Nikkei Asia

Vietnam gas project receives $830m in Japanese loans The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and private lenders will extend roughly $832 million in syndicated loans to a gas development project in Vietnam, the state-backed lender announced on Monday. Read more here

U.S. law firms hasten retreat from mainland China U.S. law firms rapidly scaled back their mainland China offices this year amid a growing list of challenges including a worsening capital market, structural economic problems and geopolitical tensions. Read more here

Philippines, Japan sign defense pact to seal South China Sea ties The Philippines and Japan signed a historic troop access agreement on Monday in Manila that closens relations between two nations determined to counter threats posed by China's growing influence in the Pacific. Read more here

Indonesia's Salim makes bid for Australia copper player Rex Minerals Indonesia's Salim family has launched a $265 million bid to take over Australian miner Rex Minerals, backing the company's planned copper mine in South Australia, as the energy transition boosts demand for the red metal. Read more here

Southeast Asia's largest EV charging hub to be built in Singapore Volt Singapore, a unit of Singaporean asset manager Keppel, will build an electric vehicle fast-charging hub in the city-state to serve both commercial and passenger cars, the company announced Monday. Read more here

China AI leader iFlytek dips into red under 'ultimate' U.S. pressure iFlytek, China's leading artificial intelligence technology developer, said it expects to swing to a loss of as much as $65 million for the first half of the year, blaming heavy investments made under "ultimate" pressure from Washington. Read more here

Australia to purchase U.S.-made 'killer drones' Australia will equip troops with U.S.-made Switchblade 300 drones, the government announced on Monday, amid a broader effort to increase unmanned military aerial systems. Read more here

Samsung union starts 3-day strike, says chip production affected Samsung Electronics' biggest trade union said on Monday that semiconductor production had been disrupted by a strike as thousands of its members walked out in a call for bigger pay increases and "fair" bonus standards. Read more here

Hungary's Orban meets Xi on surprise visit to China Fresh off a controversial visit to Moscow, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a surprise stop in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Read more here

Modi set to travel to Moscow for first time since Ukraine war Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in his first visit to Moscow since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022 and discuss the gamut of bilateral ties -- including defense, energy and trade -- as well as key regional and global issues. Read more here