Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closes more than 10% up with other Asia markets rebounding on Tuesday
Japanese stocks soared more than 10% on Tuesday, a day after experiencing their biggest fall in 37 years, setting markets tumbling in Europe and on Wall Street.
Other markets in Asia also appeared to settle somewhat after the rollercoaster ride that started the week.
Continue reading...Japan suffers under extreme heat but cooler conditions in Europe provide welcome reprieve at Olympics
Significant flooding may be about to hit parts of Florida and Georgia. Over the weekend, Tropical Storm Debby developed and intensified in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, moving slowly northwards off the west coast of Florida. At the time of writing, forecast models were indicating that the storm was likely to develop into at least a category 1 hurricane before making landfall on Monday, with sustained winds in excess of 75mph. As the storm encounters the very warm coastal waters off western Florida, it may briefly develop into an even stronger storm.
The eye of the hurricane is expected to landfall around the Florida Big Bend region before crossing northern Florida, Georgia, into the eastern Carolinas, and into the Atlantic, during Tuesday and Wednesday. As well as potentially damaging winds, storm surge warnings are in place in coastal regions of Florida. Rainfall totals in excess of 10-20in (250-500mm) may lead to serious flooding across parts of northern Florida, south-east Georgia and South Carolina.
Continue reading...FTSE 100 on track for its lowest close since April and Japan’s Nikkei suffers biggest fall since crash of 1987
Shares on Wall Street and in London have fallen heavily amid a global stock market rout triggered by fears of a recession in the US.
The tech-focused Nasdaq index dropped by 6% as trading in New York opened on Monday, while the broader S&P 500 index fell by 4.2% in a sell-off triggered by weak US jobs data. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 1,100 points, a 2.8% decline.
Continue reading...Europe’s main indices all decline and Japanese equities suffer worst day since 2020 while gold hits fresh record
Stock markets in Europe, Asia and New York tumbled on Friday as fears of a US economic slump grew and technology shares were hit by underwhelming earnings.
Concerns that the US could be sliding towards a recession spurred a global sell-off, which accelerated after a poor employment report on Friday showed that the US jobs market was cooling fast, pushing up the unemployment rate.
Continue reading...Japanese government confirms it will allow whalers to catch and kill up to 59 fin whales, a species conservationists consider vulnerable
The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.
Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.
Continue reading...Japan’s agriculture ministry blames shortage on tourists’ vast demand for rice and low crop yields last year
Japan’s rice stockpile has fallen to the lowest level this century, with a tourism boom part of the cause, government officials say.
Private-sector inventories of rice fell to 1.56m tons in June, down 20% from a year earlier and the lowest since 1999, when comparable data was first gathered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. It attributed the decrease to the high temperatures that hit crops in 2023 as well as demand from inbound visitors. Last year Japan recorded its hottest September since records began 125 years ago.
Continue reading...Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd and co-founder of Greenpeace, has been arrested on an international warrant and is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson could face up to 15 years in prison in Japan, after the founder of US-based group Sea Shepherd was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland earlier this month.
According to the Japan Coast Guard, Watson, who is also a co-founder of Greenpeace, is facing charges including accomplice to assault and ship trespass, after he was arrested on an international warrant in Greenland.
Continue reading...Use of the motorised luggage which is popular in parts of Asia, require safety equipment and a driver’s licence, according to Japanese law
As record numbers of tourists flock to Japan to take advantage of the weakness of the Japanese yen, some are running into trouble with authorities thanks to the growing popularity of motorised, rideable suitcases.
Two major Japanese airports have already asked travellers not to ride motorised suitcases within their facilities, according to Kyodo news agency, while police are urging domestic retailers to warn customers of the strict laws concerning their use.
Continue reading...US defence secretary says China is 'engaging in coercive behaviour, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas’
Japanese and US defense chiefs, as well as top diplomats, agreed to further bolster their military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of US forces in the east Asian country and strengthening American-licensed missile production there, describing the rising threat from China as “the greatest strategic challenge.”
US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, joined their Japanese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo – known as “2+2” security talks – where they reaffirmed their bilateral alliance in the wake of President Joe Biden ’s withdrawal from the November presidential race.
Continue reading...Record-high 17.78 million foreign tourists came to Japan in the first half of year, with arrivals in June led by travellers from South Korea, China, Taiwan and the US
Businesses in Japan are considering a dual pricing system for foreign tourists and local people amid a surge in inbound visitors and the continued weakness of the yen.
The head of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization has called on businesses in Japan’s northernmost prefecture, known for its beautiful scenery and winter resorts, to set lower prices for locals.
