Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ’s repeated rebuffs by US president-elect Donald Trump may drive him towards Beijing, analysts say, sparking concerns that closer Sino-Japanese ties might complicate Washington’s Asia-Pacific policy. When Trump declined a request to meet Ishiba in November, it was widely seen as a snub to the Japanese leader. Additionally, when Ishiba suggested visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence, this was also firmly rejected, with the president-elect’s team citing the 1799 Logan Act for avoiding contact with foreign leaders before his inauguration on January 20. Critics of that explanation highlight Trump’s recent meetings with leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , French President Emmanuel Macron , and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as a private meeting with Prince William . Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba
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The world’s largest gathering of humanity begins in India on January 13 with the opening of the Kumbh Mela, a six-week Hindu festival organisers expect to attract up to 400 million pilgrims. Organisers say the scale of preparations for the Kumbh Mela is akin to setting up a temporary country from scratch – in this case, one more populous than the United States and Canada combined. “Some 350 to 400 million devotees are going to visit the mela, so you can imagine the scale of preparations,” festival spokesman Vivek Chaturvedi said. Around 150,000 toilets have been built and a network of community kitchens can each feed up to 50,000 people at the same time. Construction takes place on the banks of river Ganges in the city of Prayagraj ahead of
The remains of townhomes destroyed by the Eaton Fire lie behind an advertising sign in Altadena, California. Photo: Frederic J. Brown / AFPSource: AFP The fires ravaging upmarket Los Angeles districts Pacific Palisades and Malibu will be the most expensive ever to hit California, according to experts, who expect premiums to rise in a region already abandoned by many insurers. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that the total cost of damage and insured damage had doubled in less than 24 hours to $50 billion and $20 billion respectively. And the flames were still advancing on several fronts Friday. These record levels already far outstrip the 2017 Tubbs fire and the 2018 Camp fire, whose estimates of insured damage have climbed, according to sources, to as much as $16 billion. The value
Apple has formed a new data-processing venture in Shanghai , according to business registry information, as the US tech giant’s bid to bring artificial intelligence (AI) services to iPhones in mainland China remains in limbo. Established on Friday with a registered capital of US$35 million, Apple Technology Development (Shanghai) will focus on software development, big data services, storage services and data processing, according to Chinese business registry platform Tianyancha. Tejas Kirit Gala, who heads Apple’s multiple entities in the country, serves as the legal representative of the new firm, which is wholly owned by Apple South Asia, according to Tianyancha. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The Cupertino, California-based company’s latest move comes amid growing challenges in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, where
The case of an Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen has sparked outrage over her claims of harassment and passport confiscation, placing a spotlight on the harsh realities faced by migrant workers and the rigid application of sharia law in the region. Nimisha Priya, who travelled to Yemen from Southern India’s Kerala in 2008 to look for a nursing job, was found guilty of murdering her business partner in a clinic, a Yemeni man named Talal Abdo Mahdi, in 2020. She had alleged that Mahdi had been harassing her for many years and had even confiscated her passport, forcing her to try to secure the document by giving him sedatives. Her lawyer has argued that she had tried to anaesthetise Mahdi just to retrieve her passport, but the dosage
At a tribute dinner ahead of receiving Israel’s highest civilian honor, Jewish leaders celebrated the former Conference of Presidents chairman’s decades of diplomatic achievement. By GREER FAY CASHMAN JANUARY 10, 2025 11:36 KNESSET SPEAKER Amir Ohana with Malcolm Hoenlein. (photo credit: SARAH DAVIDOVICH) Standing out against his fellow recipients of the President’s Medal of Honor this week was Malcolm Hoenlein, the former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations, a position that he held for more than three decades. Hoenlein continues to be involved with the Jewish world and Israel and is the non-resident President of the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem. The synagogue’s executive board hosted a dinner for Hoenlein on Tuesday evening, just 24 hours ahead of the presentation ceremony of the medals at the
A prominent leftist party in the Philippines has renewed calls for the removal of US troops, warning that US president-elect Donald Trump ’s aggressive foreign policy and recent threats against other nations underscore the dangers of a bigger American military presence in the Southeast Asian country. However, observers say their appeals, and those of other progressive groups, are unlikely to gain traction given overwhelming political and public support for stronger ties between Manila and Washington to counter China’s maritime aggression. “The ascendancy of Trump is a reminder that the expanded US military presence in the Philippines poses grave danger to our security and long-term stability in the region,” Bayan Muna said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Trump administration could use the Philippines as a staging ground to aggressively assert
Jan
Understanding Recovery Fundamentals The difference between good and great athletic performance often lies not in what happens during training, but in how effectively you recover between sessions. According to research from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, optimal recovery can improve performance by up to 30% and significantly reduce injury risk. Recovery is not just […]
Chinese enterprise software company Yonyou Network Technology has named Huang Chenhong – former global executive vice-president at German rival SAP – its new president, as the mainland’s tech sector scoops up talent from multinational firms that are scaling back operations in the country. Beijing -based Yonyou, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and cloud services provider in China, said in a statement that Huang’s leadership would help the company “capture strategic opportunities in digital transformation, the rise of domestic technology solutions and the global expansion of Chinese enterprises”. Huang, who had also served as president of SAP Greater China, left the German firm last October after the enterprise software giant announced plans to restructure its operations in the region. That entailed a merger of SAP’s Greater China business and
PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump hosted 22 of the nation’s 27 Republican governors for dinner at his Florida club on Thursday night, looking to help drive the agenda in conservative-run states after he takes office in 11 days. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte told reporters outside the gathering that some of the GOP governors unable to attend were being inaugurated, and that one was delayed by snow and was unable to make it to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. But he said attendees who could come were “thrilled to accept the president-elect’s invitation” and welcomed a coming “collaborative, working relationship, which we have not had for four years” during the Biden administration. “It’s been a long period without cooperation from Washington,” Gianforte told reporters outside. “So, we’re looking forward to
Smart grid system showing renewable energy integration with traditional power infrastructure.
Jan
As the world accelerates its transition to renewable energy, power utilities face an unprecedented challenge: integrating variable renewable energy sources into existing grid infrastructure while maintaining reliability and stability. This integration journey represents one of the most significant transformations in the history of our electrical systems, combining technical innovation with strategic planning to create a […]
The Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate down 0.248% from Monday, at NIS 3.627/$. By GLOBES/TNS JANUARY 9, 2025 14:20 New Israeli Shekel bills are seen in front of an upwards-trending graph (illustration) (photo credit: HADAR YOUAVIAN/FLASH90) The shekel is weakening sharply Wednesday against the US dollar and is firm against the euro. In afternoon inter-bank trading the shekel-US dollar exchange rate is up 1.40% at NIS 3.678/$, and the shekel-euro rate is up 0.16%, at NIS 3.782/euro. Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate down 0.248% from Monday, at NIS 3.627/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.214% lower at NIS 3.775/euro. The dollar is strengthening worldwide after reports in the US that President-elect Donald Trump will declare a national economic emergency to
The property previously owned by former president Nelson Mandela in Houghton, Johannesburg, where his grandson Mbuso was arrested with four hijacking suspects on Wednesday, is not rented out. Mbuso’s elder brother Ndaba told TimesLIVE the property had been neglected by his younger brother who had been living there for years. Mbuso is expected to appear in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Friday with four other suspects arrested with him. According to Johannesburg metro police (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla, the arrests followed information from a vehicle tracking company regarding the location of a white Toyota Corolla hijacked on Wednesday on Louis Botha Avenue in Oaklands. Fihla said at the time JMPD officers recovered the hijacked vehicle and apprehended four men and one woman and a subsequent search of the premises resulted
Man told he can’t recover £598m of Bitcoin from tip BBC James Howells tried to sue Newport council to gain access to the landfill site or receive £495m in compensation During the hearing in December the court heard how Mr Howells had been an early adopter of Bitcoin and had successfully mined the cryptocurrency. As the value of his missing digital wallet soared, Mr Howells organised a team of experts to attempt to locate, recover and access the hard drive. He had repeatedly asked permission from the council for access to the site, and had offered it a share of the missing Bitcoin if it was successfully recovered. Mr Howells successfully “mined” the Bitcoin in 2009 for almost nothing, and says he forgot about it altogether when he threw it
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Fast-moving blaze kills at least five and puts 130,000 under evacuation orders in the heartland of US film industry. The wind whips up embers as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California [Ringo Chiu/Reuters] The Hollywood Hills was burning uncontrollably on Thursday morning as the worst wildfires in the history of Los Angeles raged across the city with a crescent of flame visible from space. The fast-moving blaze broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening the heartland of the United States film industry as firefighters battled to control it amid dry, hurricane-force winds hindering operations and spreading the flames. At least six separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County, killing at least five people and putting 130,000 people