Middle East

Greece, Cyprus and Israel intend to connect their power grids in a way advocates say might foster the use of renewable energy. (Source photos by Reuters) 
International relations

Anti-Turkey alliance runs through Europe-Asia electricity link

Greece, Cyprus and Israel intend to plug in as China cash raises EU eyebrows

25 November 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are seen on a screen before the start of the virtual G-20 meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia.
International relations

G-20 to 'spare no effort' for equitable COVID-19 vaccine access

Pandemic and its economic impact at the center of two-day summit

23 November 2020
Visitors wear masks during the coronavirus outbreak at the Badaling section of the Great Wall in Beijing.
22 November 2020
Saudi Aramco raised $8 billion on Nov. 17 in its first foreign-currency bond offering since 2019.
Markets

Saudi Aramco hints at future yuan bonds in potential coup for China

World's largest oil company opens door to shift from dollar as Asia demand grows

21 November 2020
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan speaks during a media conference in Riyadh in February.
16 November 2020
Ugur Sahin, left, and his wife Ozlem Tureci, the co-founders of German biotech firm BioNTech that developed a coronavirus vaccine for Pfizer. (Source photos by Reuters and courtesy of BioNTech)
Coronavirus

How BioNTech's husband-and-wife team developed Pfizer's vaccine

A Lancet article about a mysterious virus in Wuhan in January inspired the couple

13 November 2020
A flame at the production facility of Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield: only around 10% of global emissions from fossil fuels is released during extraction, processing and transportation.
Opinion

Going green should not mean eradicating fossil fuels

Greenhouse gas emissions need to be tackled at the consumer end

13 November 2020
An F-35 fighter jet pilot and crew prepare for a mission at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
International relations

Pompeo checks off Taiwan talks and UAE F-35s from to-do list

Secretary of state plans seven-nation trip to spotlight Trump's achievements

11 November 2020
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke in an interview with Nikkei in Baku on Oct. 21.
Interview

Q&A with Azerbaijan President Aliyev: peace with Armenia 'remote'

But leader remains open to three-way meeting with Yerevan and Moscow

22 October 2020
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Armenians "must make a strong commitment that they will liberate" the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh in an interview with Nikkei. (Photo courtesy of the presidency)
Interview

Azerbaijan's president calls on Armenia to return land for peace

Exclusive: Aliyev says cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh has 'failed'

22 October 2020
Bahrain-based ASMA Capital has shareholders including Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance, the Islamic Development Bank of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia’s Public Pension Agency, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Brunei’s Ministry of Finance.
DealStreetAsia

Bahrain ASMA's Asia-focused arm files for $200m IPO

Firm seeks acquisitions in South and Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa

17 October 2020
The blast site hit by a rocket in Ganja, Nagorno-Karabakh region, pictured on Oct. 11: in a hyper-nationalistic world the danger of smaller conflicts fueling regional wars is much greater.
Opinion

Turkey's disruptive Caucasus power play risks regional war

Three big reasons why the world should care about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

15 October 2020
A photo of Japanese journalist Kenji Goto is shown on TV in February 2015 in Tokyo. Goto was killed by ISIS in Syria. (Photo by Kaisuke Ohta) 
Terrorism

ISIS militants linked to slaying of 2 Japanese are indicted by US

Ex-Brits, accomplices of 'Jihadi John,' face up to life imprisonment

8 October 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden are both keen on securing rare-earth metals. (Nikkei montage/AP/Reuters)
Commodities

Trump vs. Biden buffets oil, gold and rare-earth markets

President's hospitalization led to sharp move in commodity prices

8 October 2020
A Turkish military drone at the 2019 Paris Airshow: Turkey's defense companies are challenging established drone makers from China, Israel and the U.S.
International relations

Turkey begins to rival China in military drones

Rising exports to Middle East and Caucasus shake regional power balance

7 October 2020
Daniel Yergin's new book "The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations" came out in September. "China is poised to be the winner" of the ongoing global energy transition, he tells Nikkei Asia.
Interview

Daniel Yergin: China to stand atop new global energy order

Author predicts peak oil in 2030s with Russia and Middle East the 'big losers'

6 October 2020
Shoppers at an outdoor vegetable and fruit market in Ahmedabad on Sept. 7: India's consumer price index for vegetables jumped 11% in August. 
Economy

Rising food prices take rate cuts off table for emerging economies

Pandemic induces inflation even as India, Turkey and Brazil battle downturn

5 October 2020
Orhan Pamuk is writing a new novel "Nights of Plague" which is a historical novel set in 1901.
Interview

Turkish Nobel laureate focuses on the collaboration COVID has stoked

Orhan Pamuk says we are all in the same boat -- and bound by the same fear

20 September 2020
Israeli flag carrier El Al's plane is seen after landing at Abu Dhabi on Aug. 31. Saudi Arabia's decision to grant overflight permission could make it easier for Israelis to do business in Asia.
International relations

UAE-Israel deal's reverberations extend to Asia ahead of signing

Investors abuzz over tech, trade and travel as China watches closely

10 September 2020
James Asquith, record-setting globe-trotter and founder of travel startup Holiday Swap, moves trough yet another airport in August. The pandemic, he says, might force people to "reassess why they travel, where they go, and why.” 
Life

Globe-trotter looks beyond pandemic era

Travel ‘addict’ forges ahead while others see a shuttered world

4 September 2020
An Israel El Al airlines plane is seen at Nice international airport, France. On Monday the airline will make its first flight to the United Arab Emirates.
International relations

Israel's El Al to fly first flight to UAE by commercial carrier

Maiden voyage to carry top aides to Trump who brokered accord

29 August 2020
The economic benefits of the deal have significant potential.
Opinion

Middle East must build on UAE-Israel deal by following ASEAN example

Turmoil facing region today has parallels with Southeast Asia in 1960s

21 August 2020
U.S.-developed F-35 fighters already form part of Israel's arsenal. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)
International relations

Israel opposes F-35 sale to UAE despite diplomatic thaw

Advanced American hardware risks upset to regional power balance, Netanyahu fears

19 August 2020
Chef Bobby Chinn sips from a bowl of laksa, a spicy noodle soup dish popular in Singapore's hawker centers.
Life

Asia's traveling TV chef mulls his next move

Bobby Chinn foresees an automated food world with no place for celebrity cooks

17 August 2020
Foreign workers on a construction site in Ahmadi, Kuwait, are threatened not only by COVID-19 but also potentially by unemployment in a draft law. 
International relations

Kuwaiti dream of cutting foreign workers threatens Indians most

Fewer jobs, cheaper oil and COVID-19 may reduce Filipinos and Pakistanis as well

13 August 2020