Asia’s technology stocks took another beating on Friday as a brutal sell-off in the AI trade swept across the region. Some of the chipmakers and technology companies that powered this year’s stock-market rally were among the hardest hit. South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index plunged 9% in early trading, triggering a trading halt. Japan’s Nikkei 225
Asia’s young, self-made billionaires are a decade younger than their American and European peers. Having made their fortunes in tech and crypto—and with larger risk appetites than the “old money” rich—Asia’s nouveau riche manage their wealth very differently. “What if somebody comes with $100 million of stablecoin? You can’t take them to a local bank,”
Haze and smoke from peat fires contain a complex mixture of pollutants that pose serious health risks to the human body. Among these are tiny microparticles which can penetrate deep into the lungs and, in some cases, enter the bloodstream, causing inflammation, chronic lung diseases and increased risk of premature death. Another concern is the
The Busan International Film Festival drew its largest film audience in more than a decade at its 31st edition, which ran Oct. 6–15, while a political firestorm over a Korean box office hit and an Iranian director’s war speech kept politics in the spotlight. These are Variety’s takeaways from the festival and its Asian Contents
Anthropic is opening an office in Singapore—its first in Southeast Asia—planting its flag in a market that’s quickly becoming a new battleground for the U.S.’s top AI firms. On Sept. 16, Anthropic announced its expansion to Singapore, making the Southeast Asian city its fifth location in Asia-Pacific, following hubs in Tokyo, Seoul, Bengalaru and Sydney.
The Iran war exposed just how much the world relied on a narrow 20-mile-wide waterway. Soon after the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, the latter threatened to strike ships trying to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, the channel for much of the Middle East’s oil and gas exports. The threat of shortages pushed countries across
