APRNEWS - Safeguard Defenders, an Asia-focused rights group based in Spain, has published two reports since September alleging that Chinese authorities have established 102 overseas police stations in 53 countries, including Japan.

China has dismissed the allegations and on Thursday its foreign ministry denied that such police stations existed.

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp overtook Germany’s Volkswagen in vehicle sales last year, regaining pole position as the world’s top selling automaker for the first time in five years as the pandemic demand slump hit its German rival harder.

Toyota said on Thursday its group-wide global sales fell 11.3% to 9.528 million vehicles in 2020. That compared with a 15.2 percent drop at Volkswagen to 9.305 million vehicles.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga apologised on Wednesday after lawmakers from his ruling coalition visited night clubs despite his government’s call for people to avoid unnecessary outings to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The news is another headache for Suga whose approval rating has tumbled due to dissatisfaction with his handling of the pandemic, which critics have called too slow and inconsistent.

APRNEWS - Nissan Motor Co forecast a 28% drop in its annual operating profit, setting it up for the weakest earnings in 11 years and underscoring its struggle to turn the page after the ouster of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.

APRNEWS - Emperor Akihito of Japan formally stepped down Tuesday, the first abdication for 200 years in the world's oldest monarchy, as his son Naruhito prepared to take the Chrysanthemum Throne and usher in a new imperial era.

APRNEWS - With flowers, silent prayers and tearful tributes, Japan Monday marked the eighth anniversary of a crippling earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left some 18,500 people dead or missing.

REUTERS - A magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook Osaka, Japan’s second-biggest metropolis, early on Monday, killing three people, halting factory lines in an industrial area and bursting water mains, government and company officials said.

AFP - South Korea will not seek to renegotiate a deal with Japan on wartime sex slavery, it said Tuesday, despite new President Moon Jae-In saying on the campaign trail he "could not accept" the agreement.

AFP - Andy Murray announced he had hip surgery in Australia on Monday and was hoping to return to competitive tennis in time for the grasscourt season midway through the year.

The 30-year-old Scot has not played competitively since Wimbledon last year and last week withdrew from this month's Australian Open.