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WASHINGTON – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s crypto policy is taking shape with the announcement of a White House crypto czar and a new securities watchdog, but questions remain over who will drive policy and whether too many cooks could slow down changes. Trump on Thursday appeared to make good on his campaign pledge to be a “crypto president,” announcing he would make former top PayPal executive and crypto evangelist David Sacks “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.” A day earlier, Trump said he would nominate pro-crypto Washington attorney Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. While crypto executives cheered the news, saying the pair would end the Biden administration’s crypto crackdown and promote innovation, some Washington analysts said the creation of a crypto czar, a new role, sowed ambiguity over who would drive crypto policy and flagged the potential for policy clashes. Source link

WASHINGTON – A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to divest its popular short video app TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban. The decision is a major win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to TikTok parent ByteDance. It significantly raises the prospects of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans. TikTok plans to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Source link

On the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Roman Solomonyuk shocked his family when he volunteered to fight. But over two-and-a-half years later, he’s joined the growing number of Ukrainian soldiers who’ve called it quits. First the 45-year-old dug trenches near the Russian border. Later, he shot down deadly Shahed drones. But then Roman fell out with a heavy-handed officer — and he’s now officially wanted for leaving his unit without permission. Since 2022, Ukraine opened nearly 96,000 criminal cases against servicemen who abandoned their positions since Russia’s invasion, according to data from the prosecutor general’s office. That represents a sixfold increase over the past two years, and most of the cases were opened this year. Source link

BEIRUT/AMMAN/DUBAI – Syrian rebel forces said their lightning advance reached the central city of Homs, which could position the insurgents to topple another town strategic to President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power. “Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls,” the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault said on Telegram on Friday. The Islamist group, a former al-Qaida affiliate now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), made a last call on forces loyal to Assad’s government in Homs to defect. Source link

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday apologized for his attempt to impose martial law this week and bowed during a televised speech to the nation, only hours head of a planned impeachment vote. Yoon said he would not seek to avoid legal and political responsibility for his decision, which he said was born of desperation. The speech was the embattled leader’s first public appearance since he rescinded the martial law order early on Wednesday, just six hours after it was declared and after parliament defied military and police cordons to vote against the decree. Source link

In 1980, a TV adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel “Shogun” wowed viewers overseas. The story of an English sailor navigating political machinations in feudal Japan sparked a fascination for all things related to the country. Forty years later, a new adaptation of the same story once again spurred significant interest in Japan. The latest iteration of “Shogun,” created by American channel FX and made by a joint American-Japanese team, won over viewers around the world with its tale of cross-cultural intrigue after premiering in February. The series scored rave reviews and strong ratings before going on to clean up at the Emmy Awards, including becoming the first non-English-language winner for best drama. “It was an East-meets-West dream project,” said Hiroyuki Sanada in his acceptance speech for the lead actor in a drama series award. The show’s success was the pinnacle of a year in which Japanese television, bolstered by support from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, revealed new creative ambitions both at home and abroad. The triumph of “Shogun” at the Emmys offered a moment akin to the South Korean film “Parasite” winning the Oscar for best picture in 2020. It was a significant achievement for everyone involved in the project, but it also served as an exclamation point for an industry that had already been creating great work. Source link

Inside Yokohama Arena on a Saturday night in October, thousands of fans are headbanging in unison to a tune you may have heard coming from your kid’s computer. Suddenly, the rhythm cuts out and the glowstick-waving crowd freezes in unison. What sounds like an electronic timer starts, and the crowd is impressively still for about 10 seconds before the guitar kicks back in and the rocking resumes. On stage are The Primals, a five-piece band founded by Final Fantasy XIV sound director Masayoshi Soken that plays heavy metal covers of the game’s soundtrack. The crowd’s familiarity with the material being performed is made apparent by the aforementioned pause, which comes in a rendition of “Stasis Loop,” a melody that plays when a character casts a time-stopping spell to freeze the in-game battlefield. To be present during the arena time stop is to be witness to a beautifully surreal moment of camaraderie. It’s a testament to the evolution of video game music, a genre that has gone from 8-bit beeps and boops in the family living room to fully realized productions that bring the gaming experience into a new realm of spectacle. Source link

Futaba, Fukushima Pref. – Overtourism in Japan has been a major point of tension — and even outright conflict — in 2024. But what if those tourists could help local communities rebrand, regroup and regrow? That’s the thinking of the small seaside town of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, located a few hours north of Tokyo. The area has an ancient history stretching back to the Kofun Period (250–552). In the waning days of the Edo Period (1603–1868), it was the site of armed conflict between loyalists of the shogunate and advocates of imperial rule in the 1868-69 Boshin War. Futaba’s modern trajectory has been shaped by the energy industry. At first, nuclear power offered the promise of a bright future ahead. After the 1971 commissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant at the border of Futaba and neighboring Okuma, the average local salary doubled. Source link

Japanese supermarket chain Ito-Yokado will reduce its number of permanent employees by around 1,000, or nearly 20% of its workforce, by the end of February 2026, people familiar with the matter said Friday. The Seven & I Holdings unit will implement the reduction through personnel relocations and natural reductions, mainly through mandatory retirement, as part of its structural reforms. Last year, Seven & I said that it would close 33 Ito-Yokado stores by the end of February 2026. Around 700 Ito-Yokado employees have applied for voluntary buyout packages. Seven & I plans to sell a majority stake in York Holdings, which owns its supermarket and restaurant operations, including Ito-Yokado, in an effort to focus on its Seven-Eleven convenience store business. Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. and U.S. investment fund Bain Capital are among the contenders in the first round of bidding for York, which closed last month. Source link

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, raised the most political funds among leaders of six of the country’s major political parties in 2023, according to their political funds reports. An LDP chief topped the rankings for the 10th year in a row. Still, Ishiba’s 2023 political funds, at ¥53.66 million, were just a quarter of the ¥206.79 million collected by his predecessor, Fumio Kishida, in 2022. Of Ishiba’s total, ¥29.44 million came from a fundraising party in Tokyo. He also received ¥10.11 million in donations from individuals and organizations. Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, placed second, raising ¥52.94 million, including ¥20 million in donations from an individual and ¥10 million in subsidies from the party. Tetsuo Saito, chief of Komeito, the LDP’s junior coalition partner, ranked third, at ¥35.5 million, including ¥27.08 million from the party. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, was fourth, with ¥24.95 million. He raised ¥10.51 million in donations from individuals, including ¥5 million out of his own pocket. Fifth place went to Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima, with ¥11.03 million, followed by Reiwa Shinsengumi head Taro Yamamoto, with ¥8.07 million. Around half of the funds raised by both leaders were from donations by individuals. The ranking is based on reports from fund management organizations and party chapters. The list does not cover party leaders who do not have such organizations. Source link