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The average retail gasoline price, currently about ¥175 per liter, is expected to rise by over ¥5, as the government has announced it will reduce subsidies to oil wholesalers. Until now, the industry ministry has subsidized 60% of gasoline costs over ¥168 and under ¥185. Starting Thursday, the subsidy dropped to 30% for prices in that range, and from Jan. 16 the subsidy will end. The ministry, however, will continue to subsidize the entirety of costs beyond ¥185 per liter. Source link

Hon Hai Precision Industry, the iPhone maker known as Foxconn, is in talks with Nissan Motor’s biggest shareholder Renault about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said, citing people it didn’t identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese carmaker, Honda Motor, are exploring a merger, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, that would create a rival to Toyota Motor in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world. One potential spanner in the works however is Foxconn, which separately is said to have approached Nissan about acquiring a stake. Foxconn has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles and Nissan, which has slashed its earnings forecasts and is culling 9,000 jobs globally, needs a financial rescue. Source link

Amazon Japan said Thursday that it will enter the furusato nо̄zei hometown donation intermediary business. The Japanese unit of Amazon.com will handle donations to about 1,000 municipalities and about 300,000 gifts in return for donations on a dedicated website. It aims to differentiate its service from other furusato nо̄zei sites by utilizing its nationwide distribution network to deliver gifts as quickly as one day after donations are made. Jasper Cheung, head of Amazon Japan, told a news conference on the day that the company hopes to encourage furusato nо̄zei donations in a way that is unique to it. According to the internal affairs ministry, the amount of donations under the furusato nо̄zei system, which grants tax credits to donors, exceeded ¥1 trillion in fiscal 2023. Various companies, including airline and railway operators, department stores and financial firms, as well as technology companies, are entering the intermediary business for fee income. Source link

An expert panel set up by the National Police Agency to look into problems at Japan’s host clubs has submitted its report, urging the government to impose stricter restrictions on such establishments to prevent clients from incurring excessive debts that result in them being forced into prostitution. Host clubs have been criticized for taking advantage of clients’ romantic feelings for hosts, who sweet-talk them into ordering expensive drinks and food, sometimes on credit. When the women are unable to settle the high debt, hosts are known to persuade them into engaging in prostitution as a form of settlement. The practice “not only causes financial hardship to female clients but also serious mental and physical harm over a sustained period of time,” said the report, which was submitted to the NPA on Thursday. “There needs to be strict restrictions.” Source link

LONDON – New Zealander Liam Lawson will replace Sergio Perez in the daunting role of teammate to four-time world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season, the Formula One team said on Thursday. Perez’s departure was announced on Wednesday and Lawson’s promotion from Red Bull’s sister team RB had been expected. The move means that the more-experienced Yuki Tsunoda will stay with the RB team for the 2025 season. The 22-year-old made his F1 debut at the 2023 Dutch Grand Prix as a five-race stand-in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo and returned for the last six races of this season when the Australian was dropped. Source link

Nippon Steel said Thursday that it will set up a joint venture with two companies to participate in an iron ore mine development project in Labrador, eastern Canada. The two partners are Canadian mining company Champion Iron and Japanese trading company Sojitz. The joint venture will develop and operate the Kamistiatusset iron ore mine, owned by Champion Iron. Nippon Steel will acquire a 30% interest in the Kamistiatusset project. Its investment is seen exceeding ¥140 billion, including development costs. The Tokyo-based company is developing steel manufacturing technologies using hydrogen for net zero carbon emissions. It aims to secure high-quality iron ore stably over the long term through the project. Nippon Steel will invest about ¥4.5 billion to found the joint venture by June 2025. It will put in an additional ¥11.7 billion when the project is judged to be feasible. Nippon Steel expects to spend about ¥130 billion to develop the mine. Sojitz will take a 19% interest in the project. Source link

Electronics titan Sony said Thursday it had paid more than $300 million for a 10% stake in the media conglomerate behind the smash-hit game ‘Elden Ring.’ Kadokawa, which is known for producing anime and publishing books including manga comics, said last month that Sony had made an approach to the firm, sending the media firm’s stocks soaring. On Thursday they said in a joint statement they had signed a “strategic capital and business alliance agreement.” The new deal will see Sony pay ¥50 billion ($320 million) for 12 million new Kadokawa shares, making it the company’s biggest shareholder. The transfer to Sony, which has already held a stake in Kadokawa since 2021, is due to take effect on January 7. The move will expand Sony’s games and cartoons portfolio, after its 2021 purchase of Crunchyroll, a once semi-legal U.S.-based sharing site that is now a streaming giant for Japanese anime. Kadokawa and Sony “historically have collaborated on various projects, and through this capital and business alliance, intend to further strengthen our collaboration to maximise both companies’ IP value globally,” the statement said. Kadokawa also owns Tokyo-based FromSoftware, the creator of the dark fantasy role-playing adventure game “Elden Ring,” which was developed with help from “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin. Sony said last month that its net profit jumped in the second quarter thanks to stronger sales in gaming, music and imaging sensors. Its PlayStation 5 Pro console hit shelves in November, but its price tag has raised eyebrows among gamers. Source link

At the outset of 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was riding a wave of international acclaim and anticipating an election campaign that looked like such a formality he talked of a thousand-year legacy. Now, he’s looking back at a year of setbacks — at the ballot box, on the economy, in relations with foreign partners and in India’s own backyard. Modi’s annus horriblis leaves him on shakier ground going into 2025. Having secured a third term, he now finds himself at the helm of a country whose economy is slowing, with a global image that’s taken a beating from criminal allegations swirling around associates, while his own political standing at home has decidedly weakened. Source link

Alice Weidel, the long-shot chancellor candidate from the far-right Alternative for Germany, slammed the European Union for destroying the country’s auto industry and proposed winding back the bloc to a free-trade zone. “What we need to have is free trade among the European countries, but we don’t need all the bureaucracy,” co-leader of the second-strongest party in German polls said in Berlin. The EU’s “socialist policy making” has “destroyed the market mechanism in Europe.” As an example, Weidel — the AfD’s first-ever candidate for chancellor — cited Germany’s automotive sector, which she said had been “ripped off” by an EU ban on the sale of new combustion-engine vehicles by 2035. Source link

India aims to revolutionize the semiconductor industry by becoming its global hub — yet another bold ambition for the emerging power. Gaining a foothold in this field is in India’s strategic interest, leveraging the geopolitical and global economic environment to propel domestic growth and industrial development. While the so-called “chips war” is heating up day after day, India appears to have consciously joined economic and technological competition over semiconductors. The desire to leapfrog may sound overly optimistic for a country with hardly any semiconductor expertise or production capacity. India’s overall manufacturing and industrial ecosystem is also weak, meaning that the chip industry needs to be built from scratch. Source link