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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.
A Starbucks coffee shop in Beijing on May 22
BUSINESS
May 27, 2024

In China, Starbucks tries to avoid price war but gets dragged into discounting

A coffee price war in China has arisen amid persistent deflation, weak consumer sentiment, and stagnant wages.
Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture will host one of three ryokan Hyatt is set to launch with Kyoto-based developer Kiraku in 2026.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 2, 2024

Hyatt doubles down on Japan with line of luxury ryokan

The first three locations are scheduled to start opening in 2026 in Kanagawa, Oita and Kagoshima prefectures.
The Bank Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta
BUSINESS / Markets
May 27, 2024

India and Indonesia stand out for EM investors in aging world

Both India and Indonesia had elections this year, showcasing to the world their ambition to transition into major economic powerhouses.
Simon Cheng, a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong now living in Britain, at the offices of an organization he founded to aid new Hong Kong arrivals, in London on May 20. Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers have resettled in the United Kingdom since 2021, including prominent pro-democracy activists — and China has not forgotten them.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 27, 2024

Spying arrests send chill through Britain’s thriving Hong Kong community

The arrests have cast a spotlight on activists’ concerns about China's surveillance of its critics abroad.
The rate of the U.S. dollar against the yen is displayed on an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo earlier this month.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 28, 2024

Popularity of yen 'carry trade' may dent impact of BOJ rate rises

The weakening yen and strengthening greenback are increasing the attractiveness of the strategy by boosting its total return.
Toyota, Idemitsu Kosan, Eneos and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said they have teamed up to research carbon-neutral fuels for automobiles.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2024

Toyota and partners launch joint study on carbon-neutral fuels

Toyota will also independently develop engines that can use e-fuels efficiently
Japan Airlines President Mitsuko Tottori meets an official at the transport ministry on Monday, as the ministry issued a stern reprimand following a series of recent incidents involving JAL aircraft.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2024

Transport ministry reprimands JAL over recent incidents

The reprimand was issued over a total of five incidents involving JAL in Japan and abroad since last November.
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.
Pine trees in a coniferous forest Canterbury, New Zealand
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 28, 2024

Millions more trees isn’t the climate fix New Zealand envisaged

The result of a project linking incentives for forestry development and emissions trading turned out to be less effective than hoped.
Members of the New Zealand team huddle before the Rugby World Cup 2023 final against South Africa in Saint-Denis, France, on Oct. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
May 28, 2024

New Zealand Rugby set for pivotal vote after breakaway threat

Powerbrokers will vote for one of two proposals about a new leadership structure for the national governing body for rugby.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak inspects troops at a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, on May 3. Sunak is making the question of protecting Britain and navigating dangerous geopolitical conditions central themes of his election campaign.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

War is at the heart of the U.K.’s summer election

British Prime Minister Sunak is nevertheless right to inject defense into the heart of the election campaign.
The Telegram app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2024

Too small to police, too big to ignore: Telegram is the app dividing Europe

The messaging app has become a key weapon for pro-Kremlin accounts to spread disinformation aimed at undermining support for Ukraine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the first China-Arab States forum in Riyadh in 2022
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

Xi hosts Arab leaders as China-Mideast ties widen beyond trade

As the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden backs Israel in its war in Gaza, China sees eye-to-eye with Arab nations.
Elon Musk plans to recruit three patients to evaluate the device made by his brain-chip company, Neuralink.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2024

Musk's Neuralink seeks to enroll three patients in brain implant study

The brain implant is designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, a prospect that could help people with spinal cord injuries.
A euro symbol sculpture at the European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Some investors are betting on the chance that European currencies will gain further against the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 29, 2024

Yen nears record low versus euro on carry and interest rate outlook

The Japanese currency has weakened 1.5% against the euro this month and is approaching its previous record low of ¥171.56 reached on April 29.
Foreign private credit funds are focusing on Japanese investors as they move more money into higher-paying assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Private credit chases Japan’s trillions as inflation spurs shift

