53+ min ago (151+ words) Takeo Serizawa will become chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Invictus Investment Partners, while Tomohiro Yamaguchi will become CEO. Former Citadel portfolio manager Takeo Serizawa will join a new Japan-focused hedge fund, teaming up with one-time Point72 Asset Management's Japan head, Tomohiro Yamaguchi, to tap investor interest in the country.Serizawa will become chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Invictus Investment Partners, after his one-year non-compete agreement with Citadel ended last week, the two men said during an interview That will allow Yamaguchi to focus on risk management and business operations as chief executive officer.Invictus is among a string of Japan-focused hedge fund startups that have sprung up The country's corporate governance improvements and economy have rekindled investor enthusiasm International investors are looking for funds that have the right business setup and investment approach to accommodate hundreds of millions of…...

2+ hour, 10+ min ago (296+ words) NTT Docomo Business has begun deploying drones to locate and drive away wild bears, in partnership with the village of Showa in Fukushima Prefecture, informed sources have said. The high-performance drones, featuring a camera equipped with a thermal imaging function, can be effective in the early morning and at night, when bears tend to be active. The aircraft support the long-term evolution, or LTE, wireless communication standard, which is used for mobile phones. NTT Docomo Business, under the aegis of the group led by telecommunications giant NTT, plans to start offering the service to other municipalities as a new measure to address bear attacks at a time when reports on damage caused by the animals are increasing around the country. The drones search areas where bears were spotted to help hunters cull them. The thermal camera is used to locate…...

4+ hour, 55+ min ago (165+ words) Separately, across the Bay of Bengal, another 153 people were killed by a cyclone in the island nation of Sri Lanka. JAKARTA/BANGKOK - The death toll mounted to over 500 from floods and landslides caused by torrential rains across three countries in Southeast Asia, officials said on Sunday, as relief efforts for tens of thousands of displaced people continued over the weekend.Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand faced large-scale devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait fueling heavy rains and wind gusts for a week There were 336 dead in Indonesia, 170 in Thailand and two deaths reported in Malaysia.Rescue and relief officials in the Southeast Asian countries were still trying to get access to many flood-hit areas on Sunday even as flood waters receded and tens of thousands people were evacuated across the three countries Over 4 million people have…...

5+ hour, 9+ min ago (149+ words) The EU will face challenges creating its own'critical raw materials and rare earths industry, largely from scratch, from mines to extraction, processing and stockpiling. BRUSSELS - The European Union will unveil measures next week to cut the bloc's over-reliance on China for critical raw materials as Europe seeks to keep up with fierce global competition from the U.S and Asia.Despite years of warning signs that the old model of rules-based trade was coming to an end, accelerated by U.S President Donald Trump's return to power, European governments have been asleep at the wheel, EU and industry officials said.'Europe has become more vulnerable, also due to our dependency on third countries for our security and the supply of critical raw materials,' European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said last week, citing other challenges ranging from rising U.S tariffs to stiffening…...

8+ hour, 59+ min ago (162+ words) The front-wheel-drive version of the Sealion 6 SUV sells for "3,982,000 and the four-wheel-drive version for "4,488,000. BYD releases its first plug-in hybrid for Japanese market BYD released its first plug-in hybrid model for the Japanese market on Monday as the Chinese electric vehicle giant seeks to expand sales in the country, where EV adoption is slow. The plug-in SUV, the Sealion 6, features BYD's DM-i hybrid system, which enables quiet and smooth acceleration and low fuel consumption during long-distance driving. Its front-wheel-drive version sells for "3,982,000 and the four-wheel-drive version for "4,488,000. BYD has sold over 7.4 million plug-in hybrids globally since mass-producing them in 2008. The company started sales of its passenger cars in Japan in 2023. In Japan, BYD currently sells four EV models. It plans to add an electric minivehicle as early as summer 2026....

9+ hour, 13+ min ago (167+ words) The swap market is now pricing in about a 76% chance of a rate hike when the central bank delivers its next policy decision on Dec. 19. Japan's two-year note yield rose to its highest level since 2008, and the yen gained against the dollar on signs an interest-rate hike by the Bank of Japan is getting closer.The two-year rate, which is sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rose one basis point to 1% Yields on both five-year and benchmark 10-year bonds climbed about four basis points to 1.35% and 1.845% respectively Japan's currency strengthened as much as 0.4% to 155.49 against the dollar.In a closely watched speech on Monday, BOJ Gov Kazuo Ueda said the central bank will consider the pros and cons of raising the policy rate and make decisions as appropriate The likelihood of its economic outlook being realized is rising, and conditions would…...

11+ hour, 26+ min ago (146+ words) People familiar with the matter said last week that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen as the likely choice to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chief. President Donald Trump said Sunday he has decided on his pick for the next Federal Reserve chair after making clear he expects his nominee to deliver interest-rate cuts.'I know who I am going to pick, yeah," Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington, without naming his choice 'We'll be announcing it."Trump has frequently excoriated current Fed chief Jerome Powell for failing to lower rates swiftly and signaled he wants a chair who will more forcefully pursue cuts People familiar with the matter said last week that White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Trump's chief economic adviser, is seen as the…...

11+ hour, 33+ min ago (118+ words) A Japan Times reporter was invited to ride on the M10, the newest rolling stock in Japan's maglev fleet. The vehicle, which was developed by Hitachi, is more energy efficient than its predecessors, as ... Japan's maglev is a train to nowhere that continues to wow the crowds The world's fastest train, a maglev that has reached speeds of 600 kilometers an hour, regularly travels 42.8 kilometers from a patch of unremarkable farmland in Yamanashi Prefecture to a point farther into the middle of nowhere. Spectators along the way get to see it whoosh by now and then, and a lucky few get a chance to take a ride. For now, that's just about it....

1+ day, 1+ hour ago (94+ words) Taiwan's government has proposed $40 billion in extra defense spending over several years, with the focus on developing the advanced system. What is Taiwan's multilayered T-Dome air defense system? Taiwan's government has proposed $40 billion in extra defense spending over several years, with the focus on developing a multilayered air defense system dubbed T-Dome. The system will be designed to protect the democratic island against a potential attack by Chinese fighter jets, missiles or drones. China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to annex it....

1+ day, 3+ hour ago (123+ words) The loss surpassed Wales' 68-14 defeat to England in the Six Nations in March and marked the first time Wales had been shutout in Cardiff since 1967. Springboks inflict record home defeat on Wales Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starred as South Africa ran in 11 unanswered tries to inflict a record 73-0 home defeat on Wales in the autumn season-ending international test in Cardiff on Saturday. The loss surpassed Wales' 68-14 defeat to England in the Six Nations in March. It was also the first time Wales had been kept pointless in Cardiff in the professional era " the last time the Welsh were kept at nil in the capital was back in 1967 in a 3-0 loss to Ireland....