Politics

Battulga Khaltmaa declares victory in Mongolia's presidential race at a press conference in Ulaanbaatar in early hours of Saturday. (Photo by Shunsuke Tabeta)
Politics

Mongolian opposition leader Battulga declares victory in presidential runoff

Popular former martial artist and businessman elected to four-year term

8 July 2017
Campaign ads in Ulaanbaatar for Enkhbold Miyegombo, top, and for Battulga Khaltmaa.
Politics

Mongolians return to polls in runoff presidential vote

Results could be determined by 30% who voted for eliminated candidate

7 July 2017
Mongolian presidential candidates Battulga Khaltmaa, left, and Enkhbold Miyegombo (Photos by Shunsuke Tabeta)
Politics

Mongolian voters book a return trip to the polls

Lack of a clear presidential victor triggers a runoff

29 June 2017
The top billboard is a campaign ad for Miyegombo Enkhbold, while the bottom, for Khaltmaa Battulga, says "Mongolia wins."
Politics

Mongolian presidential election neck and neck

Corruption allegations dog front-runner as rival stokes patriotism

25 June 2017
A MIAT Mongolian Airlines Boeing 737 lands at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.
Opinion

Mongolia must open up to avoid aviation embarrassment

New showcase international airport will go to waste without competition

18 June 2017
A U.S. Air Force missile maintenance team removes the upper section of an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana.
Politics

UN launches second round of nuclear ban talks

Proponents hopeful for final text of treaty by early July

16 June 2017
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun says membership could grow to 85 or 90 within the year.
Economy

AIIB future rests on shedding Beijing influence

Bank to hold 2nd annual meeting in South Korea

15 June 2017
Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil fields interview questions in Tokyo on June 5. (Photo by Mayasuki Kozono)
Economy

Mongolia's Munkh-Orgil: Middle-class surge will change everything

Foreign minister says globalization is 'unstoppable' despite protectionism

15 June 2017
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, far left, and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sarif, far right, pose with other leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana on June 9. (Pool)
Economy

The SCO welcomes rivals into its fold

Membership for India and Pakistan raises bloc's profile, but may invite friction

14 June 2017
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, left, officially welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday before a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
Politics

Asian bloc's expansion may widen cracks between China, Russia

Accession of India, Pakistan to SCO adds new wrinkle to group's politics

9 June 2017
Afghan policemen inspects at the site of a blast in Herat, Afghanistan June 6.
International relations

Afghanistan's woes expose power moves on Asia's chessboard

Confrontations in western wing threaten to taint the rest of the region

8 June 2017
Mongolian Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil says "nothing good" comes of nations closing their doors.
Economy

Middle-class surge will change everything, Mongolian minister says

Foreign Minister Tsend Munkh-Orgil argues globalization wave is 'unstoppable'

5 June 2017
Stream article image
Politics

Taliban affiliate blamed for Kabul attack

Authorities claim Pakistan connection

2 June 2017
Mongolian Minister of Finance Choijilsuren Battogtokh, center, and Neil Saker, right, IMF country representative, greet each other at a news conference on May 25 in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo by Odbayar Urkhensuren)
Economy

Mongolia signs agreement with IMF on $5.5bn aid package

Long-awaited loans come through despite worries about their effectiveness

1 June 2017
Mongolian Minister of Finance Choijilsuren Battogtokh, left, and Neil Saker, IMF country representative, greet each other at a news conference on May 25 in Ulaanbaatar. (Photo by Odbayar Urkhensuren)
26 May 2017
Kazkommertsbank, which also uses the Romanized name Kazkom, is in the process of rebranding to Qazkom as the use of the Western alphabet spreads. (Photo by Naubet Bisenov)
Politics

Kazakhstan aims to swap Cyrillic for Roman letters by 2025

Change signals a priority shift from the 'Russian world' world to globalization

25 May 2017
Chinese President Xi Jinping, third from the right in the front row, waves with leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum as they pose for a group photo at the Yanqi Lake venue on the outskirts of Beijing on May 15.
Politics

Central Asia warily welcomes China's Belt and Road Initiative

Fears over Chinese aims linger, while Russia sees tectonic shift underway

24 May 2017
A damaged U.S. military vehicle is seen at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Kabul on May 3.
Politics

America's deepening Afghanistan quagmire

Trump needs to break with failed US policies on the Taliban

11 May 2017
Kazkommertsbank, which also uses the Romanized name Kazkom, is in the process of rebranding to Qazkom as the use of the Western alphabet spreads. (Photo by Naubet Bisenov)
Politics

Kazakhstan seeks to accelerate switch to Western alphabet

Long-serving president seeks escape from Russia's shadow

9 May 2017
On Jan. 11, a laborer sits atop debris from a monastery damaged during the 2015 earthquake in Kathmandu.
Politics

Kunda Dixit: Giant neighbors and shifting plates put the squeeze on Nepal

Country must prepare to face natural disasters and political pressure

4 May 2017
Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila: The lender forecasts Asia will need $1.7 trillion per year in infrastructure improvements from 2016 to 2030.
Economy

The ADB faces up to new challenges

As the multilateral lender marks 50 years, its skills are more vital than ever

3 May 2017
The Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia's South Gobi region
Economy

Mongolia to revise new law after IMF postpones bailout

Plan to force foreign companies to bank locally was met with objections

2 May 2017
Journalists and citizens rally in May 2016 to demand protection of press freedoms after the abrupt firing of a veteran editor at Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao. (Photo by Kenji Kawase)
Politics

Asia-Pacific press freedom takes another step back

North Korea, China at rock bottom as Hong Kong slips from top 10

29 April 2017
The Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai
Economy

The long, frustrating quest for free trade in Asia

A defanged TPP and an undercooked RCEP make for a murky future

27 April 2017
The Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai
Economy

The long and frustrating quest for free trade in Asia

A defanged TPP and an undercooked RCEP make for a murky future

27 April 2017