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Singapore Prime Minister-designate Lawrence Wong at the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting in Indonesia in 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 14, 2024

Singapore PM-designate Lawrence Wong keeps old guard in reshuffle

Wong picked Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong as his deputy, keeping the Cabinet of outgoing leader Lee Hsien Loong largely intact.
Sony Group is missing analyst expectations for sales as demand for its PlayStation 5 hardware wanes.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Sony sales outlook misses estimates on waning demand for PS5s

Shares in Sony have been under pressure this month amid mounting speculation about the terms of its potential $26 billion bid for Paramount Global.
Rakuten logged its fifteenth consecutive quarter in the red due to losses at its mobile service network unit.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Rakuten logs 15th quarter of losses on mobile woes despite record financial unit profit

While its number of mobile subscribers rose to 6.48 million at the end of March, average revenue per user increased only fractionally.
A new era in Japan-U.S. military cooperation is set to begin after Japan's parliament enacted new laws to establish a joint command headquarters for the nation’s Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2024

Let the real work on Japan’s defense modernization begin

Scheduled to go into effect in March 2025, the Japan Joint Operations Command will centralize command of the country’s military services.
Japanese companies are raising payouts to shareholders as the Tokyo Stock Exchange pressures firms to improve capital efficiency and valuations.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 15, 2024

Japan firms boost dividends and buybacks, aiding Topix amid TSE pressure

The moves come as the Tokyo Stock Exchange pressures companies to improve capital efficiency and valuations, and have spurred a rebound in the Topix index.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen drives during the Miami Grand Prix on May 5.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 16, 2024

Formula One leader Max Verstappen hoping to get back on track at Imola

Max Verstappen will being trying put his friend Lando Norris back in his place among the chasing pack when Formula One returns to Italy.
Japan's gross domestic product shrank at an annualized pace of 2% in the three months through March.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2024

Japan’s economy contracts as consumers and firms cut spending

Gross domestic product contracted at an annualized pace of 2% in the three months through March.
Strong sales of Prius hybrids are delivering a cash boost for Toyota to invest in fully-electric cars.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

Hybrids delivering cash chest for Toyota and Honda’s EV ambitions

With the shift to battery-electric vehicles clearly taking much longer than anticipated, consumers are voting for hybrids with their wallets.
Attendees watch a broadcast of the swearing-in ceremony of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2024

Singapore’s PM Wong takes office warning of ‘more violent’ world

Lawrence Wong takes office with rising concerns over the cost of living, strained U.S.-China ties and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs will face the Steelers in one of the two NFL games that will be aired on Netflix on Christmas Day.
MORE SPORTS
May 16, 2024

Netflix reaches deal to air NFL games

Netflix will broadcast two NFL games next season for the first time in a landmark move that comes as the streaming giant bolsters its portfolio of sports-based programming.
U.S. President Joe Biden signs orders that increase tariffs on China during an event at the White House on Tuesday. The escalating trade tensions risk slowing the transition to green technologies by boosting production costs.
EDITORIALS
May 17, 2024

Looming U.S.-China 'trade war' bodes ill for green tech

China has denounced the new U.S. tariffs as bullying and warned of potential retaliation, arguing that they could harm global green economic transition efforts.
Samples of cannabis edibles are offered during The 1st Phuket Cannabis Cup in Phuket, Thailand, in March 2023. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said marijuana should soon be classified as a narcotic again and its use limited to medical and health purposes.
COMMENTARY
May 17, 2024

Thailand’s cannabis U-turn is a cautionary tale

Banning the drug outright will no doubt cause a lot of pain to farmers, small business owners and consumers. A middle-ground approach to return to medical usage would be wise.
A tactical ballistic missile with a new autonomous navigation system is test-fired at an undisclosed location in North Korea in this image released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 18, 2024

North Korea confirms missile launch and vows bolstered nuclear force

North Korea has test-fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a "new autonomous navigation system," state media said Saturday.
Electronic boards display the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar and the closing numbers of Tokyo Stock Exchange share price in Tokyo on May 1.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
May 19, 2024

From Tokyo to New York, stock markets are on a record-hitting spree around the world

Of the world’s 20 largest stock markets, 14 have hit all-time highs recently.
Subject to the Chinese probes is polyacetal resin, a type of plastic used for automobile parts and other items.
JAPAN
May 19, 2024

