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Asia-Pacific
Nikkei Asia

Japan's Advantage Partners launches $1.8bn buyout fund

The fund established by Advantage Partners is one of the largest funds ever launched by a Japanese private equity firm. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Rie Ishii and Taizo Wada) TOKYO -- Japanese corporate acquisition firm Advantage Partners has launched a 300 billion yen (approximately $1.8 billion) buyout fund, Nikkei has learned. Advantage aims to use the fund, one of the largest from a Japanese private equity firm, to drive the restructuring of Japanese industries by spinning off non-core businesses from domestic companies and taking midsize companies private.

Japan's Advantage Partners launches $1.8bn buyout fund
China / Asia
South China Morning Post

Putin in Beijing, ‘China shock’ in EU: 7 global relations reads

SCMPPublished: 10:00pm, 2 Jun 2026We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering global relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. Brussels agrees on tougher China trade policy, as Beijing vows retaliationPhoto: ReutersThe European Commission agreed on a tough new approach to trade relations with China in May, at a rare Beijing-focused debate among Brussels’ leadership. The trade-focused orientation debate is seen internally as the firing of a starting gun ahead of an intense period for China policy. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for a visit aimed at deepening the two sides’ comprehensive partnership, four days after the Chinese capital hosted US President Donald Trump. China’s military said that it had used measures including electronic interference to drive away a Dutch warship near the disputed Paracel Islands, and in a rare move accused the Dutch navy of triggering “miscalculation”.

Putin in Beijing, ‘China shock’ in EU: 7 global relations reads
China / Asia
South China Morning Post

China-Cuba ‘US security threat’, Brazil’s rare earths: Latin America relations reads

SCMPPublished: 10:00pm, 2 Jun 2026We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering Latin American relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. US casts Cuba as China-linked security threat while still pushing for talksPool photo: APOne day after the United States brought criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio portrayed Cuba as both a growing national security threat tied to China and Russia, and a candidate for a negotiated political transition. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino in May rejected suggestions that US pressure had shaped his government’s handling of a dispute over ports near the Panama Canal, as Panama sought to stabilise relations with Beijing and renew a key maritime agreement. Argentina is on the verge of settling its debt with China’s central bank, winding down a currency lifeline that kept the country afloat during years of financial turmoil, and now sits at the centre of a geopolitical tug of war between Washington and Beijing.

China-Cuba ‘US security threat’, Brazil’s rare earths: Latin America relations reads
Europe
BBC Business

Third of people say uni degree not worth it, as student loan inquiry begins

An inquiry by MPs into the student loan system in England has begun, with evidence from student organisations and experts. The National Union of Students (NUS) said the inquiry should look at the graduate earnings repayment threshold and interest rates. But the government said the current student loan system protected lower-earning graduates, with repayments linked to earnings and loans written off at the end of their term. New research published separately suggests a third of people now think a university degree isn't worth the time and money. The British Social Attitudes survey has tracked public opinion over key issues, including university education, for decades. Their research, published on Tuesday, found that 34% of people in 2025 agreed a university education "just isn't worth the amount of time and money" - up from 14% in 2005. At the same time, there has been a decline in those who believe going to university leaves graduates "a lot better off" in the long run, down from 50% in 2005 to 36% in 2025. Against that background of wider public unease, the Treasury Select Committee of MPs will hear the concerns of graduates about the size of their debts, and the interest rates. Among those most worried are graduates who took out what are called Plan 2 loans between 2012 and 2023. Gemma, who now works for a tech company, is one of those graduates who contacted the BBC through Your Voice to share her frustration. Just after she graduated in 2016, her debt was £34,105 - but her latest balance statement shows it's now £41,908 because the interest accumulating is outstripping her repayments. Gemma said her degree was worth it, taking her from a low-income background into a job where she now earns just under £50,000 a year, but living with the loan is "draining".

