(260126) — MANILA, Jan. 26, 2026 (Xinhua) — Simona Waltert hits a return in the course of the girls’s singles spherical of 32 match between Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand and Simona Waltert of Switzerland on the WTA Philippine Women’s Open in Manila, the Philippines, Jan. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Gion Tsujiri Removes ‘Uji Tea’ From Its Logo as Matcha Boom Intensifies
OSAKA, Jan 27 (News On Japan) –
The world matcha growth is exhibiting no indicators of slowing, with producers saying demand has surged to unprecedented ranges and costs have jumped sharply, elevating considerations that the development is shifting from a growth right into a bubble.
Behind the matcha frenzy, nevertheless, the pressure is spreading to on a regular basis tea, a staple of day by day life in Japan, because the influence of hovering demand begins to succeed in even merchandise historically valued for his or her affordability.
Changes are actually showing at well-known tea manufacturers, together with Gion Tsujiri, which has eliminated the phrases “Uji tea” from its brand, signaling a shift in how the corporate presents itself amid the quickly evolving market.
A senior government at Gion Tsujiri stated the model had lengthy promoted itself as “Uji tea’s Gion Tsujiri,” however has now dropped the Uji tea wording from its brand, as the corporate navigates an business being reshaped by runaway world demand.
With abroad patrons reportedly requesting purchases as massive as 100 kilograms of tea leaves, specialists warn that costs are unlikely to stabilize anytime quickly, underscoring how the matcha-driven surge is reworking the tea market in unpredictable methods.
Source: KTV NEWS
Hockey India applauds coach Baldev Singh and Savita Punia on Padma Shri recognition
New Delhi [India], January 26 (ANI): Hockey India prolonged its warmest congratulations to veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh and Indian girls’s hockey goalkeeper Savita on being conferred with the distinguished Padma Shri award, recognising their excellent contributions to Indian hockey and sport at massive, based on a launch.
Hockey India underscored the contribution of veteran hockey coach Baldev Singh, who was the power behind establishing Shahabad Markanda, a hamlet in Haryana, because the nursery for ladies’s hockey. Under Baldev’s watchful eyes, the hockey academy in Shahabad created greater than 80 worldwide hockey gamers, together with eight gamers who went on to captain the Indian workforce.
His tutelage not solely helped gamers of their formative days as hockey gamers, however he additionally contributed in direction of lifting the gamers from poverty to fame, making hockey their livelihood, and one of many largest examples of that is the rise of former India Captain Rani.
He ran the academy for over twenty years, throughout which quite a few stars emerged from his academy, together with former drag-flick specialist Sandeep Singh, former Indian Women’s Team Captain Rani, Didar Singh, Sanjeev Kumar Dang, Harpal Singh and Navjot Kaur. For his immense contribution to teaching and participant growth, Baldev Singh was earlier conferred with the Dronacharya Award in 2009.
He was additionally honoured with the distinguished Hockey India Jaman Lal Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution in 2015/2016 for his immense dedication to growing girls’s hockey.
The Padma Shri award is a befitting recognition to this legendary coach who modified the stereotype round girls’s hockey, significantly in Haryana.
Another instance of breaking stereotypes is India’s ace goalie Savita.
She made her senior worldwide debut at 20 and has since established herself as one of many most interesting goalkeepers on this planet. Renowned for her composure, consistency and management, Savita has been on the coronary heart of India’s resurgence on the worldwide stage over the previous decade.
In 2025, she additionally grew to become solely the second Indian goalkeeper, after PR Sreejesh, to achieve 300 worldwide caps, becoming a member of an elite membership and underlining her outstanding longevity and consistency on the highest stage.
She additionally performed a pivotal position in India’s historic fourth-place end on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a landmark marketing campaign that elevated the stature of Indian girls’s hockey worldwide. Her expertise and presence between the posts have been additionally invaluable in qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics for the primary time in 36 years and the 2018 Hockey Women’s World Cup, the place India reached the Quarter-Finals.
A former captain of the Indian Women’s Hockey Team, Savita led the facet to a number of memorable achievements, together with a Bronze medal on the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games and a title-winning marketing campaign on the FIH Nations Cup.
With her assist, India additionally clinched back-to-back Gold medals on the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in 2023 and 2024, underlining the workforce’s rising dominance in Asia.
In recognition of her excellence, Savita was additionally honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2018 and is a two-time recipient of the Hockey India Balbir Singh Senior Award for Player of the Year (2022, 2023). Her brilliance between the posts has additionally earned her the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award for 3 consecutive seasons (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23).
