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Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama is boosting his presence in the management of the ruling party and parliamentary affairs under the minority government of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Ishiba, who is also the president of the LDP, is expected to continue relying on Moriyama, 79, during this year’s ordinary session of parliament, set to start Friday, and in the run-up to this summer’s Upper House election. However, Moriyama’s increased presence has failed to shore up the Ishiba administration. Some rank-and-file LDP members are frustrated at his alleged high-handed stance. Source link

Paris – As Los Angeles firefighters battle remaining hot spots more than a week into deadly blazes, scientists and engineers hope the growing availability of satellite data will help in the future. Tech-focused groups are launching new orbiters as space launches get cheaper, while machine-learning techniques will sift the torrent of information, fitting it into a wider picture of fire risk in a changing environment. Satellites “can detect from space areas that are dry and prone to wildfire outbreaks … actively flaming and smouldering fires, as well as burnt areas and smoke and trace gas emissions. We can learn from all these types of elements,” said Clement Albergel, head of actionable climate information at the European Space Agency. Source link

Second-day tests were held Sunday for this year’s two-day unified university entrance examinations in Japan. On Sunday, applicants took exams in science and math, as well as informatics, a new subject involved in computational systems that was introduced following revisions to the country’s school curriculum guidelines. The exams were held at 651 venues across the country, with the number of applicants increasing by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100. The first-day exams covered geography and history, civics, Japanese and foreign languages. On Saturday, instruction errors occurred at a venue in Tokyo and another in Shiga Prefecture, making a total of 86 applicants subject to retests. The start of a test was pushed back at one venue because of a delay in train services. In addition, problems including trouble with exam equipment occurred during the English listening test on the first day. As a result, 46 applicants at 43 venues restarted their tests from the questions that were suspended due to the problems. According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, a total of 838 schools, including 81 national universities and 522 private universities, will use the unified exams for admission decisions. The average scores will be announced on a preliminary basis Wednesday, and the final results on Feb. 6. Makeup exams will be held on Jan. 25 and 26 at a total of four venues in Tokyo and Osaka. Applicants who were unable to attend the exams Saturday and Sunday — for reasons ranging from ill health due to COVID-19 or influenza to traffic accidents or incidents such as molestation on trains — will be allowed to take the supplementary exams. Details are available on the national center’s website. Source link

The Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers’ Unions (JAW) has decided to seek five more days off a year in labor-management negotiations this spring. Most automakers and auto parts makers give about 121 days off a year to their employees, including weekends, fewer than the roughly 125 days for workers in other industries and public servants. JAW, which has about 780,000 member workers, plans to seek improvements in not only wages but also other working conditions. Its president, Akihiro Kaneko, has expressed concern, saying, “The attractiveness of our industries could decrease (if the situation is left unattended).” Source link

Travis Kelce scored a touchdown and helped set up another as the Kansas City Chiefs stayed on course for a return to the Super Bowl with a hard-fought 23-14 playoff victory over the Houston Texans on Saturday. Chiefs tight end Kelce — with pop superstar girlfriend Taylor Swift cheering him on from the VIP seats — produced a vintage performance in tandem with quarterback Patrick Mahomes to overpower a stubborn Texans squad. Kelce, 35, finished with 117 receiving yards from seven receptions while Mahomes threw for one touchdown on 177 passing yards. Source link

Washington – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday he would “most likely” give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban after he takes office on Monday, as the app with 170 million American users buzzed with nervous anticipation ahead of a shutdown set for Sunday. “The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate,” Trump told NBC. “If I decide to do that, I’ll probably announce it on Monday.” The Chinese-owned app, which has captivated nearly half of all Americans, powered small businesses and shaped online culture, said Friday it will go dark in the U.S. on Sunday unless President Joe Biden’s administration provides assurances to companies such as Apple and Google that they will not face enforcement actions when a ban takes effect. Source link

SEOUL – A South Korean court extended the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday over concerns he could destroy evidence linked to his martial law declaration, enraging his supporters who attacked the court building. Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters smashed windows and broke down doors to enter the court after the decision was announced, chanting the name of the president, who plunged South Korea into its worst political chaos in decades with his bid to suspend civilian rule. Reporters saw hundreds of police entering the building, with one officer from Seoul’s Mapo district separately saying that it was an “unfolding” situation. Source link

U.S. President Joe Biden’s $52 billion bid to transform the domestic chip industry — one of the most ambitious pieces of U.S. industrial policy since World War II — is about to enter a pivotal stage: life under a new administration. The Biden staffers overseeing implementation of the bipartisan 2022 Chips and Science Act are wrapping up work this week and preparing to hand over duties when Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. They had the task of allocating $39 billion in grant funding — along with loans and tax breaks — to usher in a chip-factory building boom. That’s on top of separate money for research and development and international semiconductor programs. Most of the grant funding has been awarded, and the initiative has spurred more than $400 billion in planned company investments. But much of the job remains unfinished — and broader upheaval in the chip industry will only add to the challenges. Two of the program’s biggest participants, Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., are mired in slumps. And getting many of the new factories up and running will take years. Source link

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the nation’s health agencies, formally asked the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines during a deadly phase of the pandemic when thousands of Americans were still dying every week. Kennedy filed a petition with the FDA in May 2021 demanding that officials rescind authorization for the shots and refrain from approving any COVID-19 vaccine in the future. Just six months earlier, Trump had declared the COVID-19 vaccines a miracle. At the time that Kennedy filed the petition, half of American adults were receiving their shots. Schools were reopening and churches were filling. Source link

Japan’s two-day unified university entrance examinations started Saturday at 651 venues across the country, with the number of applicants increasing by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100. The exams on geography and history, civics, and Japanese and foreign languages will be held on the first day, and the science, math and informatics exams on Sunday. The informatics exam, which asks test-takers questions about programming and other items, is set to be conducted for the first time, following a revision of the country’s school curriculum guidelines. The unified exams were restructured into 21 courses in seven subjects from 30 courses in six subjects this time. As in the previous year, no special measures against COVID-19 are taken at exam venues, after the classification of the disease was lowered under the infectious disease law in May 2023. The exam organizers have informed test-takers that they may report to police if cheating is found. According to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, a total of 838 schools, including 81 national universities and 522 private universities, will use the unified exams for admission decisions. The average scores will be announced on a preliminary basis Wednesday, and the final results on Feb. 6. Makeup exams will be held on Jan. 25 and 26 at a total of four venues in Tokyo and Osaka. Applicants who end up being unable to participate in the ongoing two-day exams for reasons such as ill health due to COVID-19 or influenza as well as being involved in traffic accidents or incidents such as molestation on trains will be allowed to take the supplementary exams. Details are available on the national center’s website. Source link