Authorities in Japan are investigating the appearance of dozens of mysterious fishing boats that have drifted ashore along Japan’s northwest coast, many containing decomposing human remains. While the occasional appearance of such ships is unfortunately not uncommon, the number of ships recovered from the Sea of Japan over the past month is unusually high.
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And we’re not just talking about power plant meltdowns in Japan! In the US, your tattoo is a time bomb, but in Asia (especially China) it’s either smoking (there will be an epidemic of lung cancer and emphysema there in 20 years) or–and this is a surprise–a disease caused from exposure to asbestos called mesothelioma.
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A massive forest fire is burning the West Kalimantan province of Indonesian Borneo. The fire, outside the provincial capital of Palankaraya, was started during a land-clearing operation. The fire has become huge, and a vast cloud of haze is spreading across the region, causing health problems and complicating air operations in surrounding countries. This firestorm threatens to become as devastating as the storms that erupted in 1998, covering the whole region in a pall of smoke.
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