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A close up of EV batteries at the production unit of Inobat, a Slovakian battery maker in Voderady, Slovakia, on Dec. 11
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024

After Northvolt, Europe's battery hopes heavily rely on China

The norm in the future may be joint ventures that rely on China's low-margin electric vehicle battery dominance.
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe speaks during a joint news conference with heads of Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors on their merger talks in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 24, 2024

Honda crafts Nissan rescue plan that plays out over years

While executives called the transaction a merger, Honda will take the lead in forming the new entity and nominate a majority of its directors.
A Wall Street sign in front of a U.S. Flag outside the New York Stock Exchange before the Federal Reserve announcement in New York on Sept. 18.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 24, 2024

Risks stack up for the global economy in 2025

New spending priorities beckon for national budgets already stretched after the pandemic, from tackling climate change to boosting armies to caring for aging populations.
Minutes from the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting highlight how overseas economic risks, particularly those surrounding the new U.S. administration's policies, will be key to how soon the BOJ will hike rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024

BOJ debated need for caution in raising rates, meeting minutes show

Contrary to its concern over external risks, the BOJ board was mostly optimistic on domestic economic conditions.
"In order to secure quality talent, we have to raise wages above inflation," Daiwa Securities CEO Akihiko Ogino has said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Daiwa aims to raise wages at least 5% next year amid competition for talent

Daiwa is discussing a pay raise of at least 5% for the financial year beginning in April 2025, after hikes of 5%, 4% and 7% in the three years prior.
Nippon Steel's $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel has been referred to U.S. President Joe Biden after a U.S. panel on foreign investments was unable to reach a consensus.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Nippon Steel's bid for U.S. Steel referred to Biden for final decision

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States referred the bid to the U.S. president after failing to reach a consensus.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in October 2017. Canada, like other nations in the president-elect's crosshairs, is scrambling to blunt the impact of his threat to implement steep tariffs once he re-takes office.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024

The creep of national security threatens the WTO

In Trump's mind, tariffs are the cure-all for virtually everything that ails the United States.
Toyota is negotiating with local authorities and other parties involved to set up a wholly owned production plant in Shanghai in the wake of the Chinese government's foreign investment deregulation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Toyota eyes solo Lexus EV plant in Shanghai

The automaker, which currently ships Lexus models from Japan to China, intends to put the plant into production as early as around 2027.
Internally displaced Syrians from eastern Ghouta queue for food in a Damascus countryside in April 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2024

Global hunger crisis deepens as major nations skimp on aid

The United Nations says that, at best, it will be able to raise enough money to help about 60% of the 307 million people it predicts will need humanitarian aid next year.
Japan aims to accelerate offshore wind development as part of its decarbonization strategy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Japan selects two groups for third offshore wind power round

The country aims to accelerate offshore wind development as part of its decarbonization strategy.
Christians attend a Christmas mass at the Lady of Damascus church, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar Assad, in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Dec 25, 2024

Syrian Christians attend Christmas mass for first time since Assad's fall

De facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa has told Christians and other groups that they will be safe in a Syria run by his group.
Palestinians gather at a charity kitchen in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 4.
WORLD
Dec 25, 2024

Looting cripples Gaza food supply despite Israeli pledge to tackle gangs

Israel has failed to crack down on armed gangs attacking food convoys in Gaza, despite a pledge to do so in mid-October to help ward off famine in the Palestinian enclave, according to three U.N. and U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The commitment, made behind closed doors, seemed like a breakthrough...
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024

Ishiba aims for agreement on corporate political donations by March

While opposition parties are pushing for a ban on such donations, Ishiba has reiterated his opposition to such a move.
The United States Steel's Clairton Coke Works facility in Clairton, Pennsylvania. In a letter, a group that includes mayors in Pennsylvania and Indiana denounced the head of the United Steelworkers union over his refusal to negotiate in good faith with Nippon Steel its plan to acquire U.S. Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024

