U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Japanese and Philippine counterparts in a meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ annual ministerial meetings in Malaysia. The U.S., Japan and the Philippines have been building a trilateral bloc to broaden security and economic cooperation.

While U.S. and European companies have reduced their average dividend payouts over the past decade, Asian corporates have maintained consistent payout ratios, reflecting the region’s improving balance sheets,

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefly spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the start of a meeting of East Asia foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Huawei Technologies Co. is trying to export small quantities of AI chips to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, an effort to establish a foothold in markets dominated by Nvidia Corp. despite ongoing manufacturing challenges.

Parts of South Korea and Japan have had short rainy seasons this year. Scientists say that climate change has helped make the summer rains more unreliable.

The extraordinary cave network of Ajanta in India houses a trove of masterpieces dating back thousands of years.

Demand for physical gold remained sluggish this week across major Asian markets as price volatility weighed on sentiment, with premiums in China holding firm and discounts in India narrowing.

YUEN FOONG KHONG is Li Ka Shing Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalization at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.