Tag: Japan

Japan on ‘maximum alert’ after record virus cases: PM

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan is on “maximum alert” after logging a record number of daily coronavirus infections, the prime minister said Thursday, though no immediate restrictions are planned. More than 2,000 cases were recorded nationwide on Wednesday, with nearly 500 in the capital Tokyo alone. While small compared to figures seen in some other countries, the numbers represent a sharp rise in cases for Japan, where testing is often less wide-scale than in other […]

Japan exits recession as GDP grows 5.0% in Q3

  by Shingo ITO Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s economy exited recession in the third quarter, growing a better-than-expected 5.0 percent, government data showed Monday, following a record contraction. A rise in domestic demand as well as exports helped drive the quarter-on-quarter growth, after the coronavirus pandemic and a consumption tax hike slammed the economy into reverse earlier in the year. The positive figures come after three quarters of contraction in the […]

Japan’s Suga pledges to work with Biden on Indo-Pacific peace, freedom

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday congratulated Joe Biden on winning the White House, pledging to work together to ensure “peace, freedom and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region that is increasingly dominated by China. Beijing’s expanding military presence in the region has worried several of its neighbors, and Washington has vowed to stand up against its territorial claims. Japan is also caught in the tensions between the United States […]

Japan, Vietnam boost defense ties as South China Sea tensions mount

HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Japan and Vietnam agreed to step up security and defence cooperation Monday, reaching an agreement in principle for Tokyo to export defense equipment and technology to the Southeast Asian nation. The deal comes as concerns mount over China’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea, with Beijing expanding its military presence in the region. The pact would allow Japan to export equipment, likely including patrol planes and radar, to Vietnam, […]

Coronavirus survives on skin five times longer than flu: study

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The coronavirus remains active on human skin for nine hours, Japanese researchers have found, in a discovery they said showed the need for frequent hand washing to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The pathogen that causes the flu survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours by comparison, said the study published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. “The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes Covid-19) on […]

Japan to release treated Fukushima water into sea: reports

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will release more than a million tonnes of treated radioactive water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea in a decades-long operation, reports said Friday, despite strong opposition from local fishermen. The release of the water, which has been filtered to reduce radioactivity, is likely to start in 2022 at the earliest, said national dailies the Nikkei, the Yomiuri, and other local media. The decision ends years […]

The underground ‘Parthenon’ protecting Tokyo from floods

by Shingo ITO KASUKABE, Japan (AFP) — It has been called Japan’s underground “Parthenon”, a cavernous complex charged with protecting Tokyo and surrounding areas from catastrophic flooding — a risk experts warn is growing as climate change advances. Above ground, there is little to give away the cathedral-like feat of engineering that forms the main reservoir of the Kasukabe flood tank, the largest facility of its kind in the world. The immense structure — deep […]

Unique vine ‘greenhouses’ found by 91-year-old nature volunteer

by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — An unusual vine discovered by a 91-year-old volunteer nature guide in Japan has a “unique” way of using its leaves to curl around its fruits to envelop them in a protective microclimate, scientists said on Wednesday. The cucurbitaceous vine, a type found in East Asia, is an oddity because while leaves come in all shapes and sizes and perform a crucial role in photosynthesis, they are […]

Avigan clinical trial could start within the week, says DOH

https://youtu.be/jpTLTdIcoDA (Eagle News) –After several months of delay, the Department of Health said that the clinical trial for the anti-flu drug Avigan as a possible treatment for COVID-19 could start this week Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that there are just a few documents being finalized before the actual clinical trial starts. Vergeire said that the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the Avigan trial for UP Manila has already been signed, and that the […]

Pompeo slams China’s ‘malign activity’ as he meets Asian allies

  by Hiroshi HIYAMA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Tuesday of Beijing’s “malign activity in the region” as he met with key Asia-Pacific allies in Tokyo, presenting a united front against an increasingly assertive China. The top US diplomat is meeting his Japanese, Australian and Indian counterparts on a trip that was scaled back after President Donald Trump and a raft of staff and advisors contracted […]

Pompeo to cut short Asia visit amid Trump hospitalization

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will cut short his trip to Asia this week, a department spokeswoman said Saturday, visiting Japan but skipping planned stops to South Korea and Mongolia. The schedule change comes as President Donald Trump is hospitalized near Washington after testing positive for Covid-19. The US top diplomat will be in Tokyo from Sunday to Tuesday, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement, where he […]

Asia markets slip but Tokyo reopens with gains after blackout

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Japanese stocks edged up Friday as they reopened after being shut down all the previous day by a technical fault, though markets across Asia were mixed in holiday-thinned trade with investors keeping an eye on stimulus talks in Washington. After September’s sell-off, Wall Street got the new quarter off to a positive start as technology firms appeared to rediscover their mojo, helped by a dip in US jobless claims […]