First trans Olympian spurs debate over inclusiveness vs. fairness
TOKYO -- The first transgender athlete in Olympics history will compete in the women's weightlifting event of the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 2.
Laurel Hubbard, 43, from New Zealand, will compete in the over 87-kg category. She used to compete as a male athlete, but has now undergone sex reassignment surgery. Her rivals and some sports commentators have said that her inclusion in the women's competition gives her an unfair advantage.
Which should be more important, the fairness of competition or
Poland grants visa to Belarus athlete seeking asylum
TOKYO -- A Belarusian athlete at the Tokyo Olympic Games has been granted a "humanitarian visa" by Poland, a senior official of the European country tweeted on Monday, after she expressed her desire to defect and entered the Polish embassy.
"Kryscina Tsimanouskaya a Belarusian athlet[e] is already in direct contact with Polish diplomats in Tokyo. She has received a humanitarian visa," tweeted Marcin Przydacz, the undersecretary of state for security at Poland's foreign ministry. "Poland will do whatever is necessary to help
China can destabilize Taiwan without firing a shot
TOKYO -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman's visit to China on July 25-26, the first such trip by a Biden administration diplomat, illustrated, as many predicted, what a quagmire the tensions between the U.S. and China have become.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward three demands -- do not plot to subvert China, lift all of Washington's unilateral sanctions and do not infringe on China's territory and sovereignty -- with a particularly strong
Grab says 'on track' to close SPAC deal by end of 2021
SINGAPORE -- Singapore-based digital tech unicorn Grab is "on track" to go public by the end of this year, the company said Monday as it announced updates on the planned U.S. listing, which had been pushed back from the original target of July.
Grab is one of the biggest startups in Southeast Asia, offering app-based services such as ride-hailing, food delivery and mobile payment. In April, it unveiled a plan to go public on Nasdaq through a merger with Altimeter Growth
TV tech delivers Olympic viewers real-time pulse of the Games
TOKYO -- With the Tokyo Olympics resigned to be a crowdless affair, organizers and broadcasters are pulling out all the technological stops to bring the Games closer to people's living rooms.
When Japanese swimmer Yui Ohashi won the gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley on Wednesday, a TV graphic showed the speed of the leading competitors in meters per second in real time during the final stretch of the event.
The graphic was made possible by cutting-edge tech from Swiss watchmaker Omega. Four special cameras
Itochu's 'blue' ammonia to power Japan's green future
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu is set to begin commercial production of ammonia in Canada in 2026 at what is slated to be one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities for the clean-burning fuel.
Itochu has agreed to conduct a joint feasibility study with a Canadian subsidiary of Malaysian state energy company Petronas, as well as a local infrastructure company that builds gas pipelines. The $1.3 billion plant will manufacture ammonia from natural gas extracted from a field owned by the Petronas unit, making
EV powertrains set to disrupt auto industry's pecking order
TOKYO -- Electric-vehicle makers including Hyundai Motor and Stellantis have begun to look beyond their own development teams for powertrain systems -- the throbbing heart that makes EVs go -- in a trend that could reshape decades-old automotive supply chains.
EV powertrains, called e-axles, combine motors, gearboxes and other drive components into one system that plays a determining role in a vehicle's range and performance.
Major automakers have long stood atop the industry pyramid by keeping development and production of gasoline-powered engines
China's campaign to regulate Big Tech is more than just retaliation
Martin Chorzempa is a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
Today's headlines give the impression that the Chinese government is intent on crushing its innovative internet companies.
Both tech companies and Chinese policy are topics often subject to misleading hyperbole, and this is no exception. It is true that the economic policy environment these days in China is dark and statist, given the authoritarian politics.
The total surrender narrative on tech companies, however, misses the point. In fact, there are legitimate public policy
TOKYO -- U.S. investment bank Houlihan Lokey seeks to acquire Tokyo-based mergers and acquisitions advisory firm GCA in a deal expected to be worth more than $550 million, Nikkei has learned.
Houlihan is set to launch a tender offer soon to make GCA a wholly owned subsidiary. It plans to offer a roughly 30% premium to Tokyo-listed GCA's share price, which closed at 1,051 yen, or $9.60, on Monday.
The
Olympics and vaccine progress leave Japanese spending patchy
TOKYO -- For Sanshiro Shirahashi, there's currently no place like home.
The last (and first) time Tokyo hosted the Olympics, in 1964, Shirahashi - then a student - barely stayed home. He recalls feeling excited walking around the city that drew thousands of foreign visitors and was the focus of world attention.
This time, effectively no Olympic spectators are allowed in Tokyo, which has been under a state of emergency for most of 2021. The delayed Olympics, the 7
