The financial institutions of South Korea, Japan and Germany will reportedly join forces on a two-point-five billion dollar loan to support a Chilean copper mine project.
According to Japan’s Nikkei News on Sunday, the government-affiliated financial institutions of the three nations and other lenders will provide a loan for the project at the Centinela mine, which is operated by United Kingdom-headquartered Antofagasta and Japanese trading house Marubeni.
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation will reportedly provide 950 million dollars for the project, which will expand the copper mine and construct a plant.
Other lenders include the financial institutions of South Korea, Germany and Export Development Canada, Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and France’s Credit Agricole.
Nikkei said the loan is expected to support a production capacity increase of about 140-thousand tons at the mine from the current annual production of 250-thousand tons.
V of BTS, currently fulfilling his mandatory military duties, will drop a new solo digital single. “Fri(end)s” will drop on March 15. The single is an English-language pop soul R&B tune singing of love. It comes six months after his solo EP “Layover” which sold over 2 million units. As mentioned, V is currently serving his military duty in a special task force for the military police in Gangwon Province. He will be discharged in June 2025.
NewJeans and rock band Silica Gel have taken home the most awards at the 21st Korean Music Awards.
The 21st KMA Awards ceremony was held Thursday where NewJeans won song of the year and best K-pop song for “Ditto,” and also won the best K-pop album award for “Get Up.”
Silica Gel won the trophy for best modern rock song for the third year running. The band also won musician of the year and best modern rock album.
When the widow of the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny addressed the European Parliament recently, she said something striking. “If you really want to defeat Putin, you have to become an innovator,” Yulia Navalnaya told MEPs. “And you have to stop being boring.”
Being innovative and interesting may be traits not always associated with some European politicians.
But they are having to think differently, not just about how better to support Ukraine but also to increase pressure on Russia.
The shadow of a potential Donald Trump presidency hangs over the continent, raising doubts about America’s long-term backing for Ukraine.
A $60bn (£47bn) package of US military support for Ukraine is held up in the House of Representatives. And on the battlefield, Russian forces are beginning to make gains against their less well armed opponents.
Two years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European capitals have largely maintained their political backing for Kyiv.
In January the European Union agreed in January a €50bn package ($55bn; £43bn) of grants and loans to fund Ukraine’s government and public services.
But the EU failed to meet its target of sending one million shells to Ukraine by the beginning of this month.
EU diplomats are still haggling over plans for a new €5bn top-up to the European Peace Facility to buy more weapons for Kyiv. And Nato says that this year about 12 European members may still not meet the alliance’s target of spending 2% of national output on defence.
You can never be quite sure which film will win the top prize at the Oscars: in recent years, both The Power of the Dog and La La Land seemed to have it in the bag, but both of them were beaten. All the same, it would be a major upset if Oppenheimerwasn’t named best picture this year. It’s a film with a heavyweight subject and a stellar cast, but it’s also technically dazzling: Christopher Nolan’s biopic of J Robert Oppenheimer is far more intricate than the average Hollywood “based on a true story” drama. There are also the little matters of how phenomenally successful it’s been at the global box office, how thoroughly it has dominated awards season, and how commandingly it leads the field in terms of Oscar nominations – 13 in total. I can’t honestly say that Oppenheimer is my own favourite of the best picture contenders, but it would (and will) be a worthy winner. (Nicholas Barber)
When the best picture category expanded from five to 10 nominated films in 2009, the change was spurred by backlash to the way Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster The Dark Knight was snubbed the previous year. Now it’s full-circle time. Nolan’s explosive yet character-driven epic Oppenheimer, with a perfect balance of art and commerce, is poised to win best picture. Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things are also great in their different ways, but Oppenheimer’s ambition and invention make it, deservedly, this year’s best. (Caryn James)
As China’s annual parliamentary sitting comes to a close after a hectic week of meetings, a glaring void looms on Monday’s final agenda.
The National People’s Congress is usually capped off by the premier’s press conference. But this year, and for the rest of the term, the tradition has been mysteriously nixed.
