Petroleum Imports Survey — Petroleum Statistics, Final Report, Monthly, August 2026
Published ・ Source Japan | 政府統計 e-Stat
Information on the statistical dataset for the Petroleum Imports Survey (final report, monthly) for August 2026 by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
Petroleum Products Supply and Demand Dynamics Survey — Petroleum Statistics, Final Report, Monthly, August 2026
Published ・ Source Japan | 政府統計 e-Stat
Metadata for the Petroleum Products Supply and Demand Dynamics Survey (final report, monthly) for August 2026, published by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
Indices of Production Capacity and Operating Rates in the Manufacturing Industry — Time Series Data for Operating Rate and Production Capacity Indices (2020 base year), 2026
Published ・ Source Japan | 政府統計 e-Stat
Overview of the 2026 dataset for the Indices of Production Capacity and Operating Rates in the Manufacturing Industry (2020 base year), published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Current Survey of Commerce — Final Report, Monthly, August 2026
Published ・ Source Japan | 政府統計 e-Stat
Information on the release of the dataset for the Current Survey of Commerce (final report, monthly) for August 2026 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
What comes after “AI makes it faster to build”? More than 300 attend “MERGE 2026,” a major conference on AI-driven development and design — Set to be even bigger in 2027
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
GustoDevelopment株式会社 and PROTOCORE株式会社 held “MERGE 2026,” a conference on AI-driven development and design, on August 8, 2026, with more than 300 attendees. The event is planned to be expanded in FY2027.
“Gunma Residents’ Special Discount Week” runs from October 26 (Mon.) to 30 (Fri.)! Calling all Gunma residents! Substantially free admission for residents of Gunma Prefecture!
Yuzuru Hanyu and Winnie the Pooh: The editor in charge reveals the story behind making the memory book! ＼⏰Reservation deadline approaching／
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
講談社 will release a memory book featuring Yuzuru Hanyu and Winnie the Pooh, with reservations accepted through October 20, 2026. This made-to-order product commemorates the 100th anniversary of the original “Winnie-the-Pooh” story and includes bonus items such as a plush toy with changeable outfits and an oversized poster.
Facts
100th anniversary of the original debut
Features 40 pages
Price: 22,000 yen (tax included)
Reservations are being accepted for made-to-order production through Oct. 20, 2026 (Tue.)
The books are scheduled to arrive at bookstores on or after May 27, 2027 (Thursday)
Rena Kato, the highly anticipated rookie making waves, graces the cover and opening feature of the gravure mook “FRIDAY GOLD 2026 Winter,” set for release on November 10!
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
講談社 will release the gravure mook “FRIDAY GOLD 2026 Winter,” featuring Rena Kato on the cover, on November 10. It is priced at 1300 yen and includes a making-of DVD as a special bonus.
“Umiuma Captain,” played by Junki Totsuka, finally films in his hometown of Iwate Prefecture! He joins local residents on screen to pass on the baton of Sanriku and Joban seafood! New commercial “Delivering Delicious Food from the Sea” begins airing on October 16 (Fri.)
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
復興水産加工業販路回復促進センター will begin airing a new commercial, “Delivering Delicious Food from the Sea,” nationwide on October 16, 2026, featuring actor Junki Totsuka. Filming took place in Iwate Prefecture, showcasing the appeal of “UMIUMA,” a brand of processed seafood products made with seafood from Sanriku and Joban.
Facts
Nationwide broadcast begins on October 16, 2026 (Fri.)
Title: “Delivering Delicious Food from the Sea” (30 seconds / 15 seconds)
The filming took place in Totsuka’s hometown for the first time in 4 years since the first commercial
The “wonderful secret of tea” that helps wash away the greasiness of a meal was news to Ayami Nakajo, too. The new commercial will begin airing and streaming sequentially from October 19 (Mon.).
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
Kirin Beverage will launch a new commercial for its “Gogo no Kocha” tea drink on October 19, 2026, featuring Ayami Nakajo and explaining how tea polyphenols help wash away the greasiness of a meal.
Facts
The No. 1 brand by sales volume among tea drinks
(30 seconds)
Monday, Oct. 19, 2026
Cumulative sales volume from January to December 2025
An era in which people choose “became a professional,” not “took a course” — Desask has claimed the top spot in 2 online design school categories for 2 consecutive years, with total graduates surpassing 5,000
Published ・ Source Japan | PR TIMES
Desask, an online web design school operated by 株式会社日本デザイン, has ranked No. 1 in both graduation rate and number of works featured for 2 consecutive years in a survey by 東京商工リサーチ, and its total number of graduates has surpassed 5,000.
