Asia (except ME & Indian SC)

TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese economy grew at an annual rate of 12.7% in October-December, marking the second straight quarter of growth, amid a recovery from the slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to government data released Monday.

The world’s third-largest economy saw growth in consumption, government spending and exports for the final quarter of last year, compared to the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said.

Japan’s seasonally adjusted gross domestic product had grown at a dramatic annualized rate of 22.9% in the July-September period.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Sightings of armored personnel carriers in Myanmar’s biggest city and an internet shutdown raised political tensions late Sunday, after vast numbers of people around the country flouted orders against demonstrations to protest the military’s seizure of power.

Public concern has already been heightened for the past few nights by what many charge is the military’s manipulation of criminals released from prison to carry out nighttime violence and stir up panic.

TOKYO, February 14. /TASS/: The number of people injured as a result of Japan’s 7.3-magnitude earthquake on Saturday has reached 150, the country’s Kyodo agency announced on Sunday.

Earlier reports said 124 people were injured. Most of the injured were residents of the prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima on the eastern coast of Japan’s largest island of Honshu, which bore the brunt of the disaster. The majority of victims were diagnosed with bruises sustained during falls.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Health Ministry said on Sunday it has officially approved Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine, the first such approval in the country as it steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games.

The move had been widely expected after a government panel recommended approval on Friday, at which point Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said Japan would give its final approval as soon as possible.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Thousands of mostly silent demonstrators paraded through central Tokyo on Sunday in protest against the coup in Myanmar, many carrying photos of detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi in what organisers said was the largest such march in Japan to date.

More than 4,000 took part in the protest, organisers said, streaming through the downtown shopping areas of Shibuya and Omotesando with posters saying “Help us save Myanmar” and “Stop Crimes Against Humanity”. Tokyo police said they couldn’t comment on how many people attended the event.

BEIJING (AP) — China fired back Sunday at the U.S. over allegations from the White House that Beijing withheld some information about the coronavirus outbreak from World Health Organization investigators.

In a statement Friday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington had “deep concerns about the way in which the early findings of the COVID-19 investigation were communicated and questions about the process used to reach them.”

TOKYO (AP) — Residents in northeastern Japan on Sunday cleaned up clutter and debris in stores and homes after a strong earthquake set off a landslide on a highway, damaged buildings and parts of bullet train lines and caused power blackouts for thousands of people.

The 7.3 magnitude temblor late Saturday shook the quake-prone areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures that 10 years ago had been hit by a powerful earthquake that triggered a tsunami and a meltdown at a nuclear power plant.

BEIJING, Feb 13 (APP): A Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla led by a Type 052D destroyer has joined AMAN-21 multinational naval exercise hosted by Pakistan Navy which aims at enhancing professional communication and friendly interactions with other navies.

Invited by the Pakistan Navy, the PLA Navy 119 Flotilla arrived in waters close to Karachi on Thursday to participate in the multinational exercise AMAN-21, after the flotilla wrapped up its escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, Global Times reported on Saturday.

Beijing, Feb 13 (AP-PTI) Railway journeys in China during the usually frenetic Lunar New Year holiday travel rush are down by almost 70 per cent amid calls for people to stay where they are to avoid a new outbreak of COVID-19.

The China State Railway Group on Saturday reported 52.33 million passenger trips from Jan 28 to Feb 11 a decline of 68.8 per cent from the same period last year.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China refused to give raw data on early COVID-19 cases to a World Health Organization-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, one of the team’s investigators said, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.