Miwa Sado was a promising reporter working for state-run broadcaster NHK in Tokyo. She spent a month of the summer of 2013 working overtime. The Japanese woman ended up clocking 159 hours in addition to her regular work time in 30 days. Due to exhaustion, she succumbed to death. However, her employer revealed only this week this tragic event.

The Japanese Woman Died of Congestive Heart Failure

Miwa Sado was one of the female media workers striving for career achievements in one of the most prestigious companies in 2013 in Japan. The reporter used even her weekends for professional tasks.

On top of that, she used to stay in her office until midnight. Her parents recollected of one of her rare occasions when she contacted them. This contact happened on her birthday, June 26. She responded to one of their emails, yet she sounded exhausted.

Almost a month after her birthday, a congestive heart failure ended her life. At the time of her death, she was 31. However, it was only this week when NHK released a statement about this tragedy. Spokespersons claimed that their employee took only two days off during July 2013.

Karoshi or “Death from Overwork” Has Been Infecting the Japanese Working Environment Since the 1980s

The case of Miwa Sado has become the latest profile that showcases the cultural phenomenon of karoshi or “death from overwork.” This term appeared in the 1980s when the Japanese government was boasting of the miraculous economic boom the country registered after war.

However, it turns out that this performance was no miracle-worker. In fact, it was due to the birth of a social trend that put to shame all those people who didn’t work to exhaustion.

This corrosive professional approach endured the test of time. In today’s world, this mentality affects white-collar executives, immigrant trainees, and automotive engineers mostly.

In 2016, an official report documented karoshi. Almost a quarter of the interviewed companies claimed that some of their employees are clocking 80 hours of overtime per month.

A 2014 report discovered enough evidence to link Sado’s death to her demanding career. The labor office in Tokyo claimed that the Japanese woman couldn’t have taken free time even if she wanted. Her work responsibilities took up all of her time. Her colleagues described her last month as being sleep deprived and fatigued.

Image source: 1

Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aishah are the two main suspects in the murder case of Kim Jong Nam. The two of them are 28 and 25-year-old respectively and had to wear bullet-proof vests on the day of their trial. Both of them pleaded not guilty for the death of the half-brother of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un. The communist head searched for culprits ever since his estranged relative died on February 13.

North Korean Government Might Be Involved in the Assassination of Kim Jung Nam

Kim Jong Nam was on his way to Macau on his last day of his life. Two women who were part of his group as escorts sprayed a VX nerve agent in Jong Nam’s face while they were at the klia2 terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The North Korean citizen died on the way to the Putrajaya Hospital.

On Monday, the murder case was opened in Malaysia with the two women charged with the assassination of Kim Jong Un’s half-brother. However, the trial doesn’t share the features of a common assassination attempt. Instead, officials might be on the verge of discovering the illegal machinations of an authoritarian state. The two women pleaded not guilty.

They explained that they were made to believe that the content of the spray was nothing but baby oil. North Korean agents told them that they were part of a prank for a hidden-camera reality show. The pair was also hoping to receive $100 for their willingness to aid the TV show. However, the payment was never fulfilled after their deed.

The Controversial Murder Case Will Further Examine the Doctor that Had Seen Kim Jong Nam before His Death

On Monday, the prosecutors accused the two women of criminal intent as they smeared Kim Jong Nam’s face and eyes with VX nerve agent. Kim Jong Nam was transported to a nearby clinic. He remained here for over an hour before heading to a hospital. He died before reaching the emergency ward. A post-mortem investigation confirmed that the substance proved fatal to him.

The trial will continue on Tuesday. The murder case will further examine Dr. Nik Mohd Adzrul. He was working at the time of the incident at klia2’s Klinik Menara where Kim Jong Nam was first transported.

Image source: 1

Egypt scores another remarkable victory in its battle with time as it unearthed another precious cultural treasure of the past. The digging site is located near the world renowned Valley of the Kings, more precisely in the necropolis of Draa el-Naga. The country hopes the newly discovered ancient tomb will help them bring back tourism to its former glory.

The Head of the Newly Discovered Ancient Tomb Is a Goldsmith

The latest discovery has the shape of a small sepulchral room at the level of the ground. However, the chamber hides a burial one underground that hosts four mummies. The major occupant is a goldsmith called Amenemhat who lived during the 18th Dynasty which took place between 1550 BC and 1292 BC. This was the time of Tutankhamun, Nefertiti, and Hatshepsut.

