Stephen Givens is a corporate lawyer based in Tokyo.

JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo has stepped under the global spotlight. Emerging from two years of pandemic-induced isolation, the leader of the world's fourth most populous nation appears to have shed some of his more placid characteristics, shifting to an altogether more forceful and bold persona.

BEIJING -- The biggest question to be answered in this week's high-profile Chinese Communist Party meeting will likely not be who is being set up to succeed President Xi Jinping, but who will be the next second in command.

BANGKOK -- One of the most significant achievements at the ongoing COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow may be the nonbinding Global Methane Pledge (GMP).

OSAKA -- Japanese supermarket chain OK will seek an injunction as soon as Tuesday at Kobe District Court against a stock swap agreement between Kansai Super Market, in which it is a key shareholder, and H2O Retailing Corp., Nikkei has learned.

SYDNEY -- BHP Group on Monday announced it has signed a deal to sell out of coking coal mines in Australia amid a global push for decarbonization.

Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist and author of nine books, including "Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan."

TOKYO -- SoftBank Group swung to a net loss in the July-September quarter due to share price declines in some of its key investments, including South Korean e-commerce player Coupang and Chinese ride-hailer Didi Global.

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided Monday to name former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani as his special adviser on human rights issues to address China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims in its far-western Xinjiang region and pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.

TOKYO -- The Japanese government will start providing free COVID and antigen tests for symptom-free people, Nikkei has learned, as the new administration readies stronger coronavirus responses ahead of a possible sixth wave.