Cognac & Brandy Market 2019 Global Industry Size, Growth, Segments, Revenue, Manufacturers and 2025 Forecast Research Report

The company detailed how A.I. agents gained access to four government websites and acknowledged mishandling its response.

Last year, Japan was flooding its rice market with emergency stockpiles in a bid to mollify voters angered by the soaring price of its staple grain. Now, it has the opposite problem: a glut. That is welcome news for shoppers, but the whiplash is hurting people like Hiroshi Asano, 59, who farms a relatively large 38 hectares (93 acres) of rice fields in Chiba, close to Tokyo. He expects to make a loss this year, and he is worried smaller-scale farmers would not be able to survive. “I’ve been...

We have selected seven stories from the SCMP’s coverage of Asia over the past week that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Bangkok declares flood disaster across city as thousands flee from homes Entire Bangkok neighbourhoods were inundated on Saturday as the city government declared a flood disaster after the worst rains in years overwhelmed the Thai capital, submerging roads, cars and...

US chip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has agreed to acquire World Labs, the artificial intelligence start-up founded by renowned Chinese-American computer scientist Li Fei-Fei, for US$8.2 billion in an all-stock deal, as the company steps up its rivalry with Nvidia. The acquisition, expected to close by the end of this year, would integrate World Labs’ research team and spatial-intelligence model expertise into AMD, according to an announcement on Monday. Li, a Stanford University professor...

A generation exhausted by dating apps is embracing a corporate reinvention of traditional matchmaking, fueling an industry that promises a fast track to marriage.

Shares of Shein Global Holdings fell nearly 14 per cent to a record low in Hong Kong on Tuesday after the online fashion retailer posted a 67 per cent drop in second-quarter profit in its first earnings report since listing, warning that tariff headwinds and logistics cost volatility would persist for the rest of the year. The company said in an unaudited filing on Monday that profit for the June quarter slumped to US$228 million, while revenue edged up 1 per cent to US$11 billion. Revenues from...

Travel companies in southern Japan are pinning their hopes on a business revival following a planned visit by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako to the areas hardest hit by a major earthquake this summer. The imperial couple, who were scheduled to meet communities in Kumamoto prefecture on Tuesday, postponed the trip due to poor weather. On Wednesday, they will speak with families currently living in temporary accommodation after losing their homes and businesses. The prefecture was at the...

The official opening of the Pinglu Canal on September 16 is a milestone in modern Chinese history. More than an infrastructural feat, it signals a strategic recalibration of how China’s inland economies connect with the sea and Southeast Asia, and augurs the next phase of regional growth. Designed for vessels of up to 5,000 tonnes, the 134.2km (83.4 mile) waterway stretches from the Xijin reservoir in Hengzhou, an emerging city in Guangxi, to the Gulf of Tonkin (known as the Beibu Gulf in...

Australian industrial property developer Goodman Group has withdrawn an application to develop a 24-hour data centre on Sydney’s north shore following public push back. Goodman said it would not proceed with its Project Mars development application after considering evolving federal and state policy and community feedback. Policy and regulation around large artificial intelligence data centres had “evolved significantly” since planning began in March 2025, the company said in a statement. The...

Alibaba Group Holding has become an official technology and cloud partner of NBA team Brooklyn Nets, as the tech giant pushes for a deeper presence in the sports industry. The collaboration was announced on Monday under a multi-year strategic partnership between Alibaba and Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the basketball team. It would also see Alibaba become Brooklyn Nets’ official jersey patch sponsor ahead of the basketball team’s 60th anniversary season, according to a...

Japan risks being pulled into a spiral of online disinformation about foreign crime that is stoking xenophobia and playing into the hands of the far-right, researchers warn. The trend is reportedly deepening divisions within Japanese society and creating a feedback loop that experts say will be difficult to break. In August, Constella Security Japan, a Tokyo-based cybersecurity firm commissioned by the government to counter online disinformation, hosted a webinar for officials and media on fake...

The US-China AI competition faces a dilemma. Both countries see artificial intelligence as a source of economic, scientific and strategic power, so neither has much incentive to slow down. Yet the more capable and autonomous AI becomes, the more important the question of human control. Last week’s summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping brought that tension into the open. Trump wants to leave AI “exactly where it is” rather than add new guardrails, while Xi...