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Japan has long grappled with what to do about hikikomori – the social hermits who seal themselves off from the world, sometimes for years, retreating from all human contact.
In the past, these recluses were thought of as a youth problem: troubled teenagers, rudderless young men. But that framing no longer holds.
Japan’s shut-ins are growing old, and the parents keeping them alive are growing...
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called for a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in his meeting with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Beijing.
“Regarding the strait issue, the international community shares a common concern over restoring normal safe passage through the strait,” Beijing’s top diplomat said on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Ministry of...
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We have put together stories from our coverage on science from the past two weeks to help you stay informed. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.
1. China builds world’s first ‘coal battery’ with zero emission
Chinese scientists have developed a way to generate electricity and achieve higher energy efficiency than conventional burning methods, while...
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Across much of India, an energy crunch caused by the Iran war has prompted long queues for cooking gas cylinders. That is not a problem for Gauri Devi.
On a stove with blue flames, she flips a chapatti flatbread, burning biogas produced from cow dung – an alternative fuel helping ease pressure on supplies.
“It cooks everything,” the 25-year-old said in her courtyard kitchen in Nekpur, a village...
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A rescuer at the site of an explosion that killed 26 people and injured 61 in Hunan’s Liuyang city has described the dangerous and extremely difficult clean-up mission amid gunpowder and sparks after he and others were wounded by secondary blasts on Tuesday morning.
An excavator operator surnamed Xiao, who volunteered to aid rescue work at the site of the initial fireworks plant blast, said he...
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A Hong Kong secondary school facing student backlash over newly tightened mobile phone rules has said it will seek further feedback from stakeholders and review the policy’s scope and implementation.
A source also told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday that Kwun Tong Maryknoll College had planned to extend the policy to all pupils after launching a pilot scheme for Form Three and Four...
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A woman in eastern China shed 21.5kg in just four months because her best friend told her she would look like the famous actress Yang Mi if she became thinner.
The woman, who uses the alias taozichibubao, shared her slimming experience on social media, winning massive admiration from internet users, the Ningbo Evening News reported.
Living in Zhejiang province, the woman previously weighed 64kg....
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Four paintings linked to one of the world’s most audacious financial frauds stood on easels at Malaysia’s anti-corruption headquarters on Wednesday: a Picasso, a Miro, a Balthus and an Ultrillo – all allegedly bought with money stolen from the Malaysian people.
The unveiling of the works at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya marked the first public...
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A group of 13 Australians related to alleged Islamic State (Isis) jihadists is returning home from Syria, Australian authorities said on Wednesday, warning some will face arrest.
The four women and nine children, who had been living in Roj camp in Syria, are expected to land in Sydney and Melbourne airports on Thursday, according to local media.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he received...
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Japan’s prime minister touched down in Australia on Sunday with a set of shared anxieties – about Trump, China and the fragility of supply chains that the two insular nations have long relied upon – to which she sought some small relief.
By the time she departed, Sanae Takaichi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had signed an economic security pact, unlocked nearly US$1 billion in...