Congratulating the duo, Hockey India President Dr. Dilip Tirkey stated, ‘The Padma Shri for Shri Baldev Singh and Savita is a second of immense satisfaction for the complete hockey fraternity. Savita has redefined goalkeeping requirements in world hockey and has been a star in each sense for the Indian girls’s workforce. Her achievement of greater than 300 worldwide caps speaks volumes about her dedication and excellence. Baldev Singh’s legacy as a coach is unparalleled — generations of Indian hockey gamers have benefited from his information, self-discipline and imaginative and prescient.’
Hockey India Secretary General Shri Bhola Nath Singh added, ‘Savita’s journey displays the ability of dedication and perseverance, and her achievements proceed to encourage younger athletes throughout the nation. Baldev Singh has devoted his life to nurturing expertise and constructing Indian hockey from the grassroots to the worldwide stage. This honour is well-deserved and recognises a long time of selfless service to the game.’ (ANI)
Speculation Grows Over Rare Japan-U.S. Coordinated Yen-Support Intervention
TOKYO, Jan 27 (News On Japan) –
The dollar-yen fee swung sharply over only a few days, with the yen strengthening quickly from the 159 vary to the 153 vary, fueling market hypothesis that Japanese and U.S. authorities could have carried out “rate checks” to sign readiness for intervention.
A fee verify is broadly seen because the step instantly earlier than precise overseas change intervention, sometimes involving authorities asking monetary establishments at what stage they’ll purchase or promote {dollars} and yen, and markets typically interpret it as a warning that direct motion may observe.
Maruyama, a former Bank of Japan official and now an rate of interest and FX strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, stated the yen had been buying and selling within the higher 158 to 159 vary following the Bank of Japan’s coverage resolution and Governor Ueda’s press convention, regardless of situations that might usually favor yen energy, earlier than out of the blue reversing course. Reports urged Japan could have carried out a fee verify late on Friday, adopted by one other sharp yen transfer round 1 a.m. Japan time on Saturday, with hypothesis that the New York Fed can also have checked charges, elevating expectations that intervention may come not solely from Japan however probably from the U.S. aspect as nicely.
He stated the dimensions of the transfer—roughly six yen in about three days—was important, particularly at a time when markets had been centered on considerations over Japan’s fiscal outlook amid political debate over measures equivalent to slicing taxes on meals. Those considerations had pushed a sample through which each Japanese authorities bonds and the yen had been being offered, pushing yields greater whereas weakening the forex, making the sudden reversal extra hanging.
Maruyama defined that fee checks themselves are usually tough to substantiate, since solely the establishment contacted would know for positive, and broader hypothesis tends to unfold solely after uncommon market strikes set off speak amongst merchants and within the media. He added that inside the central financial institution, FX-related operations are tightly managed and safety is excessive, making it tough even for insiders to know when actions are being taken.
He stated authorities sometimes keep away from confirming whether or not fee checks have taken place, as refusing to remark can itself deter speculative buying and selling by holding markets unsure about how shut policymakers are to intervening. If a fee verify efficiently pushes the change fee within the desired course, authorities could not must proceed to precise intervention, but when the yen’s transfer proves inadequate, intervention can observe inside as little as one or two days.
Maruyama additionally famous that hypothesis about Japan-U.S. coordination can be extremely uncommon, mentioning that previous coordinated interventions typically concerned broader G7 motion, equivalent to after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and that there isn’t any clear precedent for confirmed coordination by Japan and the U.S. alone. He urged the political atmosphere in Washington might be an element, arguing {that a} weaker yen can widen the U.S. commerce deficit, whereas a stronger yen could align with U.S. pursuits, probably making coordination extra believable than in previous administrations.
Source: テレ東BIZ
Update: Economic powerhouse Guangdong units 2026 progress goal at 4.5 pct-5 pct
GUANGZHOU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s manufacturing heartland Guangdong Province has set a GDP progress goal of 4.5 p.c to five p.c for 2026, the opening 12 months of the nation’s fifteenth Five-Year Plan, Guangdong Governor Meng Fanli stated Monday, pledging efforts to attain higher ends in precise work.
The goal was set after bearing in mind improvement wants and home and exterior elements, Meng stated whereas delivering a authorities work report on the annual session of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress.
Guangdong’s financial power has continued to develop over the previous 5 years, Meng stated, including that the southern province’s GDP rose to 14.58 trillion yuan (about 2.1 trillion U.S. {dollars}) from 11.37 trillion yuan. The province’s digital economic system remained the most important in China.
Guangdong ranked first nationwide in whole GDP for the thirty seventh consecutive 12 months in 2025, in keeping with the work report.
Last 12 months, Guangdong’s whole imports and exports of products reached 9.5 trillion yuan, up 4.4 p.c 12 months on 12 months and accounting for twenty-four.1 p.c of the nation’s whole enhance. Trade in providers topped 250 billion U.S. {dollars}, rising 12.5 p.c, in keeping with the work report.
