Features
COMMENT: The West keeps betting against Japan – and keeps getting it wrong
The West keeps betting against Japan because it doesn’t play by Western rules of visibility, disruption, and hype. It forgets that resilience doesn’t always look like growth charts or come in the form of venture capital buzzwords.
Could BRICS redefine Asia’s power balance?
For Asian countries outside the current BRICS framework, the stakes are high. Membership could mean enhanced access to financial resources, a larger voice in global institutions, and strengthened ties with emerging powers.
COMMENT: Europe must choose either to accept 15% of Russian gas supplies or zero
The European Commission on May 6 unveiled a brief roadmap outlining how it plans to achieve the EU objective of eliminating all remaining Russian energy imports by 2027.
United States has image problem in Central Asia
Public perceptions toward Washington rapidly swing from positive to negative.
Nissan’s global retrenchment: factories close, jobs lost
The seeds of Nissan’s current predicament were sown back in fiscal year 2019. The company’s global vehicle sales fell by over 10% to just under 5mn units, with major slowdowns across critical markets.
EBRD2025: African tech is flourishing, but it still has a long way to go
Africa benefits from an incredibly young, tech savvy population; over 60% of the population is under 25 years old and in just Senegal the average age of the population is a mere 19 years old. That makes it a hotbed for tech development.
Slow Kazakhification of Russianised lands falls flat in Kazakhstan’s north
“We're moving poor people who are unemployed, to regions where they'll be poor,” says sociologist.
EBRD2025: Ukraine prepares for peace by getting ready for war
“We keep struggling, but we are strong and now we are stronger than we were in 2022, but of course we have suffered a lot,” said Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko at a high-level panel on Ukraine.
What next for Bangladesh in an undeclared India–China tug-of-war?
While India may hold historical and cultural sway, China’s presence in Bangladesh is growing in more visible ways. Beijing has poured billions into infrastructure, energy, and digital connectivity projects under its Belt and Road Initiative.
PANNIER: Will we ever see Kyrgyzstan's airlines back in EU skies?
Bishkek has spent nigh on 20 years trying to get off the bloc’s air safety blacklist. Officials say they are closer than ever to the breakthrough.
Afghanistan: Grappling with fall-out of dwindling foreign aid
Almost all US assistance terminated.
EBRD2025: Croatia seeks to build on decade of economic progress
Finance Minister Marko Primorac details Zagreb’s objectives including an overhaul of state owned enterprises, accession to the OECD and revitalisation of the local capital market.
Business only on Trump's first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia
President Donald Trump will arrive in Riyadh on May 13 for a four-day Middle East tour, with business deals and economic partnerships taking precedence over traditional diplomatic priorities.
INTERVIEW: McEwen Copper bets on Milei's market reforms with $2.7bn Argentina mine
Canadian miner McEwen Copper is pushing ahead with one of Latin America's most ambitious copper projects, betting that President Javier Milei's business-friendly reforms will finally unlock Argentina's untapped mining potential.
Albania’s ruling Socialists head for historic fourth term
Polls show PM Edi Rama’s Socialist Party has a strong lead over its main rival, the opposition Democratic Party, which promises to ‘make Albania great again’.
US sanctions Karen National Army leader, two sons over cyber scams and trafficking links
The OFAC stated the sanctions are in response to the trio's alleged involvement in online financial scams, human trafficking, and cross-border smuggling operations that have targeted US citizens.
Ukrainian refugees living in Poland boost taxes by $400mn and GDP growth – survey
Ukrainian citizens living in Poland contributed PLN1.65bn ($414mn) in personal and corporate income taxes in 2024, marking a 27.7% increase compared to the previous year and double the amount recorded in 2022, according to a recent survey.
"We've been lost in a game of cards": the IDPs starting new lives in Ukraine's interior
Fighting at the front in Ukraine kills thousands each week, but behind the frontline, the war continues to shatter lives in less visible ways.
PANNIER: Barbed wire gives lie to talk of Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal symbolising “eternal friendship”
It’s a pitiful sight in the beautiful Ferghana Valley, where, in thousands of years of habitation, a formal frontier never existed.
From occupied hosts to strategic partners: the evolving role of Japan and South Korea in US Asia Strategy
Incidents ranging from theft and assault to more egregious acts like rape and murder have periodically reignited public anger such as in the case of the 1995 abduction and gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen.