Asia
Prabowo’s plans for nickel
Making nickel is a nightmare. Unless you are Indonesian
Gluts and shortages notwithstanding, Indonesia wants to double down on resource nationalism
Banyan
Japan is remarkably open to AI, but slow to make use of it
The land of Doraemon embraces the new technology in theory but not in practice
South-East Asia’s criminal scams
Suck up to your fake CEO
The deepfake scam explosion has only just begun
Himalayan handshake
Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping meet and resolve a border row
The meeting in Russia signals a new era of closer ties
Getting to know Prabowo
Indonesia’s macho new leader is no “cuddly grandpa”
Prabowo Subianto has fought back from years of disgrace and exile
Banyan
Myanmar’s military junta has conjured up a crazy currency system
Desperate for cash, the Tatmadaw is distorting foreign-exchange markets
The fifth Five Eye
New Zealand’s biggest pivot since the 1980s
An interview with Christopher Luxon, the prime minister reshaping its foreign policy
Stormy weather
Pakistan rolls out the red carpet for China’s prime minister
But the “all-weather strategic co-operative partnership” has hit a rough patch
Big dreams in a small place
Bhutan prays it can be India’s Hong Kong
The Himalayan kingdom seeks to reincarnate as a financial centre
A glitch in the matrix
Asia is weighing data-centre ambitions against sustainability
Malaysia and Singapore illustrate the region’s resource balancing act
Going nuclear
Kazakhstan’s referendum on nuclear energy could benefit Russia
The opposition have been barred from campaigning or locked up