEPCO, which provides electricity to the major western cities of
Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, have not been able to resume reactors after
inspection due to the safety concerns of local residents.
Once the Takahama
reactor goes offline it will leave one unit operational at TEPCO's
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in central Japan and one at the Tomari plant in
northern Hokkaido.
Those two units are
expected to be closed down for inspection by late April.
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BEIJING — Six
members of pop idol group AKB48 staged a special show in Beijing
to thank the Chinese public for its support after the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami.
The members of the
all-girl group performed three songs in front of around 500 fans Friday, at
an event held to demonstrate Japan's gratitude for China's post
disaster assistance and also to support devastated areas in Tohoku by
displaying local specialties.
"Thank you for
supporting us at the time of the disaster," AKB48 member Ayaka Umeda
said. "We'd like to perform live concerts all over the world this year,
including in China."
AKB48 is popular in
China and around 14,000 fans applied for the 500 seats at the concert,
according to the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. The group was scheduled to hold
another concert China's capital Saturday before moving on to Shanghai and
then Hong Kong to perform at similar events.
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An online English
conversation school based in the Philippines is attracting Japanese learners
by offering inexpensive lessons from college graduates who can't find work amid
the country's economic slump.
"This is 'intellectual
fair trade,' " said Md Moin, founder of Pikt Corp.'s website.”Filipinos
are able to earn their living as English tutors, while Japanese can learn
high-quality English with cheap tuition." Moin, a 32-year-old
Bangladeshi who has lived in Japan for 10 years, came up with the idea with a
Filipino friend, Aireen Zaballa, 34. The two were classmates at Ritsumeikan
Asia Pacific University in Beppu, Oita Prefecture.
The online school
uses about 50 tutors, including graduates of the prestigious University
of the Philippines, to offer English conversational lessons to Japanese
students via Skype Internet telephone service. By using the Filipino
graduates, the school can effectively undercut English-conversation
classes offered by its Japan-based rivals.
Ten courses are
provided for English-language students based on their proficiency, including
some specializing in business English or tailored for children.
Some tutors said teaching,
which pays better than other jobs they can find at present, have allowed them
to provide more nutritious food for their children.
"The tutors are
good, it's easy to make a reservation and a good opportunity to speak
English" said Toshikazu Saito, a 43-year-old businessman in Tokyo.
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Before
you read, WATCH his video here
A life without arms and legs - IMAGINE! What if you couldn't wrap your arms around the ones you love? How about not being able to walk, dance, run, or even stand? Now envision the worst case scenario: living with no arms and no legs. What would you do? Would you still search for PURPOSE and meaning? How would it affect your ATTITUDE towards life and those around you? Would you let the pressure and despair of your circumstance taint your CHARACTER, or would you move forward with honor? Would you have the strength to repeatedly tell yourself, "NEVER GIVE UP"?
Meet Nick Vujicic.
He was born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. Without any medical explanation
or warning, Nicholas Vujicic (pronounced 'Vooy-cheech') came into the world
with neither arms nor legs. A limbless
son was not what nurse Dushka Vujicic, and her husband Pastor Borris Vujicic
had been expecting. How would their son live a normal happy life? What could
he ever do or become when living with what the world would see as such a
massive disability? Little did they know, the little beautiful limbless baby
would one day inspire and motivate people from all walks of life.
Nick shares with his
audiences the importance of vision and dreaming big. Using his own
experiences in worldwide outreach as examples, he
challenges others to examine their perspective and look beyond their
circumstances. He shares his view of ceasing to see obstacles as
problems, and instead see them as opportunities to grow and reach out to
others. He stresses the importance of attitude being the most powerful tool
we have at our disposal and illustrates how the choices we make can have a
profound effect on our lives and the lives of those around us. Nick shows
through his own life that the major keys in fulfilling our biggest dreams are
persistence and choosing to embrace failure as a learning experience, rather
than allowing guilt and fear of failure to paralyze us.
How does Nick Vujicic
feel about his disability now? He accepts it, embraces it and oftentimes pokes
fun at his own circumstance as he shows off his many tricks. He meets
challenges with his special blend of humor, perseverance and faith always
encouraging those around him to examine their perspective as they develop and
define their vision. He encourages people to make changes in their lives and
to dream big!
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German President Christian Wulff has
announced his resignation,
after prosecutors called for
his immunity to be lifted. An
ally of Chancellor Angela
Merkel, Mr Wulff, 52, stepped down over corruption claims involving a dubious home loan. He denies any
wrongdoing.
The scandal
surrounding Mr Wulff escalated in December. At the
centre of the row is the story - first published by the Bild newspaper - that
Mr Wulff received a low interest 500,000 euro loan (£417,000; $649,000) from
the wife of a wealthy businessman in October 2008. There were also corruption
allegations
against Mr Wulff, involving receiving political favours and free holidays
from business executives.
Wulff is the second
German president to quit in less than two years, forcing Merkel to find a
fresh candidate with cross- party support for the largely
ceremonial post. Mrs Merkel cancelled
a visit to Italy on Friday to deal with the crisis, and said she regretted
that he had quit. She said Mr Wulff was convinced he had "acted legally
correctly" but was "stepping back from the office, from service to
our people".
Germany's political
parties will now seek to agree on a new candidate for president, she said.
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(CNN) --
A member of the Dutch royal family was severely injured in an avalanche
at an Austrian ski resort Friday, local authorities told CNN.
Prince Johan Friso,
43, a son of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, was skiing outside the bounds
of the ski resort with friends at the resort of Lech am Arlberg when he was
hit by an avalanche, a spokesman for the surrounding county of Vorarlberg
said. No one else in the group was affected, the spokesman said.
