Search - business

 
 
Anutin Charnvirakul speaks during an interview in Bangkok in 2023. Anutin, whose father briefly served as Thailand’s caretaker leader in 2008, said late Friday that he had the support of enough lawmakers to become prime minister.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 30, 2025

Anutin leads race to become Thai PM with pledge to hold poll

Anutin, whose father briefly served as Thailand’s caretaker leader in 2008, said late Friday he had support of enough lawmakers to become prime minister.
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2025

‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem

Officials in a Yamanashi town have been struggling to balance welcoming visitors and preserving the quality of life for locals. A new mesh barrier is an attempt at compromise.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (center) in action alongside Rani Rosius of Belgium (right) and Gladymar Torres of Puerto Rico during the 100m heats at the 2024 Olympic games in Paris on Aug 2, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 1, 2025

Jamaican sprint great Fraser-Pryce to retire after Tokyo worlds

Fraser-Pryce shattered negative notions around pregnancy in sport by winning the 100m at the 2019 worlds and retaining the title in 2022.
A street vendor walks along a railway track between cafe terraces in central Hanoi on Aug. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2025

Tourists dodge danger on Hanoi's train street

Tourism to railside cafes in the Vietnamese capital have brought lucrative business to a former slum disdained by the government.
Newcastle's £55 million move for Brentford striker Yoane Wissa capped a record summer of spending in the Premier League.
SOCCER
Sep 2, 2025

Premier League clubs spend record £3 billion in summer frenzy

The 20 clubs have spent £650 million more in this window than the previous highest summer spend in 2023.
Yokozuna Hoshoryu and Hello Kitty, an ambassador for sumo's upcoming tour to London, at Tokyo's Kokugikan on Tuesday
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Sep 3, 2025

London’s calling and sumo’s top division — along with Hello Kitty — are ready to answer

Ahead of professional sumo's highly anticipated return to Europe, the release of the September rankings confirms who will be on the plane to England.
Takeshi Niinami, the former chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings, at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Sep 4, 2025

What we know about the supplements scandal linked to Suntory’s ex-CEO

The ex-Suntory CEO’s side of the story offered some clarity, but much remains unknown.
Trump National Doral in Doral, Florida, near Miami. The Group of 20 summit, a major diplomatic event that includes rich and developing nations, will be held at the Doral resort in 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2025

Trump announces he’ll host 2026 G20 summit at his Doral resort

The U.S. will also streamline the summit to trim what had become a ballooning attendance list in recent years, officials said.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey is one of the most senior ministers to retain their post after Prime Minister Keir Starmer reshuffled his Cabinet.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 8, 2025

Starmer tells Cabinet to change gears in bid to fend off Farage

The British prime minister recently reshuffled his government, appointing more than four dozen junior ministers after overhauling his Cabinet.
As French President Emmanuel Macron seeks a fifth prime minister in less than two years to tackle the country’s debt problems, there are no obvious candidates with a decent chance of success.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2025

Macron is running out of viable prime ministers for France

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will resign nine months into the job after failing to win support for his deficit-cutting plans.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a news conference at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7. Ishiba's short-lived prime ministership underscores the challenges facing the Japan and U.S. alliance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2025

What Japan’s political drift means for U.S.-Japan relations

Decisive political leadership is missing. Ambitious reforms and bold initiatives require political capital.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents execute an enforcement operation at a Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia on Sept. 4.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2025

The ICE raid on the Georgia Hyundai plant makes no sense

The raid antagonized U.S. ally South Korea, a country that had signed a $350 billion trade pact with U.S. President Donald Trump just weeks earlier.
Japan Airlines President Mitsuko Tottori (right) bows in apology Wednesday in Tokyo over the company's pilots causing flight delays due to drinking alcohol.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2025

JAL reprimand over drunken pilots adds to airline’s woes

The transport ministry issued a fresh warning to the airline for insufficient oversight involving a series of heavy pre-flight drinking cases.
Detainees are made to stand against a bus during a raid by federal agents on a Hyundai facility in Ellabell, Georgia, last week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2025

Many arrested at Hyundai's U.S. facility appear to be working legally: lawyer

"They just arrested everyone who wasn't a citizen or a resident and figured they would sort it out later," said a lawyer representing more than a dozen workers.
Sensing a bleak future for the local "awamori" liquor, Mizuho Distillery ventured into rum production, releasing a collection of eight rums made from "kokutō" (partially refined or unrefined sugar) sourced from various islands in Okinawa Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 12, 2025