Nonetheless, the secret tomb is filled with funerary artifacts such as jewelry, wooden sarcophagi, and 150 ushabti statues. The latter are symbolic representations of the servants that would indulge the souls of the mummies in their afterlife.

The Team Has a Lot of Work ahead to Analyze Their New Findings

Former minister of antiquities in Egypt who is also one of the greatest Egyptologists in the world, Zahi Hawass, was excited to see the fruits of his labor. As the leader of the excavation, Hawass read into the presence of the identifiable nobleman as a good sign. He has reasons to believe that further excavation sites in the area would unearth four additional tombs.

Thanks to their expertise, the team learned that the tomb was reused during the Third Intermediate Period which took place between 1070 BC and 664 BC. As a result, they found an annex to the main chamber which contains three other mummies in two coffins dating from the Middle Kingdom (2050 BC and 1800 BC). Therefore, scientists have months of work to do. They want to analyze the mummies, artifacts, sarcophagi, and even the literature that their ancient tomb revealed to them.
Image source: 1

The European Union recorded an important victory in its strategy to curb the refugee crisis. A top court has just defended one of its core solutions. All members of the EU received their own refugee quota in order to disperse the efforts of sheltering those who had to run away from home. Judges endorsed this strategy and didn’t allow several Eastern states to abort this mission.

The European Union Received Negative Criticism for Imposing a Joint Solution of Assigning a Refugee Quota to Each Nation

The Court of Justice rejected claims coming from Slovakia and Hungary to annul their obligations to house a certain quota of emigrants. The reasoning behind this ruling was that this program was one of the main pillars that support the solution for a global emergency.

The refugee crisis had its largest impact on Europe two years ago through the biggest ever recorded wave of emigrants. Therefore, the contribution of each European nation is critical in responding to this overwhelming inflow of refugees.

The European Union generated a lot of interior tensions the moment it requested a joint effort. This move would support more than one million people who have come to this continent over the last two years. Rights advocates criticized this decision as it yielded numerous side effects for the EU members, including resource depletion and political conflicts.

Most European Countries Haven’t Respected Their Obligations Regarding the Refugee Crisis

While the EU won an important victory through this recent ruling, the joint program doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. There are only a few countries that have actually reached their refugee quota in the last two years. However, the majority of them navigated the refugee crisis by adopting a passive diplomacy.

The European Union had to step in and consider the massive wave of immigrants as a real emergency the moment Africa and the Middle East couldn’t harbor any more displaced groups. The 2015 program was instated with the aim to relocate immigrants throughout the entire continent. However, only one-third of the 100,000 vacant places for them have actually been filled.
Image source: 1

The North Korea travel ban for U.S. citizens has already begun as of September 1. The few remaining Americans left Pyongyang on Thursday by plane heading to Beijing. Some of these persons were humanitarian workers. They hope Trump administration lifts the ban so that they can return to their humanitarian efforts.

Trump Administration Ordered the North Korea Travel Ban as One of Their Released U.S. Prisoners Returned Home in Coma

The announcement of the ban appeared in July. This was when the Trump administration barred U.S. citizens from visiting North Korea as of September 1. The explanation for this severe change is that the country fears that the communist country might resort to detentions of Americans in order to gain leverage over U.S. government.

At the beginning of this year, the world saw how American student Otto Warmbier was finally released from North Korea. He was incarcerated for shaky allegations of stealing a poster with political message.

Unfortunately, the captive was in a state of coma when he reached his homeland where he succumbed to death. Warmbier was one of the 16 cases of detentions that took place in North Korea over the last decade.

Nonetheless, the newly implemented rule has some exceptions. It can allow humanitarian workers and journalists to bypass it. The travel ban is also available for only a year at which time it can receive an extension.

Humanitarian Groups Can Lose Years of Progress in North Korea if They Don’t Return Soon

The U.S. government avoided this way to offer the North the opportunity to incarcerate Americans for absurd reasons such as leaving a bible in a hotel room. On the other hand, humanitarian groups believe this ban works against them.

The director of charity Christian Friends of Korea in U.S., Heidi Linton, is one of the officials that are waiting for a travel permit. However, it is uncertain if this approval gets in time to resume her work.

