04/04/2016  ALL ABOARD! 
It's been decades in the making, and now a new Shinkansen bullet train line is connecting Japan's main island of Honshu with the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. The train made its first commercial run on Saturday.The first train left Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station for Tokyo shortly after 6:30 AM, following a ceremony. The new 150-kilometer line from Shin-Aomori Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station brings bullet train services to northern main island Hokkaido for the first time. Travel time between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto will be about four hours with a maximum speed of 260 kilometers per hour.The opening of the line is the final link of the Shinkansen network from Hokkaido in the nation's north to Kyushu in the south. The trains run through the Seikan undersea tunnel between Hokkaido and Honshu.
04/05/2016  NOW IN EFFECT
Japan's new national security laws have come into effect six months after lawmakers enacted them last September.The legislation allows Japan to use force to exercise its right to collective self-defense. That means Japan will be able to defend other nations with which it has close relations if Japan's territory or people are in danger. The Self-Defense Forces can also carry out other new duties, including logistics support for foreign troops. In the past, that required special legislation. Japanese Self-Defense Forces doing UN peacekeeping missions will also be able to use their weapons to aid foreign troops under attack, which could apply to Japanese forces currently in South Sudan.Government officials are expected to draw up new rules of engagement over the next three months. Drills based on these rules are expected to begin later this year.
04/06/2016  DUTCH WARNED BELGIUM OF SUSPECTS
Dutch investigators say the FBI warned them about the two brothers in the Brussels attacks days before the pair blew themselves up. They say they passed that information on to their Belgian counterparts. The investigators say they were informed of Ibrahim El Bakraoui's criminal background and his brother Khalid's suspected involvement in terrorism. The FBI warning came six days before the attacks. Dutch police say they shared it with Belgian police the next day. Belgium denies having received such information.Ibrahim El Bakraoui was detained by Turkish authorities in June, when he tried to enter Syria, but investigators lost track of him after he was sent back to the Netherlands. The blunder has triggered criticism about intelligence-sharing between Belgium and the Netherlands.Meanwhile, Belgian officials lowered the number of dead in the bombings to 32 from 35, not including the attackers. They say they had counted some names twice.
04/07/2016  MICROSOFT PULLS PLUG ON AI PROJECT
U.S. tech giant Microsoft unveiled an artificial intelligence project, then quickly pulled the plug when it started to make highly objectionable comments on social media.Developers made what's known as a chat robot. It was designed to learn how to communicate through interaction with humans. The program was named "Tay," and it was given an account on the social media platform Twitter. It began echoing posts made by human users and was soon making sexist and discriminatory comments. The program even hailed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.One day after the launch, Microsoft put the program on hold, saying it needs adjustments. The incident underscores the difficulties in developing artificial intelligence as competition in the field heats up.
04/08/2016  IPHONE UNLOCKED
U.S. law enforcement authorities say they've unlocked an iPhone used by a mass shooting suspect without help from Apple. The move ends a legal battle between the government and the tech giant.Justice Department officials said the government has successfully accessed data on the phone, but haven't said if they've found anything useful. They asked a federal court to withdraw an order for Apple to help them crack the device.The FBI has been trying to get into a phone owned by Syed Farook. In December, he and his wife allegedly killed 14 people in California in a shooting rampage. Apple refused to offer assistance, citing concerns about protecting privacy rights. Officials have not provided details on how they unlocked the phone. Last week, they said an unnamed third party had provided a possible method. The case highlighted concerns about the authorities' ability to access people's information. Opinion remains divided on how far the government should be able to go in collecting personal data.
04/11/2016　OVERWHELMING INTEREST IN DISNEYLAND   
People in China are also showing an overwhelming interest in the mainland's first Disneyland. The park's ticket website crashed after being accessed millions of times.The resort will open on June 16th in Shanghai. Advance ticket sales started just after midnight on the park's official website. People scrambled to get passes on the site, causing it to go down after just 30 minutes. It later went back online, but Chinese media reported that opening day passes had already sold out.Tickets for after opening day cost 56 dollars for weekdays and 76 dollars for weekends and holidays. Scalpers have been reselling opening day tickets for more than double the price. Chinese media have warned the public to be on the lookout for scams.Local business owners are also anticipating the park's opening. They hope it will bring more visitors and more sales.
04/12/2016  JAPANESE DESTROYER TO SAIL IN SOUTH CHINA SEA
A Japanese destroyer will navigate the South China Sea this month to take part in a fleet review in Indonesia.The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Ise has a wide deck similar to that of an aircraft carrier. The vessel will pass through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines to join the event hosted by Indonesia's navy next Tuesday. It will be the first Japanese ship of its type to sail the sea.The MSDF says the mission is not part of the U.S. Navy's ongoing "freedom of navigation" operation near China's artificial islands in the waters. An MSDF submarine on Sunday made a training call at a port in Subic Bay in the Philippines.
(Adm. Tomohisa Takei / JMSDF Chief of Staff)"Port calls and goodwill exercises have long been customary in navigating the South China Sea."
Admiral Takei also said the MSDF has no plans to join the U.S. operation.
04/13/2016  CHANGING VENUS PROBE'S ORBIT
Japan's aerospace agency has finished an attempt to change the orbit of its probe circling Venus. They hope the change will more than double its operational lifespan. Its mission is to explore the planet's climate.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, launched the Akatsuki probe in 2010. But its main engine broke down, and it spent the next five years circling the sun. In December, JAXA engineers were finally able to put Akatsuki into its planned orbit, and now they say they've come up with an even better one. It would minimize the time in Venus' shadow, which blocks the probe's solar generator.The engineers used Akatsuki's thrusters to move it Monday. They say it will take several days to confirm whether the operation was successful. If it is, the probe's lifespan would be extended to five and a half years.
04/14/2016  PANAMA PAPERS' REVELATIONS
A German newspaper is reporting on how it obtained information on the alleged offshore financial dealings of world leaders, financial tycoons and celebrities.The newspaper says an anonymous person made contact more than a year ago and provided the internal documents of a law firm in Panama, Mossack Fonseca. The paper then kept contact with the person via online chat because of safety concerns. It received about 11.5 million records and shared the data with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The ICIJ then reported on the documents, dubbing them the "Panama Papers," and they are already having consequences.Iceland's prime minister resigned on Tuesday. He came under pressure in connection with revelations from the leaked files. The ICIJ also says Chinese President Xi Jinping's brother-in-law owns two shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven. It says the companies were dormant by the time Xi took office in 2013. Chinese officials denounced the allegations.