PALO ALTO, U.S.-- Apple reported its highest-ever September quarterly revenue on Thursday, driven by sales of 5G iPhones, especially in China, but the figure would have been $6 billion higher if not for the supply chain bottlenecks plaguing the global tech industry.

"We estimate these [supply chain] constraints had around a $6 billion revenue dollar impact driven primarily by industrywide silicon shortages and COVID-related manufacturing disruptions," Apple CEO Tim Cook said on an earnings call.

For the

NEW DELHI -- Amid a lingering border row with China in eastern Ladakh, India has conducted a test of its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile the Agni-5, which can strike targets at ranges up to 5,000 km with "a very high degree of accuracy."

The "successful launch" of the missile was carried out from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in the eastern state of Odisha at 7:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday, a Defense Ministry

Antonio Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The climate crisis is a code red for humanity. World leaders will soon be put to the test at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, in Glasgow. Their actions, or inactions, will show their seriousness about addressing this planetary emergency.

The warning signs are hard to miss: Temperatures everywhere are reaching new highs; biodiversity is reaching new lows; oceans are warming, acidifying and choking with plastic waste

TOKYO -- The yen's recent slide to a three-year low against the dollar has Japan worried that this could hurt business and consumer sentiment by making things more expensive amid skyrocketing commodity prices. But on Thursday, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda dismissed this, saying a weak yen does more good than harm.

Speaking after a two-day monetary policy meeting, he noted the positives of a weaker yen, which boosts the value of overseas corporate earnings when converted into the Japanese currency. "The positive

BANGKOK -- Members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) reaffirmed their target of putting the trade pact into effect by early next year, as smoother trade will hasten recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doing so would also give the member states an advantage over the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), as it would be the only multilateral trade pact that includes China at present.

"[We] reaffirmed our commitment to expedite respective domestic procedures to have the RCEP Agreement enter into force

TOKYO -- Sony Group on Thursday confirmed it is considering a plan to join with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in building a chip factory in the western Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto.

The confirmation came during a news conference to announce Sony's first-half earnings. "The stable procurement of semiconductors is a crucial issue amid the chip crunch, and TSMC's plant could be a solution," said Hiroki Totoki, the company's chief financial officer.

He also said Sony will continue to hold discussions with TSMC

William Bratton is author of "China's Rise, Asia's Decline." He was previously head of equity research, Asia-Pacific, at HSBC.

For all those warning us about the perils of China's debt-fueled growth, it is easy to see the recent bond defaults by Evergrande and Fantasia as the country's Minsky moment, when asset prices collapse after an extended period of growth.

From their perspective, fears over unsustainable debt levels have now been proven with potentially catastrophic consequences. As

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodian regulators have moved to launch criminal proceedings against the German chief executive of Smart Axiata, a Malaysian-owned telco that it accuses of "illegally" laying fiber-optic cable.

The Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) last week requested that the country's judiciary launch criminal proceedings against CEO Thomas Hundt. On Tuesday, Axiata announced Hundt, who sources say is currently in Germany, would be giving up his responsibilities in Cambodia and joining its Malaysian operations.

Experts say the TRC's move

SINGAPORE -- German chip giant Infineon Technologies is urging automakers to rethink their "just-in-time" supply chain strategy and instead start building up stockpiles of semiconductors as the global shortage of the key components drags on.

The company, a leading provider of auto-related chips, predicts the chip crunch could last through the end of next year, Helmut Gassel, Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the Management Board of Infineon, told Nikkei Asia.

Infineon is struggling with "very low inventory levels of products across