The Daily Populous

Mutated COVID-19 strain confirmed in Japan as nationwide case tally hits record high

Japan on Friday confirmed its first cases of a mutated form of COVID-19 in five people who entered the nation from the U.K., health minister Norihisa Tamura said.

The same day, Japan confirmed a record 3,748 new coronavirus cases, the third consecutive day above 3,000.

Also on Friday, the country reported 42 new deaths from the virus, while there were 644 seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

Four prefectures saw their daily case counts hit record highs, with Saitama at 298, Kyoto at 121, Hyogo at 232 and Kumamoto at 56.

Of Hyogo's new cases, 71 involved a hospital in Kakogawa, where a cluster of infection has emerged.

Five workers at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture have tested positive for the virus in an apparent cluster.

On Friday evening, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that greater caution will be necessary to prevent further spread over the holiday period. »

Korean artificial sun sets the new world record of 20-sec-long operation at 100 million degrees

Authored by phys.org

It is an achievement to extend the 8 second plasma operation time during the 2019 KSTAR Plasma Campaign by more than 2 times.

In its 2018 experiment, the KSTAR reached the plasma ion temperature of 100 million degrees for the first time (retention time: about 1.5 seconds).

So far, there have been other fusion devices that have briefly managed plasma at temperatures of 100 million degrees or higher. »

Christmas Day bombing damages much of Nashville's 2nd Ave

Authored by newschannel5.com

Metro Police officials said tissue was found at the explosion site, but Chief John Drake could not confirm if it was a human victim of the incident.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said police received a report of a suspicious vehicle outside of the AT&T transmission building and upon investigating the report, officers called the hazardous devices unit.

BREAKING: Nashville fire crews being told to back up ANOTHER two blocks from site of explosion in downtown area. »

Natale: 94enne solo a casa chiama Cc per fare brindisi

Authored by ansa.it

Se ci fosse un militare disponibile, 10 minuti a venire a trovarmi perché sono solo".

Così, sentita la telefonata, gli uomini dell'Arma si sono recati a casa del signor Fiorenzo che li stava aspettando.

Con l'anziano i Carabinieri hanno chiacchierato, fatto un brindisi e poi una videochiamata ai parenti dell'anziano. »

Trump pardons four former Blackwater contractors. This is what they did in Iraq

Authored by nationalpost.com

Among those pardons are four former Blackwater World contractors who were convicted with the killing of Iraqi civilians in 2007.

Try refreshing your browser, or Trump pardons four former Blackwater contractors.

Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, said that Trump had “hit a disgraceful new low with the Blackwater pardons”. »