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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 FBI headquarters building in Washington in 2018
WORLD
Sep 19, 2024

FBI disrupts second Chinese hacking group, director says

Flax Typhoon is said to have targeted critical infrastructure, corporations, media organizations, universities and government agencies.
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.
The flags of the U.S. and China sit in a room where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, in Beijing on April 26.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

The challenges posed by China exceed those of the Cold War, U.S. says

Analysts and members of the U.S. Congress have said escalating global competition between China and the U.S. resemble a different but new style of cold war.
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.
Indian soldiers participate in a mock drill exercise in New Delhi in 2016. The transfer of Indian munitions to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and customs data.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Ammunition from India enters Ukraine, raising Russian ire

The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data.
Bulk carriers float offshore from Singapore, on Feb. 19.
WORLD
Sep 19, 2024

The shadow fleet transporting sanctioned gas for Russia

In the short term it could provide some wartime profit, but Moscow's ultimate goal is to triple LNG exports by 2030.
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.
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Microsoft executive warns of meddling in final days of U.S. election

Brad Smith said lessons should be learned from certain other elections that have seen fake information circulated.
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.
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito speaks during a prefectural assembly session on Thursday in Kobe. A motion of no confidence against Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, was submitted to the prefectural assembly on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Hyogo assembly passes no-confidence motion against embattled governor

The extremely rare move forces Gov. Motohiko Saito, who is accused of workplace bullying, to either step down or dissolve the assembly within 10 days.
Comedian Yuriyan Retriever takes on the role of Japan’s most hated heel, Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto, in “The Queen of Villains.”
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 20, 2024

Yuriyan Retriever is Japan's biggest heel — and proud of it

The comedian takes on the role of Kaoru “Dump” Matsumoto, a real-life rule-breaking brawler in women’s professional wrestling, in Netflix's “The Queen of Villains.”
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.
“Patlabor: The Movie” keeps the fun and irreverence of the small-screen series while adding a more contemplative touch.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 20, 2024

At 35, ‘Patlabor’ now looks awfully prescient

The robot-centric film is back in theaters across Japan in celebration of its 35th anniversary, and the future it paints looks mighty familiar.
A man holds a walkie-talkie device after he removed the battery during a funeral for those killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 20, 2024

Exploding pagers attack shakes global trust in supply-chain security

While booby-trapped devices have been used in spycraft for years, the scale and violence of the attacks in Lebanon alarmed even some seasoned officials.
An Israeli fighter jet takes off at an unidentified location to conduct strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, in this photo released on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 20, 2024

Israel unleashes strikes on Lebanon as U.S. and U.K. urge restraint

The U.S. said a diplomatic solution was achievable and urgent, and Britain called for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
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.
Colombo International Container Terminals, seen from the Galle Face promenade, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Monday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

A deepening U.S.-China rivalry hangs over Sri Lanka’s election

The three countries are all jockeying for influence with lawmakers and investors.
Though none will yet say it openly, some in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party believe he should follow his idol U.S. President Joe Biden and step aside for a more charismatic champion.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

Far-right's fate in German regional vote could break or make Scholz

The vote in Brandenburg could trigger a party backlash against Olaf Scholz or, if his party holds the state, confirm him as their candidate for 2025.
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.
A drone view shows a burned area following a recent wildfire on Mount Penteli, near Athens in August.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 20, 2024

As wildfires wipe out forests, Greeks debate: To replant, or not?

Tree loss raises the risk of flash floods from rains on denuded grounds no longer protected by tree canopies and root systems, as well as higher air temperatures.
A man holds a new iPhone 16 at an Apple store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2024

Apple's iPhone 16 released in Japan

The Japanese version of Apple Intelligence will be launched next year.
Toyota Gazoo Racing fans cheer on the team at the start of the 6 Hours of Fuji race on Sunday at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 20, 2024

For Toyota and its rivals, WEC becomes important arena amid major industry shift

Carmakers' involvement in endurance racing has taken on a new level of importance as the auto industry faces a once-a-generation sea change.
Plaintiffs living in Tokyo and the neighboring city of Kawasaki had sued the government saying the Haneda routes posed risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 20, 2024

Court rejects petition against low-altitude Haneda routes

Residents said that the routes posed the risk of falling objects and aircraft crashes, as well as causing noise and exhaust gas pollution.
Before Shohei Ohtani created the 50-50 club on Thursday, just two players in MLB history had hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in a season, but not in the same one.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 21, 2024

Others who had 50 steals or 50 homers admire Ohtani's feat

Before Shohei Ohtani created the 50-50 club on Thursday, just two players in MLB history had hit 50 homers and stolen 50 bases in a season, but not in the same one.
A vaccine that can protect against six types of cancer is available: the human papillomavirus vaccine. Despite its proven effectiveness, many parents and others remain hesitant over its use.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 20, 2024

Boys need the HPV cancer vaccine as much as girls

The virus doesn’t only cause cervical cancer, it’s the culprit behind numerous other cancers
U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman attends the annual Pride march in Budapest on June 22.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2024

What does America stand for? The world no longer knows.

Pressman argues that Orban is miscalculating by betting on Trump’s return to power and warns of a shift in U.S.-Hungary relations if Kamala Harris becomes president.
Hashim Safieddine, a Shiite Muslim cleric and the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, speaks Wednesday during a funeral in Beirut for some of those killed after paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day.
EDITORIALS
Sep 20, 2024

Pager bombs just add more fuel to the Middle East fire

The tale that is emerging after the pager bombs is one that resembles a spy novel, a feat of derring-do by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan