AI, Policy & regulation, Consumer, Climate & environment
405 storiesJapan regulator investigates Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory over beer price cartel
Japan's Fair Trade Commission carried out a mandatory investigation on 7 October into four major brewers — Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory — over suspected prior coordination of beer price increases, which would breach Japan's Antimonopol…
UAE sets phased caps on salt, sugar and fat in packaged foods, fines up to Dh500,000
The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention has begun implementing a resolution that caps sodium, sugar and fat in selected packaged foods, with phased limits running until the end of 2030. The rules apply to locally made and imported produ…
Typhoon No. 27 moves away from Japan; JMA warns of high waves off Tohoku
Typhoon No. 27 moved northeast away from Japan on October 7 and is expected to become an extratropical cyclone. The Japan Meteorological Agency warned the Pacific off Tohoku would stay rough with swells up to 4 metres through the morning of…
Abu Dhabi's AI Everything opens with 400 exhibitors alongside Global Food Week
AI Everything 2026 opened on 6 October at the ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi and runs to 7 October, with WAM reporting 400 exhibitors and 180 speakers, and Economy Middle East reporting more than 400 companies, 200-plus investors managing about $10…
South Korea weighs ending military service exemptions for athletes and artists
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said on October 6 that it is considering tightening or abolishing the military service exemption granted to athletes and artists, after some Asian Games gold medalists said exemption mattered more to them than…
Trump says he is considering suspending federal gas tax ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump said Tuesday his administration is considering suspending the federal gas tax, as pump prices remain far above last year's levels a month before the midterm elections. Any suspension would require Congress, which is n…
AMD's Lisa Su visits Korea, agrees AI chip cooperation with local firms
AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su visited Korea on Oct. 7, about seven months after her March trip, meeting Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myeong of the Science and ICT Ministry and a roundtable of Korean AI semiconductor and infrastructure companies.…
Trump announces “Super Intelligence Force” AI task force led by Jay Clayton
President Donald Trump announced Sunday the creation of a “Super Intelligence Force,” a federal task force he said will coordinate government efforts to keep the United States leading in artificial intelligence, which he has directed the fe…
Defense minister: arts, sports military service exemption to be cut and abolished
South Korea's defense minister said on Oct 7 that the goal is to gradually reduce the arts and sports military service exemption and ultimately abolish it, after controversy over remarks by Asian Games football gold medallists about the exe…
Korea's top individual tax delinquent Kwon Hyuk to pay 393.8 billion won
The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group and the country's largest individual tax delinquent, has submitted a plan to pay his personal back taxes of 393.8 billion won in full, 15 years after the tax was …
Land minister says Gangnam, Yongsan home prices have turned negative
Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Hong Ji-seon told a National Assembly audit on Oct 7 that home prices in Seoul's Gangnam three districts and Yongsan have turned negative, and said price growth should ease with the market stabili…
France's interior minister suspends police use of stun grenades in protests
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunes ordered police to suspend the use of stun grenades during protests, saying the measure applies to student protests until the circumstances of a specific case are clarified. The order followed an incide…
Asian Games exemption row widens: Ahn seeks abolition, ruling party open to overhaul
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said on 7 October that the military service exemption for Asian Games gold medalists should be abolished starting with this tournament, arguing it is set by presidential decree and President Lee Jae…
SpaceX in talks to raise $40bn to buy Nvidia chips, reports say
SpaceX is negotiating to raise about $40 billion in debt to buy Nvidia chips and expand its AI computing infrastructure, according to Financial Times and Bloomberg reports cited by Russian outlets. About $10 billion would come as bank loans…
Russian presidential administration uses AI services, Oreshkin says
Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, said the administration uses all available artificial intelligence services, including Gigachat, speaking at the plenary session of the Digital Solutions forum. He adde…
Altman says AI benefits justify risks as Florida criticism and OpenAI lawsuit surface
Sam Altman, head of OpenAI, says the benefits of artificial intelligence justify the risks and negative events that come with it, but he is not prepared to accept “truly catastrophic risks” including losing control of AI, according to RBC, …
Nine crested ibis released in Ishikawa in second Honshu release
Nine crested ibis were released on Oct. 7 in Nakanoto Town, Ishikawa Prefecture, the second release of the birds on Japan's main island of Honshu. A temporary cage was opened at about 11:30 a.m. under the “soft release” method; Nippon TV Ne…
France's Mistral releases largest open-weight AI model, Mistral Large 4
France's Mistral released Mistral Large 4, its largest open-weight AI model, nicknamed “Chonk”, on Oct 6 foreign local time, with general availability set for Oct 27. Users can download the parameters, or weights, and customize the model on…
S. Korea farm minister says minor farmland survey violations won't be punished
Agriculture minister Song Mi-ryung told a parliamentary audit on Oct 7 that most ordinary, customary violations found in the government's full farmland survey would not be punished, and that the government has no plan or reason to confiscat…
Russia drafts 5,000-ruble cap on fees for state-service filings via Post, MFC
The Russian government has prepared a draft decree allowing Russian Post and multifunctional centres (MFCs) to charge up to 5,000 rubles for accepting applications for state services and delivering finished documents, RBC reported, citing t…