TOKYO -- Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's third-largest banking group by assets, suffered yet another system crash on Friday, dealing a further blow to a company trying to restore confidence after a string of similar failures this year.

A system breakdown halted deposits and other transactions at teller windows in roughly 450 Mizuho Bank branches across Japan on Friday morning. Mizuho Trust & Banking locations also were affected.

Though service was mostly restored by the afternoon, customers were disgruntled by Mizuho Bank's fifth crash so

Admiral James Stavridis was 16th Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and 12th Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He spent the bulk of his operational career in the Pacific, and is author of "2034: A Novel of the Next World War."

For most of the 19th century, the Russian and British empires contended over Afghanistan in what was known as the Great Game.

The geopolitical competition recognized the strategic position of Afghanistan, and its potential to

NEW YORK -- U.S. President Joe Biden closed a tumultuous week Friday with a second address to the nation on Afghanistan, stressing that allies were not questioning America's credibility, even after the failure to prevent an immediate takeover by the Taliban.

But this assertion came just two days after a heated session in the British House of Commons, where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle slammed Washington's handling of the drawdown with such words as "shameful," "ghastly" and "catastrophic."

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Veteran U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as U.S. ambassador to China, the White House said on Friday, signaling the administration may be looking for the envoy to play a more central role in the increasingly fractious relations between the two global rivals.

The choice of Burns, a retired career foreign service officer who served as under secretary of state between 2005 and 2008, marks a shift for the role

TOKYO -- Netflix has enlisted the help of an unlikely partner in its push to solidify its status as the top streaming service in Japan: local utilities.

Since its Japan launch in 2015, Netflix has quickly become a staple among the young urban crowd largely thanks to the popularity of its original content. But with broadcast TV still reigning supreme outside big cities like Tokyo, the tech giant is working on attracting new subscribers who otherwise may have never signed up.

As part of its efforts, Netflix on Friday

GUANGZHOU -- Chinese discount store operator Miniso amassed a net loss exceeding 1.4 billion yuan ($215 million) for the year ended in June as the coronavirus pandemic deepened the company's red ink.

Miniso struggled as normally profitable overseas outlets were forced to close temporarily amid lockdowns. But performance picked up in the April-June quarter, led by operations abroad.

Full-year group sales inched up 1% to 9 billion yuan, the company said Thursday. Chinese revenue rose 21% to

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- President Joe Biden said Friday he will nominate Rahm Emanuel, who served as a top aide to former President Barack Obama, as U.S. ambassador to Japan, seeking to fill a key diplomatic post that has been vacant for about two years.

Biden also tapped Nicholas Burns, a former diplomat and currently a Harvard University professor, as U.S. ambassador to China.

The nominations will require Senate approval.

If confirmed, Emanuel, a 61-year-old former congressman

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysia's next prime minister will be Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the palace announced on Friday, putting a party hit by corruption scandals and ousted by voters back in the driver's seat.

The appointment of the 61-year-old Ismail Sabri marks the return of an administration led by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) -- a Malay-ethnic political party that lost to an opposition coalition led by Mahathir Mohamad in the 2018 election. Allegations of corruption, including

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande Group revealed on Friday it held talks about selling a stake in its EV unit to smartphone maker Xiaomi as the world's most indebted property developer comes under mounting pressure from Beijing to manage its liquidity crisis.

Evergrande's statement came a day after Reuters reported the company was in talks with Xiaomi and state-backed investment companies in Shenzhen to sell a part of its 65% stake in China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, a flagship project started by the group's billionaire founder