East Asia
The world’s most advanced economies and its most contested flashpoint sit side by side here. Technology leadership, demographic decline, and a strait that could redraw the global order — all in the same neighborhood.
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Sep- 2026 -25 SeptemberCompass
Japan lost half its Chinese tourists. Here’s how it’s rewiring inbound retail
With mainland Chinese arrivals down 60% to 418,000 in August, US visitors now outspend every other market, forcing Japanese retailers to build digital retention tools instead of chasing volume.
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22 SeptemberSociety
Cambodia’s scam crackdown leaves the money trail untouched
US lawmakers estimate scam profits reached 60 percent of Cambodia's GDP, but frozen assets and compound raids leave politically connected beneficiaries largely unexamined.
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21 SeptemberCapital
Hong Kong’s elderly are losing millions to investment scams weekly
An 80-year-old woman lost HK$6 million to a fraudster she met on Facebook, one of over 50 cases in a single week costing victims HK$30 million, as losses accelerate faster…
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21 SeptemberTech & AI
India’s semiconductor bet hinges on one factory hitting 2028
ASML has opened a local office and committed lithography tools to Tata's Dholera fab, a ₹91,000 crore project designed to produce 50,000 wafer starts monthly at mature nodes—but execution risk…
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20 SeptemberSociety
A Chinese family blamed an AI chatbot for their burial date disaster
When Doubao first recommended April 19, then retracted it as inauspicious, a relative's traffic accident followed. Now a Zhejiang court is testing whether chatbot advice on cultural decisions carries legal…
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19 SeptemberEarth
Nepal’s young face climate dread after glacier collapse kills 1,446
A 21-year-old forestry student couldn't focus on exams as the August 26 disaster displaced 33,000 people, triggering psychological crisis among a generation learning their futures aren't separate from the mountain's…
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19 SeptemberPower
Trump arms tariff weapon against China’s Russian energy imports days before Xi arrives
A new US law signed September 18 lets Trump impose up to 100 percent tariffs on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas—China and India absorb 85 percent…
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17 SeptemberLife & Health
Hong Kong’s mortgage reprieve hinges on the Fed’s next move
Banks held prime rates at 5 percent after the HKMA's September rate increase, but the one-month HIBOR at 2.95 percent leaves little buffer before another US hike forces them to…
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17 SeptemberLife & Health
Japan’s centenarian boom is breaking its pension math
With 107,677 residents now over 100 and a fertility rate of just 1.14 births per woman, the health ministry is requesting 33.6872 trillion yen for pensions and care—even as a…
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15 SeptemberTech & AI
China wrote the rulebook for AI brain data. The US has nothing.
A mandatory EEG dataset standard taking effect September 2027 gives Chinese BCI developers a compliance roadmap while Western firms face undefined requirements for the same technology.
