Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia will press ahead with its battlefield aim of fully capturing four Ukrainian regions, rejecting what he said was a new proposal by Ukraine to rein in hostilities in the more than four-year-old war. Putin, speaking to a Russian state television interviewer, also said Russia needed to boost its air defense capacity to counter intensified Ukrainian drone attacks aimed mainly at its oil industry. He said Russia was coping well in tackling fuel supply problems linked to the Ukrainian strikes. He acknowledged earlier on Sunday at a meeting in the Kremlin with government ministers and other officials that the strikes had triggered fuel shortages in various Russian regions but that Russia was dealing with them. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Japan unveils $2.3 trillion investment plan for next 14 years Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aims to put her stamp on Japan's growth strategy as technological change and geopolitical tensions reshape economic priorities. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has unveiled a long-term vision for Japan's economic development featuring massive investment in artificial intelligence and semiconductors as well as other key sectors including defense, space and shipbuilding. The plan calls for investing more than ¥370 trillion ($2.3 trillion) in the 14-year period ending in March 2041, with ¥101.6 trillion earmarked for artificial intelligence and chips spending alone, according to documents released Wednesday after a policy advisory panel's meeting. In introducing the plan, Takaichi said she aims to create a "strong and prosperous investment framework." The blueprint calls for a combination of public and private investment to reach the target amounts, with the government seen contributing a little less than half if inflation stays in line with expectations.

Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Munich on Friday. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi reiterated the importance of the rules-based global order during a speech at the Munich Security Conference while linking the security of the Indo-Pacific to the Euro-Atlantic, as Japan keeps a nervous eye on Chinese military moves in Asia. "The very foundations that have underpinned the international order are being tested by real world actions," Koizumi said Friday "Attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force must never be tolerated. That is why Japan does not view Ukraine as a distant European problem." Following the eruption of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Japan began drawing a link between the two regions, with leaders repeatedly stressing that "Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow" -- a not-so-oblique hint at the possibility of a similar regional conflict in the Indo-Pacific, especially one involving China attacking democratic Taiwan.

China FM tells EU diplomats not to blame Beijing for bloc's problems Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich on Friday. Beijing - China's foreign minister told his French and German counterparts that Beijing was not to blame for Europe's economic and security problems as he pushed for more cooperation at a summit in Munich, a Foreign Ministry statement said Saturday. Wang Yi made the comments at a meeting with France's Jean-Noel Barrot and Germany's Johann Wadephul on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday. He sought to promote China as a reliable partner of the European Union at a time when the bloc is trying to reduce its dependence on both Beijing and an increasingly unpredictable Washington. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Risk of missteps hangs over U.S.-backed ceasefire deal in northeast Syria A U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement in northeastern Syria leaves thorny questions unresolved, as Kurds seek to retain some authority despite a much weakened hand following the rapid advance of central government forces. The progress of the deal tests the ability of Syria's new leaders to stabilize a nation fractured by 14 years of war, following several bouts of violence pitting it against minority groups who are suspicious of the Islamist-led government. The struggle for Syria's northeast has brought the biggest shift in control since former leader Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024. After months of deadlock, Damascus seized swathes of territory from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) before agreeing to the plan that foresees its remaining enclave being integrated into the state. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Advertising promoting ByteDance's cloud and AI service platform Volcano Engine and chatbot Doubao hangs at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing on Feb. 5. | AFP-JIJI Beijing - After soaring to global attention with its hugely popular TikTok app, Chinese tech giant ByteDance is now positioning itself as a major player in the fast-evolving AI arena. While the Beijing-based company has been embroiled in a range of legal and privacy rows linked to the social media app for years, its team has been busy branching out developing new cutting-edge products. Among them is China's most popular artificial intelligence chatbot, Doubao, which has built up more than 100 million daily users since its inception in 2023. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (left) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event in Tokyo in February 2025. SoftBank's investment gain on OpenAI stood at an estimated $19.8 billion as of December. SoftBank Group sprang back to a quarterly profit after investment gains from OpenAI neared $20 billion, a promising start for one of CEO Masayoshi Son's signature gambles alongside ByteDance and Alibaba Group Holding. The Tokyo-based company has invested about $34.6 billion in OpenAI, accumulating an 11% stake as of December, and has been in talks to invest as much as $30 billion more in a round that would value the startup at about $750 billion to $830 billion. As of December, SoftBank's investment gain on OpenAI stood at $19.8 billion, the company said Thursday.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event in Tokyo in February 2025. SoftBank's investment gain on OpenAI stood at an estimated $19.8 billion as of December. SoftBank Group sprang back to a quarterly profit after Masayoshi Son's bet on OpenAI paid off in valuation gains, cementing the Japanese company's position as an investment proxy for the ChatGPT creator. The Tokyo-based company has invested more than $30 billion (¥4.58 trillion) in OpenAI, accumulating an 11% stake as of December, and has been in talks to invest as much as $30 billion more in a round that would value the startup at about $750 billion to $830 billion. As of December, SoftBank's investment gain on OpenAI stood at an estimated $19.8 billion, the company said Thursday.

The Pentagon is moving to deploy frontier AI capabilities across all classification levels, an official who requested anonymity said. The Pentagon is pushing the top AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic to make their artificial-intelligence tools available on classified networks without many of the standard restrictions that the companies apply to users. During a White House event on Tuesday, Pentagon Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael told tech executives that the military is aiming to make the AI models available on both unclassified and classified domains, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Pentagon is moving to deploy frontier AI capabilities across all classification levels, an official who requested anonymity said. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Billionaire Elon Musk has overhauled the management of his artificial intelligence startup xAI ahead of a planned initial public offering that could rank among the largest ever, after merging the company with his rocket firm SpaceX. The reorganization announced on Wednesday follows the recent departures of several co-founders at the three-year-old AI company, leaving only half of the startup's original 12 co-founders and raising questions about stability as Musk pushes to compete with OpenAI and Google on all fronts. We're organizing because we've reached a certain scale. We're organizing the company to be more effective at this scale. Now, naturally, when this happens, there's some people who are better suited for the early stages of a company and less suited for the later stages, Musk said at an xAI all-hands meeting, according to video footage posted by the company on X.