Flagship

Palestine statehood stances shift

The U.S. is reportedly considering moving toward a formal recognition of Palestinian statehood, indicating shifting views within the Biden administration over the aftermath of Israel’s war in Gaza. The State Department review, reported by Axios, follows Britain’s foreign minister saying London was considering a similar move, aimed at creating “irreversible progress to a two-state solution.” Most nations have stayed away from unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, arguing that such a development should result from a peace deal with Israel. The potential change in Washington and London points to growing Western frustration with Israel’s offensive, yet remains subject to domestic politics, particularly in the U.S.: Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump’s secretary of state, argued it would have “tragic consequences.”

Tech CEOs face tough hearing

U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEOs of top social-media companies Wednesday in an effort to pass children’s online safety bills, but experts said regulation remains a long way off. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced the harshest questioning, with one senator saying he had “blood on his hands” for teen suicides connected to Instagram use. The criticism prompted Zuckerberg to stand up and directly address victims’ families in the hearing room. The testimony of TikTok’s CEO, meanwhile, led senators to drag the app’s ties to China back into the spotlight. The proceedings had “a bit more edge” than past hearings, a BBC correspondent noted, but action is unlikely in an election year, “when legislative activity crawls to a standstill amid political posturing.”

Label could pull music off TikTok

The world’s largest music company threatened to remove its catalog from TikTok over disagreements about artificial intelligence and artist compensation. TikTok has increasingly driven viral and chart success for up-and-coming as well as established stars, but the move by Universal Music Group — potentially removing songs from artists like Taylor Swift, Adele, Bad Bunny, and Drake — threatens to hit the app’s popularity and undermine its reputation for music discovery. The dispute in part mirrors concerns from other creative-sector workers, such as Hollywood actors and writers, over the impact AI will have on their long-term employment and pay.

China selfie apps succeed with AI

A Chinese selfie-app powerhouse tripled its profits in 2023 thanks to artificial intelligence, a contrast with U.S. tech giants’ struggle to meet investors’ expectations for using — and monetizing — AI. Meitu, China’s top photo-editing company, incorporates AI to automatically retouch a user’s face or outfit, tools that are especially popular through filters on TikTok. But its success in financially profiting off AI remains rare: Major U.S. tech companies have rushed to integrate AI into their tech, but shares of Microsoft, Google, and Advanced Micro Devices all slipped Wednesday after they reported financial results that emphasized progress on AI, but which ultimately failed to impress investors, Bloomberg reported.

China becomes top car exporter

China’s electric-vehicle boom helped it become the world’s top car exporter last year, surpassing Japan, new data showed. According to China’s customs bureau, one third of the cars exported last year were fully electric, a milestone fueled in part by the rise of BYD, which in 2023 became the world’s largest EV maker. BYD’s success forced it to start its own shipping business, MIT Technology Review reported this week, because fleets designed to carry cars are in short supply. As a result of growing demand abroad, Chinese companies could start building more factories closer to their customers, similar to what Japanese companies did in the 1980s, an auto analyst at CLSA told AFP.

The Lambo goes hybrid

Lamborghini plans to make hybrid versions of all its cars to reduce emissions. The supercar manufacturer wants to cut its products’ carbon output in half by 2025, and last year produced its first plug-in hybrid. This year and next, it will produce hybrid versions of its Hurácan and Urus models. Creating high-performance electric and hybrid vehicles has been tricky, because EV batteries are heavy and supercars need high power-to-weight ratios. But the situation is changing: This year’s Paris-Dakar Rally was won for the first time by a car with an electric drivetrain, an Audi RS Q e-tron hybrid, driven by the 61-year-old Carlos Sainz, extending his own record as the oldest-ever winner of the venerable race.

