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New Delhi – India’s Hindu-nationalist ruling party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated a landslide victory Saturday in key elections in the capital province of Delhi, with the former chief minister suffering a crushing defeat. “Development has won, good governance has won,” Modi said after the city’s ex-leader — a key opposition figurehead to the premier — was confirmed as having lost his seat. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in government in the national parliament but has not controlled the local legislature in the capital since 1998, so it is a symbolic and strategically important victory. “We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the overall development of Delhi and making the lives of residents better,” Modi said in a post on social media. Arvind Kejriwal lost his seat to Modi’s BJP, reflecting wider damaging losses by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Kejriwal’s AAP had governed the sprawling megacity of more than 30 million people for most of the past decade. “We accept the verdict and congratulate the BJP,” Kejriwal said in a video statement. Chanting BJP supporters danced for joy outside its New Delhi headquarters as vote results from Wednesday’s election were counted, waving flags and posters of Modi. Counting is in the last stages and the BJP has already secured a stunning two-thirds of the 70-seat assembly, having won 47 seats, according to the election commission. It is tipped to win at least one more seat. BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh, who is widely expected to be the capital’s next chief minister, defeated Kejriwal. “Delhi has chosen development,” Singh said in his victory statement. Singh, 47, comes from a family of politicians, and his father served as Delhi’s chief minister in the early 1990s. A former national lawmaker, Singh courted controversy in 2022 when he appeared to call for a “total boycott” of Muslims, although he did not explicitly refer to the community by name. “Our victory is a sign of the people’s faith in Prime Minister Modi’s vision of progress,” interior minister and BJP stalwart Amit Shah said in a statement. “The Delhi mandate shows that people can’t be misled with lies every time.” Kejriwal, who rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader a decade ago, spent several months behind bars last year over accusations that his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licenses, along with several fellow party leaders. He has denied wrongdoing and characterized the charges as a political witch hunt by Modi’s government. He was one of the key pillars of an opposition bloc formed ahead of India’s general elections last year, when the BJP suffered significant losses despite holding on to power. Kejriwal’s defeat in his Delhi stronghold puts the BJP “back in a very strong position,” said Rahul Verma of the Centre for Policy Research think tank in New Delhi. “Now it seems what happened in the general elections was a temporary lapse,” Verma said. “And it has put AAP in a difficult position going ahead.” Despite weeks of intense campaigning, little was said about Delhi’s crippling air pollution crisis, which smothers the city for months in hazardous fumes. New Delhi is regularly ranked the worst capital in the world for choking smog, which often surges as much as 60 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum. Years of piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths annually and particularly affecting the health of children and the elderly. Source link

Los Angeles – Superstar Anthony Davis dazzled in his Dallas debut before hobbling out hurt in the third quarter of the Mavericks’ 116-105 NBA victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday. Davis had given Dallas fans still fuming over the trade of Luka Doncic plenty of reasons to welcome his arrival, scoring 26 points with 16 rebounds, seven assists and three of the Mavs’ 18 blocked shots. But he pulled up in pain with less than three minutes remaining in the third period, departing with what the team called a lower-body injury. There had been no contact when Davis stopped short and put his hand to his groin, heading immediately for the sideline. Davis, whose Mavs debut was delayed as he recovered from an abdominal strain, downplayed the injury after the game, saying it was “nothing serious.” “I’m fine,” he said, adding that he felt “a little spasm” in his groin-quadriceps area and could not get it loose. Even so, the injury will likely fuel the ire among some Mavs fans at the trade that brought Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Doncic — the 25-year-old Slovenian star who led the team to the NBA Finals last season. Some gathered outside American Airlines Center before the game with signs calling for general manager Nico Harrison to be fired. Nevertheless, Davis received a huge ovation when he was introduced and the cheers were even louder when he fed Daniel Gafford for an alley-oop dunk for the first points of the game. Davis had 14 points on six of eight shooting in the first quarter with eight rebounds, three assists and a block as the Mavs surged clear of the Rockets and coasted to a comfortable victory. Elsewhere the Lakers, still waiting for Doncic to make his debut as he recovers from a calf strain, shrugged off the absence of superstar LeBron James — nursing a sore ankle — to beat the Indiana Pacers 124-117. Austin Reaves, questionable to start with an elbow injury, scored a career-high 45 points. Rui Hachimura added 24 on his 27th birthday to help the Lakers win their fifth straight. In Chicago, Jimmy Butler made a winning start to his career with the Golden State Warriors, scoring 25 points on his debut in a 132-111 victory over the Bulls. The Warriors trailed by as much as 24 points early in the third quarter but a stunning Stephen Curry-inspired rally flipped the game on its head. Curry rattled in 24 points in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored Chicago 42-25 to edge into a slender lead before closing out victory in the fourth quarter. Curry finished with 34 points, including eight three-pointers, to lead Golden State’s scoring. The Oklahoma City Thunder extended their lead at the top of the Western Conference, dominating the second-placed Memphis Grizzlies 125-112 on the road in a statement win. The Grizzlies took a fleeting two-point lead early in the first quarter, but after that it was all Oklahoma City, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finishing with 32 points. Aaron Wiggins added 26 points and Jalen Williams 25. In New York, Jayson Tatum erupted for 40 points as the Boston Celtics thrashed the Knicks 131-104. Payton Pritchard backed Tatum with 25 points off the bench, shooting six of eight three-point attempts, as the Celtics improved to 37-16 to remain second in the Eastern Conference. Source link

