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- Japan’s Cabinet Office says the country’s economy saw a historic downturn in the April-June quarter. GDP contracted by the most in 40 years as the pandemic upended the economy.
- Economic Revitalization Minister Nishimura Yasutoshi told a news conference on Monday that Japan’s GDP contraction in the April-June quarter was caused by measures against the coronavirus pandemic.
- A Japanese classical music promotion group has measured how droplets spread during a performance, saying that the findings will help concerts return to how they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
- Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a historic agreement to normalize relations. The countries announced the accord on Thursday in a joint statement with the United States, which helped broker the deal.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the arrest earlier this week of the founder of the Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper that is often critical of China. Hong Kong police arrested media owner Jimmy Lai and nine other pro-democracy activists on Monday on suspicion of violating the new national security law for the territory. The 10 were later released on bail.
- China’s military says it has conducted a drill in sea areas including the Taiwan Strait.
- U.S. Senator Kamala Harris has delivered her first speech as presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, saying the United States has a chance to choose a better future for the country in November.
- Efforts to retrieve oil leaked from a Japanese bulk carrier continue along the coast of Mauritius. The government of Mauritius called on the international community for emergency assistance such as sending experts. Local volunteers are working hard to clear the oil.
- Researchers developing a COVID-19 vaccine for U.S. and German firms say clinical trials show increases in the amount of antibodies that weaken the functions of the virus in people who received the shot.
- A memorial ceremony has been held to mark 35 years since a Japan Airlines jumbo jet crashed in a mountainous village north of Tokyo, killing 520 people.
- The prefecture and the city of Hiroshima have appealed a district court ruling that legally recognized people exposed to radioactive rain immediately after the 1945 atomic bombing as “hibakusha,” or survivors of the bombing.
- The presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, has picked California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. If Biden wins November’s presidential election, Harris would be the first black woman to become vice president of the United States.
- Many people in Hong Kong are concerned about a loss of press freedom after 10 people were arrested on Monday including media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has met Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and stressed the need for Taiwan’s lessons and expertise over the coronavirus to be shared in international forums.
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced the resignation of his government on Monday, amid growing criticism over a devastating explosion in Beirut.
- The total number of coronavirus cases in the United States has exceeded 5 million. More than 160,000 infected people have died. Both the number of infections and fatalities from the virus in the U.S. are the largest in the world.
- People in the western Japanese city of Tokushima are decorating shopping streets with lanterns to brighten up the mood as a major summer festival was canceled due to the coronavirus. The Awa Odori dance festival normally draws more than 1 million tourists to Tokushima in August. But all programs for the event were canceled this year to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Organizers are instead handing out lanterns to people to decorate the city.
- Mitsui O.S.K. Lines says it believes more than 1,000 tons of oil have leaked from a bulk carrier that ran aground off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean on July 25.
- Japanese researchers say they think the coronavirus continued to spread undetected in Japan after the outbreak was thought to have been contained in May.
- NHK has learned that Japan’s first supply of an experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca may be provided between next January and March.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at the state of Nevada over a new law that will allow people to vote in November’s presidential election by mail.
- People in Japan are taking a moment to pause and remember the victims of a catastrophic event. Seventy-five years ago, an American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. While following safety measures in place for the coronavirus, people haven’t been prevented from reflecting on the tragedy and praying for world peace.
- The governor of Japan’s central bank has warned that a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak could suppress economic activities again, as the number of infections keeps rising in the county.
- The foreign chiefs of Japan and Britain have agreed to work together to respond to the coronavirus and the situation in Hong Kong.
- Sweltering heat continued in Japan on Wednesday. Weather officials are advising people to be cautious of heatstroke.
- Japanese executives are reluctant to spend money on plant and equipment due to the coronavirus pandemic. A survey shows growth in planned capital investment at its lowest in 11 years.
- Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow has appeared in court to face charges of inciting people to take part in an illegal gathering.
- Health officials say the number of coronavirus patients receiving treatment at hospitals across Japan has shot up more than five-fold in the space of just one month.
- A questionnaire y a Japanese credit research firm has found that hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses in the country may have to consider bankruptcy if the coronavirus outbreak isn’t brought under control soon.
- A long-running wartime labor lawsuit in South Korea against a Japanese company appears to be entering a new phase. The case has damaged relations between the two countries. A court order that took effect on Tuesday could widen that rift by allowing assets to be seized from Nippon Steel.