Bangkok / AFP Thailand’s prime minister on Wednesday told farmers to cultivate less rice to help the country manage its intensifying water crisis, as experts called this year’s drought the worst in decades. Prayut Chan-O-Cha, the junta leader who grabbed power in a military coup two years ago, said his administration was working on a 20-year strategy to diversify the …

Tokyo / Bloomberg Demand for 10,000-yen bills is steadily rising in Japan, even as the nation’s population falls and the use of credit cards and other forms of electronic payment increases. While more cash might sound like a good thing, some economists are concerned that it shows Japanese households are squirreling away money at home instead of investing it or …

DETROIT / Bloomberg Detroit’s public schools have reached their borrowing limit and won’t be able to take on more debt to pay bills when money runs out in April if Michigan lawmakers don’t restructure some of its $2 billion of obligations, state officials said. Though the district has borrowed when it ran out of money before, it has reached the …