JAPAN
Spy satellite launched
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd yesterday launched a rocket carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite on a mission to watch movements at military sites in North Korea and improve responses to natural disasters. The H2A rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying the optical satellite as part of Tokyo’s reconnaissance effort to rapidly buildup its military capability. The satellite can capture images even in severe weather. Japan began the intelligence-gathering satellite program after a North Korean missile flew over Japan in 1988 and it aims to set up a network of 10 satellites to spot and provide early warning for possible missile launches. Yesterday’s liftoff was closely watched ahead of a planned launch of a new flagship H3 rocket developed by Mitsubishi Heavy and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency as the successor to the H2A. The first test flight of the new rocket failed last year. The Mitsubishi Heavy-operated, liquid-fuel H2A rocket with two solid-fuel sub-rockets has 41 consecutive successes since a failure in 2003, or a 98 percent success rate.
Photo: Kyodo / Reuters
CHINA
New climate envoy named
Beijing has named former minister of foreign affairs Liu Zhenmin (劉振民) as its new special envoy for climate change, after his predecessor, Xie Zhenhua (解振華) stepped down due to health reasons, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement yesterday. Xie, 74, served as China’s top climate representative at 16 rounds of climate talks. His resignation was announced following a video meeting with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and comes only weeks after he helped secure an agreement to tackle emissions from fossil fuels at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Liu, 68, acted as Xie’s special adviser in Dubai and has experience in climate diplomacy, participating in negotiations to draw up the 1997 Kyoto Protocol as well as the 2015 Paris Agreement. Unlike Xie, Liu is a fluent English speaker. He served as under-secretary-general at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs from 2017 to 2022, with a broad brief that included climate issues.
UNITED STATES
Mississippi water tainted
Mississippi health officials on Thursday told residents in Jackson to boil their tap water after traces of Escherichia coli were found in the state’s capital’s supply — a result the manager of Jackson’s long-troubled water system disputed while calling it a devastating setback for rebuilding public trust. The boil-water notice, which officials also imposed in the Jackson suburb of Flowood, was issued just days before the expected arrival of a blast of cold weather that could further disrupt the local water infrastructure. The bacteria’s presence indicates that the water might be contaminated with human or animal waste, the Mississippi Department of Health said. Residents of the two Mississippi cities were advised to boil their water for one minute before using it. The precaution was to last for at least two days as officials collected new samples for testing. Ted Henifin, Jackson’s interim water manager, told a news conference that state officials refused to validate the lab results before issuing the boil-water notice and suggested there might have been false positive tests. He also said it was unlikely that samples from Jackson and Flowood would be contaminated at the same time, as the cities’ water systems are not connected.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
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