Tokyo, 20 January, /AJMEDIA/
Japan probe lands on Moon, but power generation failing: agency
TOKYO – A Japanese spacecraft has landed on the Moon successfully, but the vehicle’s continued operations are uncertain as its solar power generation system is not working, the country’s space agency said Saturday.
With the touchdown of the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, or SLIM, Japan has made its first lunar landing, joining the former Soviet Union, the United States, China and India as the only countries to accomplish the feat.
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Record 87% of Japanese “do not feel friendly” toward China: survey
TOKYO – A record 86.7 percent of Japanese “do not feel friendly” toward China, a Japanese government poll showed Friday, as bilateral relations remain tense over a number of issues.
The annual poll, conducted from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15, followed China’s total ban on marine products shipped from Japan that was imposed last August in response to the discharge into the sea of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
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Social media firms bolster monitoring of Japan quake misinformation
TOKYO – Social media platforms are strengthening their monitoring of misinformation on their platforms concerning a recent powerful earthquake that hit central Japan, as the government asks them to take specific measures to prevent such posts from hampering rescue efforts, the communications ministry said Friday.
LY Corp., the operator of the Line messaging app and the portal site Yahoo Japan, and X, formerly known as Twitter, have implemented steps to keep misinformation about the quake that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day from spreading, according to a panel at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
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Biggest faction in Japan’s ruling party decides to disband
TOKYO – The largest faction in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Friday that it has decided to disband, as a political funds scandal involving the group formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deepened public distrust in politics.
The decision came shortly after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to dissolve the party’s fourth-biggest faction that he led until December and former LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai expressed an intention to disband his fifth-largest group.
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Prosecutors indict several LDP faction members over funds scandal
TOKYO – Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, over a political fundraising scandal that has sent shockwaves through the party.
But the prosecutors said they did not indict executives of the three factions due to a lack of evidence despite mounting criticism over the scandal, prompting opposition parties to lambaste LDP lawmakers for failing to take full responsibility.
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Biden signs bill to avert partial government shutdown
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday signed a stopgap bill to extend funding for federal agencies through early March, averting a partial government shutdown at the last minute.
Biden’s signing was announced by the White House a day after Congress passed the bill with broad bipartisan support. The bill’s passage set the stage for Biden to give the final endorsement, avoiding what would have been a partial government closure starting Saturday.
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Japan restaurant review site wins appeal over rating algorithm change
TOKYO – The Tokyo High Court on Friday overturned a lower court ruling for the operator of Tabelog, a popular restaurant review website, to pay damages to a Korean barbeque chain over changes to its rating algorithm, deeming that it did not violate the antimonopoly law.
Presiding Judge Toshikazu Kino ruled that the site operator Kakaku.com Inc.’s algorithm change was reasonable as it was implemented to correct a misalignment with consumer perceptions, and its impact to competitiveness in the restaurant market was limited despite it resulting in lower ratings.
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Football: Iraq upset Asian Cup favorites Japan 2-1
AL RAYYAN, Qatar – Iraq handed favorites Japan a wakeup call at the Asian Cup in Qatar on Friday, winning their Group D clash 2-1 thanks to a brace from Aymen Hussein.
The forward from Iraqi club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya netted in the fifth minute and first-half stoppage time, while Wataru Endo pulled one back for Japan in the 94th minute, as the 2007 Asian champions moved into the knockout stage with two wins from two games.
