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A United Steelworkers sign is seen outside the Great Lakes Works U.S. Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

U.S. decision on Nippon Steel bid pushed back until after election

The move offers a ray of hope for the companies, whose proposed deal appeared set to be blocked on national security grounds.
A uranium stone. Russia is the world's largest exporter of enriched uranium.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 18, 2024

U.S. probes uranium imports from China amid concerns over Russian ban

The U.S. banned Russian enriched uranium in December 2023 as part of an effort to disrupt Russia's ability to fund its war on Ukraine.
Japan's export growth slowed sharply in August as shipments to the United States dropped for the first time in three years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2024

Japan’s export growth slows as external demand moderates

Imports climbed 2.3%, falling short of the 15% gain forecast by economists, with trade deficit widening to ¥695.3 billion.
An Apple store in Tokyo's Omotesando district
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 18, 2024

Seven quasi-gang members arrested for obstructing Apple store in Tokyo

They are believed to have been seeking to purchase many iPhone 15 handsets at the store in the Japanese capital's Shibuya Ward for resale.
Tokyo Metro is expected to announce on Friday details of its initial public offering, with sources saying the firm is considering introducing shareholder benefits.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 18, 2024

Tokyo Metro considers a shareholder benefits program

The subway operator is expected to announce details of its IPO on Friday, which may value the company around ¥700 billion ($5 billion).
Japan might have created the PlayStation brand, but the cost of the latest generation of the console will exclude all but the most hardcore fans.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024

PS5 Pro price is a sticker shock for the country that made the PlayStation

With even an entry-level PS5 now costing some ¥72,980 following the latest hike last month, an entire generation of Japanese could be cut off.
A soldier stands guard near the American University of Beirut Medical Center after as many as 2,800 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2024

Hezbollah pager attack looks like a decapitation strike

The sophisticated nature of the attack, involving the insertion of explosive material into pagers, suggests a high level of intelligence and planning.
The World Trade Center's South Tower (left) and the North Tower burn after al-Qaida terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the buildings in New York City on
Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died in the incident, including 24 Japanese nationals. 

REUTERS
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024

The forgotten impact of 9/11 on Japan

Though an ocean away, 9/11 was a wake up call to the Japanese people that the 21st century would not be an era of everlasting peace.
Workers take a midday rest at Sudirman Central Business District in Jakarta on Feb. 15. For the past two months, fund managers have boosted positions in sovereign bonds in Indonesia, as well as Thailand and Malaysia.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2024

How Asia is bracing for Fed’s imminent shift to rate cuts

The widely anticipated pivot is likely to bolster emerging market assets in Asia and extend their lead over global favorites such as Japan and chip stocks.
Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates after a campaign event in Nagoya on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2024

LDP leader candidates split on separate surnames for married couples

While party conservatives worry about damaging family unity, others say it’s time to push through a legislative change.
The remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2024

Taiwanese and Hungarian firms deny making Hezbollah pagers

A source close to Hezbollah previously said the devices appear to have been "sabotaged at source."
The H3 rocket, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, lifts off from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2024

Mitsubishi to provide H3 rockets for France's Eutelsat from 2027

The deal is a major overseas win for Japan's ¥220 billion ($1.55 billion) state-backed H3 rocket project.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on interest rate policy in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 19, 2024

Fed cuts rates by half-point in decisive bid to defend economy

It is the Fed’s first rate cut in more than four years.
The world-beating record rally in Japanese shares this year has stalled, with a 12% plunge in both the Topix and Nikkei 225 gauges on Aug. 5 underscoring the risks of putting money into already high-flying equities.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 19, 2024

Japanese share sales reach 20-year high despite market rout

The share surge was driven in part by policymakers pushing companies to boost returns for their shareholders.
The logo of Japanese walkie-talkie maker Icom at a shop in Tokyo. The firm said that it had stopped producing the model of radios reportedly used in recent blasts in Lebanon around a decade ago.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024

Walkie-talkies in Lebanon blasts were discontinued a decade ago

Thousands of electronic devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, exploded over the last two days, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 3,000.
Elon Musk has tried to portray the judge’s efforts as a dangerous example of state overreach and an attack on free speech, while supporters say the campaign is necessary to clean up the internet.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2024

