More than a hundred people were hospitalised for kidney disease, and five died after taking red yeast rice supplements. It is unclear what caused this health crisis, but Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, which makes the supplements, had known for months about health issues among its customers. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the supplements market has grown, also thanks to a labelling system that might have to be revised.
Becoming increasingly popular in recent years due to inflation, they have spread from Asia to every continent in the world, even high-income countries. In the United States, they have even become the new informal currency of prisons. But among health experts warn that high salt content is a cause for concern.
For thirty years, Tokyo has been focusing its development aid for Dushanbe on hospitals and mobile first aid devices. Interventions that have led to significant improvements in some areas. Now the goal is to bring the whole of Tajikistan up to the minimum health care standards set by the World Health Organisation by 2030.
The latest data on international arms transfers over the past five years come from Sweden-based SIPRI. India is the world's top importer, while the United States, for the first time in 25 years, is Asia’s largest supplier. Driving rearmament, experts explain, is the perception of a Chinese threat (which continues to boost its war production).
Archbishop Kikuchi of Tokyo made the announcement in a letter. After more than 100 years, the weekly’s print version will cease publication as of March 2025. The magazine will still deliver the news online while a free monthly paper will “be distributed to every parish.”
Today's news: Tokyo sends mini-drones and robot-snakes to one of the Fukushima reactors to prepare for the removal of highly radioactive waste; Israel aims to build new settlements in the West Bank, nearly 15 thousand housing units; Burmese junta hits a market in Rakhine State, at least 12 dead; In Russia, controls on mobile phones and apps increase.
