TOKYO/LOS ANGELES — Panasonic will exit solar cell production at Tesla's New York plant, the latest sign of strain in a partnership where Panasonic's status as the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker's exclusive battery supplier is ending.

The move increases uncertainty over Tesla's solar business which is already under scrutiny, having been drastically scaled back since the U.S. firm bought it for $2.6 billion in 2016.

Japanese carmaker, Toyota Motor, has resumed operations at a plant in Chengdu, China.

Monday's restart came as the facility secured sufficient workers and ensured its supply chain for components.

The Ikata nuclear power plant in western Japan has had a short electricity outage, causing suspension of maintenance work on one of its reactors. All three reactors at the plant are currently offline.

Officials at Shikoku Electric Power Company and Ehime Prefecture say the plant lost power at around 3:40 p.m. on Saturday.

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has called into question Japan's financing of a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.

Environment Ministry officials say a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation and others are planning to build the Vung Ang 2 power plant in Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province. The government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation is among those considering funding the project.

A high court in western Japan has ordered a power utility to suspend operations at a nuclear reactor in Ehime Prefecture after residents raised safety concerns.

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says the firm plans to assign more of its employees to decommissioning work there. The move follows a series of mistakes and other troubles at the site.

Tokyo Electric Power Company President Tomoaki Kobayakawa disclosed the plan when he was summoned to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Thursday to discuss the cause of the problems and preventive measures.