Private credit funds are betting that inflation will prompt investors to channel more money into riskier overseas investments.
Aphelele Vavi (right), 22, who is studying sound engineering, at lunch with fellow students at SAE Creative Media Institute in Rosebank, South Africa, on March 19
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

South Africa’s young democracy leaves its young voters disillusioned

The nation is heading into a pivotal election, in which voters will determine who will pick the president, but voter turnout has been dropping in recent years.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. attends a news conference in Berlin on March 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Philippines president calls new China Coast Guard rules 'worrisome'

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. decried the new rules that could result in the detention of foreigners in the South China Sea.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda during a news conference in Nagoya in January
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Toyota investors urged to vote against founding family chair

The recommendations come ahead of Toyota’s annual shareholders meeting scheduled for June 18 at its headquarters in the city of Toyota in Aichi Prefecture.
With the recent focus on the yen and individual investing, the phrase "Mrs. Watanabe" — one of the most common pieces of jargon in Japanese financial circles — has seen a resurgence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2024

My search for the original 'Mrs. Watanabe'

Yen retail traders are back in the spotlight. But where did the phrase for the archetypal Japanese housewife investor come from?
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has seen threat actors rely on artificial intelligence to produce fake images, videos and text to try influencing users on its sites.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2024

Meta removes AI-generated influence campaigns from China and Israel

Social media companies such as Facebook, ByteDance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X have struggled with the influx of fake and misleading AI-generated content on their sites.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, something he said could trigger a global conflict.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a 'demonstrative' nuclear explosion

The idea was suggested as a way to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia.
An LDP panel's proposal on fiscal policy underscores how a weak yen and an exit from ultra-low interest rates are piling pressure on Japan to rein in its huge public debt.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2024

Japan must restore fiscal discipline to protect yen's value, LDP panel says

The views of the panel of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are shared by the powerful Finance Ministry, who oversees the state budget.
Trade no longer generates a surplus in Japan, reflecting a surge in the cost of energy imports and an increase in offshore production.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2024

Yen's relentless slide revives Japan's interest in structural reforms

The currency's persistent weakness has alerted policymakers to more fundamental drivers behind it, such as the nation's dwindling global competitiveness.
Chinese electric vehicles bound for shipment at the Port of Taicang in China
BUSINESS / Tech
May 30, 2024

EU seeks roadblocks for Chinese EVs without sparking trade war

Crucially, the bloc must strike a balance with its aim for more Europeans to drive EVs as it prepares to outlaw the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars from 2035.
Entrepreneur Lee Hee-tae at his office in Seoul. Lee had planned South Korea's largest sex festival in April, but the two-day event was banned by authorities following a backlash by local rights groups.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 30, 2024

Pervert or pioneer? The entrepreneur trying to get South Korea into porn

The South Korean adult content industry produces around 2,000 adult movies a year, compared with Tokyo's 2,000 a day $36.5-billion-dollar behemoth.
Australia's Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc celebrate with the trophy after winning the ICC Cricket World Cup in November 2023. Australia will try to complete a rare treble of titles when the T20 World Cup begins in June.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
May 30, 2024

Australia will chase historic treble at T20 World Cup

Australia will be aiming to become the first team to possess all three of cricket's global titles at the same time.
Magnetic paper train tickets have been in use in Japan since the late 1960s.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2024

Eastern Japan rail operators to introduce QR code tickets by March 2027

JR East and seven other railway operators will replace their decades-old magnetic ticketing system to improve efficiency and sustainability.
Ever since the Bank of Japan ended its negative rate policy, calls for the government to strengthen its fiscal discipline have been growing, with the country being haunted by public debt that is about twice the size of its gross domestic product.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 30, 2024

Two cheers for the end of free money in Japan

Corporations are better prepared for more expensive money than they were in the past, with strong balance sheets and a better understanding of risk.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami