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The European Union and Japan signed a monumental trade deal in, July 2018, eliminating nearly all tariffs between the entities in one of the world’s largest free-trade deals. The pact, signed in Tokyo, covers a third of the global economy.

The agreement is in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s trade war and alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Although the leaders didn’t mention him by name, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker distanced themselves from Trump’s tactics in a press conference following the deal.

“Politically, it’s a light in the increasing darkness of international politics,” European Council President Tusk said of the deal. “We are sending a clear message that you can count on us. We are predictable – both Japan and [the] EU – predictable and responsible and will come to the defense of a world order based on rules, freedom and transparency and common sense.”

Once passed, Japan will see lower prices on European wines, cheese, pork, handbags, and pharmaceuticals while the EU will see lower price tags on Japanese machinery parts, tea, and fish. Eventually, about 99% of tariffs on all imports will be eliminated.

Until now, generating nuclear power has required massive facilities surrounded by acres of buildings and infrastructure. The nuclear industry is trying to change that picture—by going small. Efforts to build the nation’s first "advanced small modular reactor" (SMR) in Idaho, U.S.A., are on track for it to become operational by the mid-2020s.

Proponents of these advanced SMR say they will be easier to build and more flexible in terms of where they can be located than the larger kind. The word "modular" refers to how they will be built in factory-like settings, ready for hauling either fully assembled or in easily connected parts by truck, rail or sea.

SMR will differ from the smaller reactors already deployed because of their new technologies. These advances are intended to make it less likely or even impossible for them to melt down or explode, as happened during Japan’s Fukushima disaster. For example, they may be equipped with cooling systems that continue working even if no operators are present and all electric power is lost. In many cases, the entire SMR will be below ground to safeguard these facilities during natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunamis that led the three Fukushima Daiichi reactors to melt down.

Blockchain technology is still in its infancy but is growing at a rapid pace. It is hard to be an expert in the field, but you should at least know the basics. 

At the core, Blockchain uses a shared ledger managed by multiple computers that are networked. This is much different from current systems that rely on one central system with a database.

Leading companies advocating for and working on blockchain projects are IBM, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Intel. This will likely continue to grow to include smaller businesses as well.

Blockchain is being implemented to help companies save more and increase their efficiency. It ensures that companies follow the correct procedures, review the proper documents, and end up with the best possible outcomes.

You do not need to be working with other companies to implement blockchain. There are improvements that can be made internally by using these kinds of systems. This will provide your company with a head start and in-house knowledge.

UNESCO has decided to add 12 sites to the World Heritage list that are linked to the history of the country’s persecuted Christians.

The sites include the Oura Cathedral in Nagasaki, the oldest surviving church in the country which is already designated as a national treasure; and the remains of Hara Castle, a site of the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion that led to establishment of a national policy of seclusion and the beginning of the hidden Christians’ unique system to transmit their faith and beliefs by themselves.

The newly added sites “bear unique testimony to a cultural tradition nurtured by hidden Christians in the Nagasaki region who secretly transmitted their faith during the period of prohibition from the 17th to the 19th century,” the committee said on its website.

Scientists have recently discovered two exoplanets, Kepler-62f and Kepler 186f, which are located within the habitable zones of their respective stars, and the best part is that the planets probably have stable climates and regular seasons. The astronomers also believe that one of them is similar in size to our home planet. 

Researchers from the Georgia Tech and Harvard University found out that both Kepler-186f and Kepler-62f seem to be steadily tilted on their axis, just like Earth, giving them stable climates and seasons. "Our calculations show that their spin would have remained constant over tens of millions of years," said Georgia Tech's Assistant Professor Gongjie Li. According to the scientists, these exoplanets are capable of harboring life.

Not ruling out the origin of life on planets with irregular seasons, another study author Yutong Shan from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said, "Even on Earth, life is remarkably diverse and has shown incredible resilience in extraordinarily hostile environments. But a climatically stable planet might be a more comfortable place to start."

Coffee is among the most commonly consumed beverages worldwide. Because of its popularity, it has attracted a great deal of research over the years.

Scientists have now stacked up a fair amount of evidence proving that coffee can protect against certain diseases and may even extend lifespan. Studies have shown that moderate coffee consumption might protect against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease, to name but three.

But the findings to date leave some unanswered questions. For instance, certain people have genetic variations that alter the way in which they metabolize caffeine. How are they affected? Similarly, does the type of coffee — ground, instant, or decaffeinated — make a difference?

Recently, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Rockville and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, set out to get some answers. Their study shows that individuals who process caffeine differently and those who drink decaffeinated coffee also saw benefits. These findings may hint that caffeine is not the main player in this beneficial relationship. Coffee consists of hundreds of different chemicals making this a tricky code to crack. One group of chemicals that scientists have been interested in is polyphenols, but much more work will be needed to understand how they fit into the bigger picture.

Businesses in Tokyo are continuing to look for ways to get foreign visitors to spend their time and cash on the capital’s wide-ranging nightlife options. Travel agencies are arranging special events for foreign tourists such as taiko (drum) performances, while some hotels are extending the business hours of their restaurants to allow guests to socialize into the early hours.

In January (2018), the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it planned to survey foreign tourists on what they enjoy about the capital’s nightlife, including restaurants, theaters and sporting events, to better cater to their interests and encourage spending.

But while efforts are being made to boost the “after-hours” economy, the lack of late-night public transport remains a major obstacle for tourists looking to get a taste of what Tokyo has to offer. Unlike some other global cities, which have 24-hour subway lines, Tokyo’s transportation network shuts down every night to allow for maintenance and equipment checks.

In December, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers proposed an experiment that would have allowed trains and buses to operate into the early hours of the morning, but the idea received a cold response from transport operators.

When asked to imagine a typical image of white-collar workers in Japan, salarymen in suits may come to mind. On the flip side, blue collar workers in "work wear" tend to be associated with less flattering stereotypes, dubbed the “3K”—kitsui (demanding), kitanai (dirty) and kiken (dangerous) in Japanese.

Work wear that looks exactly like a business suit, developed by a Tokyo-based plumbing firm, might be helping to improve the image of blue-collar workers. It has been proving popular recently among people in various industries, ranging from waste collection and building maintenance to agriculture.

The water-repellent, washable attire was originally produced as an in-house uniform for the Oasys Lifestyle group, based on an idea from a female employee in charge of personnel affairs. “After our engineers wore the work wear for a year, we received an increased number of young applicants as well as favorable comments from our clients and peer companies,” said the firm’s spokesman, Hayato Suhara.

Oasys Style Wear, which released the clothing in March (2018) at a price of roughly ¥30,000 for a jacket and pants, and women’s models last month, announced last week that more lightweight, quick-to-dry summer models will be added to its men’s work wear lineup in July.

India is facing its worst-ever water crisis, a new report by a government advisory body has warned. The comprehensive study on the state of India's water warned of conflict and other related threats, including food security risks, unless actions are taken to restore water bodies.

Currently, about 600 million Indians are facing high to extreme stress over water. Ninety cities in India do not have enough clean drinking water now to sustain their populace. More than 20 cities, including New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people. Around 40 percent of the population will have no access to clean drinking water by 2030. 

The water crisis could also aggravate political tensions in the region. Eleven Indian states are locked in major disputes over river water-sharing. Scores of people have died in violent protests over a river water dispute between two southern Indian states.

India is also caught up in long-standing disputes with neighbours China, Pakistan and Bangladesh over the sharing of water from rivers that cross national boundaries.