A Japanese bank has halted transactions by the Iranian government after a US court ordered a $2.6 billion asset freeze over the 1983 bombing of US barracks in Beirut, a bank spokesman said on Thursday.

Japan's economy grew an at annual rate of 4.1 percent in the first quarter amid a gradual recovery from last year's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

Japan's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.0 percent in the latest quarter, figures showed on Thursday, as rising domestic demand and a boost in exports kept it on the recovery path.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy bounced back in the first quarter from a year-end lull, powering ahead of other major industrial nations thanks to rebuilding of the tsunami-battered northeast, solid private spending and some improvement in exports. The world's third-largest economy grew 1.0 percent in the January-March quarter, just above a median forecast of 0.9 percent. A 0.2 percent contraction in the economy reported for the final three months of 2011 was revised up to flat in the government data released on Thursday. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - After Penguin Number 337 made a daring bid for freedom from a Tokyo aquarium and vanished into the waters of Tokyo Bay two months ago, many feared the worst for the adventurous feathered fugitive. But the one-year-old Humboldt penguin has now popped up on video footage in a different part of the bay, frolicking in the water and apparently healthy. The penguin, still too young to determine whether it is male or female and thus known only by a number, scaled a rock wall four metres (13 ft) high and squeezed through a barbed wire fence to escape its harbourside aquarium in ...

Japan's economy grew by 1.0 percent in the January to March quarter compared with the previous three months, according to the latest official data, as the world's third-largest economy mounts a slow recovery.