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It's nearly the weekend.
You might be looking forward to a beer or a takeaway or both.
We've got news on those from Japan and China.
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I'm Sarah Rogers.
Yes, Japan is running super dry of its favourite beer after a cyber attack.
And we're talking TikTok in Indonesia and the government shutdown in the US.
Yes, but we'll start in Japan, where stocks of Asahi beer could run out over the weekend after a cyber attack crippled factories at the country's biggest brewer.
Let's get more from the BBC's Shaima Khalil, who's in Tokyo.
Excuse me.
What can I get you?
What does Asahi Super Dry test like?
Let me show you.
Most of the Asahi Group's factories in Japan have been at a standstill since Monday after the attack hit its ordering and delivery system.
Asahi, a household brand best known for its super dry beer, said earlier this week that the system failure is limited to its domestic operations.
Major Japanese retailers, including Family Mart and Lawson, have warned customers to expect shortages of Asahi goods.
Family Mart said that Asahi has suspended orders and shipments of its products, with no prospect of resumption.
Asahi super dry.
Be unexpected.
Yes, unexpected and unwelcome for restaurants and bars in Japan.
Staff at the Kushiaki to Saka Diner in Tokyo says supplies are low.
Well, we're just down to one last Asahi keg.
This one is empty and this is the last one.
Just one left.
I think I'd feel a bit upset if supply runs out.
Even if there are other options.
Asahi Superdry, especially during the summer, is something all Japanese people go for.
So if the choices become limited, I'd feel a bit sad and unhappy.
I checked with our supplier liquor store, but they said they're not sure yet.
So it might be a while before we get hold of more Asahi Superdry.
Well, the Asahi Group, which also owns Peroni & Grolsch, did put out a statement earlier saying that data was potentially stolen by hackers, but they hope to resume some operations next week.
But Japan accounts for half of Asahi Beer's sales.
So will businesses have to go elsewhere in the meantime?
Matt Brennan is one of the partners at Ann's Solace, an Irish bar in Tokyo.
I think everyone's still kind of working through their reserves, though those reserves aren't massive, because the one thing that everyone shares in common in Tokyo is a lack of storage space.
So having to order daily resupplies is very common.
So it's not like many places are sitting on a large backstock of goods.
So when the reserves do run dry, then we're going to see what the demand is really like.
When do you think that that will happen?
Because Asahi have put out a statement saying that they hope to resume some areas next week, but they can't give a full recovery time for that.
And the thing is, you and other bars, you can just go elsewhere.
They might never get you back.
True.
And that's always a fear.
I imagine we're having some beautiful weather here in Tokyo right now this weekend.
So we're expecting to be busy.
So I think by the end of the weekend, we're going to start seeing people run out of inventory.
It's not just beer for you, though, is it?
Correct.
No, it's not.
We get quite a bit of our mixers from that.
So that's our tonic water, our ginger ale, both sweet and dry, club soda, soda water.
Everything that we get comes from a distributor partner that we have.
And they did have a certain amount of inventory.
So we took the maximum order that we were allowed so that we would try and guarantee that if there is a prolonged downtime, it won't affect us.
Well, that's the thing.
I assume everybody else is doing the same thing.
There's only going to be limited stock waiting to be ordered, isn't there?
Correct.
Yeah.
And eventually our distributor will run out.
You know, I feel bad for Asahi.
I feel terrible for Asahi because what the last thing any brand wants is to lose that loyalty and having them by force introduced to a competitive brand.
You never know if they'll come back.
And so I'm sure Asahi won't rest until they've got this problem resolved.
Matt Brennan from an Irish bar in Tokyo.
OK, now perhaps to another weekend staple, the takeaway.
So many of us will open an app, look for what we want, order it and then hopefully, it shows up on your doorstep.
Even better if there's an offer on.
But in China, the government is considering new rules to regulate promotional practices used by delivery companies, over the pressure it's putting on restaurants to pick up the tab.
Professor Wei-Ming Chu is an expert on innovation and information management at Hong Kong University.
Their strategy is simple, which is subsidies to the users, whether it's Meituan JD or Alibaba who later enter the game.
They use coupons, give them deals to lure customers to order more.
It would be possible to get, let's say, a bubble tea with, let's say, less than one RMB.
It's great for the customers.
It's great for me if I want a really cheap bubble tea.
Exactly.
But somebody's got to pay for that.
Exactly.
It would be fine if it's just the platforms who are burning their own cash.
What the platforms are doing is that they're asking some of the restaurants to pay for some of the subsidies as well.
And this really bothers a lot of restaurants.
For one, they're running on thin margin.
For two, they don't want to lose the opportunity to collaborate with those platforms.
So by the end of the day, they just say yes.
Makes those restaurants barely surviving.
And the government thinks this is unhealthy for the industry.
And the government just launched, basically, some policy.
But basically, it says that you've got to be very transparent where the subsidies come from.
And when you work with the restaurants, you need to be upfront about the fee splits.
Is there anything for those making the deliveries for the drivers?
There has been this argument whether they should be insured by the platform, whether they should be considered as an employee, etc etc.
But now the government is saying well, the delivery person, they have been running around the clock.
It's labour intensive.
It can be dangerous.
So you're going to make sure that the proper measures to take care of the welfare of those delivery people.
But it's unclear yet what's going to be the measures taken.
Professor Wei-Ming Chu from Hong Kong University.
TikTok has had its license temporarily suspended in its second biggest market Indonesia, where it's got 100 million users.
The government says the social media app failed to hand over data related to its live stream feature after protests last month.
At the moment, though, users say they can still access it.
Now with me today is Randeep Samel, who's fund manager at M&G Investments.
Randeep, the US government shut down now in its third day.
What's it meant for markets?
Not very much, surprisingly.
The markets are completely looking through this.
The Republicans have a majority in the House and the Senate.
And of course, we have a Republican president.
So the US Constitution allows for something called a nuclear option where, after a certain period of time, if no budget is agreed, you can go by a 50 Senate vote.
So I think at the moment the markets remain strong, as they're not expecting it to remain for much longer.
And can we just have a quick look at France?
Rather than a shutdown, it's a staff walkout over budget plans.
It is.
I mean, it's been an ongoing problem for the last few years in France.
They're on their fifth prime minister in two years because there's no majority in the parliament and they can't agree a budget.
And unfortunately it is impacting French bonds, which are down, and the French equity market, which is a laggard compared to its European peers.
OK, thank you, Randeep Samal, fund manager at M&G Investments.
And we end with the Women's Cricket World Cup, which is underway in India.
And the tournament's already in the history books for having the biggest prize pot in women's cricket history, at nearly 14 million.
That's up more than $10 million from the last tournament.
And that's well above the $10 million prize at the last Men's World Cup.
Well, that's it from World Business Express with me, Sarah Rogers.
Please do subscribe though to get the latest episodes.
Just search for World Business Express.
And thanks for listening.
America is changing, and so is the world.
But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval.
It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.
I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C.
I'm Tristan Redman in London, and this is The Global Story.
Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection, where the world and America meet.
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
