Le Journal

Japanese police have arrested a man suspected of using generative AI to create more than 500,000 obscene images resembling women celebrities and selling them online, a police spokesman and media reports said on Tuesday. Concern is growing worldwide over the use of artificial intelligence tools for malicious purposes including through deepfakes, which turn genuine photos, videos or audio of people into false likenesses. Between December 2024 and May 2025, Japanese man Tetsuro Chiba allegedly...

US President Donald Trump’s threats of military action against drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia are adding a new layer of uncertainty for Asian exporters shipping to the Americas, analysts have said, compounding the strain from higher import tariffs and already fragile supply chains. Trump has issued explicit warnings about possible strikes in both countries following a major US operation in Venezuela earlier this month, as part of an escalated regional strategy to counter drug trafficking...

The US ambassador to Singapore, Anjani Sinha, has come under fire in the city state for asking businesses to make “substantially larger” financial contributions as his embassy plans for its July 4 celebrations, despite such fundraising being a standard annual practice of Washington’s diplomats. Observers told This Week in Asia that while soliciting businesses for contributions was not new, it was the language used by the ambassador that drew disbelief amid Washington’s more transactional foreign...

Israel demolished structures inside the UN ‍Palestinian refugee agency’s East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law. Surrounded by Israeli forces, bulldozers razed several large buildings and other smaller structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) compound, where ⁠dozens of agency staff once worked. UNRWA, which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building...

Indonesia’s efforts to deepen trade with the United States while maintaining close economic ties with China are being tested after a report revealed Washington had linked lower tariffs to the purchase of US-made maritime surveillance drones for use near the South China Sea. The development has highlighted the balancing act facing Jakarta, which analysts say is seeking to preserve strategic flexibility as trade negotiations with Washington increasingly intersect with security and geopolitical...