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The Energy Powerwall Home Battery charging station in Brussels in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 17, 2024

New EU emissions rules drive petrol car price hikes and EV discounts

Analysts say major carmakers have adjusted their pricing strategy to curb demand for heavy emitters and make pricier electric models appealing.
A Lower House committee on political reform deliberates on a revision of the political funds law on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Bill to abolish funds for political activities clears Lower House

The bill will put a stop to the disbursement of such funds, criticized for their lack of transparency, by parties to their lawmakers.
A demonstrator reacts after lawmakers passed a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

South Korea’s ‘hurry hurry’ culture helps bring down a president

The swiftness of Yoon Suk Yeol's fall gestures at the country's culture of taking a head-on approach to solving conflict.
Daishiro Yamagiwa, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's group for semiconductors, says a project to develop a domestic manufacturer of next-generation semiconductors is a battle for the nation's survival.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2024

Japan to support Rapidus even if it delays goal, chip czar says

"We’ve carried out our semiconductor strategy with determination and the Rapidus project is a core part of the strategy,” Daishiro Yamagiwa said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the National Caucus holiday party in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Trudeau’s political crisis rips up playbook for trade fight with Trump

Canada's prime minister is now on the back foot after his finance minister resigned, a move that cast doubt on his preparation for a clash with the U.S.
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Lula’s rival-turned-vice president finds himself in unwanted limelight

Many business leaders consider VP Geraldo Alckmin better equipped than Lula to respond to the growing economic and political challenges that are besieging Brazil.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda holds a news conference after a BOJ policy meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2024

Bank of Japan opts for caution as Trump factor and wage concerns weigh

Ueda said that it might take quite a while to fully assess Japan’s wage-growth trend and the impact of the economic policies of the Trump administration.
Runako Onodera,who donated a book purchased at a bookstore to "Book Santa" on Nov. 25 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024

Santa project to deliver donated books to children in Noto

1,868 bookstores joining the project across the country's 47 prefectures at present will continue to collect donations until Wednesday.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, speaks during a vote of confidence at the Bundestag in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Scholz’s far-right rival puts Germany’s EU exit on the ballot

Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel says the bloc’s "socialist policy making” has "destroyed the market mechanism in Europe.”
A limited edition of PlayStation 5 (PS5) Pro video game console
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2024

Sony’s record climb makes investors more bullish on gaming boom

Sony Group’s long-awaited rise to record highs has emboldened bullish investors and analysts, who see gains extending into 2025 on a robust outlook for video games.
Fire trucks gather around a building in Sapporo’s Susukino entertainment district on Nov. 26.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Sapporo arson suspect dies in hospital

Police still intend to submit the arson case to prosecutors and are committed to piecing together the events that led to the blaze.
Emergency personnel work at a Christmas market after a car drove into a group of people in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday, killing at least two.
WORLD
Dec 21, 2024

Death toll from German Christmas market car-ramming reportedly rises to four

The attacker was described as a 50-year-old male doctor from Saudi Arabia with permanent residency in Germany, where he had lived for almost two decades.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters following the passage of spending legislation to avert a government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

U.S. Congress passes bill to avert shutdown

After weeks of tense negotiations that went down to the wire, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2024

Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France

Watson, 74, was released after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe attends a training session on Saturday near Madrid.
SOCCER
Dec 22, 2024

Mbappe's adaptation period over, Real Madrid boss says

Mbappe, 26, has 13 goals in 23 games for Real Madrid across all competitions, and coach Carlo Ancelotti expects many more to follow.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes throws a pass during Kansas City's win over Houston on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Dec 22, 2024

NFL-best Chiefs beat Texans while Ravens clinch playoff spot

The two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs defeated Houston 27-19 and are on the cusp of clinching the top seed in the AFC.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson talks to journalists after he was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, at the Place de la Republique in Paris on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2024

Freed activist Paul Watson vows to 'end whaling worldwide'

The 74-year-old returned to France after spending five months in detention in Greenland due to an extradition demand from Japan.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng at an event welcoming pandas to the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8. American intelligence agencies have warned of influence operations targeting city halls and statehouses. But what's in it for Beijing?
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

As China seeks influence, it has a cuddly way into city hall: pandas

Records and interviews show that Beijing has used pandas as leverage to shape policy on Taiwan and to cultivate relationships with local U.S. politicians.
People gather to view a rocket launch test by AstroX in the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture on Nov. 9.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2024

Fukushima startup aiming to launch rocket from flying balloon

Since the method does not require large-scale ground facilities, the cost can be reduced to one-third of that on the ground, according to the company.
Protesters behead a statue of Saddam Hussein's predecessor, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979, in Baghdad's al-Mansur district in May 2003, erasing one of the last symbols of the Baath Party's 35-year regime.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2024

Can lessons from Iraq's regime change be applied in Syria?

If regional tensions escalate, disruptions to energy supplies could impact global markets, including Japan, which remains disengaged despite the mounting crisis.
Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida (left), Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe (second from left) and Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, hold a news conference on merger talks on Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 23, 2024

Honda-Nissan megamerger in the works

Both carmakers are facing overcapacity and the need for huge investments related to electric-vehicle and self-driving technologies.
A border fence along the Syria-Israel buffer zone near Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024

Israel and Turkey shape a new Syria from their borderlands

Syria’s leadership isn’t the only aspect of the country to be changing as a result of this month’s toppling of longtime dictator, Bashar Assad.
A vendor selling spy cameras takes a phone call inside his shop at a market in New Delhi. Elaborate Indian weddings are big business, and for some families, the first step of celebration is not to call a priest or a party planner — but a private detective.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 23, 2024

Bride, groom, spy: India's wedding detectives

In a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches.
Singapore's Maersk Taurus container ship transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama on Aug. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Trump previews combative foreign policy with threats to Panama and Greenland

Defenders of Donald Trump's approach say he is merely a forceful advocate of "America First" policies.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Trump transition team plans immediate WHO withdrawal, expert says

The plan would mark a dramatic shift in U.S. global health policy and further isolate Washington from international efforts to battle pandemics.
Tohoku University is set to be the first recipient of a new state subsidy program for universities aiming to offer world-class research capabilities.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2024

Ministry approves 25-year plan by Tohoku University to boost research with aid

The education ministry is set to start providing the university with some ¥15.4 billion for the program's initial year.
Political reform bills clear the Upper House plenary session in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2024

Parliament wraps up, showing minority government's lack of control

Several concessions had to be made to the opposition before the ruling coalition could garner the support it needed to get its bills passed.
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Mizuho CEO sees global boom in M&A after Trump takes office

Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
David Nemecek
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2024

The star dealmakers remaking the rules of corporate debt

The world of liability management is a small, aggressive and, thus far, male-dominated corner of corporate finance.
Christians take selfies after a Christmas Eve Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that struck the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 25, 2024

Blogs to Bluesky: Social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami

In two decades, the online social media landscape has experienced a vast change, allowing information — as well as rumor and misinformation — to flow in real time.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?