Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency says harsh winter conditions and snow-related accidents over the last 14 days have left 27 people dead.
Japanese researchers have reportedly succeeded in mining mud thought to contain rare earth elements from a seabed some 5,700 meters underwater. The exploration vessel Chikyu, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, has been conducting a test excavation of the mud since January. The seabed is within Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Pacific, roughly 150 kilometers southeast of the Japanese island of Minamitorishima. The test was held under a project led by Japan’s Cabinet Office. Officials say the retrieval of mud began last Friday, and work to haul it onto the vessel took place for the first time early on Sunday.
The exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the 14th Dalai Lama, has won a Grammy Award for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. In the audio book titled “Meditations: The Reflections Of His Holiness The Dalai Lama,” he talks about 10 themes including harmony and peace in English, accompanied by background music. The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after China suppressed an uprising in Tibet. Speaking at his 90th birthday celebration last year, he said his successor will be chosen based on Tibetan tradition, without any outside interference.