Facts
The graduation rate among students has reached 95.2%
The IT workforce is said to face a shortfall of up to approximately 790,000 people
U.S. weighs easing sanctions on global “shadow fleet”; Brent crude prices steady
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
The United States is considering easing sanctions on “shadow fleet” oil tankers worldwide to lower freight rates. Brent crude prices edged down, while West Texas Intermediate futures rose on falling inventories.
Pakistan school roof collapse kills 35 and injures more than 50; survivor says it felt like the sky was falling
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
The roof of Al-Khair School in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, collapsed, killing at least 34 students and 1 teacher and injuring more than 50 people. 美聯社 called it the deadliest building-collapse accident in Pakistan's history. A surviving teacher said it felt as if the sky had fallen.
Germany plans partnership deal with 輝達, investing hundreds of millions of euros to speed AI adoption in industry
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
German financial media reported that Germany plans to sign a broad cooperation agreement with 輝達, investing hundreds of millions of euros to promote industrial AI applications, with the SOOFI initiative at its center.
Yemen rebels attack presidential palace in provisional capital, reportedly killing at least 4 and injuring 10
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
Yemen's Houthi movement launched a missile attack on the presidential palace, Maashiq Palace, in the provisional capital of Aden, killing at least 4 and injuring 10. Saudi Arabia accused Iran of fueling the worsening situation.
Facts
At least 4 people killed
10 people injured
Occupied Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014
Began military intervention in March of the following year
In February this year, the United States joined Israel in launching airstrikes on Iran
The Houthi movement launched a lightning offensive in September
After EU and China reach agreement on imports of hybrid vehicles, reports say bloc is weighing quotas on more goods
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 中央社 CNA
After the EU and China reached an agreement on imports of hybrid cars, the bloc is reportedly considering quotas on more goods to reduce its trade deficit.
Germany turns to 輝達 for industrial AI! Reported deal worth hundreds of millions of euros to be unveiled next week
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
Germany plans to sign a cooperation agreement worth hundreds of millions of euros with 輝達 to accelerate industrial AI applications. The partnership will focus on physical AI and high-performance models and will be announced at a meeting in Berlin next week.
Facts
Germany is reportedly set to sign a broad cooperation agreement with 輝達(NVDA-US) to speed the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in German industry.
The partnership will cover physical AI technologies such as robotics and self-driving cars, as well as high-performance industrial AI models, involving investment worth hundreds of millions of euros.
The agreement is scheduled to be announced next week at the “Invest in Germany” conference in Berlin.
The partnership will focus on two areas: first, establishing a foundation for physical AI tools to train robots or self-driving cars.
The agreement will center on Germany's SOOFI initiative, launched last year.
AI giants scramble for equipment, triggering shortages! 艾司摩爾 expands capacity for 2 straight years, but it is still not enough
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
艾司摩爾 is facing equipment shortages amid surging demand for AI chips. Its capacity in 2027 and 2028 will still fall short of demand, with major customers actively booking capacity. The company is requiring large advance payments to prevent cancellations, while the market remains cautious about future growth.
Facts
艾司摩爾 CEO Fouquet said supplies of lithography equipment in 2027 and 2028 will not be enough to meet demand.
艾司摩爾 plans to raise annual capacity for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment to 110 units by 2028 and is considering adding about 12 more.
艾司摩爾 is expanding manufacturing capacity in Eindhoven, with the first phase expected to come online in 2029.
艾司摩爾 is requiring customers to make large advance payments to prevent order cancellations.
More than $10 billion wiped off market value in 4 days! Deutsche Bank says CoreWeave is a buy, citing strong order book
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
CoreWeave's share-price plunge wiped more than $10 billion off its market value. Deutsche Bank sees a buying opportunity and is optimistic about support from its order book. 輝達 CEO Jensen Huang has also voiced support, while 顧能 warns that investment in AI infrastructure is overheating and predicts that most startup operators will face an existential crisis in the future.
Facts
CoreWeave lost more than $10 billion in market value in just 4 trading days.
德意志銀行(DB-US) maintained its “Buy” rating on CoreWeave.
CoreWeave shares have fallen more than 22% since the start of this week.
輝達(NVDA-US) CEO Jensen Huang said CoreWeave's cost of capital is actually declining.
顧能(Gartner) predicts that more than eight-tenths of emerging AI cloud providers will be unable to continue operating independently by 2030.
Nebius(NBIS-US) has fallen a cumulative 20% over the past 4 trading days.
