Select FamilyMart convenience stores in Japan have installed boxes to collect used clothing and household goods for reuse, joining similar initiatives taken by retailers, as a step to reduce waste and attract more customers. In a trial launched jointly with Bookoff Group Holdings, which buys and sells used goods, boxes were installed in around 30 FamilyMart stores in residential areas of Tokyo. Bo...
Select FamilyMart convenience stores in Japan have installed boxes to collect used clothing and household goods for reuse, joining similar initiatives taken by retailers, as a step to reduce waste and attract more customers. In a trial launched jointly with Bookoff Group Holdings, which buys and sells used goods, boxes were installed in around 30 FamilyMart stores in residential areas of Tokyo. Bookoff plans to sell some of the collected items overseas, including to Malaysia. FamilyMart said...
Australia’s biobanks store everything from seeds of native plants to the cells and tissue of threatened animal species In the mudflats of Swan Bay, Victoria, royal spoonbills sweep their paddle-shaped bills through shallow water. Nearby, under the grass-covered roof of the Queenscliff marine research centre, a team of scientists from Deakin University are trying to bring the ecosystems those birds...
Australia’s biobanks store everything from seeds of native plants to the cells and tissue of threatened animal species In the mudflats of Swan Bay, Victoria, royal spoonbills sweep their paddle-shaped bills through shallow water. Nearby, under the grass-covered roof of the Queenscliff marine research centre, a team of scientists from Deakin University are trying to bring the ecosystems those birds and many others rely on back from the brink. Some of that involves associate professor Prue Francis’s beakers – filled with bubbling brown gunk – that are bathed in red light inside a fridge equipped with sensors, alarms and a backup generator. Continue reading...
"Bloomberg: The Asia Trade" brings you everything you need to know to get ahead as the trading day begins in Asia. Bloomberg TV is live from Tokyo and Sydney with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts, getting insight and analysis from newsmakers and industry leaders on the biggest stories shaping global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
"Bloomberg: The Asia Trade" brings you everything you need to know to get ahead as the trading day begins in Asia. Bloomberg TV is live from Tokyo and Sydney with Shery Ahn and Haidi Stroud-Watts, getting insight and analysis from newsmakers and industry leaders on the biggest stories shaping global markets. (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan has the firepower to intervene 30 times in currency markets at last week’s scale, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., though officials are expected to conserve its reserves and step in at more effective moments. Authorities likely spent about ¥5 trillion ($31.3 billion) last Thursday to prop up the yen after it weakened past 160 against the dollar, Yuriko Tanaka , an economist...
Japan has the firepower to intervene 30 times in currency markets at last week’s scale, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., though officials are expected to conserve its reserves and step in at more effective moments. Authorities likely spent about ¥5 trillion ($31.3 billion) last Thursday to prop up the yen after it weakened past 160 against the dollar, Yuriko Tanaka , an economist at the Wall Street bank, wrote in a report late Friday. The intervention during relatively moderate volatility suggests policymakers view that level as the “line of defense,” she added. “Given the finite source of funds for FX intervention, we expect the MOF will aim to maximize the impact of each intervention, and cautiously select the most effective timing, such as when the yen is rapidly weakening,” she added. The intervention followed repeated warnings by officials and was the first since July 2024, when the yen had also crossed the 160 mark, and led to a surge in the currency. High energy costs and expectations that the spread between US-Japan policy rates won’t narrow anytime soon have led to pressure on the currency. What Bloomberg Strategists Say... Japanese authorities targeted the London-European session last week, but as the UK is on a public holiday on Monday, the attention will shift toward New York. — Mark Cranfield , MLIV. For full analysis, click here Going forward, the likelihood and scale of further moves to prop up the yen will depend on the pace of currency depreciation, market volatility and outright levels, Tanaka said. Japan holds about $1.2 trillion in foreign reserves as of the end of March, including $161.7 billion in foreign-currency deposits that can be used for intervention, with the remaining is held in foreign securities.
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: The Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded — latest peace efforts have fizzled. European assets are sustaining far more damage than the US from the stalemate. The US K-shaped economy is holding up well, for now. Japan has at last intervened to support the yen. AND: Farewell to Alex Zanardi , the ultimate s...
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: The Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded — latest peace efforts have fizzled. European assets are sustaining far more damage than the US from the stalemate. The US K-shaped economy is holding up well, for now. Japan has at last intervened to support the yen. AND: Farewell to Alex Zanardi , the ultimate survivor. The US Is Winning the Blockade The Strait of Hormuz has now been double-blockaded — by both the US and Iran — for three weeks. There’s a “ceasefire,” in terms of no longer bombing terrestrial targets, but both sides continue to use force and threats of violence against each other while ratcheting up damage. Who exactly is winning? The most obvious case is that the standoff, by throttling supplies of oil and other vital commodities through the Strait, is building up the economic pain for the US and its allies. It takes time for oil to cross oceans and reach its destination, and for well-established inventories to deplete, but markets say the effects will be tough and lasting. Brent crude for the end of this year is at a new high, while 2027 prices are also elevated: It’s obviously not an acceptable long-term position for the US, which is now launching a new plan to help ships through Iran’s blockade. But financial markets are behaving as though the war is over. That is a critical advantage for the US. Robin Brooks of the Brookings Institution argues strongly here that the blockade is working. He breaks down the strategy into three effects on Iran: starving it of exports, forcing it to run out of storage capacity, and capital flight. The first two take time to hurt, but he suggests capital is already fleeing. Meanwhile, markets can create their own reality and stymie Iran’s greatest weapon — economic damage from blockading the Strait. Stocks are at a record and volatility is low. That’s partly down to the luck that the AI trade has resurged in the last few weeks. It’...
Bloc’s leaders to hold first summit with Armenia on Tuesday at it ramps up efforts to combat Kremlin’s influence The EU is sending a team of experts specialised in combating Russian propaganda and interference to Armenia, as it increases its support to the former Soviet republic in a tense political period. In a highly symbolic sequence of events, EU leaders will hold their first summit with Armen...
Bloc’s leaders to hold first summit with Armenia on Tuesday at it ramps up efforts to combat Kremlin’s influence The EU is sending a team of experts specialised in combating Russian propaganda and interference to Armenia, as it increases its support to the former Soviet republic in a tense political period. In a highly symbolic sequence of events, EU leaders will hold their first summit with Armenia on Tuesday, after a pan-European gathering of about 45 leaders at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan. Continue reading...
Downing Street begins fightback against predictions of imminent challenge to Keir Starmer Labour MPs are calling for a close to the “endless drama” of leadership speculation, as Downing Street begins a fightback against predictions of an imminent challenge to Keir Starmer. Some backbenchers warned that repeated briefings about how and when the prime minister could be toppled were putting off voter...
Downing Street begins fightback against predictions of imminent challenge to Keir Starmer Labour MPs are calling for a close to the “endless drama” of leadership speculation, as Downing Street begins a fightback against predictions of an imminent challenge to Keir Starmer. Some backbenchers warned that repeated briefings about how and when the prime minister could be toppled were putting off voters, who similarly had disliked the Conservatives’ repeated shuffling of leaders when in power. Continue reading...
Injectable pembrolizumab can treat several types of cancer and can be administered in under two minutes Thousands of patients across England each year will benefit from a new immunotherapy treatment that can be used for several types of cancer, the NHS has announced. The injectable form of pembrolizumab, which can be administered in under two minutes, kills cancer cells by blocking a protein calle...
Injectable pembrolizumab can treat several types of cancer and can be administered in under two minutes Thousands of patients across England each year will benefit from a new immunotherapy treatment that can be used for several types of cancer, the NHS has announced. The injectable form of pembrolizumab, which can be administered in under two minutes, kills cancer cells by blocking a protein called PD-1, which acts as a brake on immune responses, allowing the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells. Continue reading...
Social democrats are at last facing up to the failures of globalisation to create equality or deliver for workers If Donald Trump represents the backlash against the liberalrules-based order, then we may now be seeing the backlash to the backlash. In a recent speech , the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, spoke of just that. “They scream and shout not because they are winning, but because the...
Social democrats are at last facing up to the failures of globalisation to create equality or deliver for workers If Donald Trump represents the backlash against the liberalrules-based order, then we may now be seeing the backlash to the backlash. In a recent speech , the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, spoke of just that. “They scream and shout not because they are winning, but because they know their time is running out,” he said , of those seeking to undermine international law and normalise the use of force. While the Trump administration and its allies seek to remake the world in their view, alternative visions of the international order are finally beginning to take shape. The Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, in his now famous Davos speech in January, laid bare the vulnerabilities of what he described as a world in “rupture”. Middle powers must act together, he argued, because “if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu”. The way forward is not to abandon globalisation altogether but to remake it: preserving openness while upholding a rules-based order and avoiding over-reliance on a single country. Florian Ranft is a member of the management board at Das Progressive Zentrum, a thinktank based in Berlin Continue reading...
The world often feels dominated by sadness and doomscrolling. But fun is still possible – and necessary. Here are tried and tested ways to enjoy yourself Cartwheel. On the day we scattered my father’s ashes, we lightened the mood with some competitive gymnastics. I don’t know how it started, but in attempting a cartwheel, I was shocked at my own creeping decrepitude. Over the last year, I’ve been ...
The world often feels dominated by sadness and doomscrolling. But fun is still possible – and necessary. Here are tried and tested ways to enjoy yourself Cartwheel. On the day we scattered my father’s ashes, we lightened the mood with some competitive gymnastics. I don’t know how it started, but in attempting a cartwheel, I was shocked at my own creeping decrepitude. Over the last year, I’ve been watching online tutorials and practising – and I can do a passable cartwheel now. For that joyful split-second, upside down and wheeling, I’m reconnected with my eight-year-old self. Emine Saner Have a kitchen disco. Never underestimate the fun ready to burst out of your kitchen. The crucial ingredient? Good music, played loudly. Parcels are my new favourite – the whole family have become superfans since last summer’s awesome Glastonbury set. Tieduprightnow, Gamesofluck, IknowhowIfeel, Hideout, Safeandsound – so many danceable, joyful tracks. Patrick Barkham Continue reading...