Madrid – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and France’s Marine Le Pen headlined a rally in Madrid on Saturday by Europe’s biggest far-right bloc, buoyed by electoral gains and Donald Trump’s return to power. Patriots for Europe has realigned extreme-right forces in the European Union. It became the European Parliament’s third-largest force after Orban helped launch it last year to pull the bloc towards the far right. Among the leading extreme-right nationalists taking to the stage were Orban, Le Pen, Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and former Czech premier Andrej Babis. In a joint statement, the parties condemned what they called “climate fanaticism,” “illegal immigration” and “excessive regulation” in the EU. The 27-nation bloc needed to make a “180-degree turn,” said Spanish party Vox, which is hosting the rally. Vox said around 2,000 people were attending the event, following a dinner on Friday for Patriots leaders and Kevin Roberts, head of ultra-conservative U.S. think tank The Heritage Foundation. After last year’s European Parliament elections, in which far-right parties performed strongly in several countries, Saturday’s gathering was designed to be “a show of force,” said Steven Forti, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. It would also serve to promote the Patriots turf war with other far-right groups in the EU assembly, he said. The European elections saw the Patriots win 86 of the parliament’s 720 seats. It overtook the European Conservatives and Reformists group, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s neo-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, which won 80 seats. It also overshadowed the smaller far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which includes Germany’s ascendant AfD and which won 26 seats. Patriots for Europe is seeking to “show its central place in the competition” with rival extreme-right groups, Forti said. Neither Meloni nor AfD representatives attended Saturday’s rally. Forti said the Patriots wanted “to take advantage of the wave triggered by Trump’s victory and the shock in the European Union” his measures have caused in order to reshape the balance in Europe. They shared with Trump a wish to weaken the EU, Forti said. The summit in the Spanish capital has adopted the slogan “Make Europe Great Again”, a nod to Trump’s rallying cry “Make America Great Again.” Orban is seen as one of Trump’s closest EU allies, while Vox leader Santiago Abascal has highlighted the ideological affinity between the group and Trump, especially on immigration. But Trump’s threats, from slapping prohibitive tariffs on European goods to annexing Denmark’s gigantic Arctic territory of Greenland, could embarrass nationalist parties in Europe. “Liking Donald Trump’s patriotism does not mean being the vassal of the United States,” Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally (NR) said last month. The NR, whose figurehead is Le Pen, leads the Patriots group in the European Parliament. Source link

Private equity firm Bain Capital agreed to acquire Mitsubishi Chemical Group’s pharmaceutical unit, adding to a dealmaking boom in Japan. The deal values Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma at about ¥510 billion ($3.3 billion), according to a statement on Friday. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter, pending closing conditions and approvals from regulators and shareholders. In a separate statement, Mitsubishi Chemical said it expects to book pre-tax income from discontinued operations of about ¥95 billion. Founded in 1678 and based in the city of Osaka, Tanabe Pharma focuses on therapeutic areas such as immunology and inflammation, vaccines, diabetes, and central nervous system and metabolic disease. It employs more than 5,000 people globally. “We believe there are promising signs for growth and untapped opportunities in Japan’s life sciences industry as government and regulators have launched several initiatives to accelerate the development and approval of innovative medicines,” said Ricky Sun, a Partner at Bain Capital Life Sciences. Tanabe Pharma will continue to build on its legacy of medical innovation while boosting growth via business development, licensing, and strategic acquisitions, among other options, according to the statement. Bain has been ramping up investment in Japan, a hive of dealmaking activity. The Boston-based firm is duking it out with KKR for Fuji Soft, with KKR once again raising its offer for the Japanese software company. Source link