Continue reading...President of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical standing down after damning report said company failed to act with sufficient urgency after alarm was raised in January
The chairman and president of a major Japanese dietary supplement maker is to resign, as the company probes up to 80 deaths potentially linked to dietary supplements meant to lower cholesterol.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical, a household name in Japan, is at the centre of heath fears linked to its over-the-counter tablets containing red yeast rice, which is fermented with a mould culture.
Continue reading...Consultation launched as surveys show people have little chance to meet partners and worry about high cost of living
The Japanese government has begun to consult young people about their interest in marriage – or lack thereof – as Japan continues to struggle with a demographic crisis that is expected to result in a sharp population decline over the next decades.
The Children and Families Agency, launched in April 2023, held its first working group meeting on Friday to support young people in their efforts to find partners through dating, matchmaking and other means. Attenders included those considering marriage in the future and experts versed in the challenges facing younger people.
Continue reading...Presidents and prime ministers denounce shooting at Trump rally in Pennsylvania and wish him a quick recovery
Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, denounced political violence and wished Trump a quick recovery.
Trump posted on social media that he had been shot in the upper part of his right ear and that there was “much bleeding”. His campaign said he was “doing well” and confirmed he had been discharged from the hospital and had returned to his home in New Jersey. A video of him getting off a plane unaided was posted by an aide.
Continue reading...Deal for undisclosed sum secures Bristol-based company’s future after ‘material uncertainty’ in 2023
Graphcore, a British chipmaker once seen as a potential competitor to Nvidia, has been bought by Japan’s SoftBank in a deal that secures the company’s future.
The Bristol-based startup’s products are focused on artificial intelligence and it has been acquired by the powerful Japanese tech investor for an undisclosed sum. Last year, Graphcore warned that there was a “material uncertainty” over its survival and that it needed fresh funding by May 2024.
Continue reading...Hospitals are stretched to their limits during unseasonably early heatwave, as medical authorities liken public health risk to a ‘natural disaster’
Medical experts in Japan are to add a “most severe” category to the current heatstroke index, amid warnings that the extreme heat is straining medical services and causing damage to public health comparable to that in a “natural disaster”.
The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine said it would add a fourth category to the three-level classification later this year in an attempt to reduce deaths from heatstroke.
Continue reading...Average number of heatstroke-related deaths each year has increased six fold since 1995
Japan’s meteorological agency has issued a heatstroke alert for 26 of the country’s 47 prefectures, urging people not to go outside unless absolutely necessary, to use their air conditioners during the day and at night, and to drink plenty of water.
Authorities in Japan issued the extreme heat warnings after the temperature reached 40C for the first time this year on Sunday, as the country swelters in the grip of another heatwave.
Continue reading...Iwao Hakamada, 88, who spent longer than anyone in the world awaiting execution, awaits murder retrial verdict
In the early hours of 30 June 1966 a fire swept through the home of the managing director of a miso maker in Shizuoka, central Japan. After the fire was put out, police found the bodies of the executive, his wife, and their two teenage children. They had all been stabbed to death.
Iwao Hakamada, who had worked for the firm as a live-in employee, was arrested on suspicion of murdering the family, setting fire to their home and stealing 200,000 yen (£973) in cash. Two years later he was found guilty of murder and arson and sentenced to hang. He maintained innocence throughout his 45 years awaiting execution – the longest any prisoner worldwide has spent on death row.
Continue reading...The 12-metre high machine has coke bottle eyes and a crude Wall-E-like head, as well as large arms that can be fitted with blades or paint brushes
It resembles an enormous, malevolent robot from 1980s sci-fi but West Japan Railway’s new humanoid employee was designed with nothing more sinister than a spot of painting and gardening in mind.
Starting this month, the large machine with enormous arms, a crude, disproportionately small Wall-E-like head and coke-bottle eyes mounted on a truck – which can drive on rails – will be put to use for maintenance work on the company’s network.
Continue reading...Japan’s supreme court rules that practice under now-defunct eugenics law was unconstitutional
Japan’s supreme court has ordered the government to pay damages to dozens of people who were forcibly sterilised under a now-defunct eugenics law, saying the practice had violated their constitutional rights.
Wednesday’s ruling by the country’s highest court marks a major victory for the 39 plaintiffs, and thousands of other people with illnesses and genetic and mental disorders who had undergone procedures without their consent, mostly between the 1950s and 1970s.
Continue reading...Clampdown follows fatal stabbing of Chinese woman who tried to stop attack on Japanese mother and child
China’s internet companies have announced a crackdown on “extreme nationalism” online, particularly anti-Japanese sentiment, after a Chinese woman was fatally stabbed while protecting a Japanese mother and child in Suzhou.
Tencent and NetEase, two of the biggest firms, said at the weekend that they would be investigating and banning users who stirred up hatred.
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