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A single mom in Kobe moonlights as a sleuth in Simon Rowe’s “Mami Suzuki: Private Eye.”
CULTURE / Books
Jan 21, 2024

'Mami Suzuki: Private Eye': Kobe sleuth's colorful mysteries take readers around Japan

Simon Rowe’s straight-talking detective cuts a sophisticated figure as she solves matters the police won’t touch, all while looking after her young daughter and mother.
Paul Patterson, Fujitsu's European head, leaves after giving evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 20, 2024

Fujitsu says Post Office knew about Horizon bugs from the start

Errors from the firm's software led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of people for theft and false accounting.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 20, 2024

Sam Altman looks to raise billions for network of AI chip factories

The OpenAI CEO has has had conversations with several large potential investors in the hopes of raising the vast sums needed for chip fabrication plants.
Oil and gas tanks are seen at an oil warehouse at a port in Zhuhai, China, in October 2018.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2024

China defies sanctions to make Russia its biggest oil supplier in 2023

Russia shipped a record 107.02 million metric tons of crude oil to China last year, equivalent to 2.14 million barrels per day (bpd), the Chinese customs data showed.
Spain's Carlos Alcaraz serves against China's Shang Juncheng during the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Saturday.
TENNIS
Jan 20, 2024

Awesome Alcaraz reaches second week at Melbourne for first time

In the unusual position of playing someone younger than himself, two-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz simply dominated 18-year-old Shang.
Keisuke Honda is joining an inflow of investment in Japan’s long-neglected startup scene.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2024

Retired soccer star Honda sets up $100 million Japan startup fund

In a country where celebrities shy away from speaking about their money or investments, the former AC Milan midfielder faces little competition from other sports stars.
Solar installations in the village of Hjolderup in Denmark
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 21, 2024

Europe’s climate push fails to stem crisis in solar industry

Despite insistence to push for more homegrown energy infrastructure, governments have been slow to prop up the ailing industry.
Farmers protest against the government's planned cuts to agricultural sector subsides in Brandenburg, Germany, on Jan. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024

Why Germany is rich but Germans are poor and angry

Germany's polarization peaks as the country's divided society faces economic turmoil.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally in advance of the New Hampshire presidential primary election in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 22, 2024

Trump’s 2016 win shook markets. Traders won’t get fooled again.

Wall Street is already starting to game out the impact of Trump’s possible return to the White House.
Apple is entering its first major new product category since the company began selling smartwatches in 2015, and the Vision Pro may take years to catch on.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 22, 2024

Apple Vision Pro deliveries delayed to March in sign of early demand

The device is also sold out for Day 1 in-store pickup at many locations despite preorders having just begun on Friday ahead of its Feb. 2 rollout.
Projections for Japan's primary balance are presented at a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2024

Japan’s baseline forecasts show government missing budget goal

The primary balance is projected to be around minus 0.4% in fiscal year 2025.
Sony had been expected to benefit from Zee’s deep library of content in regional Indian languages and its dozens of local television channels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2024

Sony sends termination letter to Zee over India merger

The entertainment giant cited conditions of the merger agreement not being met as the reason for ending the deal with the Indian media network.
The Nikkei stock average rose above 36,570 Monday morning, a level not seen since February 1990.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 22, 2024

Japan's Nikkei scales 34-year peak on Wall Street record

The S&P 500 posted its first record-high close in two years, as AI fever drove big gains for chip shares and other heavyweight tech stocks.
By the end of the decade, nearly 700 cities are likely to have rolled out some version of urban metaverse technologies, including virtual and augmented reality applications, according to ABI Research.
WORLD / Society
Jan 22, 2024

Realities collide as 'augmented cities' emerge around the U.S.