China launches anti-dumping probes targeting Japan and others

Subject to the probes is polyacetal resin, a type of plastic used for automobile parts and other items.
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, in December
BUSINESS
May 19, 2024

Government to consider more aid to Rapidus, industry minister says

Rapidus plans to start operating a prototype production line at the Chitose plant in April 2025 and launch mass production in 2027.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2024

Israel’s war Cabinet in turmoil, but Netanyahu seen as secure

Two of the three members of Israel's war Cabinet have now spoken out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policies.
Norinchukin Bank is one of Japan’s largest institutional investors with a ¥55.9 trillion ($357 billion) securities portfolio, and bonds make up more than half of its investments.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2024

Norinchukin weighs $7.7 billion fundraise to cover bond loss

As a result of restructuring its securities portfolio, the Tokyo-based bank may book about ¥500 billion in losses for the current fiscal year, one source said.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki (left) receives a draft proposal produced by the Fiscal System Council from Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2024

Japanese advisory panel calls for strengthening fiscal resilience

The Fiscal System Council warned that the country's finances will deteriorate further if debt servicing costs swell.
The main targets of a new bill on smartphone software are the app stores provided by Google and Apple, as consumers effectively have only two choices for smartphone operating systems: Apple's iOS or Google’s Android.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2024

Japan aims to curb Apple and Google's smartphone app duopoly

A new bill would compel dominant platforms to allow third parties to launch their own app markets and to offer more payment options.
A missile is launched as North Korea conducts a test firing of a tactical ballistic missile on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Japan underlines qualitative improvement of North Korean nukes

An early draft of Japan's annual defense white paper also expressed a strong sense of crisis over China's military over its activities around Taiwan.
A worker shovels soil next to irrigation channels and recently planted shoots of Xinjiang poplar at the Yangguan state-backed forest farm, on the edge of the Gobi desert on the outskirts of Dunhuang, China's Gansu province, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 23, 2024

China's food security dream faces land, soil and water woes

With limited land and water, China will have to sharply increase farming productivity.
As companies lose once-stable investors through the unwinding of cross-shareholdings, they are now hoping that rewarding long-term individual shareholders will help make them more resilient in possible proxy battles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2024

Japanese firms woo individuals as cross-shareholdings shrink

In a bid to protect themselves from activist investors, firms are trying to build loyalty with long-term individual shareholders by doling out gifts.
Legislation was enacted Friday to offer more support to workers raising young children.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024

Japan passes law on flexible work for parents with young children

Firms will be obliged to allow employees with preschoolers age 3 and older to choose from at least two working options, such as remote work or shorter hours.
British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak meets with veterans at a community breakfast in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England, on Saturday during a party campaign event in the build-up to the U.K. general election on July 4.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2024

Sunak pledges mandatory national service in U.K. election ploy

Sunak is trying to set out a bold new agenda after he unexpectedly announced a general election on July 4.
Self-Defense Forces soldiers walk past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile unit at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo in October 2017.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 26, 2024

Evolving drone and missile threats prompting Tokyo to rethink air defense

The low cost of mass-producing tools for modern warfare is pushing the Defense Ministry to find ways to upgrade detection, tracking and interception capabilities.
A wafer on display at the Semicon China expo in Shanghai on March 20
BUSINESS
May 28, 2024

China creates $47.5 billion chip fund to fuel self-resilience

The largest shareholder is China’s Ministry of Finance.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (center) and Chinese premier Li Qiang at the Blue House presidential office in Seoul on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2024

In rare talks, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing agree to step up cooperation

While Monday's summit didn't result in any breakthroughs, it is seen as an important step to stem the deterioration of Japan and South Korea's ties with China.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While some view artificial intelligence’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics of such arrangements.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

OpenAI is making journalism an offer it can’t refuse

While some view AI’s increasing integration into journalism as necessary, there are concerns about the ethics and transparency of such arrangements.
A Nuri rocket takes off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Korea, on June 21, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2024

South Korea is gearing up to become space powerhouse

KASA will work on ambitious projects such as an uncrewed moon landing by 2032, with a Mars mission proposed by the middle of the following decade.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji