Three times in the modern era, Japan has reacted to profound international shifts with a sweeping remake of its foreign policy — in ways that altered global history. The nation is now undergoing a leadership transition, as the job of prime minister passes from Yoshihide Suga to Fumio Kishida. This may seem like “more of the same,” as both men ...

Living with Covid-19 means embracing interest-rate increases. The more of the latter, the better. That’s the view from New Zealand, whose central bank proceeded on Wednesday with a widely anticipated hike in its benchmark rate to 0.5%, the first nudge higher in seven years. The Reserve Bank made it clear the move is unlikely to be the last. Inflation is ...

Bitcoin is a virtual currency with a very physical footprint in the form of the big, power-hungry facilities that have sprouted up to mine it. The size of this footprint and its impact on the environment have become a hotly contested issue: The network’s power consumption this year will likely be a whopping 91 terawatt-hours, roughly equivalent to Pakistan’s, according ...

Charif Souki, who founded the biggest US natural gas-export firm and now chairs another called Tellurian Inc, isn’t known for mincing words. And he didn’t disappoint when tackling the issue of methane emissions at a recent event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies: In the upstream, methane leaks are inexcusable. They’re avoidable. The technology is available to ...

Bloomberg Walmart has demoted the chief operating officer of its core US business and installed a finance expert in the role, shuffling its senior leadership team just before the key holiday period. Dacona Smith, one of the retailer’s highest-ranking Black executives, will shift to become executive vice president and chief operations officer of Walmart’s US stores, unit Chief Executive Officer ...

Bloomberg Tesco Plc’s boss is putting the finishing touches on a plan to deliver a catastrophe-free Christmas as a deepening supply chain crisis makes it harder for grocers to keep shelves stocked with their full range of products. Chief Executive Officer Ken Murphy said Britain’s biggest supermarket has ordered 10% more turkeys this year and is increasing the number of ...

Bloomberg Even though Hong Kong is one of the few places left in the world adhering to a Covid-zero approach, the city’s Chief Executive Officer Carrie Lam believes the Asian financial center can retain its status as an international aviation hub. “Although the global aviation industry, with Hong Kong being no exception, has been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, ...

Bloomberg TUI AG will raise 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by selling new stock, making it the latest travel company to tap investors for cash to reduce a giant pandemic debt pile. The share sale, at a discount price of 2.15 euros each in a rights offering, will allow the world’s biggest tour operator to reduce its draw on a ...

Bloomberg Booming e-commerce sales have made a unicorn out of a Utah-based startup that helps companies manage their sales on Amazon.com Inc and other digital marketplaces. Pattern Inc, which started out selling fridge magnets and other trinkets on Amazon’s third-party marketplace, on Wednesday said it raised $225 million in new outside investment at a valuation of about $2 billion. Founded ...

Bloomberg The UK’s auditing watchdog has started an investigation into Mazars’ audit of French Connection Group Plc. The Financial Reporting Council said on Wednesday the probe would focus on the year ending on January 31, 2020 without disclosing further details. The struggling UK fashion retailer has failed to keep pace on price with its high street rivals and has been ...