AR can enhance life in cities, particularly for marginalized communities.
Monday's winter yellowtail catch at Takojima port in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2024

Fishing resumes at central port damaged by Noto quake

Most of the port's quays, which can also be used by large fishing vessels, were so damaged by the earthquake that boats could not approach.
A crane moves containers in Montreal on Jan. 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 23, 2024

Chaos in the Red Sea is starting to bite into companies’ profits

With the Red Sea crisis roiling shipments, it’s only a matter of time before soaring costs and supply-chain strains show up in companies’ earnings reports.
Kochikai, formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, meets in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2024

LDP agrees to reshape factions and toughen rules on political funding

It remains unclear, however, whether this move will lead to a substantial reform of the party's faction-oriented politics.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2024

Kishida pitches Japan's ‘golden opportunity’ at Goldman event

Japan's government will demonstrate the nation’s transition to a new economic stage by mobilizing all policy tools, the prime minister said in his video address.
The value of Japan's exports rose at the fast pace in a year in December, propelled by shipments to China growing for the first time in over a year and record sales to the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 24, 2024

Strong December exports boost odds of a return to growth last quarter

A return to growth would make it easier for the Bank of Japan to end its negative rate policy.
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Thailand's Move Forward party, attends a voting session on the day of the second vote for a new prime minister in Bangkok last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Thai court clears former PM hopeful of violating election law

The ruling said former prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat had not violated election law and could remain a lawmaker.
Taiwan's President-elect Lai Ching-te (left) and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim after Lai's presidential win in Taipei on Jan. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

U.S. lawmakers arrive for Taiwan visit

The visit marks the second by U.S. officials this month and comes after Nauru unexpectedly announced that it was switching allegiance to Beijing.
In Palworld, players can explore an open world and collectible Pokemon-esque creatures, some of whom utilize a variety of weaponry to defeat opponents.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 24, 2024

Overnight smash Palworld is much more than ‘Pokemon with guns’

Instead of “Pokemon with guns,” a more apt description for Palworld would be “Pokemon, but it grew up over the last 30 years.”
Fighters loyal to the Houthis ride on the back of a pick-up truck during a military parade for new tribal recruits amid escalating tensions with the U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea, in Bani Hushaish, Yemen on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 24, 2024

Red Sea attacks could disrupt shipping for months, driving up costs

With sailors demanding double pay and insurance rates skyrocketing, shipping lines are steering clear of a waterway that normally carries 12% of seaborne trade.
The market cap of Japan’s largest automaker reached ¥48.79 trillion ($330 billion) at the end of Tokyo stock trading on Tuesday, with Toyota shares having closed ¥9 higher at ¥2,991 after briefly reaching an all-time high of ¥3,034.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2024

Toyota’s market cap hits record high for a Japanese firm

Market participants are keeping a close eye on Japan’s top automaker amid expectations that it will post strong earnings.
Carmaker Daihatsu recalled more than 320,000 vehicles and extended a factory shutdown on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 24, 2024

Daihatsu recalls 320,000 cars and extends factory halt

The Toyota-owned firm notified the transport ministry that it would recall a total of 322,700 vehicles of two models due to a door defect.
Sony terminated merger plans with Zee on Monday after more than two years of negotiations, citing alleged breaches of the terms of their agreement.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024

India's Zee asks Sony to honor merger obligations and approaches tribunal

Zee denies Sony's claims that it had breached the terms of their agreement, which the Japanese company cited as the reason it called off the deal.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their first 2020 presidential campaign debate in Cleveland, Ohio.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 25, 2024

Wall Street maps out 2024 election as Trump vs Biden looks likely

While calculations at this stage come with caveats, expectations for politically fueled moves in asset prices around the 2024 vote are high.
Ice covers the Moskva river in downtown Moscow. The Kremlin still mostly relies on volunteers to fight its war in Ukraine, offering 210,000 rubles monthly.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2024

Russia’s war fuels a wage spiral that threatens army recruitment

The competition for employees has pushed wages up at a double-digit pace and made once-relatively lucrative military service less appealing.
China’s economy is facing an uphill battle filled with challenges, including a deepening housing slump, fears of a deflationary spiral and high levels of youth unemployment.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

China officials told Xi’s belt-tightening rules are here to stay

While President Xi Jinping has long discouraged excess, the renewed calls for austerity come as the world’s second-largest economy faces severe challenges.
Nippon Steel's plant in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture. The firm submitted a cash offer to acquire U.S. Steel for $55 a share on Dec. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2024

Sweetened offer in final hours clinched U.S. steel deal for Nippon

Nippon Steel executives submitted a sweetened cash offer to acquire the Pittsburgh-based company for $55 (¥8,120) a share on Dec. 16.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?