Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has hinted that the government may shoulder the costs of chartered flights to bring back Japanese nationals from Wuhan. The Chinese city is at the center of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Abe made the suggestion at a Lower House budget committee meeting on Friday.

Japanese electronics company NEC may have come under cyber-attacks, with about 28,000 data files likely leaked.

Sources say the attacks occurred over several years through 2018. They add the possibly compromised files contained information on defense technologies, such as submarine sonar.

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has become difficult to conduct another robot survey inside the containment vessel of one of the crippled reactors by March.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, made the announcement on Thursday regarding the No.1 reactor, which experienced a meltdown due to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The utility says it will announce later when it will begin the survey.

Brian May, the guitarist for legendary British rock band Queen, visited a historic observatory in Japan while on tour in the country.

The guitarist, who also has a doctorate in astrophysics, visited Kwasan Observatory of Kyoto University in Kyoto City on Monday.

A Japanese expert says infection control and prevention will be difficult for the new coronavirus linked to a pneumonia outbreak in China.

Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Professor Mitsuo Kaku says infections may occur when people have no apparent symptoms. He warns that the number of patients may rise in Japan as well.

Health authorities in China say 81 people in the country have died from pneumonia after infected with the new coronavirus. More than 2,700 others have been confirmed to be infected.

Experts are warning that those carrying the virus could be spreading it to others during the incubation period before their own symptoms appear. That's making it extremely difficult to contain the outbreak.

A Japanese medical trainee says he heard that health care workers in Wuhan may have been infected with the new strain of coronavirus weeks before the media reported about it. He made the comment during a telephone interview with NHK.

The man in his twenties graduated from a university in China and trained at a hospital in Wuhan until around January 10.

Weather officials are forecasting snow in the greater Tokyo area from Monday afternoon through Tuesday. Even a little amount of snow could disrupt traffic in urban areas if it accumulates on roads and railway tracks.

A low-pressure system and a high altitude cold air mass are expected to bring snowfall to wide areas around Tokyo.

WASHINGTON — Toyota said on Tuesday it will recall 3.4 million vehicles worldwide because of an electronic defect that can result in air bags not deploying in crashes. The recall, which includes 2.9 million U.S. vehicles, covers 2011-2019 Corolla, 2011-2013 Matrix, 2012-2018 Avalon and 2013-2018 Avalon Hybrid vehicles and is tied to a report of one fatal crash. The vehicles may have an electronic control unit that does not have adequate protection against electrical noise that can occur in crashes, which could lead to incomplete or non-deployment of the air bags. It could also impede the operation of seat-belt pretensioners. In April, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expanded a probe into 12.3 million potentially defective air bags covering a number of automakers, including the vehicles Toyota is recalling. NHTSA said in April it had identified two frontal crash events, including one fatal crash "involving Toyota products where (electrical overstress) is suspected as the likely cause" of air bags not deploying. Both involved newer Corolla cars. NHTSA said the air bags under investigation were installed in more than 12 million vehicles from 2010 through 2019 sold by Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi. They were equipped with an air bag control unit initially produced by TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, which is now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen. In total, NHTSA said as many as eight deaths could be tied to the issue. Hyundai, Kia and Fiat Chrysler previously issued recalls for more than 2.5 million vehicles with the TRW air bag control units in question that might not deploy in crashes. When it recalled nearly 2 million vehicles for air bag non-deployments in 2016, Fiat Chrysler said it had reports of three deaths and five injuries that might be related to the defect. Hyundai and Kia ultimately recalled more than 1 million vehicles for air bag non-deployment concerns in 2018. Hyundai and Kia in 2018 said they had reports of four deaths and six injuries in North America tied to the issue. Toyota dealers will install a noise filter between the air bag control module and its wire harness if needed. Toyota declined to say how many deaths or injuries have been tied to the defect. Toyota will notify vehicle owners of the recall by mid-March.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has suggested that next year will be the last time the government hosts an annual memorial ceremony for the 2011 disaster.

The government decided at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to hold a ceremony in Tokyo on March 11 to mark the ninth anniversary of the massive quake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan, triggering a nuclear accident in Fukushima.

Some Japanese government officials are concerned that Washington may pressure Tokyo to pay significantly more for stationing US forces in Japan.

Bilateral negotiations on the cost will likely shift into high gear as early as this summer, with the current five-year agreement on the costs of supporting US forces due to expire in March 2021.

Here's a rumor that's been bubbling for about three months. It started with a report in French Canadian outlet RPM Web last October 4, picked up by Motor Illustrated, citing a "reliable source" saying Toyota will bring back the Venza nameplate for a new crossover to bow in 2021. The Venza, for those who don't remember, was a five-seater crossover built on the same platform as the Camry and Highlander. Toyota introduced the Venza to the market in 2008, but a wagon-y form factor and premium pricing kept sales in check, convincing Toyota to kill the model in 2015. The same Canadian report said there would be a new plug-in hybrid RAV4, the RAV4 Prime being officially announced six days later. This month, a TFLnow report credited "an insider source" for the same Venza news — that a new model will arrive for the 2021 model year, and that it will be hybrid only. Both Venza resurrection articles refer to what's happened with crossovers in the past couple of years as context for a new five-seat midsizer — Honda cutting its three-row Pilot down to resurrect the five-seat Passport, Chevrolet cutting the three-row Traverse down to resurrect the five-seat Blazer. Beyond those two, the Ford Edge, on sale since 2007 with traditional crossover looks, has sold more than 120,000 units per year in the U.S. for eight of the past 10 years. A five-seat Venza on the Highlander platform would give buyers who want to step up from the RAV4 another option, and arrive in a timely manner if the 2021 sale date holds. Toyota puts a hybrid powertrain based around a 2.5-liter four-cylinder in both the RAV4 and the Highlander, the latter crossover getting slightly more power from its unit. Both offer all-wheel drive from the electric motor used to turn the rear axle. The TFLnow report included news on two other Toyota products, too. The next-gen Sienna minivan is due to debut later this year and, like the potential Venza, will only come in hybrid flavors. The news was all bad for shoppers awaiting the new full-size Tundra, though, with the outlet's sources saying the next-gen pickup won't go on sale until December 2021 as a 2022-model offering. Spy shots and previous intel suggest the new rig will bring a lot of marquee features to market, from the new platform to a hi-po twin-turbo V6 hybrid, and a better rear end. TFLnow said crew cab long bed prototypes in the Colorado area could mean the new Tundra will offer more variants as well, whenever it arrives.

A group of researchers says global warming could slow down the speed of typhoons passing over or near Japan, leading to greater damage.

The group is led by Munehiko Yamaguchi, a senior researcher at the Japan Meteorological Agency's Meteorological Research Institute.