Latest news with #rural
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- Science
- RNZ News
Stars, soil and whakapapa - 'We're just caretakers really'
rural farming about 1 hour ago This Matariki, the stars align for Mark and Susannah Guscott - award winners bringing whakapapa and astronomy together on their sixth-generation Wairarapa farm.
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Japan plans to expand nuclear risk payouts for towns, critics call it a ‘bribe'
Japan 's ruling coalition has agreed to expand financial support for communities near nuclear plants, drawing fierce criticism from environmental groups who describe the move as a 'bribe' aimed at buying consent from cash-strapped rural areas. Under the proposal, backed this week by senior officials in the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner Komeito, subsidies would be extended beyond the current 10km radius to include municipalities up to 30km from nuclear facilities. The government is also considering legal changes to promote economic development in areas close to nuclear plants that would also bring in more money for local authorities. A portion of the subsidies would be earmarked for evacuation planning in case of accidents – but critics argue the scheme is less about safety and more about co-opting vulnerable local authorities. 'It is effectively a bribe to these communities because years of government policies have drained the countryside of employment and forced people to move to the cities,' said Aileen Mioko Smith, an environmental campaigner with Kyoto-based Green Action Japan. 01:01 Japan's researchers develop ocean-friendly plastic Japan's researchers develop ocean-friendly plastic 'With the rural population decreasing and ageing, these communities are desperate for funds,' she told This Week in Asia. 'Local authorities are becoming more and more dependent on funds from the government for their budgets and that is what the government is offering them.'
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada Post says it has reached a deal with 2nd-largest union CPAA
Canada Post says it has reached a deal with the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, the second-largest union representing its workers. The union represents 8,500 of the Crown corporation's employees, most of whom are responsible for managing post offices in rural areas of the country. The new collective agreement includes a wage increase of 11 per cent over three years, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, Canada Post said in a statement Thursday. The two parties have been negotiating for 18 months. CBC News has reached out to CPAA for a statement. Canada Post has yet to reach a deal with its largest union, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), having sent that group its final offer last month. Final offer put up for vote Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said earlier this month that she would put the final offer up for a vote among CUPW members, and asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to conduct the vote "as soon as possible." It is still unclear when the vote will take place. CUPW members went on 32-day strike last fall after the two sides failed to negotiate a collective agreement. The strike ended after the federal government imposed a return-to-work order. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada Post reaches deal with second-largest union, negotiations continue with CUPW
OTTAWA — Canada Post says it has reached a contract deal with its second-largest union as negotiations continue with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. The Crown corporation says the new collective agreement with the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association comes after 18 months of negotiations, the same span of time it's been in talks with CUPW. The postal service says the agreement with the CPAA covers about 8,500 employees, who mostly manage post offices in rural Canada. It says the new agreement includes an 11 per cent wage increase over three years, retroactive to the start of 2024, including a six per cent increase in the first year, three per cent for 2025 and two per cent in 2026. In a negotiation update on its website, the CPAA said it made "significant advancements" in many areas of the collective agreement, which also include a bump in leasing allowances, Truth and Reconciliation Day added as a designated holiday and a childcare fund created. Canada Post is still trying to reach a deal with CUPW, its largest union representing about 55,000 postal workers. Updates last week from the two sides indicated they were struggling to make progress on talks, while the union remains in a legal strike position with all members under an overtime ban since May 23. In announcing the deal with the CPAA, Canada Post said the arbitrator between the two said a recent report on the state of Canada's postal service had an impact on the negotiations. Canada Post spokeswoman Lisa Liu said last week that CUPW has effectively refused to take heed of the federally commissioned report that called for major reforms to the 158-year-old institution, including more flexible routes and part-time weekend positions with similar pay rates and benefits. The union said last week that Canada Post is refusing to meet it "halfway" on arbitration, with talks stalled and the two sides still far apart. Given the impasse, the federal government intervened last week to force unionized Canada Post workers to vote directly on the latest offers from the postal service, though no date has been set. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. The Canadian Press
Gizmodo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Best Wishes to All' Proves J-Horror Can Still Find New Ways to Freak You Out
New Shudder release Best Wishes to All begins with a nightmare, and that sets the tone for everything that follows. A nursing student, never given a name and played by the instantly sympathetic Kotone Furukawa, dreams she's a child again visiting her grandparents—and wakes up screaming after spotting something deeply alarming beyond a cracked-open door. We soon realize this was really more of a flashback, in anticipation of what seems to be her first trip to their rural home since that happened. And she's going alone. 'By myself?' she murmurs in dismay to her parents when they call to tell her they'll be delayed in joining her. She's reluctant, but she leaves her Tokyo apartment and heads to the train, where an elderly woman she helps cross the street layers in some thematic heft early in act one: 'I'm sorry that young people are sacrificed for old folks like me.' Our protagonist shakes the odd encounter off, but the weird vibes escalate even after what seems to be a perfectly pleasant family reunion… at least at first. It's odd being back in the sleepy village, where neighbors—especially a young man she hasn't seen in years—seem startled to see her stopping by from her current life in the big city. There's a sense of unease clinging to every frame, and director and co-writer Yûta Shimotsu carefully sprinkles warning signs in such a way that neither the nurse nor the audience can tell if this is just 'old people acting like old people' and 'eccentric small-town stuff,' or something far more distressing. There's also the matter of that room from her nightmare, sealed behind the only locked door in the house. Best Wishes to All has Takashi Shimizu among its producers, a name Japanese horror fans will instantly recognize. He created the Ju-On series, also known as The Grudge, and had such ownership of the franchise he even directed the American remake and its sequel. Along with The Ring, The Grudge was one of the breakout titles of the early 2000s J-horror craze, spawning terrors about cursed houses and wide-eyed ghosts with long black hair. His involvement in Best Wishes to All ties it into that tradition and also signals his support for the genre's 21st century evolution—and this release certainly proves there are still agonizing new ways to reveal ghastly truths lurking within an ostensibly peaceful setting. Like many standout horror movies, Best Wishes to All roots its frights in social commentary, though American audiences may have to poke around after viewing to understand the finer details of the cultural context. However, it also contains a more universal message about generational conflicts, as well as traditions that remain stubbornly in place despite seeming wildly out of step with the times. If this review reads as frustratingly vague regarding exactly what the nurse uncovers at grandma and grandpa's home—sorry, but Best Wishes to All is a movie best experienced with as little knowledge of its reveals as possible. It's not entering spoiler turf to note that a movie that came to mind while watching it was Jordan Peele's Us; there are no murderous doppelgangers here, but there's a similar exploration of an awful truth that's become completely entangled with the way the world operates. And like the characters in Us, the nurse peels back a layer she can never put back in place. She's forced to come to terms not just with what she learns about her own family, but so many other families too, as well as the knowledge that everyone else already has full awareness of something she's been kept in the dark about. At one point, someone even jokingly asks her if she still believes in Santa Claus. Best Wishes to All is decidedly bleak; instead of leaning into jump scares, it gets under your skin in more philosophical but no less dreadful ways. And it's packed with body horror too—a creepy extra flourish in a movie whose characters are fixated on asking each other if they're happy or not. They all say yes, but in a world like theirs, how can we believe them? Best Wishes to All is streaming on Shudder.
