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☆ Looks like Masayoshi Son's plan to go all in on AI is starting to pay off for SoftBank
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Japanese billionaire's conglomerate posted a $1.5 billion profit for its latest quarter. The gains come off the back of its big bet on chip firm ARM, which is targeting AI opportunities. Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas is seeking to capitalize on the AI boom. But as the appetite for ARM's AI activities show, SoftBank has room to grow in the face of the latest boom. If he's able to find the right bets, AI could pay off handsomely in the long term.

Persons: Masayoshi, —, It's, SoftBank, Rene Haas, Michael M, Yoshimitsu Goto, Son, WeWork, AI's Organizations: ARM, Service, Son, Nasdaq, Apple, Arm, Funds, Nvidia Locations: Tokyo, Cambridge, London, Alibaba

☆ Lauren Price: The new boxing ‘superstar’ who played international soccer and juggled training with driving taxis
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-12 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —When Lauren Price was eight years old, she wrote down three goals for herself – to become a kickboxing world champion, play international soccer for Wales and compete at an Olympic Games. At 12, she was a world kickboxing champion, a title she won another three times. “This is just the start,” Price, now the WBA, IBO and Ring Magazine welterweight champion, told broadcaster Sky Sports afterwards. Lauren Price won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. My nan used to say ‘reach for the moon, if you fall short you’ll land on the stars,’” Price told Sky Sports.

Persons: Lauren Price, –, Price, Matt Lewis, Jessica McCaskill, McCaskill’s, ” Price, “, Katie Taylor, Derek, Linda, Buda Mendes, ’ ” Price, it’s, ”, Ben Shalom Organizations: CNN, Wales, Olympic, Soccer, London, Tokyo, WBA, IBO, Sky Sports, National Lottery, Tokyo Olympic Games Locations: Cardiff, Wales, Ireland

☆ We stayed in a 'Toy Story'-themed hotel for $280 a night. Our small room was a great value with tons of awesome details.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Amanda Adler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The Toy Story Hotel at Tokyo Disney Resort allows guests to feel like they are stepping into a larger-than-life land of toys, without the larger-than-life prices that can come with staying on Disney property. This spring, my family of three checked in to the 595-room hotel, which is located near Bay Station on the Tokyo Disney Resort Line, the resort's dedicated monorail line. Our room was cozy but comfortable and only cost about $280 a night — a steal compared to American Disney hotels that can cost twice as much. Although this has caused turmoil in the markets, it may be good news for American travelers looking to save even more cash. At any cost, this themed hotel that opened in 2022 was a fun place to spend a few nights and offered superior access to Tokyo Disneyland.

Organizations: Service, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disney, Business, American Disney Locations: Tokyo, Bay, American

☆ Activist Nihon Global puts forth ideas to build shareholder value at noodle giant Toyo Suisan
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-04 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Toyo Suisan has consistently outperformed Nissin Foods in North America, one of the most profitable and fastest-growing markets in the world. It generally starts with shareholder proposals that by regulation can only address specific issues, such as capital allocation and dividends. Last year, 3% of corporate governance shareholder proposals were passed and 4% of balance sheet-based shareholder proposals were passed. First, it shows the opportunities available to activists in Japan where reasonable shareholder proposals could lead to significant shareholder value creation. Brian Doyle of Nihon Global and his team are a good example of this.

Persons: Toyo Suisan, Toyo Suisan's, Nissin, Nihon, hasn't, Judge Chamberlain Haller, Vinny, Nihon Global's, Brian Doyle, Hiroyuki Otsuka, Carlyle, Ken Squire Organizations: Toyo, Nihon Global Growth Partners Management, Nihon Global, Nihon, Nissin, Foods, Nissin Foods, Tokyo Stock Exchange, U.S, White, Newton Investment Management, 13D Locations: Japan, Toyo, North America, Mexico, U.S, American, United States, Asia

☆ Asia markets mostly lower after Federal Reserve holds rates; Yen strengthens further
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

An employee works at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Asia-Pacific stock markets were largely lower on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell ruled out the possibility of a rate hike, easing worries over the central bank likely not being able to rein in inflation. Focus will be on the Japanese yen , which had a volatile start to the week amid suspected government intervention to prop up the currency on Monday. It was last trading at 155.83 against the U.S. dollar.

Persons: Jerome Powell Organizations: Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan Exchange Group Inc, U.S . Federal, U.S . Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Asia, Pacific

☆ WADA to launch independent review into its handling of doping case involving Chinese swimming
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has commissioned an independent review into its handling of a doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers after the organization said that it had been the subject of “damaging and baseless allegations.”The development comes after WADA was criticized by members of the anti-doping community, sparking a dispute which looks set to overshadow events in the pool at this year’s Olympics in Paris. “We have no evidence of any sort of skullduggery or planting of trimetazidine,” Wenzel told reporters on Monday. “In the past few days, WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favor of China by not appealing the CHINADA [China Anti-Doping Agency] case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” added Bańka. Trimetazidine has the potential to boost endurance and has been banned by WADA since 2014. WADA said that Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, attorney general of Vaud in Switzerland for 17 years until his retirement in 2022, will lead the review into the handling of the case.

Persons: WADA, –, ”, Witold Bańka, “, Ross Wenzel, trimetazidine, ” Wenzel, Bańka, ” Bańka, Trimetazidine, CHINADA, Eric Cottier, USADA, WADA’s, ” WADA, Cottier Organizations: CNN, Doping Agency, New York Times, ARD, Tokyo Olympics, Sport, Xinhua Locations: Paris, China, trimetazidine, Swiss, Vaud, Switzerland

☆ Private rooms coming to some of Japan’s bullet trains
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Japan’s beloved Shinkansen trains are getting another upgrade. This photo illustration shows what the private rooms will look like. Japan RailwaysThey will be located in the green cars, which are the first-class, more expensive cars on Shinkansen trains. Travelers who have purchased a JR Rail pass will still need to pay extra to use the private rooms. The Tokaido line was Japan’s first-ever high speed rail line, making its debut in 1964.

Persons: CNN —, CNN’s Junko Ogura Organizations: CNN, Japan Rail, Japan Railways, Travelers Locations: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka

☆ Chinese swimmers head to Paris Olympics under a cloud amid row over handling of drugs tests
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —A dispute over the handling of a 2021 case in which 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics now threatens to overshadow swimming events at the Paris Games this summer. Sun is now free to return to competitions next month, but revelations about the 2021 case have cast Chinese swimmers and WADA in a harsh spotlight. Trimetazidine has the potential to boost endurance and has been banned by WADA since 2014. China’s national swimming championships, which serve as selection trials for the upcoming Olympics, are currently underway in Shenzhen, concluding on April 27. At the Tokyo Olympics, China won six medals in swimming, including three golds.

Persons: –, “, ” Mack Horton, Horton, Sun Yang, Sun, WADA, Adam Peaty, ”, Sarah Hirshland, Witold Banka, …, Trimetazidine, CHINADA, Ross Wenzel, trimetazidine, ” Wenzel, Denis Cotterell, Cotterell wasn’t Organizations: CNN, Tokyo, Paris Games, New York Times, ARD, Doping Agency, Olympic, “, Sydney Morning Herald, WADA, Canadian Olympic Committee, Paralympic, ”, CHINADA, Xinhua, Paris Olympics, Chinese Swimming Association, China Locations: Tokyo, China, Australian, South Korea, ”, trimetazidine, Shenzhen

The revelation that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned drug seven months before the Tokyo Olympics but were secretly cleared and allowed to continue competing has exposed a bitter and at times deeply personal rift inside the sport, and brought new criticism of the global authority that oversees drug-testing. An American Olympian who took home a silver medal from Tokyo said she felt her team had been “cheated” in a race won by China. A British gold medalist called for a lifetime ban for the swimmers involved. The sports minister in Germany, where a documentary on the case was broadcast Sunday, demanded an investigation. And a simmering feud between officials at the World Anti-Doping Agency, the global regulator known as WADA, and their U.S. counterparts burst into the open in a flurry of caustic statements and legal threats.

Persons: “, ”, WADA Organizations: New York Times, Tokyo Games, China, Doping Agency Locations: Tokyo, China, American, British, Germany

Whenever a suspicion of doping arises in an Olympics, attention can shift quickly from the athletes who won gold, silver and bronze medals to the ones who missed out. On Saturday, The New York Times published an investigation into an unreported case in which 23 top Chinese swimmers tested positive for a powerful banned drug in 2021, only months before the Tokyo Olympics. The swimmers — who made up about half of the Chinese swimming team at those Games — were cleared by China’s antidoping authorities and the World Anti-Doping Agency and allowed to compete. The episode has not only alarmed experts in the antidoping community, but also raised other questions about athletes who tested positive, and what comes next: Which athletes? For now, the answer — both for the Chinese athletes and the dozens of swimmers who finished behind them, on and off the medals stand — is that nothing has changed.

Persons: —, China’s Organizations: The New York Times, Tokyo Olympics, Games, Doping Agency Locations: Tokyo

☆ Warren Buffett's love for Japan may be far from over after $8 billion paper profit
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has made billions of dollars from its big investments in Japan, and the Oracle of Omaha's love for the land of the rising sun is only growing deeper. The Omaha-based conglomerate priced 263.3 billion Japanese yen of bonds worth $1.7 billion, marking one of its biggest yen bond sales, according to a regulatory filing released Thursday. The cost of the positions was 1.6 trillion yen ($10.35 billion) and the 2023 yearend market value of the five stakes was 2.9 trillion yen ($18.76 billion), Berkshire revealed in its annual report. Meanwhile, the five Japanese trading companies are all dividend payers, yielding from 1% to more than 3%. Buffett even paid a visit to Japan with his designated successor Greg Abel and met with the heads of the Japanese firms last year.

Persons: Warren, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, Chamath Palihapitiya, Greg Abel Organizations: Berkshire, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo ., Tokyo Stock Exchange Locations: Japan, Omaha, Berkshire, Sumitomo . Berkshire

☆ World Anti-Doping Agency defends handling of elite Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned drug
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Global sport’s anti-doping watchdog has slammed as “outrageous” and “completely false” allegations that it mishandled a 2021 case in which more than 20 elite Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made the comments after US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart accused the agency and Chinese officials of having “swept these positives under carpet” and failing to follow the rules around drugs in sport. The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) said recent media reports about the cases were “misleading,” according to Chinese state agency Xinhua, citing a statement Saturday. In its statement Saturday, WADA said it was notified in June 2021 of CHINADA’s ruling on the swimmers who had tested positive earlier that year. “These are egregious failures even if you buy their story that this was contamination and a potent drug ‘magically appeared’ in a kitchen and led to 23 positive tests of elite Chinese swimmers,” Tygart said, referencing details included in The New York Times’ article citing a report from Chinese investigators.

Persons: “, WADA, Travis Tygart, CHINADA, Kamila Valieva, “ WADA, ” Tygart Organizations: Hong Kong CNN — Global, Doping Agency, New York Times, Tokyo Olympics, ARD, Tokyo Games, CNN, Chinese Olympic, Testing Agency, Xinhua, trimetazidine, “, TMZ, The New York Times Locations: Hong Kong, China, USADA, Xinhua, Russian

☆ Top Chinese Swimmers Tested Positive for Banned Drug, Then Won Olympic Gold
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Michael S. Schmidt | Tariq Panja | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Twenty-three top Chinese swimmers tested positive for the same powerful banned substance seven months before the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 but were allowed to escape public scrutiny and continue to compete after top Chinese officials secretly cleared them of doping and the global authority charged with policing drugs in sports chose not to intervene. Several of the athletes who tested positive — including nearly half of the swimming team that China sent to the Tokyo Games — went on to win medals, including three golds. Many still compete for China and several, including the two-time gold medalist Zhang Yufei, are expected to contend for medals again at this year’s Summer Games in Paris. China acknowledged the positive tests in a report by its antidoping regulator, saying the swimmers had ingested the banned substance unwittingly and in tiny amounts, and that no action against them was warranted. But an examination by The New York Times found that the previously unreported episode sharply divided the antidoping world, where China’s record has long been a flashpoint.

Persons: Tokyo Games —, Zhang Yufei Organizations: Tokyo Olympic Games, Tokyo Games, New York Times, Aquatics, Doping Agency Locations: China, Paris

☆ Oasis launches a campaign at Kao Corp, but this battle is likely to be a difficult one
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Activist Commentary: Oasis Management is a global hedge fund management firm headquartered in Hong Kong with additional offices in Tokyo, Austin and the Cayman Islands. The hygiene and living care segment provides fabric, kitchen, home, sanitary and pet care products. Kao Corp is a global fast-moving consumer goods company with a diversified portfolio of products spanning from hair and skin care to cosmetics and chemicals. Oasis has proven to be a value-creating activist in many situations and would likely be a valuable board member here, but this is not a typical Oasis activist campaign. On the contrary, the day after Oasis launched its campaign, Kao stated that the firm lacked sufficient understanding of its portfolio management and restructuring plans.

Persons: Seth Fischer, Molton Brown, Kao, Kao's ROE, Beiersdorf, Aoki, Tsuruha, Oasis, ROE, Ken Squire Organizations: Oasis Management, Oasis, Business, Kao Corp, Tokyo Stock Exchange, onboarding, Kao, 13D Locations: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Austin, Cayman Islands, Asia, Europe, Japan

☆ LeBron James headlines Team USA’s 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball squad
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Kevin Dotson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —USA Basketball unveiled the player roster Wednesday for the men’s team that will compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The team will be anchored by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, making his fourth appearance after skipping the past two Olympics. This will be the 36-year-old Curry’s first Olympic Games, making him the fifth player to represent the Warriors at an Olympics with Team USA. The US team will hold a training camp and exhibition games in Las Vegas in July, before traveling to Paris. The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place on July 26 with men’s basketball play beginning the following day.

Persons: ”, LeBron James, James, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Tyrese, Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, Paul Childs, Embiid, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich Organizations: CNN, USA, Tokyo Olympics, Los Angeles Lakers, Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Miami, Olympic Games, Warriors, Team USA, Philadelphia 76ers, NBA, Tokyo Games, US Locations: Tyrese Haliburton, Cameroon, France, Las Vegas, Paris

☆ Simone Biles thought ‘the world is going to hate me’ after experiencing the twisties at the Tokyo Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Simone Biles has revealed that she thought “the world is going to hate me” after withdrawing from the gymnastics team event at the Tokyo Olympics. “If I could have got on a plane and flown home, I would have done it,” Biles said. During last year’s world championships, Biles won four gold medals – in the team, all-around, beam and floor competitions – as well as a silver in the vault. The 27-year-old could add to her medal haul at this year’s Olympics in Paris, which begin on July 26. “Your body is going to try to do something, and your mind is like, ‘No, you’re not doing this, you’re going to open out, you’re going to do this’ … You’ve been doing something for so long and you now no longer have control.”

Persons: CNN — Simone Biles, Biles, Jordan Chiles, ” Biles, “, …, ‘ Don’t, don’t, ’, Loic Venance, Vitaly Scherbo’s, ”, you’re, You’ve Organizations: CNN, Tokyo, Games, Twitter, Paris Olympics, Getty Locations: America, AFP, Tokyo, Paris

☆ Nike's high-cut body suit for Team USA highlights the weird differences between men's and women's Olympic outfits
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A Team USA bodysuit is reigniting a conversation about the design of women's athletic outfits. Following the reveal of the showy unitard, athletes quipped that they would definitely need a thorough wax to wear the women's piece. Jordana Katcher, Nike's vice president for global sports apparel, also told the Post that several women athletes had requested the unitard specifically. Black women athletes are often hyper-sexualized or painted as angry or evil. Women athletes in sports like gymnastics, volleyball, and track and field are sometimes expected to wear bikini bottoms or short leotards.