The sweet rise of Okinawan rum

The spirit is emerging out of the shadow of the local “awamori” liquor, thanks to a growing band of producers who are keen to tell the tale of the islands' traditional agriculture.
Sheremetyevo international airport in Moscow. Japan has partially eased its travel restrictions to Russia, allowing unavoidable travel.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025

Japan partially eases travel restrictions to Russia

Tokyo says unavoidable travel — such as those for humanitarian, business, study, research, education, or artistic purposes — are allowed.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with head of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) autonomous non-profit organization at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2025

Russia targets billionaire’s empire over alleged Ukraine links

The case shows how asset seizures in Russia are surging since the invasion of Ukraine, as the Kremlin cracks down on perceived enemies of the state.
Bartering has returned to Russian foreign trade as companies trying to avoid Western sanctions swap wheat for Chinese cars and flax seeds for building materials.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2025

Wheat for Chinese cars? Russia turns to barter to skirt sanctions.

The return of the old-fashioned practice shows just how far the war in Ukraine has distorted trading ties for the world's biggest producer of natural resources.
Australia’s past economic “golden ages” show how bold reforms drove growth, but policymakers now face the challenge of boosting productivity and preparing the nation for a more competitive global environment.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2025

Can Australia achieve a third economic golden age?

The ’80s and ’90s were the heydays of reform. The challenge now is how to move forward.
The CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk, an oceanographic science vessel and summer-rated icebreaker, under construction at Seaspan Shipyards
WORLD
Sep 17, 2025

Nations aiming for Arctic power can’t get enough of these ships

Thawing of the top of the world from climate change has stirred a global competition to forge new, previously unnavigable shipping routes.
A woman walks past the poster of Lee Sang-il’s kabuki drama "Kokuho" outside a cinema in Tokyo's Roppongi district.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 18, 2025

From high risk to record-breaker, ‘Kokuho’ defied expectations to become a megahit

Lee Sang-il's three-hour kabuki drama overcame doubts over subject matter to find its audience.
Sebastien Lecornu became France's fifth prime minister last week.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2025

Tax the rich or fall: French prime minister faces budget ultimatum

Sebastien Lecornu, who last week became France's fifth prime minister, is racing to draft a budget that is due to be sent to lawmakers by Oct. 7.
Pupils put their hands up to answer a question during a lesson at a grammar school in Maidstone, U.K. Private school alumni remain dominant among the most powerful positions in British society despite corporate efforts to hire from more diverse backgrounds.
WORLD / Society
Sep 18, 2025

Britain wants social mobility but private schools still dominate

Elite schooling remains the surest route to the top of British society, new data from a social mobility charity show.
U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer shake hands as they hold a news conference at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit Thursday in Aylesbury, Britain.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2025

Trump flattery pays off for Starmer with major pitfalls averted

While the British concluded the trip without any open conflict, they failed to score any obvious diplomatic breakthroughs.
Tourists in the Dotonbori area in Osaka. Calls are growing in Osaka Prefecture for a review of <i>minpaku</i> private lodging services for tourists, as locals face the issue of bad manners by some foreign guests.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2025

Review of minpaku private lodgings sought in Osaka

Issues linked to such services became one of the focal points in the July election for the House of Councillors.
Television host Jimmy Kimmel attends the Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiling ceremony for British radio personality Richard Blade, in Hollywood, California, in June last year.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 23, 2025

Disney says Kimmel will return to the air Tuesday, six days after suspension

This marked the highest-profile move from the private sector to challenge a string of efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on his perceived media critics.
A DJI drone at a technology and industry trade fair in Berlin
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2025

Drone maker DJI loses lawsuit to exit Pentagon's list of firms with Chinese military ties

The world's largest drone maker said it was disappointed that the judge upheld the listing and was evaluating its legal options.
Shipping containers near the Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. The U.S. under President Donald Trump has revived mercantilist trade policies to favor American industry, but China is outpacing the U.S.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2025

Why America will lose its mercantilist game to China

There is already one country that has been practicing mercantilism for decades and it appears to be a step ahead of the U.S. as it starts to play the same game: China.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends a private dinner for technology and business leaders hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 4.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Oct 1, 2025

Trump and America’s tech giants: Coexistence or collaboration?

The impact of Trump’s policies on online platforms is also significant. During his first term, Big Tech faced intense antitrust pressure.
A young man (Kodai Kurosaki) has a tense reunion with his estranged father in “Brand New Landscape.”
CULTURE / Film
Oct 2, 2025

‘Brand New Landscape’ captures family dysfunction in a shimmering city

In director Yuiga Danzuka’s first feature, Tokyo gleams with promise — but loneliness lingers in every corner.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.