News Headlines - 13 April 2021

▽Brazil Covid-19: Deaths outpace births in some Brazilian cities, as the coronavirus resurges - CNN

Brazil's second most populous city, Rio de Janeiro registered 36,437 deaths in March -- 16% more than the month's 32,060 new births, according to the national Civil Register. It wasn't alone; at least 10 other Brazilian cities with populations over half a million people also registered more deaths than births last month.

▽Hyogo Prefecture to give 320,000 fans to restaurants for customers to cover mouths - Japan Today

Recently though, the Hyogo prefectural government decided on a new strategy to try and open up businesses in a more safe way: by giving out Japanese fans to restaurants for customers to use while dining.
The goal of using the fans is for groups of customers to cover their mouths with them when talking to each other, preventing “splash” and the spread of the virus. Presumably the fans could also be held up while eating as well, as opposed to masks which have to come off when chewing.
Plans are to distribute 20 fans to each applicable restaurant in the capital city of Kobe, as well as three other cities, totaling 320,000 fans. Whether or not they will be cleaned between customers using them isn’t made clear, but hopefully that will be the case.

▽Fukushima: Japan announces it will dump contaminated water into sea | The Guardian

Japan has announced it will release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, a decision that has angered neighbouring countries, including China, and local fishers.
Official confirmation of the move, which came more than a decade after the nuclear disaster, will deal a further blow to the fishing industry in Fukushima, which has opposed the measure for years.

▽Science Council Hopes to Remain Govt Body - JIJI PRESS

The Science Council of Japan believes that it should remain a government organization to fulfill its role as a national academy, science and technology policy minister Shinji Inoue said Wednesday.
SCJ President Takaaki Kajita reported the outcome of the council's discussions on its organization to Inoue, according to the minister.
Still, the SCJ said there is room to study the possibility of becoming a special corporation independent from the government, according to Inoue.
The council plans to draw up a reform proposal at a meeting Thursday for discussion at a general meeting from April 21.

▽'Attack on Titan' manga series concludes nearly 12-year run - Japan Today

The final chapter of the "Attack on Titan" manga series, popular in Japan and abroad and set to be made into a Hollywood film, was released Friday, closing the curtain on a story that has been running since 2009.
The 139th chapter of the saga depicting a battle against giant man-eating creatures was published in the May issue of Kodansha Inc.'s monthly Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Known as "Shingeki no Kyojin" in Japanese, the final 34th volume of the series in book form will go on sale on June 9.