Persons: Lauren Fleshman, —, Tara Davis, Woodhall, Anna Cockrell, Stephanie Lecocq, Jordana, Queen Harrison, Claye —, Harrison, Claye, Marc Atkins, Fleshman, Naomi Osaka, Sha'Carri Richardson, Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Reese, Emmanuel Acho, Katie Moon, Voss, FABRICE COFFRINI, Organizations: Service, USA, Olympic, Washington Post, Reuters Nike, Nike, Business, Team USA, British, Getty, New York Times, BBC, International Handball Federation, Tokyo Locations: Washington, AFP, Norwegian

☆ Akebono: Pioneering US-born sumo wrestling champion dies aged 54
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Andrew Mcnicol | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Tokyo CNN —Pioneering US-born former sumo wrestling champion Akebono has died, his family announced in a statement Thursday. Widely considered to have blazed a trail for other foreign sumo wrestlers, the 54-year-old died of heart failure at a hospital in Japan. Born Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan in Hawaii, Akebono became the first non-Japanese yokozuna – a sumo grand champion, the highest rank in the sport. According to the Japan Sumo Association, Akebono was rushed to hospital after a wrestling match in 2017 and had been unwell ever since. I was talking with him about meeting under a tree in Hawaii with all our fellow sumo wrestlers when we grew older.

Persons: Akebono, Chad George Ha’aheo Rowan, –, Akebono Taro, “, Akebono “, Rahm Emanuel, Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Masaru Hanada, ” Hanada, I’m, ” Organizations: Tokyo CNN —, Yokozuna, Japan Sumo Association, Twitter, Japanese Olympic Committee, Nagano, Japan’s Locations: Japan, Hawaii, Tokyo, United States, ”, Washington, I’ll

☆ Tara Davis-Woodhall: ‘My entire memo is have fun,’ says the ‘free-spirited’ US long jump star
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It’s hard not to be swept up in Davis-Woodhall’s approach to the long jump, especially when she finds reason to laugh even in the heat of fierce competition. “My entire memo is have fun,” she tells CNN Sport. Long jump is one track and field discipline which governing body World Athletics seems interested in developing, such as by introducing a take-off zone in the place of a fixed board. “I think it might be a little silly,” she says, “just because you kind of take away from the principle of long jump. That’s even more true for an athlete like Davis-Woodhall, currently jumping further and with more confidence than ever before.

Persons: Tara Davis, Woodhall, dally, I’m, –, I’ve, Ben Stansall, Serbia’s Ivana Španović, ”, Davis, don’t, “, “ I’m, “ I’ve, ” Davis, Hunter Woodall, Michael Woods, “ Tara, Hunter, Hunter Woodhall, it’s, Michael Steele, Jon Ridgeon Organizations: CNN, CNN Sport, Davis, Paris Olympics, Tokyo Olympics, Woodhall, Doping Agency, ”, University of Texas, World Athletics Locations: Glasgow, Scotland, Davis, AFP, “, Albuquerque , New Mexico, Tokyo, Budapest, Hungary

☆ Luke Fleurs: Kaizer Chiefs soccer player killed in carjacking in Johannesburg
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Sammy Mncwabe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —South Africa and Kaizer Chiefs soccer player Luke Fleurs has been killed in a carjacking incident in Johannesburg, the club announced in a statement on Thursday. “We are profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic and untimely passing of one of our players, Luke Fleurs,” Chiefs said. “The Matsatsantsa family would like to send its heartfelt condolences to the Fleurs family, everyone at Kaizer Chiefs Football Club and the football community at large. My thoughts are with the Fleurs and Amakhosi family, and the entire South African football fraternity,” Kodwa added. Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni has appointed a team of detectives to investigate Fleurs’ murder and hijacking, police said.