Seven Bank has introduced a service allowing its account holders to deposit and withdraw cash using facial recognition technology at 26,000 automated teller machines across the country. Named Face Cash, the new service introduced Thursday enables depositors with Seven Bank or Shizuoka Bank to make deposits and withdrawals at Seven Bank’s ATMs without cash cards or smartphones. Using NEC’s facial recognition technology, depositors can move their money just by entering a password and a code number, after registering facial information on their first use. The new service, protected with security measures jointly developed by Seven Bank and NEC, will reduce risks including from unauthorized use committed through identity theft. Seven Bank aims to spread the use of Face Cash to accounts at other banks. Source link

New York – Rapper Kendrick Lamar, one of the big success stories of the Grammys last week, said Thursday his fans should expect “storytelling” at the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend. Lamar will headline the halftime show at Sunday’s showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, and has announced SZA will join him as a featured guest. He had a clean sweep at last Sunday’s Grammys, winning in all five categories for which he received nominations — Record of the Year, Song of the Year, best rap song, best rap performance and best music video. Source link

Despite creating artworks in a primarily visual medium, artist Yuki Harada wants us to look beyond the visible. The Yamaguchi-born artist invites viewers to exercise their imaginations in works such as “Shinrei-shashin” (“Ghost Photos”), a series that started in 2012 by presenting installations of discarded photos that seem to haunt the margins of photography with their otherworldly anonymity and undesirability. (This would later grow into 2021’s “One Million Seeings” video work.) In the Samuel Beckett-influenced “Waiting for” (2021), a CGI animation over 33 hours long, Harada recites the names of all the animals on Earth as landscapes devoid of living creatures appear on screen. In this vision of our planet a million years ago and a million years from now, Harada seems to ask: Are we, too, destined to vanish like specters from a snapshot in time? In the following years, Harada, 36, continued exploring these themes, resulting in two recent shows: “Yuki Harada: Home Port” (Nov. 30, 2024, to Feb. 9) at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art is a broader survey of Harada’s work, including “Waiting for,” while its sequel, “Home Port” (2023), is currently on view until March 1 at Anomaly, an art gallery in Shinagawa Ward, as part of Harada’s solo exhibition titled “Dreams and Shadows.” Source link

It might tick off Japanese cuisine purists, but there’s room on the table for classic new year ‘osechi ryōri’ dishes whenever you please. Source link

Murakami, Niigata Pref. – Silver linings are never guaranteed. When the Yamagai brothers saw their historic family restaurant consumed by flames in 2005, it is unlikely they ever envisaged it would rise from the ashes to become a beacon of gastronomy in their hometown in the far north of Niigata Prefecture. What they did know, however, was that they were dead set on rebuilding after the fire. And, more importantly, that they would take charge in the kitchen. Unlike the four generations of their family who preceded them, they did not intend to hire an outside chef: Instead, they would be handling the cooking themselves. After all, both had already undergone their training and culinary apprenticeships in Kyoto — first Shinsuke Yamagai, the elder brother (now 47), followed a couple of years later by his sibling Ryota (16 months his junior). Working side by side, they were planning bigger changes that would lift their restaurant, Shintaku, firmly out of its musty past and into a much more contemporary gastronomic relevance. Source link

The yen is on track for its fourth straight weekly gain against the dollar as spending data on Friday added to signs that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates again. After a sharp decline at the end of last week, the yen began rallying Monday when it showed haven appeal on broad dollar strength amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Gains gathered momentum Wednesday when Japan’s wage growth jumped by the most in nearly three decades, and accelerated further Thursday as a BOJ hawk said that borrowing costs should be doubled to at least 1% by the end of March 2026. The Japanese currency rose on Friday by as much as 0.3% to ¥150.96, its strongest level versus the dollar since Dec. 10, before weakening to ¥151.53 as of 12:15 p.m. in Tokyo. It’s rallied more than 2% this week, heading for the biggest gain since late November. Source link