Frederick Kliem is research fellow and lecturer at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the Center for Multilateralism Studies in Singapore.

Last Sunday's elections were a watershed moment for Germany's political culture that will most likely halt its recent accentuation of the military but bring about a more honest debate on China.

While it remains unclear who will succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor, Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has the upper hand. The narrow loss suffered by Armin Laschet, leader of Merkel'

TOKYO -- Japan's next prime minister, Fumio Kishida, is expected to dissolve the lower house of parliament around Oct. 14, setting the country on the path to its first general election in four years in November.

Kishida, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race last week, is on the verge of being elected Japan's 100th prime minister in a parliament vote set for Monday.

When he unveils his cabinet that day, it is expected to include one of

MANILA -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday he will no longer seek the vice presidency in next year's election and will retire from politics, a move that may clear the way for his daughter to run for president.

Duterte, who is constitutionally limited to a single six-year term as president, last month accepted his party's nomination for the country's second-highest office.

"The overwhelming sentiment of the Filipinos is that I am not qualified, and it would be a violation of

TOKYO -- Blockchain technology is lending new commercial value to Japanese manga and anime culture, turning illustrations into genuine artworks, raising money for artists and fostering the growth of the market and related businesses.

The recent rise of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, is helping to verify the provenance and authenticity of digital art, something that was previously difficult because digital works are easily copied. New companies are springing up to build platforms and assure buyers that the pieces they buy are genuine and can be tracked securely.

"One Piece,

TOKYO -- Japanese businesses are cautiously opening up on the first weekend since the government lifted the COVID-19 state of emergency across the country.

Theme parks and shopping districts were bustling on a sunny Saturday morning, a day after a strong typhoon swept through Tokyo and nearby areas on Friday.

Fun-seekers lined up outside Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, both of which on Friday raised the limit on visitors from 5,000 people a day to 10,000. The parks said they will

TOKYO -- Blockchain technology is lending new commercial value to Japanese manga and anime culture, turning illustrations into genuine artworks, raising money for artists and fostering the growth of the market and related businesses.

The recent rise of NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, is helping to verify the provenance and authenticity of digital art, something that was previously difficult because digital works are easily copied. New companies are springing up to build platforms and assure buyers that the pieces they buy are genuine and can be tracked securely.

"One Piece,

TAIPEI -- Foxconn has struck a deal to acquire its first electric vehicle manufacturing plant in North America, part of $280 million in deals with U.S. electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors that also include a share purchase.

The Taiwanese tech giant said on Friday morning it will take a roughly 4% stake in Lordstown for around $50 million and also buy the American company's manufacturing complex in Ohio for $230 million. Foxconn will produce Lordtown's Endurance full-size pickup

JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government is gearing up to increase its COVID-battered state revenues by raising its value added tax and introducing other levies as part of an overhaul of a tax system that has failed to register a large majority of Indonesians.

A draft of the bill seen by Nikkei Asia proposes that the carbon tax rate be set according to carbon market pricing, with a minimum rate of 30 rupiah (less than 1 cent) per kilogram of CO2 equivalent.

Individuals and entities that "buy goods containing carbon

TOKYO -- Oravel Stays, the Indian hotel startup known as Oyo, is planning to raise up to 84.3 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) in an initial public offering on local stock exchanges.

In a draft filing with the local securities regulator dated September 30 and released on Friday, Oyo said it plans to raise 70 billion rupees by issuing new shares, with the remaining funds coming from the sale of shares by existing investors. SoftBank Group's Vision Fund, which holds a