Actual use of overseas funding climbed 11.3 p.c to 112.66 billion yuan, whereas the variety of newly established foreign-funded enterprises rose 38.7 p.c to 36,000.
Gong Zhenzhi, director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, stated the province will proceed to increase high-level opening-up, consolidating conventional markets in Europe, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea whereas actively tapping rising markets such because the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Middle East and Africa.
Industry will stay the spine of Guangdong’s economic system, in keeping with the report. In 2026, the province will proceed to prioritize the actual economic system and manufacturing, accelerating the event of a stronger fashionable industrial system.
The report stated technological innovation will function a strategic pillar for financial improvement. Guangdong goals to construct a globally influential hub for industrial and technological innovation and speed up the event of latest high quality productive forces in 2026.
Special emphasis shall be positioned on increasing high-level AI functions throughout sectors and deepening the “AI plus” initiative to advertise broader use in public providers and industrial functions.
In 2025, about 10,000 industrial enterprises carried out technological renovation and digital transformation. Output of commercial and repair robots rose 31.2 p.c and 11.2 p.c 12 months on 12 months, accounting for 40 p.c and 80 p.c of the nationwide whole, respectively, in keeping with Gong.
Guangdong additionally superior reforms in low-altitude airspace administration, launching a provincial built-in low-altitude flight administration and repair platform on a trial foundation, whereas unmanned aerial car output jumped 39 p.c, capturing greater than 90 p.c of the nationwide market.
“As a manufacturing company, we have received strong support from the government in our transition,” stated Li Yue, a deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and vp of Guangdong Guansheng New Material Co., Ltd.
“We have upgraded our production lines in stages through automation and digitalization, introducing intelligent equipment in key processes. The results were immediate — production efficiency rose by more than 20 percent, unit energy consumption fell by 8 percent, and product consistency improved, giving us the confidence to take on higher-standard orders,” she stated.
“Traditional industries are the ballast of a modern industrial system,” Li stated. “As long as we remain committed to technological innovation, intelligent upgrading and green transformation, we will continue to generate new vitality.”
Tokyo Police Take 32 ‘Toyoko Kids’ Into Custody
TOKYO, Jan 27 (News On Japan) –
Tokyo police have taken 32 girls and boys into protecting custody after they had been discovered gathering at evening across the “Toyoko” space close to Kabukicho in Shinjuku.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the coordinated sweep was carried out over two days on January seventeenth and January twenty fifth in and round Toyoko, a spot identified for drawing youngsters late at evening. The 32 youths, together with a 14-year-old center college lady from Osaka Prefecture, had been taken into custody on suspicion of going out late at evening with out parental consent.
Four of these taken in had been suspected of partaking in “overdosing,” a time period used to explain consuming massive quantities of remedy. A 14-year-old center college lady who had traveled from Shizuoka Prefecture reportedly suffered convulsions and was transported to hospital by ambulance.
Police additionally discovered roughly 600 sleeping drugs within the bag of one other center college lady, 15.
The 4 youths are stated to have informed police they take massive quantities of remedy as a result of it helps them “forget unpleasant things.”
The Metropolitan Police Department stated it’s going to examine how the medication had been obtained and plans to step up patrols and outreach efforts towards youngsters gathering within the space at evening.
Source: TBS
China Urges Citizens to Avoid Traveling to Japan During Lunar New Year Holidays
BEIJING, Jan 27 (News On Japan) –
China’s Foreign Ministry has urged Chinese residents to chorus from touring to Japan in the course of the Lunar New Year vacation interval, citing an increase in crimes concentrating on Chinese nationals and a sequence of earthquakes in elements of the nation.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, the ministry issued the advisory forward of the Spring Festival journey season, with the prolonged vacation set to start on February fifteenth, calling for individuals to keep away from journeys to Japan in the course of the interval.
The ministry stated crimes towards Chinese residents have occurred steadily in Japan and pointed to repeated earthquakes in some areas, urging vacationers to train warning and rethink journey plans.
With giant numbers of Chinese vacationers usually visiting Japan in the course of the vacation season, the advisory seems geared toward reinforcing restraint and decreasing outbound journey.
Meanwhile, three main Chinese airways introduced they might prolong the interval without cost cancellations on flights between China and Japan from March twenty eighth by way of October twenty fourth, elevating considerations that the influence on Japan’s tourism business might be extended.
