TOKYO -- Toyota Motor will not air any Olympic-related TV advertisements and its officials will not attend the opening ceremony or other events, despite the automaker being a top-tier sponsor.

The decision, which the company confirmed on Monday, comes amid lukewarm public sentiment toward the event, which is set to kick off on Friday amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Tokyo.

The Japanese carmaker cited confusion over how the Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be carried out, saying there are still "things that are not understood

BANGKOK -- Criticism of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's government is growing as Thailand's mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak becomes clearer with the spread of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.

Once seen as a model for containing the pandemic, Thailand has joined Indonesia and Malaysia among those hardest hit by the delta strain in Southeast Asia. Cases reported in the region's second-largest economy exceeded the 400,000 mark on Sunday, with average daily infections passing

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles in Germany with a leading Chinese manufacturer, starting in 2025.

The German auto group will build its second EV battery plant in Salzgitter in a joint effort with Guoxuan High-tech to produce low-cost batteries for economy EVs, the company said in a statement on last Tuesday.

In May 2020, VW announced the acquisition of a 26% stake in Guoxuan, China's third-largest EV battery maker after Contemporary Amperex Technology

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA -- Grab and Gojek, Southeast Asia's biggest ride-hailing and delivery superapps, have pledged their commitment to net zero carbon emission, leading the region's tech startups in adopting environment, social and governance (ESG) goals.

From July 14, Grab in Singapore started a new service that enables users to hail a hybrid car or an electric car for the same fare as its normal ride-hailing option. That is one of the company's latest initiatives to promote environmentally friendly

LHASA, China -- China's Communist Party is ramping up investment in Tibet in an effort to spur economic growth and ensure social stability as it seeks to foster harmony between Tibetans and settlers of Han Chinese ethnicity, who make up the majority of the country's population.

The policy may be working despite Beijing's heavy-handed control of the restive western region. As a foreign journalist, I visited Tibet from the end of May to the beginning of June in a rare and tightly chaperoned tour arranged by

SEOUL -- Coronavirus cases have surged to record levels in South Korea, resulting in stricter curbs that are pressuring small and midsized businesses already reeling from previous outbreaks and widening the performance gap between big companies and smaller domestic rivals.

While large South Korean enterprises have fared better than their overseas peers, the growing gap at home has smaller establishments worried.

The government has been supporting mom-and-pop shops with monetary handouts that have helped them weather the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis. It is also currently considering

WASHINGTON -- A resurgent U.S. economy heading toward 7% growth has brought with it a return of inflation, as the June consumer price index rose 5.4% on the year for the highest 12-month rate since August 2008.

Are rising prices a blip or the beginning of a chronic problem that will shackle the American economy?

Austan Goolsbee, who served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers during President Barack Obama's administration, sees little prospect for runaway inflation.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) -- Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba won a vote of confidence in parliament on Sunday, days after the Supreme Court reinstated the legislature that was dissolved in May.

The 75-year-old, who has held the office four times before, won 165 votes -- exceeding the 136 required -- with 83 votes against him, parliament speaker Agni Sapkota said.

He faces the immediate task of procuring vaccines and controlling the spread of COVID-1

DALIAN, China -- North Korea's trade with China dropped 84% to $65.72 million in the first six months of the year, statistics released by Beijing on Sunday show, as precautions taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic halted the flow of people and goods from China.

The figure, from China's General Administration of Customs, also is down 95% from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic took root.

China accounts for more than 90