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Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo after being elected the party's new leader Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 30, 2024

Tokyo stocks fall 4.8% in first day of trading after Ishiba's victory

The surprise result in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election “contributed to meaningful volatility” in the markets.
The four remaining U.K. Conservative leadership contenders (from left): Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2024

Tories turn on each other in race to succeed low-key Sunak

The U.K. Conservatives' annual conference has kicked off with jibes between leadership contenders.
Chinese bookings for overseas flights and hotels have spiked from last year’s holiday week.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2024

Chinese headed to Europe and far-flung hot spots for Golden Week

Vacation bookings are closer than ever to returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Shareholder support for Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda slid after government probes uncovered fraudulent vehicle certifications at Toyota and its group companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2024

Opposition to Toyota’s chairman spreads among big shareholders

Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company’s founder, saw shareholder support drop to 85% last year, a record low at the time, and then a further decline to 72% in June.
Volkswagen expects to deliver fewer vehicles this year than in 2023 — its fourth annual sales slump in five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2024

Volkswagen’s second profit warning exposes a carmaker in decline

The company expects to deliver fewer vehicles this year than in 2023.
Employees of the Tokai village government in Ibaraki Prefecture offers a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a criticality accident that occurred at a facility of nuclear fuel-processing company JCO.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024

Ex-mayor raps government for lack of preparedness for nuclear disasters

Tatsuya Murakami, who dealt with a 1999 nuclear accident as a village chief, warns against the pursuit of nuclear power without weighing its risks.
At least four Japanese firms removed Nomura Holdings as bond manager after market rule violations were found.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2024

Nomura excluded from several yen bond deals on rule breach

The securities watchdog said it had investigated Nomura for suspected market manipulation in government bond futures and found violations.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to sign a memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech Chinese goods at the White House in March 2018.
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2024

Trumpism, Stalinism and the tariff debate

Trump loyalists — which these days means almost the entire Republican Party — insist as a group that foreigners, not American consumers, pay taxes on imports.
Rescue personnel search for missing people in debris after flooding along the Tsukada River Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Sept. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2024

Lessons from Japan’s fight against floods as the climate changes

As climate change intensifies flood risk, Japan should rely more on adaptive and nature-based solutions to prepare for disasters like the recent deluge in Ishikawa.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday. Some 45,000 union workers could walk off the job at seaports on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts on Oct. 1.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2024

U.S. port labor dispute threatens range of products

A possible strike by 45,000 union workers could affect the availability of anything from bananas to clothing to cars and cost the U.S. economy $5 billion daily.
People walk on an overpass with a display of stock information in front of buildings in the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai on Aug. 6.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2024

Global investors call time on their exodus from China

Beijing's moves to entice more cash into equities and jolt consumer spending have boosted the appeal of still-low Chinese company valuations.
The Bank of Japan's September board meeting summary suggests the BOJ will endeavor to send clearer hints before raising its benchmark rate again.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024

BOJ keen to avoid surprises after rate hike tanked Nikkei, meeting notes show

The bank's July 31 rate hike shocked markets and prompted the 225-issue Nikkei average's biggest tumble on record.
The ByteDance logo at the company's office in Shanghai in 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2024

ByteDance rumored to be planning new AI model trained with Huawei chips

ByteDance has diversified to domestic suppliers of chips for artificial intelligence and has been accelerated development of its own since the U.S. restricted exports.
Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet appointments reveal deep fissures within the party resulting from his victory in the leadership race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2024

The new prime minister puts together a ‘disunity Cabinet’

While Ishiba tries to promote his policy priorities, the Cabinet's composition may create challenges for his leadership.
Google's plan to invest $1 billion in data centers in Thailand underscores a push by Southeast Asia’s governments to attract foreign tech firms.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2024

Google to spend $1 billion in Thailand in Southeast Asia AI push

The outlay could help add $4 billion to Thailand’s economy by 2029 and support 14,000 jobs annually over the next five years, Google says.
An electronic stock board displays the 225-issue Nikkei average and the rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2024

Ishiba cool on Abenomics, pragmatic and a bit of a mystery

Analysts argue that the new prime minister will be more like former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida than former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 10. The governor has signed a law that aims to prevent instances of stalking and harassment using sophisticated car features such as location tracking and remote control.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 1, 2024

California enacts car data privacy law to curb domestic violence

The move aims to prevent stalking and harassment using features such as location tracking and remote control as automakers add more sophisticated tech to their cars.
Workers picket outside of the APM container terminal at the Port of Newark in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2024

U.S. dockworkers strike to stop automation already seen at other ports

Longshoremen have gone on strike for the first time since 1977 as the union takes a hard-line stance against automation.
Fans watch the Super Bowl at the FanDuel sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in February 2019.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Oct 2, 2024

FanDuel sued by convicted NFL executive over gambling addiction

The complaint by Amit Patel, who was sentenced to 78 months behind bars in March, alleges that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gaming protocols.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives for a photograph with his new Cabinet members at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2024

Number of women in Japan's Cabinet drops to two

The government and businesses have regularly missed a range of self-imposed targets and plans to increase the number of women in leadership positions.
Traders borrow in currencies where rates are low and put that money to work in economies where rates are high, pocketing the difference.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024

Massive carry trade still lurks in the shadows and looms over markets

Trillions might remain, slightly different, less obvious and all but forgotten by a market eager to move on.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba to focus on fighting inflation ahead of election

He also aims to calm financial markets by signaling a willingness to spend flexibly in the wake of a stock market plunge following his accession in the ruling party.
Visitors play Super Mario on a giant video game console during a media preview of the new Nintendo Museum, located inside a renovated old factory, in the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, on Sept. 24.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

From cards to consoles: Nintendo opens its first museum

The museum is part of Nintendo's efforts to broaden its brand that include the release of a Super Mario animated movie last year.
Japanese firms’ issuance of dollar bonds has surged 60% so far in the fiscal year that started in April, as they target a larger investor base away from the home market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Japan firms rush past global peers in hunt for dollar funds

The rush highlights the changes issuers and investors face as the U.S. Federal Reserve eases rates while the Bank of Japan heads in the opposite direction.
Oracle plans to spend $6.5 billion building a cloud services center in Malaysia, becoming the latest global tech name to invest in Southeast Asian AI infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Oracle to invest $6.5 billion to set up cloud facilities in Malaysia

Oracle's venture is set to be one of the largest single tech investments in Malaysia so far.
A woman is silhouetted at The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains at the V&A Museum in London in 2017.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Sony buys Pink Floyd music rights for $400 million, FT reports

The deal includes the band's name and portrait rights of its members.
Tire giant Bridgestone has become the latest Japanese firm to end its Olympic sponsorship.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Bridgestone becomes latest Japan firm to end Olympic sponsorship

Bridgestone struck sponsorship deals with the Olympics for 10 years in 2014 and the Paralympics for six years in 2018.
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2024

Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law

A weak yen, robust inbound tourism and social media have shone a spotlight on a park in Tokyo where men gather in search of sex.
Nomura Holdings Chief Executive Officer Kentaro Okuda apologized in his first public appearance following allegations that an employee manipulated the bond futures market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2024

Nomura CEO apologizes after bond market manipulation probe

The move came as Nomura competes to capitalize on a revival of the Japanese bond market fueled by a shift in the country’s monetary policy.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, seen on June 14, said on Wednesday that he told new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that the central bank was "supporting the economy with loose monetary conditions."
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2024

Ishiba says Japan not ready for rate hike after meeting BOJ's Ueda

"I told the prime minister that we are supporting the economy with loose monetary conditions," Ueda said.

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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