顧能 estimates that more than $3.5 trillion in related spending could face impairment risk by 2030.
Backing his “favorite child”! Jensen Huang: CoreWeave's finances are improving; 輝達 has no need to provide additional support
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
輝達 CEO Jensen Huang said in Stockholm, Sweden, on the 15th that CoreWeave's financial position had improved and its cost of capital had fallen, and that it needed no additional support. 輝達 holds about 10% of CoreWeave and has deep investment and computing-capacity infrastructure partnerships with the company.
Facts
Jensen Huang said CoreWeave's financial position was improving and its cost of capital was falling.
Longtime rivals join forces on AI! 蘋果 and Meta bring large models to Mac
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
蘋果 and Meta announced a partnership that will allow developers to run Meta's Muse Spark Open large model on Mac. The move strengthens Mac's appeal as an AI development device, but requires substantial hardware investment.
Facts
蘋果 and Meta announced a partnership enabling developers to run Meta's newly released open-weight model, Muse Spark Open, on high-end Mac computers.
Muse Spark Open uses a mixture-of-experts architecture and has 8,160億 parameters.
Running the model requires linking 2 to 4 Mac Studio computers, with the setup having at least 1TB of memory in total.
A Mac Studio equipped with an M5 Ultra chip and 256GB of memory currently costs at least $10,799 per unit.
The complete hardware setup costs more than $40,000, making it a costly proposition.
Meta bought hundreds of Macs earlier this year for its superintelligence team to test running AI and agent tasks on computers.
Where will the money go if the AI bubble bursts? BofA points to U.S. Treasuries; the OpenAI turmoil offered an early preview
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 鉅亨網
美國銀行 warned that an AI bubble bursting could send stocks and bonds lower together. An OpenAI revenue shortfall triggered market turbulence, while CoreWeave's credit risk came to light. 美國銀行 recommends a hedging strategy with interest-rate conditions to reduce costs.
Facts
美國銀行 warned that if the AI bubble bursts, U.S. stocks and Treasury yields could fall at the same time.
OpenAI's revenue announcement on Oct. 8 sent technology stocks sharply lower. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 1%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 3.4%.
CoreWeave shares plunged more than 15% in a single day, while the spread on its bonds due in 2032 over government bonds topped 1,000 basis points.
In Bank of America's recommended hedging strategy, the indicative premium for the option expiring in September 2027 is 3.62%, 46% cheaper than a lookback put without an interest-rate condition.
Bank of America's bubble-risk indicator showed that only 13 S&P 500 stocks had readings above 0.8, with a combined weighting of about 2.4%.
Refunds and recalls of “dried whitebait” sold by 魚はん（店舗） will be carried out from October 15, 2026, due to possible foreign-matter contamination (the possibility that it is a pufferfish cannot be ruled out).
Some areas in the jurisdiction will have water service suspended for pipeline replacement work on Baoyi Road, Baokang Road and other roads in Chiayi City. Residents are asked to conserve water and store water in advance.
內政部消防署 reported a fire at a multi-unit residential building on Beipu Road in Xincheng Township, Hualien County, and urged the public to avoid gathering at the scene and plan their routes in advance to steer clear of the warning area.
內政部消防署 issued a report on a major fire incident on Ziwei Road in Sanxia District, New Taipei City, urging the public to avoid the warning area and not gather at the scene.
The Consumer Price Index rose 2.73% in September, not 25.76% as claimed in rumors.
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 台灣事實查核中心
A fact-checking report said the online claim that 主計總處 announced a 25.76% rise in the price index was false. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) actually rose just 2.73% in September; 25.76% was the Export Price Index (EPI).
Makeup effects were digitally added to an apology video by legislator Lai Hui-yuan, fueling divisive debate
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 台灣事實查核中心
After sparking controversy with comments about 台北101 chairwoman Chia Yung-chieh's clothing, Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lai Hui-yuan released an apology video. However, image-forensics experts analyzed an altered version circulating online and confirmed it had been edited using AI facial-tracking technology with added makeup effects, and was not the original footage.
Taiwanese social science and humanities research reaches Europe: National Science and Technology Council links the U.K., the Netherlands and France through “A Thousand Words Across Ten Thousand Miles” to expand international readership
Published ・ Source Taiwan | 國家科學及技術委員會
The National Science and Technology Council is promoting the “A Thousand Words Across Ten Thousand Miles” project, holding new book launch events in the U.K., the Netherlands and France to bring Taiwanese humanities and social science research and literary works to European readers.
Facts
A total of 9 publications in English, Dutch and French, covering 5 themes