JAPAN
Nuclear plant to restart
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) plans to restart the first unit of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s biggest, on Jan. 20, TEPCO president Tomiaki Kobayakawa told reporters yesterday. This week, the prefecture assembly in Niigata, the region where the plant is located, gave a green light for the partial restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. It would be the first for TEPCO since its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor’s meltdown in 2011. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant.
Photo: Reuters
CHINA
Crash kills eight
Eight people, including several children, were killed when a kindergarten director lost control of an SUV and plunged into a pond, state media reported yesterday. The crash occurred on Tuesday afternoon in Pengze County, 480km west of Shanghai. The crash took place on a downhill section of road likely made slippery by rainfall, New Security reported. The seven-seat SUV was typically used to transport children attending a private kindergarten in the area, the report said.
THAILAND
Party names PM candidate
Caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday was picked by his Bhumjaithai Party to stand as its candidate in a general election in early February. Less than 100 days after he was elected prime minister, Anutin dissolved the parliament earlier this month when his minority government faced the threat of a no-confidence vote. Speaking to party members and supporters yesterday, Anutin said that he and his Bhumjaithai Party were ready to return to power, describing the Feb. 8 election as “the most consequential poll” for the party since its formation in 2008. “Today we are sure and ready to enter the election race to serve Thailand and its people,” Anutin said. “This is the first time the Thai people has high expectations from the Bhumjaithai Party.”
RUSSIA
Moon plans unveiled
Roscosmos plans to put a nuclear power plant on the moon in the next decade to supply its lunar space program and a joint Russian-Chinese research station. The state space corporation in a statement said that it planned to build a lunar power plant by 2036 and signed a contract with the Lavochkin Association aerospace company to do it. Roscosmos said the purpose of the plant was to power the nation’s lunar program, including rovers, an observatory and the infrastructure of the Russian-Chinese International Lunar Research Station. “The project is an important step towards the creation of a permanently functioning scientific lunar station and the transition from one-time missions to a long-term lunar exploration program,” Roscosmos said.
UNITED STATES
Palau asked about transfers
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau spoke with Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr about transferring third-country nationals to the Pacific island nation. “The leaders discussed a new US-Palau memorandum of understanding regarding the transfer of third-country nationals with no known criminal histories,” the Department of State said in a statement after Tuesday’s call. In late July, Palau’s Congress said it “cannot accept” a proposal by Washington for it to accept asylum seekers from other countries.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
‘MOBILIZED’: While protesters countered ICE agents, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard to ‘support the rights of Minnesotans’ to assemble Hundreds of counterprotesters drowned out a far-right activist’s attempt to hold a small rally in support of US President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, as the governor’s office announced that National Guard troops were mobilized and ready to assist law enforcement, although not yet deployed to city streets. There have been protests every day since the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers. Conservative influencer Jake Lang organized an anti-Islam, anti-Somali and pro-US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NASA on Saturday rolled out its towering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft as it began preparations for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years. The maneuver, which takes up to 12 hours, would allow the US space agency to begin a string of tests for the Artemis 2 mission, which could blast off as early as Feb. 6. The immense orange and white SLS rocket, and the Orion vessel were slowly wheeled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and painstakingly moved 6.5km to Launch Pad 39B. If the
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