Linton’s institution has been fighting hepatitis and tuberculosis in the communist country for 20 years. As a consequence, the U.S. government’s decision could put in jeopardy these humanitarian efforts.
Image source: 1

Migration has been a bleeding point for both social and political realms. Despite efforts and resources allocated for this matter, there are thousands of hundreds of people whom poverty, war, persecution, and the desire for a better and safer life stranded them to foreign countries. Two years passed since the largest immigration wave of at least one million people entered Europe. Nonetheless, federal institutions and governments are still looking for solutions to address this situation. Therefore, international leaders gathered to discuss strategies for upcoming migration crisis.

Libya Is the Last Transit Point that Separates Migrants from Europe

On Monday, representatives of several European and African countries joined a meeting in Paris to discuss ardent matters about migration social phenomenon. The event was described as a mini-summit between Chad, Niger, Libya, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Most topics regarded centralizing flows of people closer to their homeland.

The African states are trying to cope with the migration crisis as a transit zone. Libya is the cross point that separates refugees from Europe. Therefore, this region was shortly turned into a dangerous playground for traffickers. Often times they deceive their clients and send them in overcrowded boats across the Mediterranean. This year so far, this illegal business meant the death to 2,400 migrants.

European Leaders Are Pushing African States to Keep Migration Crisis within Their Territories

The discussed solutions include job growth programs with European finances, Chad and Niger assistance with border controls, and humanitarian funds from EU for Libya migrants. On top of that, Chad and Niger will probably have to impose migrants for filing asylum claims while they are still in their territory.

Through this decision, authorities will look to discourage those who don’t have plausible reasons to take the dangerous trip to Europe. European leaders claimed that these measures are necessary to guard migrants from the abuses of traffickers.

However, these moves also indicate that they push African countries into carrying part of the burden of putting a stop on illegal migration. These states are already receiving around $24 billion on an annual basis from European nations to support migration programs.
Image source: 1

At the beginning of this week, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin appointed Anatoly I. Antonov, 62, as the new ambassador to the United States. The new Russian representative is actually a veteran diplomat who is going to replace the former envoy in the middle of a controversial investigation of Russian officials being involved in American presidential elections in 2016.

Sergey Kislyak Will Step Down as the Russian Envoy in the U.S. Mostly Due to Allegations of Influencing American Elections

On Monday, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry announced that Vladimir Putin chose Anatoly I. Antonov as the U.S. ambassador. He is also a former deputy defense minister which is an unusual curriculum entry for any ambassador. On top of that, the European Union issued sanctions for this character.

The veteran diplomat will officially occupy his new position as of September 1st. At the same time, Sergey I. Kislyak, 66, will withdraw from his nine-year-old career as the Russian envoy to the United States.

He was supposedly involved in influencing the presidential elections within his hosting country by appearing for several meetings with Trump protégés. Since then, many officials started avoiding him in Washington since the start of an investigation into his relationship with Donald Trump and his allies.

The Veteran Diplomat Is Described as a Determined Negotiator with Vast Expertise in Military Domain

Antonov worked for 30 years within the Russian diplomatic service. His colleagues describe him as a tenacious negotiator yet at the same time he as a side of a realist that made him appear outspoken about the imperative of a strong relationship between Russia and the United States.

During his time at the Ministry of Defense, Antonov ended up taking decisions regarding the war in Syria. A prestigious writer in Russia, Vladimir Frolov, stated that the diplomat might have gathered solid knowledge even about North Korea’s missile program.

“He is a smart, savvy guy, very competent.”

At the time of this announcement, the U.S. Embassy in Russia was just suspending for a limited period of time the issue of visas. The move was merely a reiteration of the same decision Russia had taken beforehand.
Image source: 1

Sunday’s Hong Kong march was a feeble torch blazed in the name of democracy. Participants faced the scorching heat of summer to protest the incarceration of three democratic leaders. The pretext for taking away their freedom was their involvement in the “Umbrella Movement.” The event took place three years ago.

Sunday’s Hong Kong March Reached 22,000 People to Protest the Changed Sentence for Three Pro-Democratic Leaders

Last week, a court in Hong Kong found Alex Chow, Nathan Law, and Joshua Wong guilty of involvement in the Umbrella Movement. These three characters played an important role as organizers of the 2014 protests in Hong Kong.

The settlement decided a jail sentence from six to eight months. The main charges concern an assembly that was created against the law. The existence of such a group led to a 79-day siege of major roads in the capital’s financial district.

On Sunday, the Hong Kong march reached during its peak time a number of 22,000 members. They marched from Wan Chain district to the Court of Final Appeal. Their destination is the place where the three democratic leaders are going to file an appeal against the recent verdict.

