Japan says there is possibility moon lander power can be restored

Japan switched off its moon lander almost three hours after a historic touchdown to allow for a possible recovery of the craft when the sun hits its solar panels, the space agency said Monday.

With its unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission — dubbed “Moon…[Read more]

Japan lawmakers seek security talks with Taiwan and U.S.

Japanese lawmakers look to arrange face-to-face strategic dialogue with their American and Taiwanese counterparts, seeking to bring the incoming administration of Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te into discussions of cross-strait tensions.

The Japan-Republic of China Diet Members’…[Read more]

Japan prosecutors to build case on PM Kishida faction

Japanese prosecutors will build a case against a former accountant of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) faction, previously led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in connection with a political fundraising scandal, sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

The prosecutors have been…[Read more]

Japan prosecutors build cases against LDP groups over fundraising scandal

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted several individuals from three factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, including one formerly led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, over a political fundraising scandal that has sent shockwaves through the…[Read more]

Letter from Nikkei Asia’s editor: Panasonic’s EV battery comeback plan

Hello from Tokyo. Last week, the people of Taiwan elected as their next president Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which Beijing brands as separatist. The vote focused mainly on how to deal with China, but so far both sides have shown restraint, and it…[Read more]

Gender pay gap in Germany: Women earn 18% less than men

Women in Germany earned 18% less on average than men in 2023, the country’s Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) said on Thursday. On an adjusted basis, the gap was 6%, it added.

The report showed that women, on average, earned €20.84 ($22.7) per hour last year, compared with €25.3 for men…[Read more]

German farmers’ anger overshadows agriculture fair

Chickens strut and cluck, piglets play under heat lamps, a huge bull is led by a nose ring into a box lined with fresh straw. At Berlin’s Green Week in, the world’s largest agricultural and food trade fair, farmers want to show their best side.

But at this year’s fair, the mood is not entirely…[Read more]

Germany’s parliament votes on easing dual citizenship

Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, was on Friday set to vote on easing the law on naturalization and widening access to dual citizenship.

The German government says the law should help make Germany more attractive to skilled workers internationally, helping to ease stifling…[Read more]

Germany seeks Cologne Cathedral attack suspect’s deportation

German police said Saturday that they are pressing forward with deportation proceedings for a young man accused of planning a New Year’s Eve terror attack on Cologne Cathedral.

The Dortmund District Court had granted a deportation warrant for the 25-year-old man on Friday, according…[Read more]

Germany’s last major department store chain files for insolvency protection for third time

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is seeking a new owner, whose real estate group has made several insolvency filings.

Germany’s last remaining major department store chain has filed for insolvency protection, its third filing in less than four years, after its…[Read more]

What are the biggest challenges facing the German economy in 2024?

As we enter 2024, Europe’s largest economy is expected to continue to deal with the fallout of its recent economic crisis. Euronews Business highlights five key challenges for the German economy in 2024.

Germany is facing an uphill economic battle in 2024.

Its GDP growth is…[Read more]

Japan current account logs record surplus for second month

Japan logged its largest current account surplus for the second consecutive month in November, as the trade deficit narrowed while its service balance turned surplus due to increased inbound tourism after pandemic controls were lifted last year.

The current account data should offer…[Read more]

Japan lifts operational ban on world’s biggest nuclear plant

Japan’s nuclear power regulator on Wednesday lifted an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power’s (9501.T) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant two years ago, allowing it to work towards gaining local permission to restart.

Tepco has been eager to bring the world’s largest…[Read more]

Plummeting temperatures plague Ishikawa quake relief effort

lummeting temperatures, rain and continued aftershocks continued to plague relief efforts in earthquake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture on Wednesday as the death toll rose to 206, nine days after a massive temblor rocked the Noto Peninsula area.
The hard-hit cities of Suzu and Wajima accounted…[Read more]

Trash into treasure: Can fishing net waste be the future of fashion?

KUJUKURI, CHIBA PREF. – In 2021, Kotaro Seki was unsatisfied with his work at a major travel agency. He was good at his job, but he felt like something was missing.
Anyone could do the job he was doing at the agency, he thought. And few were bothered — as he was — by the fact…[Read more]

Japan should aim to maintain population of 80 million by 2100: panel

Amid concerns over rapid depopulation, a private panel has proposed that Japan should aim to have a stable population of 80 million by 2100 in order to maintain economic growth.
Last April, the government released an estimate that the population would be reduced by half to about…[Read more]

Why are German farmers so angry?

Tractors rumbling down the streets of the capital and jamming highway interchanges — scenes that are more familiar in neighboring France. But Germany’s farmers have been flexing their muscles again over the last few weeks.

Protesters began taking to the streets in late December after the center-left government a…[Read more]

Germany resumes weapons deliveries to Saudi Arabia

It was Germany’s conservative-led government under Chancellor Angela Merkel that restricted German weapons exports to Saudi Arabia in October 2018. This was in response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the war in…[Read more]

Germany: Police find missing woman’s body in woods

Police in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia say they have found the body of a woman reported missing on December 21, 2023.

Police and the Münster State Prosecutor’s Office said her body was found wrapped in a plastic bag near the Dutch border on Tuesday.

An autopsy will be performed…[Read more]