Tokyo, 8 September, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s April-June growth upgraded to annualized real 3.5%
TOKYO – Japan’s economy grew an annualized real 3.5 percent in the April-June period, faster than the previously reported 2.2 percent, the Cabinet Office said Thursday.
Real gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, expanded 0.9 percent on a quarterly basis, revised upward from an earlier reading of 0.5 percent. GDP is the total value of goods and services produced in a country.
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Japan metro websites hit, apparently by pro-Russia hacker group
TOKYO – The Tokyo Metro Co. and Osaka Metro Co.’s websites were rendered inaccessible on Wednesday evening in what appears to be a second day of cyberattacks on Japan, with a pro-Russia hacker group claiming responsibility on social media.
The attacks, which may have been perpetrated by Killnet, come a day after the group claimed responsibility for assaults on Japanese government websites.
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North Korea ex-spy Kim Hyon Hui convinced Japanese abductees are alive
DAEGU, South Korea – Former North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui said she is convinced that Japanese who remain unaccounted for after being abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s are still alive and that Japan should seek unofficial meetings between the victims and their aging family members.
The former spy responsible for the fatal 1987 South Korean jetliner explosion granted an interview with Kyodo News in Daegu, a city in South Korea’s southeast, ahead of the 20th anniversary on Sept. 17 of North Korea’s admission of its abductions of Japanese nationals.
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U.S. vows economic rule-making for Indo-Pacific in new initiative
LOS ANGELES – The United States aims through a new Indo-Pacific economic engagement initiative to establish rules that will bring regional prosperity, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Wednesday ahead of the first in-person ministerial meeting under the initiative.
The launch of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework was announced during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Japan in May and is shaping up as a key part of his administration’s strategy to engage with the fast-growing region where China is expanding its clout.
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Japan, U.S., South Korea to take steps in case of North Korea nuclear test
TOKYO – Senior diplomats from Japan, the United States and South Korea pledged Wednesday to take “specific steps” if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said, with fears growing about such a provocation.
The agreement came at a trilateral meeting in Tokyo between Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and his U.S. and South Korean counterparts, Sung Kim and Kim Gunn.
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U.S. Vice President Harris to attend Abe’s funeral: White House
WASHINGTON – U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Japan to attend a state funeral for slain former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later in September and underscore the role he played in the bilateral alliance, the White House said Wednesday.
Harris’ visit to Japan for the Sept. 27 ceremony, which she will be attending on behalf of U.S. President Joe Biden, will be her first since she was sworn in as vice president in January 2021. She will also travel to South Korea.
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5 found guilty of sedition over children’s books in Hong Kong
HONG KONG – Five Hong Kong speech therapists were convicted Wednesday on charges of sedition for publishing a series of children’s books that dealt with the 2019 pro-democracy protests and other political events, according to local media reports.
The defendants were found guilty of violating the city’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison upon a first conviction. They are awaiting sentencing.
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India approves “world’s first” intranasal COVID-19 vaccine
NEW DELHI – India’s drug regulator has approved what a local vaccine innovator calls the “world’s first” intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, restricted for use in emergency situations for those aged 18 years and above.
The approval of Bharat Biotech International Ltd.’s iNCOVACC vaccine on Tuesday came two days after China authorized use of an inhalable coronavirus vaccine, another needle-free option.
