International

The Osaka Expo drew approximately 139,000 visitors on May 23rd, breaking the record for the highest number of visitors on a single day, despite ongoing complaints over confusing booking systems and long waiting times. The total number of visitors exceeded 5 million on May 26th, 44 days into the six-month event, according to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition. But that still falls short of expectations, as the Expo is projected by the association to have a total of 28.2 million visitors (150,000 daily).  “The waiting time for each pavilion is very long,” said a Japanese couple, Kayo Aoshima and Yoshiaki Aoshima, aged 82 and 78. “We went to the Arab Pavilion, where we had to wait for more than 30 minutes.” Kayo added. Pavilions at the Expo have different admission strategies. While a few only allow for those who have booked in advance to enter, others allow  on-site queuing. With each ticket, visitors can make one reservation for one pavilion or event through a lottery system seven days before their visit. They can also reserve or adjust bookings during the three days leading up to their visit, which operates on a first-come, first-served basis. “We have visited many pavilions, such as the USA, Colombia, and the Netherlands, ” said David Aragon, 40, a Mexican tourist.“We had to wait for around one hour at each one of them.” “Maybe more info outside the pavilions to know what is inside and exactly where we can enter something,” added Aragon. Nishijima Ryo, chief of Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, who was overseeing work at the Future of Life Pavilion, explained why only visitors with reservations could be admitted. “In this pavilion, you can wear an earphone device and experience the exhibition,” he said. “The number of machines is limited, so we limit …

A car caught on fire in the Port of Aarhus in Denmark this afternoon, resulting in one injury.  The fire broke out around 3pm in the harbour’s car park, according to workers at the port.  The injured man is stable. Workers were promptly evacuated from the port’s office building. Part of the car park was damaged. Søren Nielsen, 45, a port assistant, said he learned about about the fire from colleagues through his walkie-talkie.    “I was working on my boat when one of my colleagues told me about the fire. They told me the worker who got injured was trying to fix the engine under the car because the car was not working, and then it suddenly caught on fire and hurt him. It is lucky that no one died,” said Nielsen.   Nielsen also said the fire could have been avoided. “The other workers and I had already been trying to tell our boss a few weeks ago that the cars were used for a long time and needed to be replaced, but nothing was done after that. Hopefully, they will do something this time,” he said.  Victor Collin, a resident living nearby the Port of Aarhus, said the fire was visible miles away. “I was at home when I saw smoke coming out from the building. I thought the building was on fire at first because there was lots of smoke, and also because the smell of the smoke was so strong I could even smell it from here even though I am living miles away from the harbour,” he said.    The fire was put out within half an hour by the East Jutland Fire Service.  The Port of Aarhus's daily operation was not affected by the fire. All workers returned to the office building after …