Protect Workers From Heat Waves or Face Fines, Japan Tells Firms
Tougher rules being enforced in Japan will see employers fined if they fail to take adequate precautions to protect workers from extreme temperatures.
The revised legislation, which came into effect June 1, is a rare global example of a national-level policy on heat safety for employees, and comes after 30 workplace deaths and roughly 1,200 injuries last year associated with high temperatures, according to health ministry data. Most of those affected worked in construction or manufacturing.
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CNET
41 minutes ago
- CNET
Your Kitchen Is the Hottest Room in the House. Here's How to Keep It Cool During a Heat Wave
We're barely into June, but July-like weather has descended on parts of the country, including the Northeast, where 90-plus temperatures are expected. But you've still got to eat -- and cook -- which means hot kitchens that can cause a domino effect, raising the temperature in the entire home. Read more: Best Foods for Staying Hydrated During Hot Weather Using appliances that don't produce as much heat and planning your meals so that cooking doesn't coincide with the hottest part of the day are just a few ways to save your air conditioning bill from spiking and your family from an uncomfortable climate. Here are 9 ways to keep your kitchen cool during a heat wave this summer. 1. Prepare food instead of cooking Ceviche requires no cooking. It just might be the perfect summer food. CNET Don't want to heat up your kitchen? Don't cook. That doesn't mean you can't eat. Focus on no-cook, fresh foods, such as summer salads, ceviche, smoothies and cold noodles. Even slicing up fresh fruit or vegetables like cucumbers and melons can be a refreshing and healthy summer treat. No-cook foods help beat the heat in two ways: By not heating up your kitchen -- or your body -- as you consume them. When you do cook, limit your time in the kitchen with a helpful meal kit (these are the best meal kits for 2025). You'll likely still have to cook the food, you'll do far less prep and spending less time in a sweltering kitchen is definitely a good thing. Most services offer lighter, no-cook meals during the summer, too. Essential gear for food prep 2. Use your exhaust fan An exhaust fan above the stovetop is never more useful than during hot summer days. KitchenAid If you're going to use your oven, make sure the exhaust fan is on full tilt whenever you do. Most people associate exhaust systems with limiting smoke, but these above-oven fans suck up a ton of heat too. 3. Cook outside with a grill or pizza oven Home pizza ovens are on a tear and present an excellent alternative to hot indoor cooking. CNET Take the heat out of the kitchen by cooking outdoors this summer. BBQ grilled chicken or steaks are classics for the grill but don't forget you can grill summer favorites like corn on the cob or watermelon too. You might be hot while you're outside using a grill or smoker to heat foods, but your kitchen can stay cool. Essential gear for grilling and outdoor cooking, all tested and reviewed. 4. Use an air fryer or Instant Pot Slow cookers give off far less heat than an oven. CNET Minimizing use of the oven and stove can help you avoid heating up your kitchen. Small appliances can cook your food just as well while emitting less heat than large appliances. Try using an air fryer instead of your wall oven, or a panini press instead of the stovetop. You'd be surprised how versatile small appliances can be. Your slow cooker and Instant Pot aren't just for winter soups and stews, either. Think of summer recipes you can achieve on your countertop, like Instant Pot pork carnitas. Don't turn your nose up at your microwave, which can zap rice, quinoa, vegetables and more while generating practically no heat. Kitchen appliances that keep your wall oven off 5. Meal prep ahead of hot days Some Instant Pots double as air fryers. Instant Pot If you're going to heat up your kitchen, make it worth it. If you do end up using your oven or stovetop, make larger quantities than normal. That way, you can use precooked leftovers, which means you have food ready to go without heating up your kitchen again. With the right kitchen appliances, you can batch cook and keep the oven off. For example, make a whole bunch of pulled chicken in your Instant Pot (which gives off very little heat). Then you can use the leftovers to make tacos, chicken salad nachos and other meals that don't require firing up your oven. Best gear for batch cooking 6. Cook during cooler hours If you're going to cook, try to do it when it's cooler out. CNET Cooking in your kitchen when it's already hot outside (and maybe already hot in your home) means you'll only add to the heat. Plan ahead and strategize your cooking times for when it's not as hot. The best time to cook to avoid the heat is in the morning or later in the evening. That might appear easier said than done, but you could bake bread in the morning, or cook proteins and pasta dishes while you're making breakfast or an early lunch so they'll be ready to go for dinner. More cool kitchen tips 7. Add some fans to the mix We're big fans of air circulation during the summer. Amazon Airflow can help cool down your kitchen. If you're using your stove, turn on the range hood vent. It's there to remove not just grease, fumes and odors but smoke, heat and steam that could get trapped and heat up your kitchen while you're cooking. Plus, you can keep a fan on in the kitchen to move air around and cool it down. You can also position your fan to move hot air out, or bring cold air in with a cool, wet towel. We're a fan of these 8. Limit bright lights Let there be (less) light. Getty/MirageC Sunlight and even artificial interior light can generate heat, and when you're in the heat of summer, every degree counts. Dim the lights, shut any curtains, close your blinds and limit how many lights you turn on. You don't need to work in the dark but be wary of turning on lots of overhead lights. Smart lights for a kitchen glow-up Testing gas grills at the CNET Smart Home Testing gas grills at the CNET Smart Home Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 2:07 Loaded : 28.04% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 2:07 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Testing gas grills at the CNET Smart Home 9. Keep yourself hydrated Water, water everywhere. Aarke This strategy won't lower the actual temperature in your kitchen but it will make the heat more bearable. Hydration is the no. 1 rule for most summer activities, and cooking outdoors or in a warm kitchen is no exception. Drink lots of water -- it's recommended to drink between 11 and 15 cups per day -- and sip even more than you think you should when the mercury rises. Want to punch it up a bit? Try water infusions for more flavor and refreshment. Planning to sweat? Add sea salt and lemon to boost electrolytes and flavor. Hot tips to stay hydrated
