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Modernization puts Chinese tea houses under threat

2017年2月6日

The outdoor tea houses were considered as the “traditional men’s club” during the Qing Dynasty where political issues and business arangements were talked about. The remaining traditional outdoor Chinese tea houses can be found within Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples, and public parks. Few of these traditional tea houses remain in the western city of Chengdu. Majority of the tea house goers are the older generation. Tea drinking vivifies the day-to-day chess match or catching up on daily news. Presently, China’s traditional tea-houses are under threat from the country’s fast modernization. Since the early 1990s, hundreds of Chinese tea houses were annihilated in the city as renovations took place. The supervisor…
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McDonald’s sells off over 2,000 outlets in China, HK

2017年2月1日

  Citic group and Carlyle group will take over 80% of McDonald’s enterprise in Asia. The newly-signed deal dictates the firms’ domination over 2,000 McDonald’s outlets across China and Hong Kong. The said undertaking conforms to the US chain store’s plan to establish more international franchises. Under the $2.1 billion deal, China’s state-owned investment group, Citic acquires a 52% stake. The US private equity firm, Carlyle, picks up a 28% holding. The 20% remainder of the share is then kept by McDonald’s. Coincidentally, the owner of KFC and Pizza Hut, Yum brands, realigns business as both competing companies intend to bounce back after the recent food scare reports in Asia….
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Tornadoes kill 18 in southern US

2017年1月30日

The relentless weather over the weekend brought powerful tornadoes and storms to the states of Georgia and Mississippi. The fast-moving storms caused relentless devastation to many homes. Tornadoes have killed at least 18 people and injured more than 50 others so far in southeastern part of the United States. A resident recalled the ghastly experience of large tree branches hurling in the air and water from a pond splashing everywhere. The Governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency in the affected area on Sunday to ease support for residents and to assess damage. US weather authorities are advising them to stay in a safe place in a sturdy building….
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Rural areas offer good life

2017年1月27日

Most people in their twenties and right after college have preferred to live in a hustle and bustle of a big city – eager to accomplish and achieve something. Facing a large amount of work load, working in a stable and secured company, and making friends with everybody everyday can be a lot of fun. But in Japan, this kind of notion is changing. Younger Japanese generation now opt to live in rural areas. A 29-year-old mother, Kanako Sato, is one of the many who have chosen to live in a slow-paced and secluded area. It all started back when she was doing her volunteer work – cultivating the land,…
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New NTT West Corp. job interview program

2017年1月25日

  The new NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) West Corp. system was developed to analyze students’ practice job interviews. “I want the students to discover their good points and become confident,” said Tomoko Kojiri, associate professor of information engineering at Kansai University. Through camera and microphone, the system monitors facial expressions and counts how many times the speaker utters interjections. Moreover, a wristband checks the pulse and hand movements of the interviewee. But their attitudes and mannerisms can also affect the results. The results can be used to correct eye movements, gestures, and ways of speaking. Kansai University conducted mock interviews with 17 students last August and September. According to…
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s childhood home reopens to public

2017年1月23日

  After the temporary closure in August 2016 for repairs, the home where Martin Luther King Jr. spent twelve years as a child reopens to the public in January 2017. King was an American Baptist leader and an activist who was a Civil Rights Movement leader. His childhood home, which is located at 450 Auburn Ave. N.E., is one of the buildings in the historic site found in Atlanta, Georgia. It had to be closed for minor renovations as a result of the wear and tear from foot traffic, according to Judy Forte, superintendent of Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. King’s birth home, however, is only…
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Miyagi school opens to public after the great 2011 tsunami attack

2017年1月20日

  The Great East Japan Earthquake caused the 2011 tsunami attack that engulfed a school in Miyagi prefecture. The school recently opened to the public for the very first time. On the grounds of Miyagi Kesennuma Koyo High School remains all the vehicles swept in the 14-meter waves of tsunami. Visitors from within and outside the prefecture were allowed in to see the structures before clean-up and perpetuation work begins. One of 135 visitors, Tanaka Satoshi said that seeing a car situated on the third floor taught him how rugged the tsunami was. Kanagawa prefectural government dispatched officials to the Kesennuma civil engineering office to help build the four-storey south…
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Paris Climate Change Agreement gains approval

2017年1月18日

  The Paris Agreement finally takes effect after a continuous effort to fend off the disastrous climate change. Reaching about 195 countries, the agreement endorses the goal to address the planet-warming emissions of greenhouse gases. It aims to limit the increase of global temperatures to 2°C, and if possible, to 1.5°C. Presenting the specific details to successfully eradicate the problems, however, remains a struggle. According to the Paris-based executive director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, even if the countries that signed the agreement fully achieves their initial vows, the increase will still be closer to 2.7°C. A number of companies is still yet to implement financial changes to…
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Stolen Yahoo data for sale on dark web

2017年1月17日

  Yahoo fell victim to 2013 hacking incident–weighed as the biggest data infringement in history. Personal information of Yahoo users including phone numbers, passwords, security questions, and backup email addresses had been stolen in the modus operandi. The acquired data was up for trading on the dark web, but its value had been expected to suffer since the incident had been public. Cybersecurity firm, InfoArmor, has identified Eastern Europe-based group of hackers called Group E responsible for the cybercrime. The same group was reported to have previously attacked Dropbox, Tumblr, and VK.com. This act was often led to identity theft where hackers could obtain further information. Hackers such as Group…
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Children’s love in a truck

2017年1月16日

  A transit company headquartered in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture provided its drivers emotional support through the Kodomo Museum Project. The said scheme was carried it out by designing trucks with drawings made by the drivers’ children. This project was brought about to curtail road accidents. 15 other companies in the Kansai, Kanto, and Chubu regions had participated in the project succeeding its launching two years earlier. Hirofumi Miyata, president of Miyata Traffic and head of the Kodomo Museum Project, thought opting for state-of-the-art driving equipment may not be enough to prevent the occurrence of vehicular collision. While finding a better strategy, he chanced upon a picture drawn by a driver’s…
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