In 1995, a modest 3.3 million people visited Japan, a fascinating land of ancient temples, neon skyscrapers, snow-capped mountains and sandy beaches. That year it was the 34th most visited country on the planet, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), behind the likes of Bulgaria, Ukraine and Belgium. Growth was steady, if unspectacular, […]

Volatility gripped Wall Street on Tuesday. The Dow fell as much as 430 points — 1.6% — on fears about a political crisis in Italy and renewed trade tensions between the United States and China. The index turned negative for the year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slipped 1.3% and 0.7% apiece. Italy is headed […]

“Shabbat as a day of rest [religiously] and also according to the law, is a central value in the lives of all Jews and our identity as a people.” The youth wing of the National Union religious party, a part of the Bayit Yehudi Knesset faction, has called on Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev […]

A man has shot dead two female police officers and a civilian in the eastern Belgian city of Liège. The gunman also took a female cleaner hostage at a school before being killed by police. Four other police officers were also injured. The man’s motive is not yet clear but the incident is being treated […]

Weixing Chen, co-founder of the Didi Chuxing ride-hailing company, one of the largest technology startups in the global market, is partnering with Yang Jun, co-founder of Meituan, a Chinese on-demand local services firm, to offer a ride-hailing app supported by blockchain technology. Didi Chuxing is valued at close to $60 billion, and is seeking an IPO at […]

U.S. stock indexes slumped on Tuesday, with bank stocks among the hardest hit, as a deepening political crisis in Italy triggered rush to safe-haven assets. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were hovering near three-week lows on the prospects of a repeat election in Italy that has raised doubts about the country’s […]

There’s a cautionary tale that’s been passed around the professional world for years — someone quits their job and decides to tell the boss exactly what they think of them. Fast forward a few years and this same person, at a different job, finds out they’re getting a new boss. Yep, you guessed it, the very same person […]

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has asked an ex-IMF economist to form a government as the country faces fresh political turmoil. Carlo Cottarelli became known as “Mr Scissors” for his cuts to public spending in Italy. His appointment came after efforts by Italy’s two populist parties to form a coalition government collapsed. But the move is […]

Ethereum classic (ETC) is set to fork in the coming days as part of a bid to diffuse a so-called ‘bomb’ in its code. Set for block 5,900,000, the change, in which all users of the original ethereum blockchain will need to update their software, is meant to disable a feature that is designed to increase the difficulty […]

Signet Jewelers, the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry, has joined Tracr, the diamond blockchain program being developed by South African gem juggernaut De Beers Group. Signet is part of a growing chorus of industry giants that are part of the Tracr pilot program, which will track each diamond that gets mined on a shared […]