Bloomberg Japanese companies are set to raise winter bonus payments by 9.7%, the largest gain since 1975, a survey by Nikkei newspaper reported. Steel makers led all industries in bonus increases, while semiconductors saw several companies reporting record profit led by strong demand. Disco Cor, a maker of precision processing equipment, paid Â¥3.16 million, the highest level among all ...

  Bloomberg Japan-based Idemitsu Kosan Co will aim to go ahead with the sale of a stake in an Australian coal mine, despite a surge in prices. The firm is in talks with several entities interested in acquiring its 85% stake in the Ensham mine in Queensland, said President Shunichi Kito, who didn’t elaborate on the parties involved or when ...

Bloomberg North Korea fired at least two suspected medium-range ballistic missiles from near a site that a few days ago it tested a new solid-fuel rocket engine that could enhance its ability to launch quick-strike, longer-range missiles for delivering nuclear warheads. Two medium-range ballistic missiles were launched from the Tongchang county area, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Japan’s ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump awaits the most serious blow yet from House lawmakers investigating the January 6 Capitol attack — a possible recommendation that he be prosecuted just as he’s launching a comeback bid for the White House. The committee is poised to decide on Monday whether to refer Trump and several advisers to the Justice Department for criminal charges for ...

Bloomberg For much of the last 30 years Finland’s armed forces have looked a little old fashioned, still configured to fight a major land campaign in Europe as though the Cold War never ended. No more. As Finland readies to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) against the backdrop of Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945, in Ukraine, the Nordic ...

Bloomberg Fiji’s long-time leader, Frank Bainimarama, failed to win a majority in elections held last week, leaving the Pacific island nation facing a hung parliament and a period of uncertainty as political parties look to form coalitions. Bainimarama’s Fiji First Party won 26 seats in the vote, according to Fijilive.com and data from the Fiji Elections Office. That’s two short ...

  Bloomberg Leo Varadkar took over as Ireland’s PM, or Taoiseach, for a second time as part of a coalition deal struck after the 2020 election, with an urgent housing crisis at the top of his agenda. The Fine Gael leader was elected by the country’s parliament with 87 votes to 62 and appointed to the role by the president ...

  Bloomberg Initial public offerings are heading for their longest drought since the global financial crisis — and bankers don’t expect a revival anytime soon. A mix of rising inflation and interest rate hikes aimed at taming it have hurt stock market valuations and eroded investor appetite for the high-growth IPO candidates that have driven deals in recent years. Just ...

  Bloomberg Bitcoin dropped back below $17,000 and several smaller cryptocurrencies referred to as altcoins posted significantly steeper declines as concern increases that the digital-asset market’s woes are far from over. The largest token dropped as much as 3.7% to $16,762. Bitcoin reached its highest price since Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire filed for bankruptcy last month. Ether declined as much ...

Bloomberg A cofounder of the OneCoin pyramid scheme pleaded guilty to his role in the global, multibillion-dollar fraud. Karl Sebastian Greenwood admitted OneCoin, which he founded in 2014 with Ruja Ignatova, the so-called “Cryptoqueen,” was based on a phony cryptocurrency. Greenwood, who was arrested in Thailand in 2018 and extradited to the US, pleaded guilty to three criminal counts of ...