Update: Japan’s Powerful Quake Injures 32, Disrupts Train Services In Tokyo Area

TOKYO, Oct 8 (NNN-NHK) – A powerful earthquake that struck the Tokyo area last night, left 32 people injured and continued to disrupt train services this morning, affecting around 368,000 passengers in total. According to East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), the strongest earthquake for the Japanese capital in a…

Japan’s Current Account Surplus Shrinks 20.1 Percent In Aug, Year-On-Year

TOKYO, Oct 8 (NNN-NHK) – Japan’s current account surplus shrank 20.1 percent to 1.67 trillion yen (15 billion U.S. dollars) in Aug, year-on-year, as higher energy import costs led to a deficit in trade, the Finance Ministry said today. The surplus logged the first year-on-year decrease in six months. In…

Pakistan’s Daily COVID-19 Cases Drop Below 1,000 After Three Months

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (NNN-APP) – Pakistan’s daily COVID-19 cases dropped below the 1,000-mark yesterday, after a period of more than three months, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said today. The NCOC, a department leading Pakistan’s campaign against the pandemic, said that, 912 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed yesterday.…

ADB Approves 100-Million-USD Loan To Spur Uzbekistan’s Financial Markets

TASHKENT, Oct 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), approved a 100-million-U.S. dollar policy-based loan, to support development of competitive financial markets in Uzbekistan, the ADB said yesterday. “As Uzbekistan accelerates its transition towards a market economy, robust and competitive domestic financial markets are essential for mobilising private investment,”…

Australian State Breaks National Daily Record For COVID-19

SYDNEY, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Australian state of Victoria’s COVID-19 outbreak continues to accelerate alarmingly, breaking a national daily record of 1,838 new cases and five related deaths, according to figures released today. As of this morning, there were 16,823 active cases in the state, mostly concentrated in the…

Australia’s Right-Wing Extremism Fastest-Growing Threat: Federal Police

CANBERRA, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s national police agency, revealed that the number of investigations it is conducting into far-right extremism has increased 750 percent, in the past 18 months. Australian Federal Police (AFP) Assistant Commissioner, Scott Lee, today warned that, far-right extremism is the country’s fastest-growing threat. He told…

COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 18,000 In Myanmar

YANGON, Oct 8 (NNN-MNA) – The death toll of COVID-19 reached 18,034 in Myanmar yesterday, after 36 more deaths were reported, according to a release from the Ministry of Health. A total of 1,394 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the tally to 474,419 cases…

Biodiversity Studies Overlook Non-English Research, Says Australian Scientist

SYDNEY, Oct 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – After reviewing biodiversity studies written in 16 languages other than English, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) and Monash University, concluded that, important scientific knowledge lies outside the English-speaking world. The study looked at over 400,000 peer-reviewed papers in 326 journals, and the results…

Global Ratings Agencies, World Bank Cut India’s Growth Projections

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (NNN-PTI) – India’s gross domestic product (GDP) would grow at the rate of 8.7 percent, in the rest of the current fiscal year, down from the projection of 10 percent in June, said the American rating agency, Fitch Ratings, in a report yesterday. The cut in…

Digital Payments Continue To Rise In Philippines

MANILA, Oct 8 (NNN-PNA) – Digital payments continue to rise in the Philippines, exceeding the central bank’s target to reach 20 percent of all monthly payments volume by 2020, the Philippine central bank said, yesterday. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), said that, 20.1 percent of monthly…