TAIPEI -- The U.S. will work closely with Taiwan to build "resilient" and "safe" supply chains, Washington's top diplomat in Taipei said on Friday, as she also sought to ease concerns over a recent U.S. request for the island's chipmakers to hand over sensitive data.

Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan -- Washington's de facto embassy on the self-governed island -- said the Biden administration recognizes the vital role that Taiwan plays

TOKYO -- Even in today's digital society, ballpoint pens remain an essential tool in our daily lives, whether at work or for jotting down our deepest personal thoughts in a journal.

In Japan, stationery stores typically carry a huge selection of ballpoint pens. Tip sizes, for example, typically range between 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm, to as little as 0.38 mm. While the sheer number of choices can flummox buyers, it also tells us something about Japan's unique

SEOUL -- For Samsung Electronics, the future for many households looks something like this: A robot zips around the kitchen as it prepares dinner, knowing just what to make based on a user's preferences all the while being aware of any health conditions that their diet needs catering to.

This may seem like a glimpse into a time rather far off from now, but the South Korean company envisions this being commonplace sooner rather than later. It plans to make its home electronics artificial intelligence-enabled, creating a service

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande Group has averted yet another default at the last minute after it remitted overdue interest payments on a bond within the grace period, two investors said.

The move, the second in as many weeks, gives the world's most indebted developer with $300 billion in liabilities time to sell assets to shore up its finances and hold talks with bondholders. The two investors, who declined to be named as they are not allowed to speak about individual companies, said they received the payment

Alice Wang is an Asia-focused portfolio manager at Quaero Capital, an investment manager.

Critics scoffed back in 2006 when South Korean entertainment company CJ E&M said that soon the world would be watching "two to three Korean movies a year, eat Korean food one or two times per month, watch one to two Korean dramas per week and listen to one to two Korean songs per day."

Yet as the runaway success of the South Korean drama "Squid Game" suggests -- now the

PALO ALTO, U.S.-- Apple posted record September-quarter revenue of $83.4 billion on Thursday, driven by sales of 5G iPhones, especially in the Chinese-speaking world, but would have made billions more if not for the supply chain bottlenecks plaguing the global tech sector.

The American technology giant warned of possible further headwinds in the current quarter ending December -- usually its best-performing period, thanks to the holiday season. The company's fiscal year ends in September

KABUL -- On a balmy autumn day in west Kabul earlier this week, two contrasting realities of current-day Afghanistan were in play. Armed Taliban guards were using lengths of thick rubber hose and bamboo poles to control a crowd pressing at the gate to a compound where charity workers were handing out emergency food aid.

And on a strip of open ground alongside, a group of teenage boys were ranged around a pair of makeshift wickets, happily playing cricket. It is a sight you will see nationwide, because Afghans are

JAKARTA -- Indonesia's state-owned mining holding company, Mind ID, on Thursday reported 9.8 trillion rupiah ($691 million) in consolidated net income for the first nine months of the year on the back of surging prices of coal and some key metals.

The figure represents a significant rebound from the 1.4 trillion rupiah net loss the company suffered in the same period of 2020. Revenue rose 35% to 63.8 trillion rupiah during the latest period

WASHINGTON -- Ex-U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to make a bid to return to the White House in 2024, but probably won't face off against incumbent Joe Biden, former Trump adviser Jason Miller said.

Trump "has not told me that he has made a decision yet, but in hearing him talk, in hearing the way that he's passionate about helping people and saving America, I can draw the conclusion that I believe that he does run," Miller