Turkmenistan

Mining heavyweight BHP Billiton recently upgraded its Olympic Dam copper facility (AAP Image)
Business

Australian miners ramp up investment in electric-vehicle metals

Copper and lithium among targets for spending as demand and prices climb

22 February 2018
An Indonesian Muslim holds up a poster during a rally calling for the arrest of Jakarta's then-incumbent governor Basuki Purnama.
Politics

Democracy rankings put Asia in poor standing

Six of seven regions around the world slipped in freedoms for 2017

8 February 2018
An Indonesian Muslim holds up a poster during a rally calling for the arrest of Jakarta's then-incumbent governor Basuki Purnama.
Politics

Democratic conditions 'fall sharply' in Asia

Region regresses as minorities suffer in Indonesia and Myanmar, says think tank

1 February 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and the economy on a roll

Sweeping security push helps improve growth and business sentiment

1 February 2018
Kairat Umarov serves as Kazakhstan's ambassador to the United Nations.
International relations

Former nuclear power Kazakhstan shares lessons for North Korea

UN ambassador highlights benefits of denuclearization, harm suffered by testing

30 January 2018
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has expressed his country's willingness to host a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
International relations

Widodo cements Muslim credentials during South Asia tour

Indonesian president turns away from insular policy and strives for world leadership

29 January 2018
A boy sells umbrellas printed with Pakistan's flag at a market in Karachi last July. Safety in the city has improved dramatically.
Economy

Pakistan keeps terrorists on the run and economy on a roll

Businesses' focus shifts from bombs and kidnappings to taxes and policy

19 January 2018
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev speaks at the Security Council meeting.
International relations

Kazakhstan calls on North Korea to follow lead on nuclear weapons

Nazarbayev touts experience of renouncing arms at Security Council meeting

19 January 2018
FNSS, a joint venture between Turkey's Nurol Holding and the U.K.'s BAE Systems, unveiled a medium-weight tank co-developed with Indonesia’s PT Pindad during the Istanbul Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul in May 2017. (Photo by Sinan Tavsan)
International relations

Turkey steps up arms sales to South and Southeast Asia

Ankara seeks to diversify as tensions rise in traditional Middle East markets

12 January 2018
The Bank of Korea has joined the U.S. Federal Reserve in reversing the unconventional easy-credit policy once led by the Fed and other central banks.
Looking ahead 2018

QE unwinding is more dangerous than it appears

Asia's emerging markets remain dependent on central bank liquidity

26 December 2017
Presidents of Eurasian Economic Union member countries attend a news conference after a meeting in Moscow
Politics

Smuggled Chinese goods fuel tensions in Russia-led Asian bloc

International observers to monitor Kazakh-Kyrgyz border to address spat

15 December 2017
Otgontsetseg Ganbaatar, co-founder of organic soap maker Gilgerem, makes a batch of camel bone marrow soap. (Photo by Ochir Khaidui)
Life

Mongolian women drive rise in organic cosmetics

Entrepreneurs seek to expand overseas sales of animal-based oils and creams

10 December 2017
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at a joint media appearance in Tehran in May 2016 (Photo by India's Press Information Bureau)
Opinion

India reaches out to Asia's heartlands

Iranian port project could herald start of a challenge to China's expanding geostrategic links

5 December 2017
Talk of abolishing large-denomination bank notes largely centers on preventing criminals from hoarding cash.
Economy

The case for getting rid of high-denomination bank notes

Softer cashless route would hinder criminals, crack interest rate constraints

4 December 2017
A worker shovels wheat in Kazakhstan's Akmola region. The country aims to develop its agriculture with China.
Asia Insight

China's Belt and Road sparks a battle of the breadbaskets

New infrastructure helps ex-Soviet grain exporters reach Asian markets

30 November 2017
A Mongolian performer, right, takes a selfie with her smartphone before a shortened version of a Naadam festival, a traditional Mongolian cultural and sporting event in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Business

Japanese telecom KDDI enjoys growth in crisis-battered Mongolia

Country's young population shrugs off IMF bailout and snaps up smartphones

29 November 2017
A worker shovels wheat in Kazakhstan's Akmola region. The country aims to develop its agriculture with China.
Asia Insight

China's Belt and Road sparks battle of the breadbaskets

New infrastructure helps ex-Soviet grain exporters reach Asian markets

28 November 2017
The planned missile is seen being equipped on the cutting-edge F-35 stealth fighter used by Japan's Air Self-Defense Force. (Courtesy of ASDF)
International relations

Japan and UK to collaborate on missile development

Tokyo's first non-US partnership would develop an air-to-air weapon

24 November 2017
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev speaks in Russia April 5, 2017.
Politics

Uzbek push for stronger ties may change face of Central Asia

Big diplomatic shift after past isolationism welcomed by region, world

23 November 2017
Sumo grand champion Harumafuji leaves his stable Thursday prior to being questioned by police.
Japan-Update

Police quiz sumo champion in violent bullying case

Wrestler seriously injured in assault, showing culture of hazing still plagues sport

17 November 2017
The team’s Land Rover facing the Iranian desert near the oasis of Garmeh (Photo by The Silk Road Project Team)
Life

Explorers' view of China's Belt and Road Initiative

On the ground, evidence of progress on Beijing's grand vision is hard to find

17 November 2017
Teachers on strike at a school in Ulaanbaatar: The sign reads "Salary equal to our work." (Photo by Ochir Khaidui)
Economy

Mongolian teachers strike puts government in a bind

Constrained by IMF bailout, cabinet resists call for nearly 150% pay hike

14 November 2017
Pierre Heilbronn, vice president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Economy

European development bank eager to further cooperate with AIIB

Additional syndicated loans to focus on Central Asia and Transcaucasia

14 November 2017
People take pictures as the train with a sign "First Sino-Euro Freight Train (London-Yiwu)" arrives in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China, in April.
Opinion

China's BRI could be administrative nightmare

Multilateral institution needed to give other countries a bigger voice

31 October 2017
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,far right, joins Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, next in front row, at the opening ceremony for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in Baku on Oct. 30.
Economy

'Iron silk road' threatens to sidetrack Russia

Trilateral rail project offers southern route for China's Belt and Road initiative

31 October 2017