News Headlines - 15 March 2021

▽The Worst Dust Storm in a Decade Shrouds Beijing and Northern China - The New York Times

The largest and strongest dust storm in a decade swept across northern China, grounding hundreds of flights, closing schools in some cities and casting a ghastly shroud over tens of millions of people - from Xinjiang in the far west across to the Bohai Sea, according to China’s meteorological service.
The storm, coming after weeks of smog, recalled the “airpocalypses” that the country routinely experienced a few years ago, forcing crash government efforts to address what had become a political and public health crisis.
Those efforts improved the air quality significantly, especially around the capital. But this week, three forces - the post-Covid industrial rebound, the continued impact of climate change on the deserts of northern China, and a late winter storm - combined to create a dangerous, suffocating pall.

▽Sharp admits sales padded at subsidiary amid pressure to hit targets - Japan Today

Sharp Corp says one of its subsidiaries had padded its sales by around 7.5 billion yen ($69 million) through fraudulent accounting and that the illicit acts continued amid pressure from the parent to match business plans.
The Japanese electronics group under the wing of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co released a report by the investigation committee on the matter, which came to light late last year.
The subsidiary, Kantatsu Co, which makes lenses for smartphone cameras, booked sales despite the possibility of its products being returned from clients starting around July 2018, according to the report. Among other steps, it even recorded sales without orders from clients, which began around January 2020.

▽VW plans six European battery factories by 2030 as it bets on electric future | Financial Times

Volkswagen will build or open six battery factories across Europe by 2030, tightening the carmaker’s grip on the supply chain for electric vehicles as it embarks on an ambitious sales drive.
The plants will have a combined capacity of 240 gigawatt-hours a year, which would produce cells for almost 5m cars annually and help the German group achieve its ambitious electric vehicle plans.
The VW brand expects 70 per cent of sales in Europe and more than 50 per cent of sales in the US and China to be electric by the end of the decade.
The group also wants to increase the number of high-powered charging points across Europe fivefold by 2025.

▽How Fukushima triggered Germany′s nuclear phaseout | DW

On March 11, 2011, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded triggered a tsunami off Japan's Pacific coast. The gigantic waves rolled over the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, knocking out the cooling system and causing a meltdown in three of its six reactors. It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
But the important difference between the two disasters is Japan's reputation as a high-tech country with high security standards. That difference is one that has made even avid supporters of nuclear energy second-guess themselves.
They included Angela Merkel, a trained physicist who believed in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. She had even attacked the center-left coalition government of her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, for deciding to phase out atomic power.

▽Anime Pioneer & Mentor Yasuo Otsuka Dies Age 89 | Animation Magazine

Yasuo Otsuka, an artist who helped shape the contemporary anime industry with his work on landmark titles like Tale of the White Serpent, Lupin III and Future Boy Conan and mentorship of other acclaimed creators, died Monday morning, March 15, at the age of 89. News of his passing was shared by Studio Ghibli co-founder/producer Toshio Suzuki during the closing awards ceremony at the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. Suzuki was accepting an honor for career achievement.