BANGKOK -- Profits at Thailand's major banks were squeezed by lower interest rates in the first quarter of the year, adding pressure to lenders already expecting more fallout from tensions in the Middle East.

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics and its labor unions are heading for a showdown over compensation, with a major worker rally planned for Thursday at the Pyeongtaek semiconductor complex where the company's advanced artificial intelligence memory chips are produced.

TOKYO -- Uber Technologies will partner with S.Ride, a Sony Group-backed taxi-hailing app operator in Japan, Nikkei has learned. The partnership will enable travelers from overseas to use Uber's app in Japan as they do at home to book affiliated taxis.

TOKYO -- Stocks in Tokyo and Seoul closed at record highs on Wednesday as investors looked past the standoff between the United States and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and refocused on artificial intelligence-driven capital spending.

TOKYO/SAO PAULO -- Chinese electric vehicle leader BYD this month found itself in the awkward position of being added to, then swiftly removed from, Brazil's labor abuse "dirty list."

TOKYO -- Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) are partnering to train maintenance staff in the Philippines, in another sign of how foreign workers are becoming increasingly critical to Japan's understaffed transportation and logistics industries.

CANBERRA -- Australia's BHP, the world's largest listed miner, has reached a deal on iron ore supplies to China Mineral Resources Group, ending a monthslong standoff seen as part of a broader push by Beijing to exert more leverage over the price of the key steelmaking ingredient.

ISLAMABAD -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said Washington would extend its ceasefire in the Persian Gulf indefinitely, citing Iran's "seriously fractured" government. Pakistani officials, however, are laying the blame for the stalled peace talks on the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz.

HONG KONG -- Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) opened little changed in Shenzhen on Wednesday but down 2.17% in Hong Kong, a day after the Chinese battery maker giant unveiled breakthroughs in charging time and driving range.

TOKYO -- Japan's trade deficit declined 68.4% in the fiscal year ended March 2026 to 1. 71 trillion yen ($10.75 billion) from the previous year, the Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday, as export growth helped reduce the shortfall due to strong overseas shipments of semiconductor-related products.