Search - business

 
 
A man searches through the rubble of a wrecked house in the Turkish town of Cankiri after a strong earthquake hit central Turkey in June 2000.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2024

Earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters will shape our future cities

The progress of Antakya’s renewal bears watching. However it proceeds, there will be lessons to learn.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an (center) during a news conference in Beijing on Saturday
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024

China leaves economists wanting more action to defeat deflation

The supportive measures announced by Finance Minister Lan Fo'an over the weekend gave little indication Chinese authorities feel any urgency to boost consumption.
Afghan women after an earthquake in Herat, Afghanistan, on Oct. 10, 2023
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 14, 2024

Poorest nations in worst financial shape since 2006, World Bank says

The World Bank report finds these economies are poorer today, on average, than they were on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A building that houses a museum of penises and an H&M in Reykjavik, Iceland, has become the virtual home to some of the world’s worst perpetrators of identity theft, ransomware, disinformation, and other wrongdoing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2024

Some of the web’s sketchiest sites share an address in Iceland

The street address of the Icelandic Phallological Museum is also the registered address for a company that allows people to shield their identities online.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a debate session with other political party leaders at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2024

Japan’s sales tax likely to remain 10% as big parties avoid third rail

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba aims to fund social security programs without changing the current tax rate of 10%.
Kioxia has undergone years of upheaval and the attempt to list the company is closely watched as a test case for buyout firms in Japan where more companies are selling non-core assets or going private.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2024

Bain sought $10 billion valuation for Japan's Kioxia, but investors only wanted to pay half

The valuation gap complicates the buyout firm's effort to exit its six-year-old investment in Kioxia.
Norinchukin Bank kicked off its first dollar bond sale since March last year to finance environmentally related projects.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2024

Norinchukin kicks off first dollar bond sale since losses

The bank started marketing a five-year green bond on Oct. 8 at a spread of around 155 basis points over Treasurys.
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III-M1 blasts off carrying Chandrayaan-2, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota, India, on July 22, 2019.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 14, 2024

India creates space strategy to capture market beyond SpaceX

At stake is a launch market worth $14.54 billion by 2031.
President of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen (center), Honorary President of the CPP Heng Samrin (left) and Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet (right)
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2024

The son almost rises: Cambodia's Hun Sen the power behind throne

More than a year after inheriting power from his father, Cambodian PM has yet to hold an open news conference to explain how he will navigate challenges.
Employees work at a copper smelter in Yantai, Shandong province, in China, on April 26, 2023.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024

Inside China's bid to build sway over global metals pricing

After buying mining assets around the world, China wants a bigger say in how the prices of the metals mined are determined.
A young man waits for customers, while selling national flags and patriotic memorabilia in Karachi in August.
WORLD / Society
Oct 15, 2024

Pakistan 'vigilantes' behind rise in online blasphemy cases

Cases of online blasphemy — a crime that carries the death penalty in the country — have exploded in recent years, with arrests turning lives upside down.
Organic, unpasteurized butter is prepared at a milk farm in Saint-Colomban, near Nantes, France, in 2017.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 15, 2024

Bakers brace for costly Christmas as butter prices surge

Strong demand, tight supply and dairy processors' preference to use more milk for more profitable products such as cheese have driven the price surge.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's push to get companies to outline capital allocation plans has spurred investors to question management teams seen falling short, said Georgeson CEO Cas Sydorowitz.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2024

Japanese company shareholders increasingly challenge management

Shareholder resistance is now routinely a feature of Japan's annual general meeting season.
The prospect of the yen's further depreciation is prompting strategists to warn of increased intervention risk near the ¥150 level, or the 200-day moving average of ¥151.25.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2024

Intervention back on investors’ radars as yen weakens against dollar

The yen had its worst loss against the dollar since 2009 in the five days through Oct. 4.
CEATEC brings together 808 companies and organizations from Japan and abroad.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 15, 2024

CEATEC begins near Tokyo as humanity enters 'a new era' with AI

The trade fair showcases products and services that employ artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.
Attendees play an online game on computers in the Bandai Namco Entertainment booth at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba in September.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024

Bandai Namco cuts jobs and culls titles as game sector woes deepen

The firm is a storied name in the industry, tracing its roots back to the introduction of the Pac-Man arcade title in 1980.
Indonesia adopted a measure in 2014 requiring halal labeling for restaurants and food products.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2024

