Record numbers of tourists flocked to Japan last year, figures showed Wednesday, as the weak yen bolstered the appeal of the "bucket list" destination despite overcrowding complaints in hotspots like Kyoto.Japan has long been a "bucket list" destination for many people, said Naomi Mano, president of hospitality and events company Luxurique.
Inflation in the U.K. unexpectedly fell in December, a move that will likely fuel pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates again next month. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, was 2.5% in the year to December, largely as a result of easing price pressures in the services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the British economy. If the Bank of England decides to cut its main interest rate from 4.75%, it could well ease the pressure in British government bond markets, which have been volatile in recent weeks.
Firefly's "Blue Moon" and ispace's "Resilience" are the latest in an ongoing push to gain private-sector experience exploring the moon.
A SpaceX rocket launched a pair of lunar landers — Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost and Ispace’s Hakuto-R — on a journey to our closest celestial neighbor.
Asian markets swung Wednesday, continuing their yo-yo start to the year as traders assess the economic outlook with Donald Trump back in the White House, with focus now on the release of key US inflation data.Also in focus this week is the release of Chinese 2024 growth data, with expectations that it could come in below the previous year and be among the slowest in more than three decades.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting Poland on Wednesday after the two countries reached an agreement on a longstanding source of tensions between them: the exhumation of Polish victims of World War II-era massacres by Ukrainian nationalists. The office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said early Wednesday he would welcome Zelenskyy in the late morning, and that the two would hold a joint news conference shortly after noon local time. The visit comes just days after Tusk announced progress on the issue of the exhumations, an issue that has strained relations for years.
Hand sanitizer alone isn't enough to protect you from norovirus, experts say. So it's important to know how to stay safe and wash your hands properly.
Donald Trump's policies are not likely to cause inflation to reignite as many analysts fear, one of the president-elect's longtime economic advisors told AFP Tuesday, less than a week before Trump returns to the White House.In an interview, Stephen Moore, a longtime economic advisor to Trump, said that the full suite of policies the president-elect wants to push through, including deregulation and the extension of expiring tax cuts, should help keep price increases in check.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested for questioning, according to the country’s anti corruption agency, in the latest chapter of a weekslong political saga that began with the embattled president’s shock martial law decree last month.
Germany's far-right AfD party has aimed fire at the Bauhaus movement, just as the hallowed school of architecture and design nears its centenary milestone.The Bauhaus movement of the 1920s, with its pioneering ethos of uniting form and function, redefined ideas about art, industrial design and building but was banned as "degenerate art" by the Nazis in 1933.
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Wednesday acquitted former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in the last corruption case against her, paving the way for her to run in elections that an interim government says will be held either in December or in the first half of 2026. Zia is ailing and traveled to London earlier this month for medical treatment after being cleared in another corruption case brought under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last August in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Zia and Hasina are archrivals who have dominated Bangladesh’s politics for decades, and Hasina's ouster has created an opportunity for Zia to make a comeback.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, got into a heated exchange at a House hearing Tuesday that culminated with Mace challenging Crockett by asking if she wanted to “take it outside.”
A new year of lunar exploration kicked off early Wednesday, when two robotic landers and a small rover began their journeys to the moon.
Every day at the Paris court trying ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy over alleged corruption with Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the journalists who helped uncover the extraordinary allegations are following proceedings."When you see a former president and three former ministers sat together on four folding chairs, with the justice system asserting 'you were corrupted by a dictator', you know you are a witness to a historic event," Arfi told AFP in an interview.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the seventh orbital flight test of Starship, the colossal prototype rocket the company hopes will help humans colonize Mars.- Betting on Starship - SpaceX already dominates the orbital launch market with its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which serve commercial clients, NASA and the Pentagon.
Kyiv's air force had warned of numerous groups of missiles launched by Russia amid a nationwide air-raid alert, but there were no immediate reports of damage. In a statement, Ukrenergo said it had introduced the power cuts in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions. Separately, Ukrainian energy minister German Galushchenko said on social media that "preventative measures" involving the distribution system were also in force.
One rocket, two missions: lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies launched their "rideshare" to the Moon on Wednesday, showcasing the private sector's growing role in space exploration."Each milestone we complete will provide valuable data for future missions and ultimately keep the United States and our international partners at the forefront of space exploration," Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim said Tuesday.
Jilted on dating apps but undeterred in the quest for romance, 20 young singles gathered in Madrid to share activities and flirtatious smiles in a rediscovery of real-life love.Online dates are "consumed, but without an intention to really connect with the other person, more as entertainment", the specialist in couples told AFP. "For that reason lots of despair is showing up among the young who would like to meet someone to share their life with.
Pomegranates and their seeds boast a ton of health benefits. Here, registered dietitians explain what they are and from which form you'll benefit most.
Japan is gravely concerned about actions being repeated in the South China Sea that are raising tensions, and strongly opposes any unilateral attempt to change the status quo, its foreign minister said on Wednesday. Speaking during a visit to the Philippines, Takeshi Iwaya also said Japan would continue to provide to Manila development assistance and support for its maritime security, adding a trilateral mechanism that also includes the United States would be strengthened when a new administration takes over in Washington. Iwaya's visit follows a virtual call between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden where the three leaders affirmed their "trilateral arrangement" in deepening economic, security and technology cooperation in the face of growing tensions in the region.