Officials have said there was no need for it given there were other opportunities for journalists to ask questions. But many observers saw it as another sign of consolidation and control, in what became a running theme for the congress, even as top officials preached openness.
The cancellation of the press conference also effectively diminishes Premier Li Qiang’s profile. Though the event was scripted, it was a rare chance for foreign journalists to ask questions and gave the country’s second-in-command some room to flex his muscles.
In years past, it even yielded some unexpected moments. In 2020 then-premier Li Keqiang disclosed figures that stoked debate over a government claim that it had eradicated poverty.
The dimming of the spotlight on the premier, along with a shorter congress this year, are all signs of ongoing structural change within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) where President Xi Jinping is increasingly accumulating power at the expense of other individuals and institutions, noted Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore who studies Chinese governance.
But to the outside world, the party is keen on projecting a different kind of image as it battles dwindling foreign investor confidence and a general malaise in its economy.
Addressing international journalists last week, foreign minister Wang Yi insisted China was still an attractive place to invest in and do business.
“China remains strong as an engine for growth. The ‘next China’ is still China,” he said, before citing ways in which “China is opening its door wider”.
This year’s economic blueprint, delivered by Mr Li at the start of the session, laid out plans to open up more areas to foreign investment and reducing market access restrictions in sectors such as manufacturing and services.
These moves come after foreign investors were spooked by recent anti-espionage and data protection laws, as well as several sudden high-profile detentions of Chinese and foreign businessmen. Foreign direct investment in China recently fell to a 30-year low.
“There are fewer political checks and balances, there is no transparency. This is the bigger concern for investors… you cannot predict what’s going to happen, so you avoid the risk,” said Dr Wu.
Donald Trump has challenged Joe Biden to TV debates, as the rivals hurtle towards a White House rematch following their sweep of the Super Tuesday votes.
The Republican said he would take part in a TV forum with the Democratic president “anytime, anywhere, anyplace” posting online in all capital letters.
Mr Biden’s campaign said Mr Trump was “thirsty for attention and struggling to expand his appeal”.
No debates have so far been agreed ahead of November’s election.
Mr Trump’s challenge came hours after his last Republican rival, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race to be the Republican nominee for the White House.
“It is important, for the Good of our Country, that Joe Biden and I Debate Issues that are so vital to America, and the American People,” Mr Trump posted on his social media website, Truth Social, hours after Ms Haley’s departure from the race.
He added that such debates could be run by the Democratic National Committee, or the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has overseen presidential debates for the last 30 years.
Mr Trump said the debate commission – which declares itself non-partisan, but is accused by conservatives of bias – was a “subsidiary” of the Democratic party.
Mr Trump, 77, has repeatedly claimed Mr Biden, 81, is too old and forgetful to debate him. Mr Biden has in turn suggested it is Mr Trump who is senile.
The White House press secretary was asked earlier on Wednesday whether refusing a debate could cast doubt on Mr Biden’s “acuity”. She suggested the reporter speak to the president’s re-election campaign.
The Biden campaign did not say whether he would participate in a debate against Mr Trump, and instead suggested that the Republican tune in to the president’s Thursday evening State of the Union address to Congress.
“That’s a conversation we’ll have at the appropriate time in this cycle,” said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler.
A group of US lawmakers has introduced a bill that would require Chinese tech giant ByteDance to sell off the popular video-sharing TikTok app within six months or face a ban.
For years American officials have raised concerns that data from the app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.
A bipartisan set of 19 lawmakers introduced the legislation on Tuesday.
TikTok called the bill a disguised “outright ban”.
In a statement announcing the bill, the lawmakers said “applications like TikTok that are controlled by foreign adversaries pose an unacceptable risk to US national security”.
The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest, or it would be blocked from the app store and web hosting platforms in the US.
“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” TikTok said in a statement to the BBC.
