News & Politics

The Japanese government recently released 120,000 tons of rice from its 2021 reserves to address the country's ongoing rice shortage crisis. This move is an attempt to stabilize the market and alleviate shortages, but it has sparked controversy over the quality of the released rice and the underlying issues that led to the crisis. The released rice, produced in 2021, is being referred to as "Kuko-mai" or "stored rice," while the 2020 produce is being viewed as barely meeting the standards for human consumption, with some even likening it to "animal feed."

The UK Law Commission has recently proposed legalizing "alkaline hydrolysis," also known as water cremation or liquid cremation, and "human composting" as new methods for handling the deceased. This proposal has sparked widespread discussion and debate across the country. Alkaline hydrolysis involves using water, alkaline chemicals, heat, and pressure to break down the body into a liquid and bone fragments over a period of 2 to 18 hours. The bone fragments can be returned to the family as ashes, while the liquid is theoretically safe to be released into the sewage system.

A recent internal post on Alibaba's intranet has sparked heated discussions, with a departing employee, Yuan An, writing a nearly 10,000-character analysis of the company's development, existing problems, and their causes. Yuan An, the head of product research and development at DingTalk, pointed out that Alibaba's success can be attributed to factors such as the era's opportunities, Jack Ma's strategic vision, value consolidation, and good institutional guarantees. However, from 2017 onwards, he began to feel the company's fatigue.