Elon Musk’s X bypasses Brazil ban through a software update

Brazil’s telecoms regulator, Anatel, said there was no change in the Supreme Court decision to ban X, formally known as Twitter.
Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu (center) says the nation's labor shortage is the biggest challenge its convenience stores face.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024

Lawson to open convenience stores of the 'future' next spring in Tokyo

The goal of the project is to help reduce the workload of store staff by 30% by fiscal 2030.
Boeing factory workers gather on a picket line during the first day of a strike near the entrance of a production facility in Renton, Washington, on Sept. 13.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024

Boeing furloughs thousands as no progress made to resolve strike

Selected employees will take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike by some 30,000 machinists, which began last Friday.
A game between the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx in Indianapolis earlier this month.
BASKETBALL
Sep 19, 2024

WNBA awards Portland expansion team that will start play in 2026

Portland will be the third expansion franchise the WNBA adds over the next two years with Golden State and Toronto having previously been awarded teams.
A shinkansen bullet train is stopped in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Thursday morning following a decoupling incident.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2024

Tohoku Shinkansen services briefly halted after train car decoupling

The incident marks the first time that a coupler has come undone while the train is traveling, according to JR East.
Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are suing video game developer Pocketpair for patent infringement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 19, 2024

Nintendo sues 'Pokemon with guns' maker for patent infringement

"Palworld" — which sold more than 5 million copies in just three days — features weapon-wielding player avatars and monsters that look similar to Pokemon.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell injected uncertainty as to where future rates will ultimately land during his news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2024

The Fed’s uncertain destination troubles the bond market

The upshot is that longer-term bond yields don’t have much room to fall in the near-term unless the economy weakens materially.
Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard’s initial $14.86-a-share proposal, seen as cheap at only 20% above Seven & I’s share price, may fail without a higher bid.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2024

How 7-Eleven can get a big price from Circle K

Alimentation Couche-Tard’s initial $14.86-a-share proposal, seen as cheap at only 20% above Seven & I’s share price, is unlikely to succeed without a higher bid.
Shohei Ohtani connects on his 50th home run of the season during the seventh inning against the Marlins in Miami on Thursday. Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 20, 2024

Shohei Ohtani records baseball's first 50-50 season with huge night in Miami

Shohei Ohtani is the first player in MLB history to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season.
The Shenzhen Japanese School in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 20, 2024

Xi’s nationalism faces a reckoning after the murder of a Japanese boy

The Chinese government is now grappling with online hatred spilling over into real-life violence.
A smartphone running ChatGPT4o as it tries to solve a geometry problem in San Francisco on May 28.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 20, 2024

OpenAI unveils new ChatGPT that can reason through math and science

The new technology is part of a wider effort to build AI that can reason through complex tasks.
OpenAI announced a new reasoning model on Thursday that it said was capable of surpassing human experts in a number of technical benchmarks for the first time. The new model received the company's first "medium" rating on bioweapon risk.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

Battle rages over U.S.' first binding AI safety bill in California

The legislation has exposed a deep divide across the tech industry and the political establishment, upending the usual coalitions.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Analysts polled ahead of Friday were in agreement that the BOJ would choose not to make any rate adjustments.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 20, 2024

Bank of Japan leaves rates unchanged as Ueda signals pause

The central bank on Friday kept the uncollateralized overnight call rate steady at 0.25% following a two-day meeting of its Policy Board.
The Fair Trade Commission says rules preventing pro baseball players from freely choosing their agents for contract negotiations could violate the antimonopoly law.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2024

Japan FTC warns pro baseball body over agent rules

The body's rules have limited agents for players to lawyers and prohibited players from choosing lawyers who had already been picked by other players.
Rice in a field in Tambasasayama, Hyogo Prefecture in August. Rice prices jumped 28.3%, posting the largest increase since September 1975.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2024

Japan core consumer prices up 2.8% in August

Rice prices shot up 28.3%, electricity rates soared 26.2% and city gas rates 15.1%, following an end of government subsidies.

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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