Japan

TOKYO, Dec 24 (NNN-NHK) – Japan on Wednesday confirmed a daily record 3,271 COVID-19 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 206,988, not including those related to a cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo.

The nation’s death toll also marked a single-day high at 56, with the total number of deaths since the outbreak of the virus now reaching 3,082 people.

In Tokyo, the hardest hit by the virus of all of Japan’s 47 prefectures, 748 new infections were reported yesterday, marking the second-highest daily increase.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices edged down on Thursday but were holding well above $50 per barrel in light holiday trade as a drop in U.S. stockpiles spurred demand hopes, while hints of an imminent Brexit deal underpinned investors’ risk appetite.

Brent crude futures were down 40 cents, or 0.8%, to $50.80 a barrel at 1100 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 36 cents, or 0.75%, to $47.76.

Both contracts gained more than 2% on Wednesday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday apologized for denying allegations that his office may have possibly violated Japan’s strict political funding laws and admitted he was unaware what his office had done.

Abe said he will correct his false statements in parliament on Friday, marking a stunning reversal of fortunes for Japan’s longest-serving premier and one of its political bluebloods, whose grandfather and great-uncle also held the post.

Tokyo, Dec 21 (AP-PTI) Japan's Cabinet approved a ninth straight increase in the nation's defense budget as the government bolsters funding to develop longer-range cruise missiles and stealth fighters to counter potential threats from China and North Korea.

The record 5.34 trillion yen (USD 51.7 billion) defense budget planned for fiscal 2021 is the first under Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and is a 1.1 per cent increase over the current year's budget.

TOKYO, Dec 16 (NNN-NHK) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, struck the Hokkaido region in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, the Japanese weather agency said today, but no tsunami warning was issued.

According to Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 10:28 a.m. local time (0128 GMT), was centred in the Kushiro Oki region of Japan’s northern prefecture, with its epicentre at latitude 42.7 degrees north and longitude 144.2 degrees east.

TOKYO (AP) — A small capsule containing asteroid soil samples that was dropped from space by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft and landed in the Australian Outback arrived Tuesday in Japan for research into the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said its capsule, tightly sealed and carefully stored in a container box, arrived in Japan on a flight from Australia attended by a group of JAXA officials and was later taken its research facility in Sagamihara, near Tokyo.

MITO, Japan (AP) — Japan’s economy expanded at a 22.9% annual rate in the last quarter, as businesses and personal spending recovered from pandemic-related shocks in the spring and early summer.

Economists said the upward revision released Tuesday was in line with forecasts and suggests Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, is on the mend from the recession that started in late 2019, even before coronavirus outbreaks hit.

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese capsule carrying the first samples of asteroid subsurface shot across the night atmosphere early Sunday before successfully landing in the remote Australian Outback, completing a mission to provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully released a small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the country’s space agency said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga defended on Friday a travel subsidy campaign that some medical groups and experts say has fuelled a third wave of coronavirus cases, and said he would finalise the size of an economic stimulus package next week.

Opinion polls show Suga’s approval ratings have dipped, with many people unhappy with his handling of the pandemic since he became prime minister in September, after his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, stepped down because of ill health.