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ASEAN reclaims its centrality as newer blocs wobble and wane

With the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) losing much of its diplomatic momentum, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been gradually reclaiming its centrality in the Indo-Pacific. The clearest evidence emerged this week as Manila hosted the ASEAN

Asia

Japan’s fake fury over its free-falling yen

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s political fortunes are falling almost as fast as the yen these days — and the two are closely linked. The yen has slid toward 164 against the dollar, its weakest level since 1986, driven partly by the same economic strains

Asia

Indonesia doesn’t need China to keep its nickel industry afloat

This is the first of a multi-part series on Indonesia’s nickel industry. China’s nickel investors in Indonesia are sending a familiar warning: reverse regulatory uncertainty, or they’ll potentially walk. However, that tacit warning rests on an assumption — that Jakarta has no

Asia

AI and human ingenuity may be bringing a new golden age of math

In May 2026, OpenAI released a new math result that sent shock waves throughout the world of mathematical research. A major unsolved problem called the “unit distance conjecture” had just been resolved by generative AI. Since then, there’s been a steady drumbeat of new results

Asia