Mayors urge Biden to approve Nippon Steel acquisition of U.S. Steel

A total of 20 people, including the heads of administrative districts where U.S. Steel facilities are located, underlined the importance of the deal to the local communities.
Africa’s growing resource nationalism is prompting governments to renegotiate mining deals, aiming for a larger share of profits from mineral resources and reducing the revenues for multinational companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

Africans demand a bigger share of their natural resources wealth

Multinational companies should hurry to find sustainable ways in which they can share risk and revenue with governments, as they do elsewhere.
This is set to be the first time Toyota will donate to a U.S. inauguration ceremony.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2024

Toyota to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration ceremony

President-elect Trump says he plans to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico, triggering concerns from automakers that rely on Mexican production for the U.S. market.
People walk past a Dior shop in Rome on Dec. 18.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Luxury labels bulk up on lower-priced goods to broaden appeal

After more than two years of sharp price hikes, luxury labels are finding themselves at risk of alienating the middle class.
Japan Airlines jets at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in August. On Thursday, JAL announced its systems had been targeted in a cyberattack.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2024

Japan Airlines reports cyberattack on system, impacting flights

JAL's systems appeared to have returned to normal after the router believed to have been causing the disruption was temporarily shut down.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 26, 2024

Japan and China to continue delicate diplomatic dance in 2025

While Tokyo and Beijing have touted the importance of thawing ties, experts say a number of issues are likely to mean continued hedging by both sides.
People use their smartphones as they sit on motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 26, 2024

Sweeping Vietnam internet law comes into force

Under a new law, all tech giants operating in Vietnam must verify users' accounts via their phone numbers or Vietnamese identification numbers.
The government plans to invest ¥100 billion in Rapidus under its fiscal 2025 budget.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2024

Japanese government to invest ¥100 billion in Rapidus in 2025

The government hopes its investment will encourage private funding for the chipmaker, which is building a plant to produce next-generation semiconductors.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's Osaka factory
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2024

Hong Kong fund increases its stake in Kobayashi Pharmaceutical

Oasis Management said its stake in Kobayashi Pharmaceutical climbed to 10.1% from 7.5%.
Comedian-turned-investor Toshiya Imura (left) and former Goldman Sachs analyst Keizo Takeiri pose prior to an interview in Tokyo on Dec. 3.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2024

Japanese comedian-turned-investor launches fund with 'stock geek'

The one-time entertainer, Toshiya Imura, has teamed up with Keizo Takeiri, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, to launch Japan's newest stock fund.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at the meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Japan wage growth projected to outpace inflation in fiscal 2025

In fiscal 2025, nominal wages are projected to increase 2.8% from the previous year, while the overall consumer price index is forecast to rise 2.0%.
The Japanese economy is expected to grow 1.2% in fiscal 2025 in price-adjusted real terms, according to a government forecast.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Japan's government expects 1.2% economic growth for fiscal 2025

The government maintained its view that personal consumption will be solid thanks to stable inflation and the effects of its economic package.
The latest sale plan of Japanese government bonds reflects the government's efforts to fill a huge hole left by the BOJ's diminishing presence in the JGB market.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 26, 2024

Government plans to sell more JGBs for first time in four years, draft shows

Much of the increase will be made in shorter-dated debt to tap demand from Japanese banks.
According to Teikoku Databank, January price markups will center on bread products.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Prices of 1,380 food items set to rise in Japan in January

According to a private research firm, January markups will center on bread products.
Nippon Steel's headquarters in Tokyo. The Japanese steelmaker said Thursday it has extended the closing period for its $15 billion purchase of U.S. Steel to the first quarter of 2025.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2024

Nippon Steel extends closing date for U.S. Steel acquisition

The estimated closing date has been revised to the first quarter of 2025.
Inflation in Tokyo accelerated for a second month in December, as the government temporarily phased out utility subsidies, a result that will likely support expectations of an interest rate hike next year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 27, 2024

Inflation in Tokyo accelerates, keeping rate hike prospects intact

The Tokyo core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose 2.4% in December from a year earlier.

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?