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Japan's ispace tries lunar touchdown again with Resilience lander
By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese company ispace is set to try the lunar touchdown of its uncrewed spacecraft again on Friday two years after its failed inaugural mission, in a bid to become the first company outside the United States to achieve a moon landing. Tokyo-based ispace hopes to join U.S. firms Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace, which have accomplished commercial landings amid an intensifying global race for the moon that includes state-run missions from China and India. Resilience, ispace's second lunar lander, is expected to touch down on Mare Frigoris, a basaltic plain about 900 km (560 miles) from the moon's north pole, at 4:17 a.m. Friday local time (1917 GMT Thursday) following an hour-long descent from lunar orbit, according to the company. In 2023, ispace's first lander crashed into the moon's surface due to inaccurate recognition of its altitude. Software remedies have been implemented, while the hardware design is mostly unchanged in Resilience, the company has said. Resilience carries a four-wheeled rover built by ispace's Luxembourg subsidiary and payloads worth a total of $16 million, including scientific instruments from Japanese firms and a Taiwanese university. If the landing is successful, the 2.3-metre-high lander and the microwave-sized rover will begin 14-day exploration activities until the arrival of a freezing-cold lunar night, including capturing images of regolith, the moon's fine-grained surface material, on a contract with U.S. space agency NASA. Later on Friday, ispace will host a press conference about the outcome of the mission, according to the company. Shares in ispace more than doubled earlier this year on growing investor hopes for the second mission, before calming in recent days. Resilience in January shared a SpaceX rocket launch with Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, which took a faster trajectory to the moon and touched down successfully in March. Intuitive Machines, which last year marked the world's first touchdown of a commercial lunar lander, made its second attempt in March but the lander Athena ended on its side on the lunar surface just as in the first mission. Japan last year became the world's fifth country to achieve a soft lunar landing after the former Soviet Union, the U.S., China and India, when the national Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) achieved the touchdown of its SLIM lander, yet also in a toppled position. Despite President Donald Trump's proposed changes to the U.S. space policy, Japan remains committed to NASA's Artemis moon program, pledging the involvement of Japanese astronauts and technologies for future lunar missions. Including one in 2027 as part of the Artemis program, ispace plans seven more missions in the U.S. and Japan through 2029 to capture increasing demands for lunar transportation.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Trump touts 'very positive' breakthrough with Xi after slamming China for trade violation
President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday in a lengthy call amid economic and national security friction regarding trade between Washington and Beijing. "I just concluded a very good phone call with President Xi, of China, discussing some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal," Trump said in a Thursday Truth Social post. "The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries." Trump said the conversation focused "almost entirely" on trade, and that Xi invited the U.S. president and first lady Melania Trump to visit China. Trump also said he extended an invitation to Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. Chinese media first reported the call between the two leaders Thursday, and claimed that the call occurred per Trump's request. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett had told ABC News Sunday that Trump was expected to talk with the Chinese president this week. The call comes nearly a week after Trump condemned China for violating an initial trade agreement that the U.S. and China hashed out in May, and a day after Trump said Xi was "extremely hard to make a deal with" in a Truth Social post. The negotiations led both countries to agree that the U.S. would ramp down its tariffs against Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, and China would cut its tariffs against U.S. imports from 125% to 10%. But Trump accused China on Friday of not holding up its end of the bargain, although he refrained from disclosing specifics. "The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US," Trump said in a social media post Friday. "So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!" U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday in an interview with CNBC that China had failed to lift its non-tariff barriers, as outlined in the deal. "The United States did exactly what it was supposed to do, and the Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable and has to be addressed," Greer said Friday. Meanwhile, China pressed the U.S. to reverse course and address its own mistakes. "China once again urges the US to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva," Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a Friday statement. Meanwhile, Trump's invitation to Xi and Peng to visit the U.S. comes as Trump's administration cracks down on student visa holders in the U.S. and as Trump has threatened to "aggressively" rescind visas of students from China.
