JAPAN
Moon mission proposed
The nation’s space agency said it is considering a mission to the moon by 2018 or early 2019, part of an effort to beef up aerospace technology and keep pace with China and other emerging powers. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) included the possibility of a lunar landing in its summary of moon exploration plans by itself and other nations. Media yesterday reported that JAXA presented the proposal for an unmanned mission to a government panel on Monday. The agency still needs to win funding for the project, but it is raising hopes for a revival of space exploration. The public broadcaster NHK showed satellite images of the nation’s islands lit up at night, and of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, as possible attractions for passengers of space flights.
JAPAN
Maglev breaks speed record
The nation’s magnetically levitated (maglev) train, the fastest passenger train in the world, has broken its own speed record. Operator JR Central said the train yesterday reached 603kph in a test run, surpassing its previous record of 581kph set in 2003. The train traveled for more than 1.8km at a speed exceeding 600kph. The nation’s high-speed rail services are among the most advanced in the world, with hundreds of trains running each day with minimal delays. The Maglev Test Line — near Mount Fuji, about 80km west of Tokyo — is developing technology for use on a future link between Tokyo and Osaka. The maglev trains hover above rails, suspended by powerful magnets.
NEW ZEALAND
Musician Rudd pleads guilty
AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has pleaded guilty in a court to charges of threatening to kill, as well as possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. Rudd faces up to seven years in prison on the threatening to kill charge, although his lawyer is seeking a remedy that would involve no legal consequences for Rudd. The 60-year-old drummer was released on bail yesterday pending a June sentencing hearing. An unusual loophole in New Zealand law gives a judge the discretion not to enter a conviction even in cases where a defendant has pleaded guilty. A judge can do this if they think the consequences of a conviction outweigh the seriousness of the crime, a move which can allow a defendant to keep a clean record.
CHINA
Seven coal miners killed
At least seven coal miners were killed and 13 left trapped after a shaft flooded at a mine in the north of the nation, state media reported yesterday. More than 600 rescue workers were pumping water and drilling holes from the surface in hopes of reaching those still inside the Jiangjiawan mine near the city of Datong, the reports said. State broadcaster CCTV said four of the 17 miners originally reported as trapped were rescued yesterday afternoon. The bodies of those who died were retrieved on Monday evening, the reports said. A total of 247 miners were underground when water rushed into the shaft on Sunday evening. Of those, 223 people made it safely to the surface. Such accidents are usually caused by breaches of abandoned shafts where water has collected over time. The nation’s notoriously dangerous mines have seen a declining number of deaths in recent years because of safety improvements and a falling demand for coal as its once-sizzling economy cools off.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
China yesterday held a low-key memorial ceremony for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not attending, despite a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing has raged at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital. A post-World War II Allied tribunal put the death toll
‘UNWAVERING ALLIANCE’: The US Department of State said that China’s actions during military drills with Russia were not conducive to regional peace and stability The US on Tuesday criticized China over alleged radar deployments against Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, while Tokyo and Seoul yesterday scrambled jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols near the two countries. The incidents came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US Department of State spokesperson said late on Tuesday, referring to the radar incident. “The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more
FALLEN: The nine soldiers who were killed while carrying out combat and engineering tasks in Russia were given the title of Hero of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attended a welcoming ceremony for an army engineering unit that had returned home after carrying out duties in Russia, North Korean state media KCNA reported on Saturday. In a speech carried by KCNA, Kim praised officers and soldiers of the 528th Regiment of Engineers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) for “heroic” conduct and “mass heroism” in fulfilling orders issued by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during a 120-day overseas deployment. Video footage released by North Korea showed uniformed soldiers disembarking from an aircraft, Kim hugging a soldier seated in a wheelchair, and soldiers and officials
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