Month: January 2024

[ad_1] The National Basketball Association’s African league, which counts former U.S. President Barack Obama as a strategic adviser, is facing mounting losses as it seeks to build a following in the region, sometimes resorting to bussing in fans to help fill empty seats.The Basketball Africa League, now entering its fourth season, is the NBA’s sole professional league outside the U.S., and its most ambitious international expansion since it attempted to […]

[ad_1] The IRIS Alborz, pride of the Iranian navy, isn’t much of a warship. Commissioned in 1971, the frigate is both long in tooth and lacking in teeth: Decades of sanctions have obliged Iran to jerry-rig it with homemade combat systems, well short of the firepower of equivalent vessels in the world’s major naval fleets.The ship serves important symbolic purposes, though. It is a reminder that the Islamic Republic is […]

[ad_1] SEOUL – Moving into 2024, relations between the United States and China are as fraught as ever. But what do tensions between the world’s leading superpowers mean for smaller actors?The answer depends on the country, sector and even firm. South Korean companies, for example, appear to be reaping significant benefits from U.S. trade and technology restrictions on China, which have at least slowed — and possibly even reversed — […]

[ad_1] Doha – Asian Cup favorites Japan survived a scare in their tournament opener on Sunday against Vietnam before winning 4-2 in a roller-coaster clash.Hajime Moriyasu's side is looking for a record-extending fifth Asian title and looked set for a comfortable start to their campaign in Qatar when Takumi Minamino gave them an 11th-minute lead.But Vietnam, which is coached by Japan's 2000 Asian Cup-winning boss Philippe Troussier, turned the game […]

[ad_1] A Kyodo News survey released Sunday shows that 86.6% of respondents back tougher political funds control laws in Japan amid a fundraising scandal embroiling the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. A total of 61.6% were also dissatisfied with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's handling of the aftermath of a magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day. The telephone survey, which started on Saturday, put the approval rating […]