Source: TBS
(SP)PHILIPPINES-MANILA-TENNIS-WTA PHILIPPINE WOMEN’S OPEN-SINGLES
(260126) — MANILA, Jan. 26, 2026 (Xinhua) — Camila Osorio (R) of Colombia shakes arms with Hosogi Sakura of Japan in the course of the girls’s singles spherical of 32 match between Camila Osorio of Colombia and Hosogi Sakura of Japan on the WTA Philippine Women’s Open in Manila, the Philippines, Jan. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis unfurls the nationwide flag throughout 77th Republic Day celebrations in Mumbai
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 26 (ANI): Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, through the celebration of the 77th Republic Day, unfurled the nationwide flag.
Additional Chief Secretary Manisha Mhaiskar learn out the Marathi translation of the Governor’s Republic Day Message.
In his speech, the Chief Minister stated that the Indian Constitution is the world’s best structure and paid tribute to all the good people who contributed to its creation. He stated that guided by the Constitution, Maharashtra is immediately shifting ahead because the engine of the nation’s growth.
Fadnavis said that through the current funding convention in Davos, the state obtained funding agreements price roughly Rs 30 lakh crore, which can broaden industries throughout numerous components of the state and create large-scale employment alternatives.
Referring to the agricultural sector, he stated that the federal government is taking a number of measures to supply aid to farmers and goals to make Maharashtra drought-free quickly. The work of offering 30 lakh homes below the housing scheme in rural areas can also be progressing quickly. The Chief Minister stated that by welfare schemes such because the ‘Ladki Behna Yojana’ (Girl Child Scheme) and farmers’ mortgage waivers, the federal government is dedicated to empowering each part of society and is repeatedly working to make Maharashtra affluent, robust, and self-sufficient.
Earlier, Chief Minister Fadnavis, through the Davos Summit 2026, revealed that 83% of the MoUs concerned direct international funding, whereas 16% are by international know-how partnerships. Investments are coming from 18 nations, together with the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway. Earlier, Maharashtra CM Devendra fadnavis introduced the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with an Indian and Russian Company. The Chief Minister said that this partnership will give attention to ‘Small Modular Reactors’ to fulfill the big scale elctrivity wants.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Maharashtra, the land of festivals, introduced a tableau this 12 months on the theme ‘Ganeshotsav: A Symbol of Aatmanirbharta’. The self-reliance expressed by this tableau encompasses financial, environmental, and cultural selfreliance. (ANI)
AI coach certification emerges as top-tier credential in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — In a bustling Shanghai workplace constructing on a Saturday afternoon, dozens of white-collar staff gathered for a hands-on synthetic intelligence (AI) coaching session, reflecting the town’s hovering curiosity in changing into AI trainers.
This rising career, formally acknowledged as “AI trainer” in China’s occupational catalog, has been formally listed as “an occupation in short supply” in Shanghai. As AI transforms industries, these trainers act as “translators” between people and machines, guaranteeing AI techniques perceive real-world wants.
“I decided to try the AI trainer course after seeing it on WeChat,” mentioned Chen Ke, who has no laptop science background. “Through systematic training, instructors break down complex theories and help beginners like me digest knowledge through practical operations. Even novices can ride the wave of AI as a new productive force.”
The course, provided by an industry-training integration abilities growth middle supported by the municipal authorities, blends 30 % idea with 70 % hands-on observe and caters largely to working professionals on weekends, in accordance with its normal supervisor, Pan Pan.
Pan emphasised that instructors constantly replace curricula with {industry} insights and real-world eventualities to “support learners from start to finish.”
For many, the certification aligns with profession shifts. “AI training perfectly matches my professional development and transition needs,” famous Yi Zhou, a researcher at a Japanese drug R&D firm, who noticed the rising pattern of AI in biopharma.
“While I previously learned AI online superficially, structured training helps build a solid knowledge base to use models for predicting key indicators in drug R&D, accelerating processes,” Yi mentioned.
Enterprises are eager to rent licensed AI trainers. At Shanghai Ideal Information Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., educated trainers function “guardians of the last mile in AI product deployment,” overseeing knowledge annotation, mannequin optimization, and high quality management.
“Shanghai’s AI trainer job demand has surged over 30 percent, but talents with both technical and industry expertise remain scarce, leading to recruitment challenges,” mentioned Li Na, the corporate’s normal supervisor.
She credited native insurance policies for decreasing coaching prices by way of subsidies and fostering a “market-driven, institution-nurtured, policy-supported” ecosystem.
Shanghai has bolstered coaching by means of larger subsidies and rigorous analysis. AI coach certification is included within the metropolis’s key assist catalog, with skill-upgrade subsidies raised by 30 % to incentivize participation.
“Aligning with Shanghai’s goals of scientific innovation and high-end industry leadership, we anchor training to tech and industrial chains, shifting from following trends to shaping the future,” mentioned Yang Jiaying, director of the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
In 2025, Shanghai recorded 16,300 members for AI trainers, with 10,900 incomes the credential.
