TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday apologized for time being wasted in the latest session of the Diet and pledged to fulfill the government's responsibility to fully explain its policies to a public whose support for his Cabinet has tumbled according to recent polls. The nationally televised press conference on Monday was held amid public skepticism recently regarding the government's involvement in a favoritism scandal involving a school operator chaired by a friend of Abe's being handpicked for a state-backed project in a deregulated zone. The public was also incensed just prior to the ordinary Diet session ending, by the government using its majority to enact a controversial "conspiracy" law and circumnavigating some legislative procedures to achieve this. "The latest session of the Diet was far from constructive as discussions were constantly being criticized," Abe said, adding that too much time was spent on "discussions that were irrelevant to policies and for this I apologize to the people of Japan." He went on to say that at times he had used "heated language" to deny certain allegations being levied at him and that this was regrettable. Regarding allegations that the government, in particular Abe himself, had used his influence to ensure that Kake Educational Institution, chaired by a close friend of Abe's, was selected to open a new veterinary department at a university in a special deregulated zone in Japan, Abe said that the handling of the matter had led to a loss of public faith. glow in the dark wristbands ukcustom wrist sweatbandscustom livestrong braceletsblack rubber wristbandsslap wristbandssilicone keychainrubber wristbands ukprintable wristbandswristbands online
China is developing and building the Tianhe-3, the world's first exascale supercomputer, a leading scientist said. When completed it will be capable of a quintillion (a billion, billion or 1 followed by 18 zeros) calculations per second. It will be 10 times faster the current world leader, China's Sunway TaihuLight, and will "become an important platform for national scientific development and industrial reforms," Meng Xiangfei, head of the applications department of the National Supercomputer Center, told reporters at the sidelines of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The new supercomputer will step up development in big data and artificial intelligence, he said. It will also work with traditional industries like steel and mining to build business models, as well as creating smart-healthcare and smart cities. "It will support the building of a healthier and more digitized China," said Meng, a delegate to the Party Congress. Right now, Tianhe-1, China's first quadrillion (1 followed by 15 zeros) calculations per second supercomputer, is carrying out more than 1,400 computing tasks simultaneously and it can complete around 10,000 tasks per day, said Meng. "China's is leading the world in supercomputer application," he said, adding that Tianhe-1 is serving more than 1,600 research institutes and companies from more than 20 provinces. Users are taking advantage of the massive computing power to scan the Earth for oil, create artificial nuclear fusion, build airplanes and maritime equipment, Meng said. "Information technology has become the core driver for innovation and industry change," he said. "We should continue to push for deeper integration between the Internet Plus, big data and AI with other industries." Meng turned 38 on Wednesday, the opening day of the congress. "Most of China's science workers are between the ages of 30 to 40," he said. "China aims to become a technological powerhouse by 2035," he said. Every year, China sees more than 600,000 postgraduates and PhDs qualify, as well as millions of college graduates entering China's innovation workforce, he added. "China will continue to unleash its innovation power, and I am fully confident that China will become an innovative and technology strong nation," he said.