Ukraine’s military chief in the firing line

A debate over military conscription gripped Ukraine this week as Kyiv’s military chief looked set to be ousted. A cabinet proposal would lower the minimum draft age from 27 to 25, a bid to enlist more Ukrainian soldiers as the war with Russia becomes a battle of attrition. General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s military chief, has criticized the pace of conscription, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected demands for mass call-ups on financial grounds. Multiple outlets including The Washington Post and the Financial Times reported Wednesday that Zelenskyy fired the commander with a formal decree to follow, though Kyiv denied any such move. Zaluzhnyi’s “steadily growing political profile” may have played a role in his reported dismissal, The Economist wrote.

Semafor’s 2024 World Economy Summit, on April 17-18, will feature conversations with global policymakers and power brokers in Washington, against the backdrop of the IMF and World Bank meetings.

Chaired by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, and in partnership with BCG, the summit will feature 150 speakers across two days and three different stages, including the Gallup Great Hall. Join Semafor for conversations with the people shaping the global economy.

SKorea fertility rate hits new low

South Korea’s fertility rate once again fell, dropping last year to 0.72 children over a woman’s lifetime, the lowest for any country ever. The decline is a “national emergency,” a South Korea-based academic wrote in the Financial Times: The country needs 500,000 new workers annually, but will receive half that, despite many grants and incentives to encourage having children. Housing and education costs are the “outstanding culprits.” While South Korea is an extreme case, almost every developed nation is confronting a similar decline. As their populations age, many are considering keeping older people in the workforce: Writing in The Hill, one expert suggested reforming U.S. government retirement payouts to encourage working part-time beyond retirement age.

Malaysia’s new king likely more active

Malaysia on Wednesday swore in a billionaire king who is expected to be more politically active as the Southeast Asian country looks to bolster ties with China. Malaysia’s unique system allows a group of nine leaders to rotate and serve as king every five years. The new monarch, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, said he wants to strengthen Kuala Lumpur’s relationship with Beijing. Malaysia is “a linchpin of China’s economic presence in Southeast Asia,” a Hong Kong academic and Malaysian foreign affairs official wrote in the South China Morning Post, though the two countries both claim disputed territory in the South China Sea.

Ant decline impacts Kenyan ecosystem

The decline of an ant species in Kenya has led to a reduction in how often lions kill zebras. The acacia ant lives in whistling thorn trees, a vital savanna plant. It protects the trees against elephants by swimming up the animals’ nostrils if they try to eat the leaves. But recently, an invasive species has started displacing the acacia ants, leaving the trees defenseless — and because lions like attacking from tree cover, that has made it harder for them to kill zebras, research shows. It is “a beautiful snapshot of how complicated ecosystems can be,” one expert told Science. “You pull on a single thread and the whole system reacts.” The lion population appears stable: They are now killing more buffalo.

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Feb. 1

• Myanmar extends its state of emergency on the anniversary of a 2021 coup.
• India hosts a three-day summit for carmakers, component manufacturers, and EV start-ups in New Delhi.
• The Winter Youth Olympics closing ceremony is held in Gangwon, South Korea.

The percentage of the Japanese e-book market that manga now accounts for. Digital manga was the only publishing sector in Japan that saw growth year-over-year in 2023, according to the Animenomics newsletter. Manga’s domination of the e-book market is a result of “aggressive advertising and sales tactics” from publishers. Print manga sales, meanwhile, declined 10%.

The convenience store chain 7-Eleven is responsible for bringing a new tradition to an age-old Japanese holiday. Setsubun, celebrated on Feb. 3, marks the beginning of spring and the banishment of evil spirits. The holiday has traditionally involved throwing soybeans at demons, but for the past 25 years, growing numbers of people have celebrated by silently eating an entire, uncut futomaki sushi roll known as ehōmaki, while facing a specific, auspicious direction. The new-ish trend can be traced back to 7-Eleven, which began selling ehōmaki in 1989 as a “lucky direction roll,” The Japan Times wrote. “It sounds just whacky enough to be an old custom, but it turns out to be a fairly recent trend.”

• Why team Biden is unlikely to use E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump.
• Israel eyes longshot plan of exile for some Hamas leaders.
• South Africa’s Gaza stance threatens trade ties with Israel.