TOKYO/TAIPEI -- American arms sales to Taiwan are on "pause" due to the Iran war, the acting secretary of the U.S. Navy told a congressional hearing, stirring fresh questions about the prospects for approving the next package for Taipei.

BANGKOK -- Southeast Asian governments should include press freedom as a benchmark to measure the political transition in Myanmar, according to the head of a global media watchdog that ranks the nation as the second worst for journalist imprisonment in the world.

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Minutes after an e-cigarette trade show opened this month, eagle-eyed German customs officers swarmed the booths of Chinese exhibitors to check for irregularities, like vapes that have tanks bigger than the 2-milliliter limit, packaging with cartoon images or products missing tax stamps.

NEW DELHI -- With Beijing's increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, Vietnam appears to be on course to purchase from India the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, which New Delhi has jointly developed with Russia.

TAIPEI -- AMD CEO Lisa Su is predicting the market for central processing units (CPUs) will grow massively over the next five years, saying no one in the industry had expected such a surge in demand amid the global rush to build out AI infrastructure.

KUALA LUMPUR/MANILA/HANOI -- Manufacturers in key industries across Southeast Asia are starting to report company closures and job losses, as the impact of the Iran war on input costs and supply chains deepens, with robust output in electronics masking woes elsewhere.

KUALA LUMPUR -- A supply deal between Australian rare-earths producer Lynas and the U.S. Department of Defense is drawing a public backlash in Malaysia, even as the company continues to deepen its presence in the Southeast Asian country amid a push to develop non-China supplies of the key materials.

SUZHOU, China -- U.S.-China engagement is again in the spotlight a week after President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing, as trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum gather in the eastern Chinese city of Suzhou on Friday.

BRUSSELS -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's whirlwind tour of Nordic countries and Italy over the past week highlights the urgency of forming a front to wean off dependence on China and the U.S., analysts and business leaders said.

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Mazda Motor looks to stage a recovery in sales by embarking on a dealership facelift in Japan.