World

The specter of a power outage affecting millions of households in the Tokyo metropolitan area was averted by a hair’s breadth last week, but it nonetheless served as a stark reminder of the importance of having sufficient backup power supplies to tide over unexpected thermal plant shutdowns when hit by major earthquakes. But that is easier said than done. While European power producers are planning to go big on expanding solar and wind power to meet the vast majority of the European Union’s carbon-neutral targets by 2050, experts say Japan’s limited availability of flat land and its steep coast lines, as well as frequent quakes and typhoons, will likely make it extremely difficult to rely on solar and wind power alone to achieve net zero. With that as the backdrop, Japan’s top power prod...

With tensions on the rise due to China’s growing regional assertiveness, the idea of strengthening the Self-Defense Forces in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of a larger strategy of building up defenses in the Nansei Islands, has gained momentum. The issue was at the forefront of Sunday’s mayoral election in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, which saw victory for the incumbent mayor, Yoshitaka Nakayama, an independent endorsed by the ruling coalition and a supporter of the deployment of Ground Self-Defense Forces in the region. What are the Nansei Islands? There are 198 islands belonging to the group, which stretches across an area about 1,200 kilometers long, running from southern Kyushu to Taiwan, and 1,000 kilometers wide. They include the Satsunan Islands in the north, which are ...

Prior to Boku, Prideaux worked at Visa Europe for 17 years on its e-commerce capabilities and card technology. While other former CNBC Disruptors such as Stripe and Square (now Block) "are riding on the card rail," according to Prideaux, Boku's opportunity is in providing consumers access to the brands, products, and services they want, while helping merchants sell to consumers in the way many now prefer to pay. And one of the biggest stories in fintech continues to evolve today. The mobile payments company, founded in 2008, directly connects online bank accounts to phone numbers so that consumers can pay for services like Netflix and Spotify without ever inputting a credit or debit card number. In a world where not everyone has a debit or credit card, Boku's mission for the past 13 ye...

BEIJING: Profit growth at China's industrial firms accelerated in the first two months of the year in line with other signs of momentum in the economy, although the outlook is clouded by domestic COVID-19 outbreaks and the war in Ukraine. Profits rose 5.0 per cent in from a year earlier, up from a 4.2 per cent gain in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday (Mar 27). The growth in January to February was driven by surging profits in the energy and raw materials sectors, thanks to higher prices of commodities such as crude oil and coal. January and February data are typically combined to smooth out distortions from the Chinese New Year holiday, which can fall in either month. Downstream, monthly profit growth among other industrial firms has been weighed down by high r...

The Samurai Blue’s journey may not have been pretty, but the destination is all that mattered. A pair of late goals by Kaoru Mitoma drove Japan to a 2-0 win over Australia on Thursday night in Sydney, clinching a seventh straight appearance in this year's FIFA World Cup by virtue of a guaranteed top-two finish in Group B of Asia's final qualifying round. "It was difficult to approach this game because of the travel to Australia and other factors, but the players prepared well and I'm glad the efforts of our staff to help them were rewarded with a World Cup berth," Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu said. Despite outshooting the Socceroos 19 to nine on a waterlogged Stadium Australia pitch, Japan's players failed to make the most of their chances and the game seemed all but destined to end...

South Korean photographer Sang-kyu Gil has visited the Philippines around 10 times. Drawn by the beautiful scenery and affordable prices, the 42-year-old usually spends seven to 10 days in the country. That costs him around $400 — less than half the amount he expects to spend on a similar trip within his home country. His last visit was in 2019, before the Covid pandemic hit, but that trip is unlikely to be his last. "Of course, I have plans to visit the Philippines again," he told CNBC Travel in Korean. If past trends are any indicator, the Philippines is likely to receive many visitors from South Korea when the pandemic ends. Residents from South Korea topped the list of visitor arrivals to the Philippines every year from 2010 to 2020, according to data from the Philippines' Department o...

Brent Sass, a 42-year-old former college Nordic skier, glided into Nome early on Tuesday morning to win Alaska’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in the 50th year that the grueling, 1,000-mile (1,610-km) test of endurance has been run. A cheering crowd greeted Sass and his 11-dog team as they reached the finish line on Nome’s Front Street at 5:38 a.m. His elapsed time of eight days, 14 hours, 38 minutes and 43 seconds was one of the fastest times in the Iditarod’s half-century history. It was the first Iditarod victory for Sass, who moved to Alaska 24 years ago and has been living in Eureka, a tiny settlement outside Fairbanks. “It’s awesome. It’s a dream come true,” Sass said, choking back tears. “Every one of these dogs I’ve raised since puppies, and we’ve been working towards this goal t...

Wednesday’s earthquake off Fukushima Prefecture has dealt a blow to tourism businesses in northeastern Japan, where hopes had been running high ahead of the coronavirus pre-emergency measures ending. The earthquake reached upper 6, the second-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, in some parts of the Tohoku region. Many buildings in the region have been damaged. Among those hit by the quake are the Saryo Soen ryokan inn in the Akiu hot spring resort in Sendai. “We were almost fully booked for this three-day weekend” through Monday, said Saryo Soen manager Toyoko Kaneko. The quake caused the inn to temporarily close as it broke water pipes, flooding parts of the inn’s facilities. Saryo Soen plans to reopen on March 28, but Kaneko is uneasy. “We were warned that an aft...

Are Ukrainians who flee their war-torn country refugees or evacuees? Many governments, media outlets and organizations across the globe describe Ukrainians escaping Russia’s invasion as refugees, but the Japanese government is using the term “hinanmin,” which more closely translates to “people who have been evacuated.” That’s because, from the government’s perspective, Ukrainians don’t fit the definition outlined in the Refugee Convention. Tokyo grants refugee status to those who meet each of the criteria of the treaty, which describes refugees as people who are: Unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. Outside the ...

POTSDAM, Germany: Tesla received a conditional go-ahead for its German gigafactory near Berlin on Friday (Mar 3), the state of Brandenburg said, ending months of delay for the 5 billion euro (US$5.5 billion) landmark plant. The gigafactory, which is key to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's ambitions to vanquish European market leader Volkswagen, was initially supposed to open last summer. Germany's largest automaker has the upper hand in Europe, with a 25per cent share of electric vehicle (EV) sales to Tesla's 13per cent. Brandenburg state premier Dietmar Woidke told a news briefing that the development marked "a big step into the future", adding that the Tesla plant would be a major industrial and technological driver for Germany and the region. Around 2,600 of the plant's expected 12,000 workers...