Indonesia to check grocery shelves as deadline for halal labels nears

The world's biggest Muslim-majority country adopted a measure in 2014 requiring the labeling for restaurants and food products.
Toho's acquisition of GKIDS is a fresh push by Toho to strengthen its resources in animation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2024

Toho buys Ghibli animation distributor GKIDS to further overseas growth

The acquisition comes amid a surge in global popularity for Japanese entertainment and fits with Toho's multiyear growth strategy.
Each year, millions of tons of trash and other pollutants enter the world's oceans, creating scenes like this one in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Multinationals must stop flow of ocean waste in Global South

The world's oceans are being suffocated by millions of tons of waste, especially in the Global South. The corporations responsible need to clean up their mess.
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto (right) talks with the country's outgoing leader, Joko Widodo, after the latter delivered the annual State of the Nation Address in Jakarta on Aug. 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Indonesia’s new president will keep the world guessing

Eliminating hunger is one thing — ensuring the economy is able to provide enough jobs for young people as they graduate from school and university is quite another.
In his July Republican Party acceptance speech, Donald Trump vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2024

Who wants to buy the miracle tonic of mass deportation?

Donald Trump's mass deportation plan could result in thousands of deaths, tear families apart, and devastate communities.
Silver Rathalos was among several monsters in the Monster Hunter universe that debuted at an in-person Monster Hunter Now event in Shibuya hosted by developer Niantic on the weekend of Oct. 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 16, 2024

Gamers hunt for monsters in Tokyo as Niantic searches for a hit

In Monster Hunter Now, the San Francisco-based company behind Pokemon Go is looking to emulate the success of the immensely popular 2016 game.
The Tokaido Shinkansen platforms at Nagoya Station are packed with passengers on Aug. 9, when the operator ran a record 483 trains in a single day.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Chubu
Oct 21, 2024

Timetable planners form backbone of Tokaido Shinkansen's 60-year journey

Timetables based on precise demand predictions and the efforts of staffers on the ground have been integral to the evolution of bullet trains.
Erika Worobec successfully sued to compel Washington County, Pennsylvania, officials to notify voters if their mail-in or absentee ballot had a clerical error.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 17, 2024

Ahead of U.S. election, Americans sue to ensure their votes count

Both the Democratic and Republican parties are fighting for every vote ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
A Louis Vuitton store under construction in the Sanlitun area of Beijing on Oct. 12
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024

LVMH sales drop as Chinese demand for costly handbags cools

Organic revenue at its key fashion and leather goods unit fell 5% in the third quarter, its worst performance since the second quarter of 2020.
Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery and slipping to negative growth for the first time since November last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 17, 2024

Japan’s exports fall most since 2021 amid global slowdown

Exports declined 1.7% from a year ago, led by cars, mineral fuels and construction machinery.
Components of a Huawei Technologies smartphone. Lawmakers in the U.S. are pushing to block Huawei suppliers from buying American chipmaking gear.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 17, 2024

Key lawmakers push to cut off Huawei suppliers from U.S. chip gear

The U.S. and its allies have broadly blocked sales of the most advanced chips and manufacturing gear to China.
Tourists watch the sunset from the beach in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia. An IPO by Holywings Group, owner of the luxurious three-hectare Atlas Beach Club in Bali, would add to as many as 95 companies planning to list in Southeast Asia’s biggest stock market, according to data from the Financial Services Authority.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024

Owner of Bali’s biggest luxury beach club considering IPO to expand across Asia

The IPO would add to as many as 95 companies planning to list in Southeast Asia’s biggest stock market, according to data from the Financial Services Authority.
Zootechnician Alejandra Curubo holds a tadpole in Nocaima, Cundinamarca department, Colombia, on July 9.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Oct 17, 2024

Lab-grown frogs: A Colombian's response to wildlife trafficking

The illegal trade in wild flora and fauna is the fourth-most profitable illicit business in the world.
Toyota Research Institute and Boston Dynamics are set to conduct research on use cases for AI-trained robots in areas such as human-robot interaction.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2024

Toyota joins with Hyundai's Boston Dynamics on AI-powered robots

Toyota has said it has made a breakthrough with artificial intelligence in teaching robots to learn.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?