Flagship

Drone attack draws US closer to war

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed payback after a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border killed three U.S. soldiers and injured over two dozen more. The attack, which the White House blamed on “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” struck a U.S. outpost and marked the first time American troops have been killed since Israel’s offensive in Gaza — a conflict that is increasingly drawing in regional, and global, actors — began in October. Washington has already been carrying out strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, but the latest attack stoked fears that the U.S. could get pulled directly into the conflict.

Efforts to stop Israel’s war in Gaza, meanwhile, inched forward in Paris as the U.S., Israel, Qatar, and Egypt held talks aimed at securing the return of hostages held by Hamas. Israel called the talks “constructive” while acknowledging “significant gaps” remain, most likely centered around ceasefire conditions. And more ​​countries suspended funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinians in Gaza, after Israeli authorities alleged some of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. Perhaps ironically, Israel is unlikely to cut its ties with the agency. “Until Israeli policy changes and unless Israel is willing to feed Gaza itself, it still has no alternative,” Haaretz’s ​​Anshel Pfeffer wrote.

Warming US-China ties

The U.S. and China are considering holding high-level bilateral talks, the latest sign of easing tensions. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping may hold telephone talks this spring, and Washington’s top diplomat might visit Beijing this year, a U.S. official said soon after a meeting in Bangkok between officials from the two countries. Though the growing cadence of communication has yielded tangible improvements, including a restoration of military-to-military talks and efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking, huge obstacles remain: The U.S. is pushing China to crack down on the Houthi militant group’s targeting of commercial shipping in the Red Sea, while Beijing remains angry over Washington’s efforts to curb China’s chip industry.

US to award billions in chip subsidies

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to award billions in subsidies to top semiconductor companies in a bid to showcase his economic accomplishments at the start of an election year. The funds, to be announced in the coming weeks for companies like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., are meant to help them build new factories, and come from the $53 billion CHIPS and Science Act passed in 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported. Biden’s investment in manufacturing has become a key part of his reelection pitch, but the slow rollout of those projects may hinder that narrative, Politico reported. Some worry “it could be years before the taxpayer-subsidized factories are churning out made-in-America chips,” the Journal wrote.

China battles economic malaise

New figures and regulations underlined Chinese officials’ growing worry over the country’s economic prospects. Beijing banned some short-selling — essentially, a bet that a stock’s price will fall — in a bid to curb a protracted slide in share prices. Meanwhile, a recent think-tank report pegged the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio at an astonishing 287.8%, a record. High levels of borrowing in both the public and private sector, languid consumption, and worries for the future of several major financial institutions and property developers are all driving concern over the health of the world’s second-biggest economy, with major implications globally.

Pro-Taiwan Tuvalu PM loses

Tuvalu’s pro-Taiwan prime minister lost his parliamentary seat in weekend elections, spurring speculation that the tiny Pacific Island nation could cut ties with Taiwan. The U.S. and China are competing for influence across the Pacific, with small island states becoming battlegrounds: China’s security cooperation deal with the Solomon Islands sparked worry in Washington, and Nauru flipped its diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei after Taiwan’s election this month. “The concern for the United States is what China can do with an increasing regional presence,” U.S. Institute of Peace experts wrote.

Junta-led nations pull out of ECOWAS

Three West African nations led by military juntas announced Sunday they were pulling out of the regional economic bloc ECOWAS, in a blow to efforts to restore constitutional order on the continent. Coups felled governments in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger over the last four years, and their new regimes have since cut ties with France, formed a new security alliance, and grown closer to Russia. ECOWAS, based in Nigeria, has pushed for a return to civilian rule and imposed sanctions on the juntas. The trio’s withdrawal, however, shows the “even more diminishing influence of the two traditional superpowers in West Africa — France and Nigeria,” a Lagos-based geopolitical research analyst said.

Japan foreign workers pass 2M

The number of foreign workers in Japan passed 2 million for the first time, fueled largely by Southeast Asian laborers looking for higher wages. Experts have pointed to increased immigration as a solution to Japan’s demographic challenge — its population is fast aging and its birth rate is plummeting, an extreme example of an issue facing rich countries the world over. Japan has added new visas to ease labor shortages, and the number of overseas workers has doubled in the last decade. Yet the shift is not a straightforward one: “What Japan may lack in economic dynamism, it makes up for in social cohesion,” Bloomberg’s Japan columnist wrote last year.

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Swift deepfakes spark calls for reform

The White House called for Congressional action after sexually explicit, artificial intelligence-generated images of Taylor Swift spread online. Technological advances have allowed nonconsensual, deepfake pornography to become more pervasive, and advocates say U.S. victims have minimal legal recourse, though some countries like South Korea and China impose strict regulations on deepfake content. If anyone is equipped to get U.S. lawmakers to take action, “it is Swift’s enormous and extremely motivated fan base,” a Guardian columnist wrote. “Angry Swifties are a force to be reckoned with.” Immediately after the fake photos started spreading, a Swiftie counteroffensive flooded social media with a trending #ProtectTaylorSwift hashtag and positive photos of the singer.

Siberian craters hold climate clues

A handful of mysterious craters carved into Siberia’s permafrost could portend future calamity linked to climate change. The craters, some of which are over 160 feet deep, were first discovered in 2012 in a northern Russian peninsula. A new study argues they are caused by methane gas beneath the permafrost that explodes due to warming Arctic temperatures. Though geologically fascinating, the explosions could threaten railways and pipelines both in the region and in geologically similar areas, New Scientist reported. “It might be Siberia showing us how these things fail,” said a professor in Svalbard, Norway, which is also in the blast zone north of the Arctic Circle.

Mezcal’s source disappearing

Mezcal’s growing popularity in bars and restaurants across the West risks its long-term supply, depleting Mexico’s natural supply of the plant the drink is made from. Demand for mezcal grew 700% from 2015 to 2022, according to Mexico’s mezcal regulatory commission, as the smokey, tequila-like spirit became a drink menu mainstay, concurrently putting pressure on stocks of wild agave, The Washington Post reported. That demand is even driving some American companies to buy land in southern Mexico and grow plantations of espadin, another agave plant that’s easier to cultivate but seen as cheaper and less interesting than the wild varieties.

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Jan. 29

• Iran’s foreign minister visits Pakistan.
• Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visits Vietnam for talks with its top leaders.
• Mighty Bheem’s Playtime, a new show based on a hit Indian animation, debuts on Netflix.

The percentage of Japanese chain Ramen Santouka’s sales that come from abroad. Authentic flavors, high levels of customer service, and strict quality control have helped the brand expand to eight countries with 40 overseas locations, Nikkei reported. Ingredients are procured locally, but are sent in from Japan if the taste isn’t up to par. Its most popular location is the outpost near Harvard University, which sells up to 700 bowls of ramen some days.

Non-English language films are increasingly breaking through at the Academy Awards. Four years after Parasite became the first non-English film to win the Best Picture Oscar, three foreign-language projects are nominated for the top award this year, a new record. The success of Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, and Past Lives points to changes the Academy made to increase the racial and global diversity of its members. The popularity of streaming also helped American and British viewers find global movies more easily. You no longer have “to go to an arthouse movie theater to watch a movie in German – it was just on Netflix,” an expert on the history of the Oscars told the BBC.

• MrBeast has adapted his videos for China’s YouTube, Bilibili.
• Kenya’s court rules against police deployment to Haiti as part of a U.N.-backed security mission.
• Kanye West tried to hire Jeff Roe to run his presidential campaign.