Canadian hydrogen fuel cell pioneer Ballard Power Systems Inc. has hung on for four decades without posting a profit, waging a battle far head of its time against the combustion engine. It says its moment may finally be arriving. Fuel cell and hydrogen costs are falling, ...

A growing percentage of Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc.'s subprime auto loans are turning out to be clunkers soon after the cars are driven off the lot. Some loans made last year are souring at the fastest rate since 2008, with more consumers than usual ...

Japanese banks, which have been rapidly accumulating bundled corporate loans abroad, are vulnerable to a steep drop in their prices if the global economy deteriorates, the nation's central bank has warned. The ratings and market prices of even top-rated collateralized loan obligations, or CLOs, held ...

After being seen as one of the worst-performing markets in the developed world, Japan's recent equity rebound is drawing differing views from Wall Street observers on where it will go next. On the skeptical side, BlackRock Inc. told investors not to chase the rally. Pictet ...

While some in South Korea have been boycotting Japan, they seem to draw a line at financial products that generate high returns. While many Koreans have ceased buying everything from beer to cars to clothing from Japan, and have canceled trips there amid an ongoing ...

Construction of a new maglev line connecting Tokyo and Nagoya has come to a standstill, with Shizuoka Prefecture refusing to give the green light to the full-scale drilling of a tunnel under the Oi River, claiming the project could decrease the amount of water ...

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike demands an explanation on why the Olympic host city wasn’t consulted about the decision to move the marathon and race-walking events to Sapporo.

Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi is vowing to make his company profitable while pursuing growth from emerging arenas such as India, addressing investors' concerns about the ride-sharing company's mounting losses and global regulatory challenges. Uber, which lost about $5.2 billion in the ...

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when thousands of Germans joyfully danced atop its graffiti-covered remains, to some heralded the "end of history" in a globalized world. Thirty years later, the return of hard frontiers made of bricks, concrete and razor wire symbolizes ...

A tabloid’s expose on a funeral gift to a supporter ousts the METI chief after just a month and a half in office.

Boeing, acting without adequate oversight from U.S. regulators, failed to grasp risks in the design of cockpit software on its 737 Max airliner, sowing the seeds for a Lion Air crash that also involved errors by airline workers and crew, Indonesian investigators found. The fatal ...

A packed bus approaches Checkpoint Charlie, the Cold War's most famous border crossing, as grim-faced East German guards whisper among themselves about whether to hold you for questioning. After a few heart-stopping minutes, you and your fellow passengers are free to pass into the smog, ...

Gifu and five other prefectures with confirmed swine fever cases started vaccinating pigs at farms Friday to prevent the infectious disease from spreading further. The move marked the first swine fever vaccinations in Japan since April 2006, when preventive vaccinations were discontinued. It is uncertain, however, ...

Renault SA has cut its outlook for the global auto market, expecting demand to shrink by around 4 percent this year after the French carmaker slashed its forecasts. The manufacturer previously expected the market to decline by 3 percent. In Renault's main market of Europe, ...

The government will write family names first when using the Roman alphabet for Japanese names on official documents from Jan. 1, the education minister said Friday. Respective ministries and agencies will notify related industries in the private sector of the government's decision, which breaks from ...

For Indian executive Bibhas Chakraborty, Diwali used to mean shiny expensive gifts from business associates keen to use the auspicious — and spectacular — Hindu festival to deepen ties. Now he mostly gets sweets and nuts. As Asia's third-largest economy battles waning consumer demand, extravagant ...

Alerts in Japanese warning about the typhoon left many foreign visitors and residents confused about whether they should evacuate.

Three months after shelling out $11 billion for Anheuser-Busch InBev's Australian operations, Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. plans to keep growing via more deals. Japan's largest brewer wants to establish more hubs globally beyond Europe and Australia, Chief Executive Officer Akiyoshi Koji said in an interview ...

The Hokuriku Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo Station with Kanazawa Station in Ishikawa Prefecture, resumed services on its entire route Friday after a suspension caused by Typhoon Hagibis. It was the first time in 13 days that a direct service connected the two terminal stations. The daily ...

Offshore wind could become a cornerstone of the world's power supply as steep cost reductions and improved technology unleash the potential of the green energy source, the International Energy Agency said Friday. Renewables replacing fossil fuel is crucial to meet a globally-agreed goal of limiting ...

The main building complex of Yanagibashi Central Market, a fish market a short walk from Nagoya Station, will close at the end of this month due to deterioration, ending its run of more than 50 years. Amid the continuing decline in the popularity of seafood, ...

