TOKYO -- Managing a diverse workforce is like coaching soccer in Brazil, says the head of a small Japanese auto parts supplier looking to establish itself as a trendsetter in support for foreigners in a country that tends to see them as guest workers rather than residents.

"Brazilian soccer is strong because players come together to win, regardless of race or nationality," Toshinao Hirano, the 45-year-old president of Hirano Vinyl Industry, which makes seat covers.

The manufacturer's story shows how such inclusiveness is

NEW DELHI -- Indian consumer goods maker Dabur India has expanded its lineup of ayurvedic products to meet growing demand for food and other items based on traditional Hindu remedies amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Since the spring of 2020, Dabur has released more than 50 ayurvedic items as more people resort to traditional healing methods to prevent and cure the disease.

Founded in 1884, Dabur first sold ayurvedic items at a small drugstore in the eastern India city of Kolkata. Now as a listed company, Dabur

HONG KONG -- Armed with infectious enthusiasm and some fresh ideas about opera, former Gladman Sachs partner turned impresario Rumiko Hasegawa founded a theatrical company in 2016 and decided to make a splash in Hong Kong cultural circles with scaled-down, theatrically charged versions of 19th-century operas.

In 2017 came a 90-minute "La Traviata" set in a local shopping mall, then a shortened "Tosca" the next year in a luxury product showroom. Third time, though

TOKYO -- I vividly remember a scene in the small hours in Beijing on Feb. 20, 1997. Assigned to the capital of China, I was in front of the 301 Hospital, a military hospital located at the southern edge of the city.

A medical ward for top Chinese officials was under heavy guard and being outlined with bluish white lights just after strongman Deng Xiaoping, known as "China's last emperor," died in a room there.

With a sense of anxiety

YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November . But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

Read our in-depth coverage:

-- Myanmar

HONG KONG -- Syngenta Group, the ChemChina-owned Swiss agrichemical company, on Friday filed an application for an initial public offering to raise $10 billion on the Shanghai STAR Market.

The company plans to sell up to 2.79 billion shares, or a 20% stake, via the IPO, according to the prospectus.

The listing will be the largest IPO globally in 2021 and the biggest ever at the two-year-old STAR Market, a Nasdaq-style tech-

TOKYO -- Japan urged leaders from Pacific island nations to unite against authoritarianism in a summit Friday, promising coronavirus vaccine doses and economic assistance to a region increasingly critical to joint efforts with the U.S. to counter Chinese expansionism.

"The Pacific region faces new challenges, like competing with authoritarianism," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said at the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, or PALM. In addition to Japan, the online event drew 16 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and two regions.

As Beijing

HANOI -- Top Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup aims to reach annual electric vehicle sales of 160,000 to 180,000 in the U.S. -- the equivalent of 1% of all automobiles, electric or otherwise, sold in the country.

Chairman and founder Pham Nhat Vuong announced the goal at the annual general meeting in late June, according to local media reports.

To start, the group plans to sell 15,000 EVs in the U.S

TOKYO -- Japan's measures to combat money laundering faces a failing grade from an international watchdog, Nikkei learned Friday, giving Tokyo yet another reason to knock down the walls of the country's compartmentalized bureaucracy.

In its plenary meeting late last month, the Financial Action Task Force decided to place Japan under enhanced follow-up, a classification for countries that have "significant deficiencies" or are making "insufficient progress," a source familiar with the situation said. The evaluation, set for release in August,