The prince was under
the snow for a "short period of time," the spokesman said. He was
wearing an electronic beacon that helped rescuers
quickly find him, he said. The prince was airlifted to a hospital in
Innsbruck, where he is in intensive care, authorities said. Doctors described
the prince as stable but not out of danger, according to a statement from
the queen.
Lech am Arlberg is
in Austria's Tyrol state, a popular skiing area in western Austria. The
region's avalanche agency reported there was a considerable to great chance
of avalanches in Lech on Friday. It cited new snowfall on top of a packed
layer of snow that could cause snow slabs to slide off.
The prince gave up
his right to the throne when he married in 2004 without Parliament's
permission. He and his wife live in London with their two daughters.
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MANILA,
Philippines—As if earthquakes were not enough, incessant bad weather
has been wreaking havoc in
provinces in the Visayas, Mindanao and the Bicol region the past four days,
killing two, injuring six and causing the evacuation of 569 people.
“Rain as well as
earth tremors, whether these may be light or moderate, must be
taken seriously. Rain could weaken the soil, while tremors could produce
slope instability, tension cracks and fractures that could enhance
the vulnerability of areas to landslides,” Environment Secretary
Ramon Paje said. The warning came a week after the magnitude-6.9 quake rocked
the province, killing over 70 people, and burying towns and damaging roads.
Yesterday, the weather bureau warned of widespread rains in the province
due to a low pressure area in Mindanao.
Five barangays
(villages) in Guihulngan City are highly susceptible to rain-induced
landslides, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said. Much
soil erosion occurred along the highway. In Davao City, six persons were
injured when a wall collapsed on them after rains softened its foundation. At
least five barangays have had no power for two weeks now since floods felled
power lines, according the Mayor.
Local disaster
councils in these towns and three other cities were advised to go on high
alert and to prepare residents of low-lying and landslide-prone
areas for possible evacuation.
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On the eve of the
2012 Grammy Awards, Whitney Houston was pronounced dead. The singer was found
at least partially submerged in her bathtub at
the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Houston had been preparing at the hotel to make an
appearance at Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy Awards night. The singer was
actually found by her aunt, Mary Jones. Mary had laid out Whitney’s dress for
the evening on the bed and then left for about a half hour. When Whitney
didn’t come out of the bathroom, Mary entered, pulled Whitney out of the tub
and began administering CPR.
Her family were told
the 48-year-old may have died before she became fully submerged — after
consuming a combination of drugs and booze. Pictures emerged showing a
meal, empty Champagne glass and can of beer Whitney had moments before her death.
The star ordered a hamburger, fries, a turkey sandwich and jalapenos,
according to reports. She ate her burger and chips, but took the rest into
the bathroom. Although the cause of death is unknown, Whitney may have fallen
asleep or lapsed into unconsciousness in the bathtub and drowned.
Tributes and prayer have
poured in from the all over the world. "Although she is gone too soon,
we remain blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit, to have the legacy
of her music to cherish and share forever."
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Japan expects to win
10 to 12 gold medals at this summer's London Olympics, based on the latest analysis,
a senior official of the Japanese Olympic Committee said Tuesday.
"Our country
currently has the ability to win about 10 to 12 gold medals," Haruki
Uemura said after holding hearings in the last two days involving the governing
bodies of sports with medal potential.
The JOC believes the
country needs 15 gold medals in London to achieve its goal of finishing fifth
in the gold tally.
"The situation
is tough right now, but I'm sure things will get better in the remaining six
months," said Uemura, the 1976 Montreal Olympic judo open-weight gold
medalist.
"I want
Japanese athletes to make no mistake in winning medals in not only judo,
wrestling, gymnastics, swimming but also athletics, sailing, shooting,
women's soccer," he added.
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Twitter has admitted
copying entire address books from Smartphones and storing the data on
its servers, often without customers' knowledge. Access to the address book
is enabled when users click on the "Find Friends" feature on
smartphone apps. Two US congressmen
have written to Apple asking why the firm allows the practice on its iPhone,
as it contravenes app developer guidelines. Twitter has said it
will update its privacy policy to be more explicit.
The practice came to
light when an app developer in Singapore, Arun Thampi, noticed that his
contacts had been copied from his iPhone address book without his consent by
a social network called Path. Dave Morin, CEO of Path, apologised and said
Path would ask users to opt in to share their contact information. However,
he noted separately that it was an "industry best practice" to
upload or import address book information.
iPhone apps by
social sites including Facebook, FourSquare, Instagram, Foodspotting and Yelp
are also reported to access the address book.
Social networks have
said that data taken from smartphones - which includes names, phone numbers
and email addresses - is used only to identify friends who used the same
service, and notify the user. But sometimes the data appears to be taken
without first informing the user, or indicating how long the information will
be saved for. Twitter said it would update its app in the wake
of the disclosure, and clarify its privacy policy for users.
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Half a billion children could grow up
physically and mentally stunted
over the next 15 years because they do not have enough to eat, the charity
Save the Children says in a new report. It says much more needs to be
done to tackle malnutrition in the world's
poorest countries. The charity found that many families could not afford
meat, milk or vegetables. The survey covered families in India, Bangladesh,
Peru, Pakistan and Nigeria. One parent in six said their children were abandoning
school to help out by working for food. A third of parents surveyed said
their children complained about not having enough to eat. The survey was carried out in
the five countries - where, the agency says, half the world's malnourished
children live - by international polling agency Globescan.
Malnutrition
contributes to the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, according to the
report. Assumpta Ndumi, a nutritionist who works with Save the Children in
Kenya, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that successive droughts
are causing a downward spiral there: "When another drought comes and
livelihood assets are destroyed it becomes worse for families to be able to
feed their children. "Milk is very important for families in
north-eastern Kenya, so when livestock is lost they basically
have no access to a protein source. "We need to address the hidden
hunger because it's killing silently."
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