July 27th, 2023

Throwing down the gauntlet

Imran Khan tells Pakistan’s military to stay out of politics ahead of election

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The Big Story

Imran Khan tells Pakistan's military to stay out of politics as election nears

Ousted last year, former PM seeks to tap unrivaled popularity in looming confrontation with generals

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan exudes confidence that his PTI party will overcome opposition from the military and more established political parties to win the next general election, expected in the fall.

Entrepreneurship beckons young bureaucrats, with the number of job changes among those in their 30s rising sevenfold over the two years through fiscal 2022.

Datawatch

Japan's bureaucrats flock to startups to make social impact

Job changes from public sector to business ventures up 300% in two years

The Three Gorges Dam discharges water to lower reservoir levels following heavy rain. China's latest hydropower project would be three times bigger.

Opinion

China can't just keep building the world's biggest dam in secret

Brahmaputra project poses risks for India and Bangladesh

Students from China walk along the Sydney waterfront: Education is Australia's third-largest export but students are sometimes exploited as cheap labor.

Opinion

Australia's immigration experience holds lessons for aging Asia

Influx has boosted economy, but not always matched country's needs

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen casts a ballot at a polling station in Kandal province on July 23. He has intensified his crackdown on opposition parties. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

The Nikkei View

Cambodia's destruction of democracy is unacceptable

Hun Sen's party dominated a rigged, illegitimate election

A Shandong Iron & Steel Group plant in Jinan, China: The company is one of a number of big Chinese steelmakers forecasting losses in the first half of 2023.

Business Spotlight

China Inc's profit warnings reveal deflationary pressures

Weak demand and falling prices hit key industrial sectors from steel to paper

AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su says the semiconductor market for accelerating capabilities of data centers will grow around 50% over the next three or four years. (Photo by Satoko Kawasaki)

Semiconductors

AMD will consider 'other' partner foundries to TSMC: CEO

U.S. chipmaker is open to diversifying foundries amid Taiwan risks

Indonesia had the most IPOs in Southeast Asia and raised the greatest amount between January and June. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

IPO

IPOs in Southeast Asia keep growing despite global headwinds

Companies capture demand for EVs and green energy as decarbonization progresses

Isabel Fan, center, Tesla's regional director, poses with dignitaries at the company's launch in Malaysia on July 20 in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo by Norman Goh)

Automobiles

Tesla becomes latest EV company to see promise in Malaysia

U.S. automaker plays catch-up with official launch in Southeast Asian country

As nearly 12 million Chinese graduates leave college this summer, they face doors slamming shut on job creation by private businesses after years of Beijing's mistrust and harsh regulatory scrutiny of the sector.

Asia Insight

China's jobless graduate army falls through cracks in economy

Record youth unemployment after Beijing clampdown on private sector, FDI slump

The Maldives flag flies over the capital of Male. The Indian Ocean nation is known as a tourist destination but is also a key shipping point. (Nikkei photo)

Semiconductors

Maldives: Small island nation with big role shipping chips to Russia

$53m of chips transited Indian Ocean country 1 year after invasion, data shows

Students at New Blood School in Mae Sot, northwestern Thailand, on June 29 prepare to take the U.S. General Education Development tests. (Photo by Kosuke Inoue)

Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar kids in Thailand pull off U.S. high school diploma miracle

Mae Sot school helps those who fled military action re-imagine their futures

Baykar so far has signed seven export deals for its advanced Akinci armed drone, including with Saudi Arabia. (Photo courtesy of Baykar Technology)

Defense

Turkey's Baykar signs largest drone deal with Saudi Arabia

Sale of advanced Akinci reflects major thaw between regional powers

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, welcomes Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi on July 21.

International relations

India, Sri Lanka to study petroleum pipeline and bridge

Modi promises support as Wickremesinghe visits on first anniversary as president

A mural by artist PHIL decorates a wall under an overpass near Yokohama Station. (Courtesy of Wall Share)

Arts

Tokyo takes art to the wall

Enthusiasm is growing for public murals reflecting community spirit

The Yamagata Benio, left, is Yamagata prefecture's largest cherry variety yet. It is seen here compared with its predecessor, the Beni Shuho variety, at an orchard in June. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)

Tea Leaves

How a $30 cherry helps boost rural Japan

Yamagata's luxury fruit market reflects economics and social dynamics of aging countryside