TOKYO: A man in his 20s was airlifted from Japan’s Mount Fuji then rescued again from its steep slopes just days later because he returned to find his phone, according to media reports.
Police said the Chinese university student, who lives in Japan, was found Saturday by another off-season hiker on a trail more than 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) above sea level.
“He was suspected of having altitude sickness and was taken to hospital,” a police spokesman in Shizuoka region said on Monday.
Later, officers discovered that the man was the same one who had been rescued on Mount Fuji four days previously, private broadcaster TBS and other media outlets reported.
Police could not immediately confirm the reports, which said the man – having been rescued by helicopter on Tuesday – returned on Friday to retrieve his mobile phone, which he forgot to bring with him during the first rescue.
It was not known whether he was able to find his phone in the end, said the reports, citing unnamed sources.
Mount Fuji, an active volcano and Japan’s highest peak, is covered in snow for most of the year.
Its hiking trails are open from early July to early September, a period when crowds trudge up the steep, rocky slopes through the night to see the sunrise.
People are dissuaded from hiking outside of the summer season because conditions can be treacherous.
The symmetrical 3,776-meter mountain has been immortalized in countless artworks, including Hokusai’s “Great Wave.” It last erupted around 300 years ago.
In a bid to prevent overcrowding on Mount Fuji, authorities last year brought in an entry fee and cap on numbers for the most popular Yoshida Trail.
Starting this summer, hikers on any of Mount Fuji’s four main trails will be charged an entry fee of 4,000 yen ($27).
Man rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week: reports
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Man rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week: reports
- Chinese university student, who lives in Japan, was found Saturday by another off-season hiker on a trail more than 3,000 meters above sea level
- People are dissuaded from hiking outside of the summer season because conditions can be treacherous
Hollywood studios and unions call on Trump to offer tax breaks
- The letter thanks Trump “for the support you have shown our industry,” and for drawing attention to production fleeing overseas
LOS ANGELES: Hollywood studios and unions representing movie workers joined forces Monday to urge US President Donald Trump to give tax breaks to US-made films.
The joint letter, which was also signed by Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone — two of Trump’s “ambassadors” to Hollywood — comes days after the Republican president said he wanted to impose 100 percent tariffs on foreign films in a bid to help the domestic industry.
The letter thanks Trump “for the support you have shown our industry,” and for drawing attention to production fleeing overseas.
But it makes no mention of Trump’s tariff plan, a proposal that was met with bafflement across the industry, with observers saying they had no idea how such a tax might work.
“Currently, more than 80 countries offer production tax incentives and as a result, numerous productions that could have been shot in America have instead located elsewhere,” says the letter.
“Returning more production to the United States will require a national approach and broad-based policy solutions, including... longer term initiatives such as implementing a federal film and television tax incentive.”
The idea of a federal tax credit scheme was also suggested last week by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The letter, from the Motion Picture Association — an umbrella grouping for major studios and streamers — and unions representing directors, actors and writers, suggests a number of tax deductions that would make movie-making cheaper.
“A domestic production incentive would make the US market more competitive and able to retain and return high-paying jobs tied to film and television productions — and the use of this deduction has historically promoted significant economic and job growth,” it says.
America’s movie industry has gradually moved away from its traditional home in and around Hollywood as production has shifted to cheaper locations.
The number of shooting days in Los Angeles reached an all-time low last year — lower even than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when filming shut down completely.
Fewer than one in five film or TV series broadcast in the United States was produced in California, according to FilmLA, an organization that tracks the movie industry.
The loss of that production has a significant economic impact.
According to the letter to Trump, each day a film shoots on location it spends more than $670,000, and employs nearly 1,500 people.
On May 4, Trump declared on social media that “the Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death.”
He said he had told the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative to levy a 100 percent tariff “on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
Dubai nurse fought cancer while leading hospital teams
- Sarah Ilyas was diagnosed with the disease following her son’s 14th birthday
DUBAI: Even after being diagnosed with breast cancer, nurse and mother Sarah Ilyas did not stop helping others.
Originally from Pakistan and currently a chief nursing officer at Aster Hospitals and clinics in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman she worked her way up the ranks from being an intensive care nurse to nursing supervisor at the Dubai Health Authority.
However, just as her career was really taking off, and during her son’s 14th birthday party in November 2021, Ilyas felt something was wrong.
“I felt this shrill pain in my left breast, then I felt the lump, but since I was so exhausted, tired and burnt out, I just went to sleep,” she recalled.
The next day, Ilyas had the lump examined. A biopsy was carried out at the same hospital in which she worked, and she carried on as normal until she received her results.
It was bad news. The lump was malignant — a stage three metastatic carcinoma.
“It is one of the most difficult cancers and notorious tumors to get over, it’s not simple breast cancer,” she explained.
After working on developing an oncology department at the hospital, Ilyas never expected she would one day be a patient benefiting from her own hard work.
By December, she had started “scary” chemotherapy, and was grateful for a strong support system that meant she could carry on working and being around her family.
“My bosses took care of me so well throughout my treatment plan. I was given so much flexibility, and I could work from home if I could not get myself out of bed,” she said.
Today, Ilyas has a new outlook on life after working throughout her treatment and beating her illness. She also urges others battling cancer to share their own stories to inspire and help others.
“I didn’t even know my daughter’s favorite color or what my son likes to eat. I regret not giving my time to them,” she said.
“Let us not shy away from telling our story, words of encouragement can inspire and give hope to others.”
Swedish club not skirting around shorts issue as they back Irish camogie players
- The Irish sport hit the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons with players
- Camogie is the female version of hurling, a ball sport played with wooden sticks
STOCKHOLM: Camogie players in Sweden have turned the clock back by wearing a kit from a bygone age in a show of solidarity with colleagues in Ireland currently protesting for the right to wear shorts.
The Irish sport hit the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons with players, tired of a rule outlawing the wearing of shorts, ramping up protests, ultimately leading to the late postponement of Saturday’s Munster final.
Camogie is the female version of hurling, a ball sport played with wooden sticks, often likened to a mix between lacrosse and hockey, with a little rugby thrown in because of its physicality.
Wherever you go in the world, from Uganda to Vietnam, you are likely to find people playing Ireland’s national sports. Sweden is no different, and Irishwoman Michelle Cotter set up the hurling and camogie teams at Stockholm Gaels.
“The goal was to do something over here to show the players back home that their impact is reaching much further than the island of Ireland,” Cotter told Reuters.
The Camogie Association of Ireland’s rules state that playing gear must include skirt, skort or divided skirt, but a recent survey showed that 83 percent of players want the choice to include shorts.
The Stockholm club, which includes not only Irish players and local Swedes but women from Australia, Austria, the US, Britain, France and Spain, took things back to even before the days of skorts, when players wore skirts down to their ankles.
The first set of camogie rules, drawn up in 1903, stated skirts should be worn no more than six inches from the ground and, while things have improved, two motions to introduce shorts were defeated at last year’s Camogie Association congress.
“Given none of us even own skorts, we togged out for training in skirts and dresses,” Cotter, who also coaches and plays on the team, said. “It felt every bit as ridiculous as it looked.”
There is still hope for change following all the media attention and controversy of the past week, after the association agreed to hold a special congress on May 22 to vote again on a motion to allow the wearing of shorts.
Liam and Olivia dominate — again — with top baby names in the US for a sixth year in a row
- ‘A trend we’re tracking is that Americans are more likely to choose heritage choices’
WASHINGTON: Liam and Olivia dominate. Still.
The two names have, for a sixth year together, topped the list of names for babies born in the US in 2024.
The Social Security Administration annually tracks the names given to girls and boys in each state, with names dating back to 1880. In time for Mother’s Day, the agency on Friday released the most popular names from applications for Social Security cards.
Liam has reigned for eight years in a row for boys, while Olivia has topped the girls’ list for six. Also, for the sixth consecutive year, Emma took the second slot for girls, and Noah for boys.
The girls’ name Luna slipped out of the Top 10 and was replaced by Sofia, which enters at number 10 for the first time.
After Liam, the most common names for boys are, in order: Noah, Oliver, Theodore, James, Henry, Mateo, Elijah, Lucas and William.
After Olivia, the most common names for girls are Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia, Sophia, Isabella, Evelyn, Ava and Sofia.
Sophie Kihm, editor-in-chief of nameberry, a baby naming website, said the latest data showcases how American parents are increasingly choosing names that have cross-cultural appeal. Kihm’s first name shows up in two variations on the annual list.
“A trend we’re tracking is that Americans are more likely to choose heritage choices,” Kihm said, including names that work “no matter where you are in the world.”
”More families in the US come from mixed cultural backgrounds and I hear parents commonly request that they want their child to travel and have a relatively easy to understand name.”
The Social Security Administration’s latest data show that 3.61 million babies were born in the US in 2024. That’s a slight increase from last year’s 3.59 million babies, representing an overall increase in the American birthrate.
Social media stars and popular television shows are having some impact on the rising popularity of certain names, Social Security says.
Among those rising in popularity for girls: Ailany, a Hawaiian name that means “chief,” topped the list. The boys’ name Truce, an Old English name meaning “peace,” rose 11,118 spots from last year’s position to rank 991.
The complete, searchable list of baby names is on the Social Security website.
Sweden’s new national security adviser quits over dating site images
- Thyberg said that he had failed to disclose the existence of the images
- “I should have informed about this, but I did not,” he said
OSLO: Sweden’s new national security adviser abruptly resigned on Friday, just one day after his appointment, amid criticism from the prime minister that he failed to disclose information regarding images published years ago on a dating website.
Tobias Thyberg, a foreign service veteran who in previous roles served as ambassador to both Ukraine and Afghanistan, had omitted the information during security background checks, the government said.
The resignation comes just months after Thyberg’s predecessor in the high-profile job stepped down and was charged with negligent handling of classified information.
Thyberg did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Friday.
But in a statement to daily Dagens Nyheter, Thyberg said that he had failed to disclose the existence of the images.
“These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed about this, but I did not,” he said, according to DN.
Reuters could not independently verify information about the content of the images.
Background checks for sensitive government jobs typically require the disclosure of any information that could potentially make someone vulnerable to blackmail.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the information should have come to light a long time ago.
“It is a systemic failure that this kind of information has not been brought forward,” Kristersson told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Norway.
Thyberg had been due to travel to Oslo on Friday with the prime minister for a meeting of northern European leaders, but the adviser’s participation was canceled.
