alt

December 15th, 2022

The environmental toll of chipmaking

South Korea's chipmakers find themselves in hot water over waste concerns

View all editions

The Big Story

South Korea's chip ambitions threaten big environmental toll

As chip giants like Samsung and SK Hynix expand production, locals fear water contamination

South Korean environmental activists like Kim Hoon (pictured) worry about the environmental impact of South Korea's chipmaking boom. In Pyeongtaek, hot wastewater from a nearby plant could alter ecosystems in local rivers. (Photo by Jean Chung)
Chung Euisun, pictured here speaking at CES 2022 in Las Vegas, is leading Hyundai Motor Group with a distinctly new style.
Business Spotlight

Hyundai's Chung Euisun drives new era at South Korean automaker

Dynasty scion pushes electric and hydrogen vehicles, more inclusion and openness

From late 2024 at the earliest, new rules in Singapore will require ride-hailing and food delivery companies to contribute to social security savings schemes for their workers.
Technology

Singapore's gig economy braces for 'complex' safety net rules

ASEAN's first protections for platform workers have regional implications

Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Dec. 8. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Mayumi Tsumita)
Semiconductors

Tata to enter chipmaking in India: Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Conglomerate to invest $90bn over 5 years, also into other businesses

Casino financiers have been moving out of Macao in recent years, initially into Cambodia and later along Thailand's borders with Laos and Myanmar, creating countless unregulated operations beyond any rule of law. 
Asia Insight

Chinese underworld floods to Thailand-Myanmar river border

Macao squeeze spawns new gambling and trafficking hubs akin to 'penal colonies'

Pakistani security officials inspect a damaged truck at the site of suicide bombing on the outskirts of Quetta on Nov. 30.
International relations

U.S. signals support for Pakistan against resurgent terror threats

'Full set of tools' to fight Taliban group, al-Qaida branch hiding in Afghanistan

Vietnam is using its first defense expo to showcase locally made arms and also its blossoming relationships with new suppliers. (Photo by Kim Dung Tong)
Aerospace & Defense Industries

Vietnam turns away from Russia reliance with first defense expo

Hanoi keen to expand weapons suppliers, shows off new ties to China

An artist's impression of the Tempest next-generation fighter. 
International relations

Japan shuns U.S. to sign next-gen fighter plan with U.K., Italy

Nations launch Global Combat Air Program with eye on future exports

A factory of Malaysian national automaker Proton. Vietnamese rival VinFast has moved ahead in electric-vehicle production.
Economy

Malaysia's 'middle power' ambition faces rivals in own backyard

New PM Anwar Ibrahim seeks opportunity in U.S.-China rivalry but competition abounds

Activists hold up posters during a rally against Indonesia's new criminal law in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Dec. 6.
Politics

Indonesia's controversial new criminal code: 7 things to know

Critics say 'authoritarian' legislation taints Jokowi's legacy

Jiang Zemin smiles at Bill Clinton during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in 1997: The Chinese president was criticized by party cadres as pro-American.
Opinion

Jiang Zemin's death is prompting Chinese to question Xi's path

Economic troubles also raise doubts about departures from 'reform and opening'

A student takes an online class at his residence in New Delhi in September 2020: Many of the platforms' marketing campaigns were intended to cause parents to worry that their kids would be left behind in the competition for college places.
Opinion

India should bring online classes to order

Regulation needed to curb abuses, but New Delhi should not go as far as Beijing

For chef Rene Redzepi, who spent 10 days in Kyoto during his first trip to Japan in 2009, the upcoming Noma Kyoto residency feels like a second homecoming: "It's one of my favorite places in the world," he says. (Courtesy of Amy Tang) 
Life

Chef behind Denmark's Noma restaurant readies for Kyoto launch

Rene Redzepi to offer fusion of Scandinavian and Japanese influences

People collect holy water from a huge bucket outside a temple in Nakhon Pathom province, central Thailand. (Getty Images)
Tea Leaves

Thai superstitions keep modernity in its place

Economic insecurity has widened interest in the supernatural among the young