Middle East

Then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, left, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met in Tokyo in August 2022: Japan should look further afield.
Opinion

Partnership with Israel can boost Japan's security

Tokyo can leverage relationships to catalyze regional cooperation

31 March 2023
Turkey will hold parliamentary and presidential elections in May.
Turkey elections

Turkey elections spur renewed interest from foreign investors

Opposition parties vow no state meddling in markets, return to economic orthodoxy

29 March 2023
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman walk together at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia in July. 
Comment

Despite China tilt, Saudi Arabia still wants U.S. engagement

Events since Iraq War push Riyadh to pursue 'hedging strategy'

29 March 2023
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ruled Turkey for more than two decades and the country is now facing the deepest cost-of-living crisis under his watch.
Economy

Turkish opposition pledges to reverse Erdogan's economic policies

Next administration will have to deal with high inflation, earthquake fallout

28 March 2023
Riyadh Air announces its first order of Boeing Dreamliners at an event in the Saudi Arabian capital on March 14. 
Travel & Leisure

Saudi Arabia aims to tap tourism demand with new Riyadh Air

State-owned carrier to compete with likes of Emirates and Cathay

28 March 2023
Then-CEO of Credit Suisse, Thomas Gottstein, and Saudi Public Investment Fund Gov. Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan attend the Future Investment Initiative forum in Riyadh in January 2021.
Finance

Credit Suisse crisis highlights growing clout of Middle East money

'Black box' decision-making raises alarms in European financial circles

25 March 2023
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 22, received by Jeddah's governor, Prince Saud bin Abdullah. (Photo by Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia)
International relations

Malaysia's Anwar seeks to mend Saudi ties cooled by 1MDB

PM aims to regain influence in Mideast, act as bridge to ASEAN, win Muslim voters

22 March 2023
China recently mediated a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia for restoring diplomatic ties. (Saudi Press Agency via Reuters) 
US-China tensions

China eyes Global South, not West, to expand influence: expert

Yale's Moritz Rudolf says U.S. should boost diplomacy to unaligned countries

20 March 2023
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on March 6: He will turn 84 next month.
Opinion

The world is forced to guess Iran's intentions

Tehran may be just playing for time with conciliatory moves

16 March 2023
A new Kaga Electronics factory in Malaysia. The company aims to triple sales there by 2027. (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Semiconductors

Japan semiconductor distributors eye expansion in emerging markets

India, Malaysia and Turkey become targets as home demand shrinks

16 March 2023
Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, middle, with Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, right, and Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban in Beijing.
Opinion

Saudi-Iran deal adds new dimension to U.S.-China rivalry

Beijing has merely stepped into vacuum created by Washington's pivot to Asia

15 March 2023
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, right, talks with Saudi Minister of State and national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al Aiban in Beijing on March 10.
International relations

Iran-Saudi deal is good 1st step: ex-Egyptian foreign minister

Chinese mediation role an interesting new development, Fahmy says

11 March 2023
Wang Yi, center, head of the Chinese Communist Party's foreign office, stands between Ali Shamkhani, right, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban in Beijing on March 10. (Photo by China Daily via Reuters)
International relations

Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to restore ties in China-brokered deal

End to 7-year diplomatic rift follows negotiations in Beijing

11 March 2023
Republican People’s Party Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, addresses the crowd alongside Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas, left, and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu during a speech at party headquarters on March 6.
Politics

Turkey's opposition forms troika to challenge Erdogan

Popular Istanbul and Ankara mayors to be VPs under Kilicdaroglu, with other party chiefs

8 March 2023
Emrah Turkmen searches for hard-disks inside the rubble in the Antakya district of Hatay, Turkey. (Photo by Sinan Tavsan)
7 March 2023
Left: Members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces take lessons in cyberdefense in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo. Right: Veterans at a hotline facility at Israel's Computer Emergency Response Center in Beersheba, Israel. (Source photos by Keiichiro Sato and Reuters)
Comment

Japan can learn from Israel about how to win cyberwars

Nurturing talent to think outside the box key to bolstering cybersecurity

5 March 2023
Gulf states are transitioning from fossil fuel exports and looking for investments in sectors such as renewables, digitization and financial technology.
DealStreetAsia

Gulf Capital to set up $750m fund for Southeast Asian companies

Fund will invest in business looking to expand into Middle East

24 February 2023
Women walk near rubble of a collapsed building in Antakya, Turkey.
Economy

Earthquake-hit Turkey cuts interest rates to boost economy ahead of elections

Inflation simmers, but central bank says disaster won't have impact beyond short term

24 February 2023
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, left, stands next to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing on Feb. 14. (Iran's President Website/West Asia News Agency handout via Reuters)
Iran tensions

China's Xi calls for early resolution of Iran nuclear issue

Chinese leader touts deeper cooperation during Beijing summit with Iran's Raisi

14 February 2023
A view of residential areas in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The city is known to be earthquake prone.
Natural disasters

Turkey earthquake raises questions on megacity Istanbul's readiness

Houses built in cheap, quick and unsafe fashion at risk of collapse

14 February 2023
As Larsen & Toubro shifts its strategy to include more modern sectors, it has also been looking to offload some of its lower-profit businesses.
Interview

India's L&T looks beyond infrastructure in turn to tech

Company chairman targeting software development, data centers for growth

13 February 2023
Rescue workers search through rubble in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on Feb. 6. Countries around the world, many of them in Asia, have pledged to send assistance.
Natural disasters

Turkey earthquake prompts outpouring of aid from Asia-Pacific

Governments across region pledge rescue teams, search dogs, medical supplies

7 February 2023
Syrian civilians and emergency personnel conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a collapsed building in Harem, Syria on Feb. 6.
Natural disasters

In pictures: Devastation in Turkey and Syria

Massive earthquake shatters towns and lives across two countries

7 February 2023
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, center, during his trip to the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 15, with South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. (Courtesy of UAE presidential court/Reuters)
International relations

Yoon pursues commercial diplomacy as South Korea's top salesman

President spearheads drive to export more nuclear power facilities and arms

4 February 2023
Adani Enterprises successfully raised $2.5 billion in a follow-on share sale despite a torrid few days during which shares in group companies lost $65 billion triggered by a scathing report by Hindenburg Research. 
Adani Group

Adani share issue fully subscribed despite short-seller attack

Foreign investors back secondary sale overshadowed by recent stock plunge

31 January 2023