Tokyo, 8 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s economic shrinkage in July-Sept. amid pandemic downgraded to 3.6%
TOKYO – Japan’s economy in the July-September period shrank an annualized real 3.6 percent from the previous quarter, downgraded from the 3.0 percent contraction initially reported, government data showed Wednesday.
The decrease in real gross domestic product, the total value of goods and services produced in the country adjusted for inflation, corresponds to a 0.9 percent decline on a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, according to the Cabinet Office.
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Biden warns Putin of strong response to any military move on Ukraine
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW – U.S. President Joe Biden expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s military buildup near the Ukraine border in a videoconference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, and warned of a strong response from his country and its European allies in the event of a military escalation, the White House said.
The move comes as tensions are mounting over a potential Russian military invasion of Ukraine following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, with Washington assessing that Putin is “putting in place the capacity” to engage in further military escalation should he decide to do so.
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Myanmar’s shadow gov’t asks Japan to recognize its legitimacy
TOKYO – The National Unity Government of Myanmar, a group formed in the wake of last February’s coup to represent the pro-democracy movement in its fight against the junta, sent a letter last month to Japan asking to be recognized as a legitimate governing body, sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
In the letter addressed to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, the shadow government also said it plans to establish a representative office in Japan to counter the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo, which is under the influence of the military government.
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Death toll from volcano eruption in Indonesia reaches 34
JAKARTA – The death toll from Saturday’s eruption of a volcano on the main island of Java rose to 34 on Tuesday after rescuers reached some areas earlier inaccessible, while 22 people remain missing, a military officer said.
Col. Irwan Subekti, commander of the emergency response coordinating post for the disaster, told a press conference that about 4,250 people have been displaced, at least 5,205 houses were damaged and over 100 people were injured from the eruption of Mt. Semeru in East Java Province.
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Japan vows 300 bil. yen in nutrition-related aid over next 3 years
TOKYO – Japan will provide more than 300 billion yen ($2.6 billion) over the next three years to help developing nations address nutrition challenges as Tokyo bolsters its commitment to reducing hunger, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday.
In his remarks at a two-day summit on nutrition that started the same day, hosted by Japan, Kishida also pledged to offer 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries where the shots are urgently needed amid the spread of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.
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Pandemic again delays return of popular Tokyo zoo panda to China
TOKYO – The Tokyo metropolitan government said Tuesday it has agreed with Chinese authorities to push back through next June the return of a popular female offspring of a giant panda couple on loan from China due to difficulties with transportation amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Xiang Xiang, born in June 2017 at the Ueno Zoological Gardens, was originally scheduled to leave Japan when she turned 2, but the two sides agreed to extend the loan period through the end of 2020 due to her popularity. Her return has since been repeatedly postponed because of the pandemic.
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Japan’s annual budget for hosting U.S. forces to top 210 bil. yen
TOKYO – Japan’s annual budget for hosting U.S. military forces is likely to exceed 210 billion yen ($1.9 billion) from fiscal 2022, government sources said Tuesday.
Tokyo and Washington are in the final stage of negotiations to set the amount of so-called host nation support for five years from the next fiscal year starting April.
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Japan logs 1.18 trillion yen current account surplus in October
TOKYO – Japan logged a current account surplus of 1.18 trillion yen ($10 billion) in October, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
Among key components, the country had a goods trade surplus of 166.7 billion yen and a services trade deficit of 575.4 billion yen, according to the ministry’s preliminary report.