A former Google software engineer has been charged by the US with stealing trade secrets about artificial intelligence (AI) while secretly working for two Chinese companies. Linwei Ding, also known as Leon Ding, was indicted in California on four charges and arrested on Wednesday. The Chinese national allegedly stole more than 500 confidential files. If convicted he faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each count.
A lawyer for Mr Ding could not be identified to comment on the case, local media reported.
The information he is accused of taking relates to the infrastructure of Google’s supercomputing data centres, which are used to host and train large AI models.
According to the indictment, Mr Ding was hired by Google in 2019 and his responsibilities included developing this software.
He allegedly began uploading information stored in Google’s network to a personal Google account in May 2022. These uploads continued periodically for a year, the indictment reads.
Meanwhile, he is said to have spent several months in China working for Beijing Rongshu Lianzhi Technology – a start-up tech company that approached him. The indictment says he was offered $14,800 (£11,620) per month to be the company’s Chief Technology Officer.
He is also alleged to have started his own tech firm, Shanghai Zhisuan Technology, which had a focus on AI and machine learning, and made himself the CEO.
The BBC has contacted Rongshu, while Zhisuan could not be immediately reached for comment.
Prosecutors allege Mr Ding never told Google about his work for either company.
The indictment states that he applied to a China-based organisation to help develop this business and presented it at an investor conference in China in November 2023.
The following month, he was flagged by Google trying to upload more files to his personal computer while in China, but Mr Ding told Google’s investigator it was to provide proof that he worked for the tech giant.
When he returned to the US and without Google’s knowledge, Mr Ding is said to have booked a one-way ticket from San Francisco to Beijing, before resigning on 26 December.
Days later, Google once again became suspicious after learning about his actions at the conference and suspended his access – searching his activity history to reveal the unauthorised uploads.
Google spokesman José Castañeda said the company has “strict safeguards to prevent the theft of our confidential commercial information and trade secrets,” adding that the company quickly alerted the authorities when it found evidence of alleged wrongdoing.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement on Wednesday that Linwei Ding was seeking to enrich himself by covertly working for companies that were “seeking an edge in the AI technology race”.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate the theft of artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies that could put our national security at risk,” Mr Garland said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Mr Ding’s alleged actions “are the latest illustration of the lengths” companies in China will go to, “to steal American innovation”.
The US and China have been engaged in a bitter trade battle in recent years, with both sides attempting to gain a competitive edge over the other.
The dispute has seen both countries impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods.
Trade relations have worsened under the Biden administration, with the two sides imposing new barriers on trade, including restrictions on computer chip exports.
Billlie will release the group’s first Japanese EP in February.
“Knock-on Effect” will drop on Feb. 7. It’s the group’s first Japanese release in nine months since the group made their Japanese debut with the single “GingaMingaUYo” in May.
The EP consists of five tracks led by the Japanese version of “Domino ~ butterfly effect”. The group will also hold shows in Tokyo and Osaka following the EP’s release in February.
Billlie នឹងចេញផ្សាយ EP ជប៉ុនដំបូងរបស់ក្រុមនៅក្នុងខែកុម្ភៈ។ “Knock-on Effect” នឹងធ្លាក់ចុះនៅថ្ងៃទី 7 ខែកុម្ភៈ។ វាជាការចេញផ្សាយជាភាសាជប៉ុនលើកដំបូងរបស់ក្រុមក្នុងរយៈពេល 9 ខែចាប់តាំងពីក្រុមនេះបានបង្ហាញខ្លួនជាលើកដំបូងជាភាសាជប៉ុនជាមួយនឹងបទចម្រៀង “GingaMingaUYo” នៅក្នុងខែឧសភា។ EP មានបទចំនួនប្រាំដែលដឹកនាំដោយកំណែជប៉ុននៃ “Domino ~ butterfly effect” ។ ក្រុមនេះក៏នឹងរៀបចំកម្មវិធីនៅទីក្រុងតូក្យូ និងអូសាកាបន្ទាប់ពីការចេញផ្សាយរបស់ EP នៅក្នុងខែកុម្ភៈ។