The “Umbrella Movement” in 2014 was a democratic attempt for citizens to gain greater autonomy in their country. The main demand was the right to a fair election of Hong Kong’s leader. However, their efforts rendered no results. Instead, the three aforementioned characters were identified as organizers and were forced to answer for their pro-democracy actions outside the law.

Their initial sentence was actually community service which they completed. However, the Department of Justice in Hong Kong appealed this punitive settlement. Their reasoning was that those sentences were too mild for the damages the three pro-democracy activists caused to the state. The government declared the appeal lawful and outside of any political reasons.

All three democratic leaders followed-up the verdict with effervescent statements on social media. Wong aged 20 posted on Twitter that the state “can lock up our bodies, but not our minds!” Chow, 26, stated that they are not afraid of incarceration. On the other hand, she reiterated the demand of the Hong Kong people for democracy.
Image source: 1

On Tuesday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected its new leader, John Bailey. The 74-year-old cinematographer and film director will be the 36^th president of such a prestigious organization for a one-year term. AMPAS has the wonderful responsibility of organizing the annual Oscar awards event to recognize excellence in filmmaking.

The President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Has Ceremonial Responsibilities

The AMPAS board that features world renowned members such as Whoopi Goldberg and Steven Spielberg held a meeting this week to appoint their new director. The majority chose director Mr. Bailey. The cinematographer created a spellbinding career through notorious titles like “Groundhog Day” in 1993, “Ordinary People” in 1980 or “How to Be a Latin Lover” in 2017.

The last director Cheryl Boone Isaacs couldn’t participate for a re-election. She has renewed the maximum one-year term for four times. Ms. Boone Isaacs, who turns 68 this year, has also stepped down from the board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.

Most of the tasks of an Academy president have ceremonial nature. There is no remuneration, yet the position offers great honor within the cinematography world. Therefore, the responsibilities befall in the hands of the chief executive who is Dawn Hudson. He has just renewed his work contract with the Academy for another three years.

Mr. Bailey Will Have to Offer a Clear View on the Organization’s Stand Regarding Race and Gender Topics

Nonetheless, Mr. Bailey will have to act as the face of the prestigious organization and be present for numerous events. For instance, the institution needs him to voice out its core morals regarding two sensitive topics, namely race, and gender. Most people avoid tackling such subjects as the entertainment industry shows signs of having biased views in this domain throughout its history.

Ms. Boone Isaacs has already started initiatives within the Academy to bring women at the same level of men. She vouched to increase the membership of the organization with double the women there are now by 2020. Despite her efforts, the board of the Academy is 87% white and 72% male which still makes it a white man’s world.

Image source: 1

The evangelical board appointed by Trump administration requested a private meeting with the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. The goal of this encounter is to dispel the controversial material of a certain article. However, the text doesn’t belong in a holy book, but Francis’s close allies wrote. The message is that Catholics and conservative evangelicals have more in common than people thought.

The Controversial Matter Appeared when Pope’s Allies Described Religious Actions as an Ideology of Conquest

A few weeks ago, two of Pope Francis’s close officials, an Argentine Presbyterian pastor and an Italian Catholic priest published an opinionated text. The core idea was that Catholics and conservative evangelicals share similar political mission which has “an ideology of conquest.”

As a consequence, the evangelical board in the United States requested a meeting with Pope Francis himself to discuss and probably issue a remedy for this controversy. The article undermines other core values of the official religions including the popular belief that God blessed the United States. The text appeared in the middle of July in Rome-based publication La Civilta Cattolica.

Nonetheless, this conflict of interests is only the latest confrontation between the two parties of the pope and American President. Other sources of sparks between them were the construction of a wall between U.S. and Mexico and climate change.

The U.S. Evangelical Board Was Surprised that Pope Francis Supported Such Ideas

The letter of request for a meeting was signed by Johnnie Moore. He used to work as a vice president of Liberty University. Moore is now a representative for several evangelicals who are the informal advisors of Trump. Moore stated that he found Pope’s allegiance for these ideas as an estrangement from his role as a bridge between the secular and religious worlds.

“It’s in this moment of ongoing persecution, political division and global conflict that we have also witnessed efforts to divide Catholics and Evangelicals.”

Therefore, Moore and his colleagues are looking to schedule a meeting with the head of the Catholic Church. Together they hope to erase the unclear sources and bring the truth to surface.

Image source: 1