Third of people say uni degree not worth it, as student loan inquiry begins
Europe
The Guardian

Google owner Alphabet to sell $80bn in stock to fund AI spending spree

Alphabet’s Gemini AI system has been increasing its share of the AI chatbot market. Photograph: Algi Febri Sugita/Zuma Press/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenAlphabet’s Gemini AI system has been increasing its share of the AI chatbot market. Photograph: Algi Febri Sugita/Zuma Press/ShutterstockAlphabetGoogle owner Alphabet to sell $80bn in stock to fund AI spending spreeMarkets take note as world’s biggest equity fundraiser bids to garner more money than the three biggest-ever IPOs combined Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has said it plans to raise up to $80bn (£59bn) in equity to fund its vast artificial intelligence infrastructure investments, raising further questions over the economics of the AI boom. The move, the largest equity fundraising ever according to analysts, includes a $10bn share sale to the US investment group Berkshire Hathaway, which was led until last year by the investment guru Warren Buffett. Alphabet, which is behind the Gemini system that has been increasing its share of the AI chatbot market, said it would use the money to expand its “world-class AI compute infrastructure to meet its unprecedented customer demand”. The California-based company said: “AI is driving an expansionary moment for Alphabet. The company is experiencing strong demand for its AI solutions and services from enterprises and consumers, at levels that are exceeding the company’s available supply. By scaling its investments, the company seeks to expand its foundational infrastructure to support the significant growth opportunity ahead.” Nicholas Hyett, the lead alternatives analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the planned stock sale was much larger than previous secondary share sales, and would also raise more money than the largest stock market flotations, known as initial public offering (IPOs). “Alphabet’s $80bn fundraise dwarfs the world’s largest IPOs, often the moment of maximum excitement when companies seek to fill their financial war chests,” he said. “In fact, if successful, it would raise more than the world’s three largest initial public offerings put together – Saudi Aramco raised $25.6bn when it debuted on the Saudi exchange in 2019; Alibaba raised $21.8bn on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014; and SoftBank raised $21.3bn when it listed in Tokyo in 2018. “We can’t think of a secondary issue that would even come close to matching the ambition of this fundraise … and there just aren’t many companies in the world that have the ability to spend that amount of money productively.” However, such a huge fundraising is also a warning to the markets that for all the many billions of dollars thrown at AI infrastructure, meaningful returns to investors have so far been limited. Jim Reid, a market strategist at Deutsche Bank, said Alphabet was reminding investors of the “unprecedented scale of the AI spending boom”, adding: “Funding of the AI [capital expenditure] boom is becoming an increasingly key topic for markets.” The decision to tap Berkshire Hathaway is eye-catching, too. Under Buffett, known as the Sage of Omaha, Berkshire often stepped in to provide funding for companies that needed cash, such as the famous $5bn investment into Goldman Sachs at the height of the financial crisis. Berkshire has been investing in Alphabet since last summer. In its filing, Alphabet explained that half of the $80bn would be used to “scale AI infrastructure and global compute”, with $40bn set aside to cover “an administrative change to how it meets tax obligations associated with vesting of employee equity awards”.

Google owner Alphabet to sell $80bn in stock to fund AI spending spree
Europe
BBC Business

Instagram AI chatbot tricked by hackers to give access to others' accounts

Instagram says it has resolved an issue which saw hackers trick its AI support tool into giving them access to other users' accounts. According to claims shown in screenshots and videos shared on social media, Instagram's AI chatbot allowed users to "hijack" accounts in recent days. Hackers could reportedly change passwords for other accounts by faking their location and then asking the AI to change the emails associated with them. "This issue has been resolved and we are securing impacted accounts," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told users in a statement on X. In a response to another post on X, Stone said claims the vulnerability was used to hack into accounts of world leaders were "totally false". Tech news outlet 404media reported that posts about the vulnerability coincided "with a series of high-profile Instagram account takeovers" including a verified account used by Barack Obama when he was in the White House. The former US president's account reportedly posted pro-Iran content before it was recovered. It is unclear how many Instagram accounts were affected by the apparent exploit. But among those claiming to have been impacted were security researcher and former Meta employee, Jane Manchun Wong. Wong, who previously worked at Meta as a security engineer, said in a post on X her Instagram password "got changed without my knowledge and I was getting different password reset attempts throughout yesterday". The incident comes amid concerns about the impact of increasingly capable and common AI systems on people's data and security. Videos shared on social media purported to show how Instagram hacks could take place.