Persons: Luke Fleurs, “, ”, Mavela Masondo, Kodwa, ” Kodwa, Tommy Mthombeni Organizations: CNN, Kaizer Chiefs, ” Chiefs, Premier Soccer League, South, Tokyo Summer Olympics, Chiefs, SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, ” SuperSport, Twitter Locations: South Africa, Johannesburg, Honeydew, Gauteng, Soweto, “, African

☆ 'A fantastic market': Strategist names one under-the-radar stock to play in Japan right now
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | In Amala-Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Several investors have been looking favorably at Japanese stocks in the past few months, and market strategist Matt Orton is no exception. "Japan overall, has been a fantastic market ... Japan was the top performer within the Asian equity market complex," the chief market strategist at asset management firm Raymond James Investment Management told CNBC's " Squawk Box Asia " on April 1. One stock that stands out to Orton is Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group . Of the 14 analysts covering the stock, 10 give it a buy or overweight rating, while four have a hold rating, according to FactSet data. Analysts' average price target for the stock is 9,537.50 Japanese yen ($62.89), giving it around 11% potential upside.

Persons: Matt Orton, Raymond James, CNBC's, levered, they've, Orton Organizations: Raymond James Investment Management, Japan's Nikkei, Tokyo Exchange, Orton, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Sumitomo Locations: Japan, Tokyo, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Philippines

☆ Japan’s New Royal Instagram Page Forgoes Flash for Formality
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Kiuko Notoya | Mike Ives | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anyone expecting the Japanese royal family’s new Instagram account to generate memes or showcase a new side of the world’s oldest continuous monarchy should lower their expectations. Just some royals politely posing for pictures in their usual, formal way. The new Instagram page for Japan’s Imperial Household Agency — its first on any social media platform — posted its first image early Monday morning. By Tuesday evening, it had uploaded 19 more and collected nearly half a million followers. The page mostly shows Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and sometimes their daughter, Princess Aiko, standing up, sitting down or bowing at formal events over the past three months.

Persons: Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, Princess Aiko Organizations: Imperial Household Agency —, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Locations: Tokyo, Kenya, Brunei

☆ Japan stocks set to rebound, while most Asia-Pacific markets are closed
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Employees work at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Japan's stock markets were set to bounce Friday, while most markets in the Asia-Pacific region stay shut for a public holiday. Japan's Nikkei 225 is set to rebound, with the futures contract in Chicago at 40,440 and its counterpart in Osaka at 40,390 against the index's last close of 40,168.07. The Japanese yen will be closely watched during the session amid speculation of a possible intervention after the currency recently hit 34-year lows against the U.S. dollar at 151.97. It last traded near 151.42 against the greenback.

Organizations: Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan Exchange Group Inc, Nikkei, U.S, greenback Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Asia, Pacific, Chicago, Osaka

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), operated by Japan Exchange Group Inc. (JPX), in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Kosuke Okahara/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets were set to fall Tuesday as the U.S. market took a breather following a rally sparked by optimism over the Federal Reserve's interest rate stance at its latest meeting. "We're coming off of a post-FOMC high," he told CNBC, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting last week. "The market is getting more and more vulnerable to a market decline or a pullback in prices." Investors in Asia also await economic data out of Southeast Asia, including Singapore's manufacturing output and Thailand's trade balance.

Persons: Kosuke Okahara, Sam Stovall Organizations: Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan Exchange Group Inc, Bloomberg, Getty Images, Federal, CFRA Research, CNBC, U.S, U.S . Federal Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Getty Images Asia, Pacific, U.S, U.S ., Asia, Southeast Asia

☆ Covid casts long shadow over New Zealand paddler Jones
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The 35-year-old’s ambitions of reaching a fifth Olympics once seemed fanciful as she spent more than a year recovering after being diagnosed with long Covid in early 2022. “I’d get really tired from just going out and mowing the lawn or going for a walk,” she told Reuters in an interview. Jones speaks to the media at Vector Wero Whitewater Park in Auckland, New Zealand this week. Long Covid provided multiple reminders of how quickly things can unravel. “But I guess you just don’t know where you can get (Covid) from or when it’s going to hit.

Persons: Luuka Jones, Jones, “ I’d, “, Phil Walter, Valerie Adams, Barbara Kendall, I’ve, ”, Long Covid, I’m, ’ ”, Chris Froome, Jonathan Toews, Covid Organizations: Reuters, Paris, Beijing, Rio Games, Vector, Getty, Zealand, Olympic, British, de Locations: Tokyo, Zealand, Marne, Auckland , New Zealand, Beijing, New Zealand

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