Astronomers dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have announced a new collaboration with scientists working on a NASA telescope. So has alien hunting finally earned its stripes as a scientific discipline? To find out, AFP spoke to scientist Jill Tarter, who has devoted her ...

A revelatory cache of fossils dug up in central Colorado details as never before the rise of mammals from the post-apocalyptic landscape after an asteroid smacked Earth 66 million years ago and annihilated three-quarters of all species, including the dinosaurs. The fossils, described by scientists ...

Japanese public impressions of China remain "unfavorable," an annual survey showed Thursday, amid a lingering territorial dispute, a U.S.-China trade war and unrest in Hong Kong. The survey, conducted by the Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the China International Publishing Group, found that ...

A group of Japanese lawmakers on Thursday approved a plan to compensate family members of former leprosy patients with payments of up to ¥1.8 million each. The group of ruling and opposition party lawmakers will finalize a bill and submit it to the ongoing extraordinary ...

The European Parliament awarded its annual Sakharov Prize for the defense of human rights on Thursday to jailed ethnic Uighur economics professor Ilham Tohti, angering Beijing, which called him a criminal and a terrorist. Uighur rights advocate Tohti was jailed for life in China in ...

Landslides killed two people in Chiba and left another missing Friday as a wide swath of eastern Japan trying to recover from Typhoon Hagibis was hit again by heavy rain. In the city's Midori Ward, two landslides struck three houses, killing two residents — a ...

Volkswagen unveiled the newest incarnation of its iconic Golf hatchback on Thursday, counting on the bestseller to help fund a costly switch to the electric era and bridge the gap to the cars of the future. The eighth generation of the unglamorous but trusted compact ...

Efforts by Russian influence campaigns to stay undetected on social media ahead of next year's U.S. elections are undermining their ability to gain followers and spread divisive political messages, a senior Facebook executive told Reuters. Social media users need to stand out from the crowd ...

Tesla Inc. shares soared 17 percent on Thursday after the electric carmaker surprised Wall Street by delivering on Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's promise of a profit in the third quarter, even as doubts remained about its long-term prospects. Trading at $298, Tesla's market capitalization ...

President Donald Trump once again attacked the U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday, calling for more interest rate cuts to stimulate the American economy just days before the key policy meeting. "The Federal Reserve is derelict in its duties if it doesn't lower the Rate and ...

The Kremlin offers authoritarians a brokerage service based on cynical principles of mutual gain rather than values and allegiances.

As Japan admits more foreign workers, it will become more important to speak easy-to-understand Japanese.

Papersky's Tour de Nippon project combines cycling with other activities, such as gastronomy, hiking and craft workshops.

If flying is unavoidable this holiday season, carbon offsetting is one way the climate-conscious traveler can balance out the environmental impact of their flight.

Leonardo da Vinci, whose genius encompassed architecture, anatomy, mechanics, music and even party planning, is known first and foremost for his paintings, though he produced fewer than 20 of them. The curators of a stunning retrospective of the Renaissance master's paintings that opened Thursday at ...

Leonardo da Vinci is the star in a blockbuster retrospective opening Thursday at the Louvre museum in Paris to mark 500 years since the death of the Renaissance master. Some 240,000 people have already reserved their place in line for the exhibition, the biggest ever ...

This week's episode of "Terrace House" starts off on a sad note as Kaori gets ready to move out to pursue her career in London, leaving Haruka and Ruka as the last original members still living in the house. To mark Kaori's departure, Ruka ...

Three-time Olympic gold medalists Tadahiro Nomura and Saori Yoshida will deliver the 2020 Olympic flame from Greece and unveil it in Japan at a ceremony in March, the organizing committee of the Tokyo Games said Friday. Nomura, a former judoka who captured his first of ...

England fullback Elliot Daly says his team is more united than ever as it prepares to face New Zealand in Saturday's Rugby World Cup semifinal. "We talk about togetherness all the time, and I haven't felt this together as a team in any team I've ...

South Africa standoff Handre Pollard believes his team's backs have the pace and skill to trouble Wales in Sunday's Rugby World Cup semifinal — if they can get the ball off their forward teammates for long enough. South Africa faces Wales at International Stadium Yokohama ...

Nearly a month into the new B. League season, it's already quite clear that parity among teams is a defining characteristic of the 2019-20 campaign. Consider the following: Only two teams have one loss through Wednesday (the Sunrockers Shibuya, who are 5-1, and the 7-1 ...

The Zozo Championship will finish on Monday, 24 hours later than scheduled, after torrential rain washed out Friday's play without a shot being struck, tournament officials announced. Organizers also said Saturday's rescheduled second round will be played without any spectators in attendance at the Narashino ...