Instagram AI chatbot tricked by hackers to give access to others' accounts
Europe
BBC Business

King told me Post Office scandal was 'dreadful', says oldest victim

The oldest surviving victim of the Post Office scandal has said the King told her it was a "dreadful thing" and "should never have happened". The 93-year-old said she asked His Majesty to talk to the prime minister about ensuring those responsible for hundreds of sub-postmasters being wrongfully prosecuted would be investigated by the police and brought to justice. She described meeting the monarch and receiving the honour as "lovely", adding she "never ever dreamt that this would happen". "The reason that I'm here is very sad and I don't forget that. All the heart ache of the families that this has destroyed, the heart ache of children left with nothing, that still hurts, it'll always hurt," she added. Mrs Brown was one of hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly accused of stealing or false accounting between 1999 and 2015 after a faulty IT system called Horizon made it look like money was missing from branch accounts. The scandal has been described as one of the widest miscarriages of justice in the British legal history. The pensioner was forced out of her County Durham Post Office in 2003 - despite her late husband Oswall having paid more than £50,000 of their savings to cover non-existent shortfalls. They had run the branch together since 1985. Mrs Brown was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to justice after campaigning for sub-postmasters affected by the scandal. "I said to him...would you tell your prime minister and your ministers that justice has no cost...There is no cost to justice. Doesn't matter what it costs, justice must be done," she added. Last week, police chiefs warned the criminal investigation into the Post Office scandal could be delayed by five years unless they received millions of pounds in extra funding. The commander leading the national police inquiry, Stephen Clayman, said the size of the investigation team would need to double to meet its current timeline of submitting files for potential prosecutions by late next year or early 2028. A government spokesperson said the scandal was "an appalling injustice" and that it was "considering requests for further funding".

King told me Post Office scandal was 'dreadful', says oldest victim
North America
CNBC Economy

Iran war cost: Average U.S. household paying $450 more on gas and energy

Americans have spent nearly $450 extra per household on rising energy costs during the Iran war, according to an analysis shared exclusively with CNBC's Steve Liesman. The average household has shelled out $447.19 for additional fuel-related expenses since the conflict began on Feb. 28, data from Moody's Analytics found. That's cumulatively cost American consumers nearly $60 billion as gas prices and airline fares have surged. Moody's data puts a dollar amount on a portion of the economic pain Americans are feeling as the war reaches its three-month mark. Higher energy costs can force consumers to raid their savings and lean more on debt to cover expenses. "Unless the war ends soon, financially pressed consumers will have no option but to turn more cautious in their spending, threatening the already soft economy," said Mark Zandi, Moody's chief economist. If prices stay at current levels, the average household could take a hit of almost $2,000 at the one-year mark of the war, Zandi said. Roughly half of the increased energy spending so far comes from higher gasoline prices. The average unleaded gallon in the U.S. cost about $4.39 on Friday, up more than 47% since the start of March, according to AAA. Pricier diesel, which is used in vehicles like delivery trucks and boats, has resulted in more than $20 billion in additional expenses for consumers. The price of diesel has similarly jumped roughly 47% since the beginning of March to around $5.52 a gallon, per AAA. Consumers have given up nearly $10 billion as a result of rising costs for jet fuel. Airline fares climbed more than 20% in April compared with 12 months ago, federal government inflation data shows. That nearly $450 impact more than erased the boost of $384 per household from bigger tax returns this year under President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," according to Moody's. Most of the benefits from larger tax cuts have already been exhausted, Zandi said. Goldman Sachs said it expects higher energy prices to "erode" consumers' spending power through the rest of 2026. It should specifically hamper lower-income households that spend a larger percentage of budgets on food and energy, the bank said. Costco saw "record-breaking" gas volumes at the end of its fiscal quarter as drivers sought out its lower-priced fuel, the wholesaler said Thursday. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski warned this month that consumer spending — specifically among lower-income cohorts — "may be getting a little bit worse" as energy prices pinch pocketbooks. Consumer spending rose 0.5% from March to April, according to government figures released Thursday. But other data points show that isn't necessarily coming from discretionary funds.

Iran war cost: Average U.S. household paying $450 more on gas and energy
Asia-Pacific
Nikkei Asia

Indonesia's GoTo cofounder calls Chromebook graft charges 'illusion' of law

Nadiem Makarim, who presented his defense statement on June 2, said prosecutors "forced" connections between Chromebook procurement and Google's investment in Gojek, the company he founded before serving as Indonesia's education minister. (Photo by Mira Maruto) JAKARTA -- Nadiem Makarim, former education minister and the founder of Indonesian ride-hailing company Gojek, on Tuesday suggested his graft prosecution was a personal vendetta and accused prosecutors of "poor" understanding of technology and business, resulting in their demand that he be jailed for 27 years.

Indonesia's GoTo cofounder calls Chromebook graft charges 'illusion' of law