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TOKYO: Toyota Motor said it is exploring the possibility of investing in a potential buyout of key parts supplier Toyota Industries – a buyout that reportedly could cost $42 billion. “We are currently exploring various possibilities, including partial investment,” the automaker said in a filing with the Tokyo stock exchange on Saturday following reports about the possible buyout. Bloomberg News reported on Friday that Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda and his founder family have proposed acquiring Toyota Industries in a possible 6 trillion yen ($42 billion) deal. Toyota Industries, which has a market value of 4 trillion yen, said in a…

Gestamp, one of the world’s top manufacturers of metal parts for cars, is pursuing acquisition opportunities in China’s automotive sector, where an excess of capacity threatens unprofitable assemblers and supply-chain vendors.The Spanish company, which supplies chassis and body products for clients like Volkswagen and Ford, is bucking the trend among international automotive firms that are disposing of their facilities in the world’s largest vehicle market amid fierce competition.“Not every company in China’s automotive industry is profitable today, so we think that in the future, there may be some consolidations,” Francisco Jose Riberas Mera, executive chairman of Gestamp, told the Post…

Gestamp, one of the world’s top manufacturers of metal parts for cars, is pursuing acquisition opportunities in China’s automotive sector, where an excess of capacity threatens unprofitable assemblers and supply-chain vendors.The Spanish company, which supplies chassis and body products for clients like Volkswagen and Ford, is bucking the trend among international automotive firms that are disposing of their facilities in the world’s largest vehicle market amid fierce competition.“Not every company in China’s automotive industry is profitable today, so we think that in the future, there may be some consolidations,” Francisco Jose Riberas Mera, executive chairman of Gestamp, told the Post…

At a mountainside cafe in southwestern China, Liao Shihao brews handfuls of locally grown beans into steaming cups of coffee, a modern twist on the region’s traditional drink.For centuries, Puer in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea – sometimes styled “pu-erh” – famous across East Asia and beyond.But as younger Chinese cultivate a taste for punchy espressos, frothy lattes and flat whites, growers are increasingly branching out into tea’s historic rival.“People are coming to try our hand-drip coffee … and more fully experience the flavours it brings,” said Liao, 25. “In the past,…

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a sweeping drone assault across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, targeting multiple regions, officials said, after U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to end the war.One person was killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded in the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which was hit for the third consecutive night, regional Gov. Serhii Lysak said. The attacks came hours after Russia claimed to have regained control over the remaining parts of the Kursk region, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion last August. Ukrainian officials said the…

Geophysicist Zhigang Peng has been voted in as the next president-elect of the Seismological Society of America in Baltimore, making him the first Chinese-American to hold the position in the organisation’s 118-year history.A long-time professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and graduate of the University of Science and Technology of China, Peng was elected at last week’s annual meeting of the society and is set to assume the presidency in 2026.“There have been some improvements, but still limited,” Yi Rao, a neurobiologist at Peking University, said.Peng is not alone in pushing boundaries. This July, virologist Shan-Lu Liu of Ohio…

The trend of companies offering flexible working arrangements to retain their top talent, far from a pandemic-era fad, is now a permanent fixture of the office property market, according to International Workplace Group (IWG).In addition, global economic uncertainty was shaping office-space demand, driving companies away from being tied to traditional office leases, said Marc Descrozaille, CEO for Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific with the Switzerland-headquartered flex-desk service provider.Descrozaille credited these trends with boosting system-wide revenue for the group by 2 per cent to a record US$4.2 billion in 2024. Operating profit grew 185 per cent to US$510 million.IWG, which operates…

BEIJING: China’s industrial profits returned to growth in the first quarter, official data showed on Sunday, but are likely to come under further pressure amid a trade war with the United States. With Washington’s aggressive tariffs threatening to hit China’s crucial export engine hit and no time frame yet for any bilateral trade talks, economists and investors are waiting for the Chinese government to roll out more support measures to cushion the blow to the world’s second-largest economy. Cumulative profits of China’s industrial firms rose 0.8% to 1.5 trillion yuan ($205.86 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier,…

The Malaysian flag, known as the Jalur Gemilang or Stripes of Glory, is a highly respected symbol of national unity, but has recently been embroiled in controversies due to inappropriate representations, prompting public backlash and an apology from a government ministry.This revered symbol knits together a multiethnic nation with various fault lines and is proudly displayed in homes, classrooms, and government buildings.However, it is also a source of contention.Recently, botched depictions of the flag by a newspaper and a ministry have struck a nerve among the public, for whom even a missing crescent or an extra star is more than…

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Roman Catholic faithful began visiting the tomb of Pope Francis on Sunday, filing past the simple white tomb in St. Mary Major Basilica a day after he was bade farewell by the powerful of the world and a crowd of hundreds of thousands.A single white rose was placed on the tomb that said “Franciscus” — the pope’s name in Latin. A light cast its warm glow over the tomb and a reproduction of the late pontiff’s pectoral cross on the wall above it. People filed past, many crossings themselves or snapping photos with their phones.“Pope Francis…