January 3, 2023

Japanese government offers families 1m yen a child to leave Tokyo

Japan’s government is offering ¥1m ($7,500) per child to families who move out of greater Tokyo, in an attempt to reverse population decline in the regions.

The incentive – a dramatic rise from the previous relocation fee of ¥300,000 – will be introduced in April, according to Japanese media reports, as part of an official push to breathe life into declining towns and villages.

Although Tokyo’s population fell for the first time last year– a trend partly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic – policymakers believe more should be done to lower the city’s population density and encourage people to start new lives in “unfashionable” parts of the country that have been hit by ageing, shrinking populations and the migration of younger people to Tokyo, Osaka and other big cities.

See more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/03/million-yen-per-child-to-leave-tokyo-japans-offer-to-families

January 3, 2023

Police chief says no other arrests expected in Idaho killings: 'We believe we have our guy'

Source: The Hill

Moscow, Idaho, Police Chief James Fry on Monday said he is not expecting any more arrests in connection with the deadly November stabbings of four University of Idaho students after one suspect was taken into custody last week.

“We believe we have our guy, the one that committed these murders,” Fry told ABC News on Saturday.

Police arrested Bryan Kohberger in Pennsylvania on Friday and charged him with four counts of first-degree murder as well as felony burglary.

Authorities said they tied him to the killings of the students, who were found dead in a rental home in the city of Moscow near campus on Nov. 13, through DNA evidence and his ownership of a Hyundai Elantra, which allegedly was seen near the crime scene on the night of their deaths.


Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3795906-police-chief-says-no-other-arrests-expected-in-idaho-killings-we-believe-we-have-our-guy/

January 2, 2023

NASA chief says China could claim the moon as its own territory if it beats the US to lunar surface

The head of NASA has said that China could claim the moon as its own territory if beats the US in the race to the lunar surface.

In an interview with Politico, published Sunday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Chinese military expansion in the South China Sea was an indicator of what might happen on the moon.

Nelson said: "It is a fact: we're in a space race. And it is true that we better watch out that they don't get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.'

"If you doubt that, look at what they did with the Spratly Islands."

See more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-chief-says-china-could-105234428.html

January 2, 2023

Facial recognition tool led to mistaken arrest, lawyer says

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana authorities’ use of facial recognition technology led to the mistaken-identity arrest of a Georgia man on a fugitive warrant, an attorney said in a case that renews attention to racial disparities in the use of the digital tool.

Randall Reid, 28, was jailed in late November in DeKalb County, Georgia, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

His attorney, Tommy Calogero, said authorities erroneously linked Reid to purse thefts in Jefferson Parish and Baton Rouge. Reid, arrested on Nov. 25, was released Dec. 1.

Reid is Black, and his arrest brings new attention to the use of a technology critics say results in a higher rate of misidentification of people of color than of white people.

See more:
https://apnews.com/article/technology-louisiana-baton-rouge-new-orleans-crime-50e1ea591aed6cf14d248096958dccc4

January 2, 2023

German minister reignites coalition row with call to review nuclear exit

Source: Reuters

Germany's transport minister called for an expert committee to examine whether the lifespan of the country's nuclear plants should be extended, reopening a row within Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition.

Germany's rush to free itself from imported Russian fuels after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine spurred calls for the country's three remaining nuclear plants to be kept open rather than shut at the end of 2022.

Late last year, Social Democrat Scholz attempted to suppress a row between the environmentalist Greens, strong proponents of an exit from nuclear power, and the liberal Free Democrats by ordering that all three be kept running until April.

But Free Democrat Transport Minister Volker Wissing reignited the argument, telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine that the environmental benefits of electric cars would be reduced unless they were charged using nuclear energy, which is emissions-free.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/german-minister-reignites-coalition-row-with-call-review-nuclear-exit-2023-01-02/

January 1, 2023

Autopsies Show COVID-19 Virus in Brain and Elsewhere in Body

From: Neuroscience News

An analysis of tissue samples from the autopsies of 44 people who died with COVID-19 shows that SAR-CoV-2 virus spread throughout the body—including into the brain—and that it lingered for almost eight months.

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tested samples from autopsies that were performed from April 2020 to March 2021. They conducted extensive sampling of the nervous system, including the brain, in 11 of the patients.

All of the patients died with COVID-19, and none were vaccinated. The blood plasma of 38 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, three tested negative, and plasma was unavailable for the other 3.

Analysis showed that SARS-CoV-2, as expected, primarily infected and damaged airway and lung tissue. But the researchers also found viral RNA in 84 distinct body locations and bodily fluids, and in one case they isolated viral RNA 230 days after a patient’s symptoms began.

See more:
https://neurosciencenews.com/covid19-brain-tissue-22153/

December 31, 2022

Man charged in Idaho student murders to waive Pennsylvania court appearance

Source: The Guardian

Suspect, 28, accused of killing four students will waive his extradition hearing and will be brought to Idaho to face charges.

Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old criminology graduate student charged first-degree murder in the macabre killings of four University of Idaho students, plans to waive an appearance in court in Pennsylvania on Tuesday where Idaho prosecutors will request his extradition, his lawyer indicated on Saturday.

Pennsylvania’s Monroe county chief public defender, Jason LaBar, said on Saturday that he plans to tell a judge there on Tuesday that Kohberger will waive his extradition hearing there so that he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face the charges and is eager to be exonerated.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/31/idaho-student-murders-suspect-arrested-pennsylvania-court

December 31, 2022

Arizona appeals court cannot prosecute doctors under 19th century abortion ban

Source: The Hill

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that doctors who perform abortions in line with the state’s 15-week abortion ban cannot be prosecuted under a 19th century law that banned nearly all abortions.

For nearly 50 years, the state of Arizona was blocked by the courts from enforcing a near-total abortion ban that dates back to 1864. Amid this reality, the Arizona legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban that was signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in March.

However, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) asked the court to set aside its injunction that prohibited enforcement under the older Arizona law.

The appeals court ruled on Friday that finding physicians criminally liable for providing abortions restricted under the old law would “eliminate the elective abortions the legislature merely intended to regulate” under its 15-week ban.



Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3793906-arizona-appeals-court-cannot-prosecute-doctors-under-19th-century-abortion-ban/

December 30, 2022

Person Of Interest in Idaho Murders Arrested in Pennsylvania Near Pocono Mountains

Source: NBC Bay Area

A 25-year-old male has been taken into custody near the Pocono Mountains in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students.

Four law enforcement sources confirm to NBC10's Deanna Durante and NBC News that the person of interest is in custody in Monroe County, Pa.

Further circumstances regarding the nature of the arrest and the suspect's capture are not immediately known. The suspect appeared in front of a Monroe County judge around 8:30 a.m. Friday, sources tell NBC10.




Read more: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/person-of-interest-in-idaho-murders-arrested-in-pennsylvania-near-pocono-mountains/3116842/

December 30, 2022

Hershey sued in US over metal in dark chocolate claim

Source: BBC News

Chocolate manufacturer Hershey has been sued in the US over claims the firm is selling products containing harmful levels of metal.

The lawsuit refers to recent findings by US magazine Consumer Reports (CR), which tested 28 dark chocolate bars for lead and cadmium.

The magazine alleged that 23 of them, including chocolate from Hershey, Godiva and Lindt, contained "comparatively higher levels" of the metals.

"For 23 of the bars, eating just an ounce (28g) a day would put an adult over a level that public health authorities and CR's experts say may be harmful for at least one of those heavy metals," it claimed.



Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64123157