AFP
20241 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
20241 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
Holidaymakers are returning to Paris for winter holiday magic as the tourism industry rebounds, inspired by the successful Olympic Games and the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral. With five billion viewers, the Paris Games were the most followed Games in television and social media history, according to the International Olympic Committee.
A former CEO of Japanese optical equipment firm Olympus was found guilty on Friday of a drug charge, with a Tokyo court handing down a suspended jail sentence. He first joined the European arm of the Japanese firm in 2003 and became the company's second non-Japanese president.
The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico's luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW. According to industry experts, Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price.
Japan's government on Friday approved a record budget for the next fiscal year, ramping up spending on social welfare, as the population ages, and defence to tackle regional threats. The 8.7 trillion yen approved Friday will help pay for measures to help attract recruits to Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and to improve relations between the US and Japanese militaries with locals in Okinawa.
Japanese stocks rose Friday on a weaker yen after a muted day on Wall Street following the Christmas holiday. The yen was "marginally stronger" on Friday, Bloomberg reported, after data showed inflation in Tokyo rose for a second month in December.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out negotiations with Donald Trump over control of the Panama Canal, which the US president-elect threatened to demand be returned to Washington. If Panama could not ensure "the secure, efficient and reliable operation" of the channel, "then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question," he said.
Peru has declared an "environmental emergency" after an oil spill that triggered a clean-up operation on a stretch of northern coastline popular with tourists. The leak was detected last Friday on Las Capullanas beach when the crude oil was about to be loaded onto a tanker, the company said at the weekend without specifying the cause or amount of oil spilled.
Turkey's central bank lowered its key interest rate on Thursday, the first cut in nearly two years as it battles with double-digit inflation. The central bank began to raise interest rates last year to battle soaring prices, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his opposition to orthodox monetary policy.
Asia's stocks rose in thin Boxing Day trade on Thursday, extending a "Santa Rally" with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays. Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, a trend known as the "Santa Claus rally".
AFP
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