NEW YORK -- The U.S. will allow fully vaccinated foreign travelers to enter the country starting in November, according to the White House COVID-19 coordinator.

Travelers will have to show proof of vaccination before boarding any plane flying to the U.S., as well as proof of a negative COVID-19 test within three days of departure. There will be no quarantine mandate. Unvaccinated Americans returning from abroad will face stricter testing requirements.

"International travel is critical to connecting families and friends

TOKYO -- Japanese manufacturers seek a bigger presence in advanced materials for chips and electric vehicles, a key export sector caught in the middle of great power competition between the U.S. and China.

Sumitomo Metal Mining will supply silicon carbide wafers for power control semiconductors, starting this fiscal year. Compared with silicon substrates, those made from silicon carbide can withstand higher voltages. They reduce power loss by roughly 10%, extending the driving range of electric vehicles. Prices are expected to be 10% to 2

NEW YORK/ISTANBUL -- A $300 million Turkish skyscraper rich in symbolism officially opened in New York on Monday, overshadowing its neighbors and the United Nations headquarters across the street.

Turkey's costliest foreign mission to date, the Turkevi, or Turkish House, will serve as home to the country's permanent mission to the United Nations and its consulate general in New York, as well as diplomatic housing. It was constructed on the site of the previous, smaller building, bought from IBM in 1

SINGAPORE -- The Malaysian government says it "looks forward to welcoming" China's entry into the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, throwing its support behind a bid that has drawn mixed reactions among fellow founding members.

Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry is "particularly encouraged with the recent move" by China to apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, according to a statement Nikkei obtained Sunday. The ministry sees China entering the agreement "possibly as

HONG KONG/NEW YORK -- A wave of fear over Chinese economic growth swept through global markets on Monday as China Evergrande, the country's most indebted property developer, teetered on the brink of default and investors worried about the consequences for its domestic peers and international commodity prices.

While Chinese and Hong Kong property groups bore the brunt of the sell-off, the impact was felt across European and U.S. stock markets. China Evergrande, whose liabilities amount to almost a third of a trillion dollars,

SINGAPORE/TOKYO -- Before COVID-19 largely shut borders in Southeast Asia, Singapore resident Kin Wong would take weekly drives to Malaysia in his BMW M3.

The 40-year-old avid motorist is thinking about giving up the gas-thirsty convertible for a more environment-friendly electric vehicle. But he is hesitating, and not because of the BMW engine's satisfying rumble.

"The concern is infrastructure -- the charging availability, like how many charging points are available," Wong said

PARIS/NEW YORK -- South Korea has placed among the top five technological innovators for the first time, according to the latest global ranking, as other Asian economic powers moved up the hierarchy.

South Korea jumped from 10th place to fifth in this year's Global Innovation Index, the World Intellectual Property Organization reported Monday. The East Asian country was bested only by Switzerland, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K.

The WIPO rankings grade 132 economies based on multiple categories

Henry Gao is associate professor of law at Singapore Management University and Dongfang Scholar Chair Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. Associate professor Weihuan Zhou is director of research at the Herbert Smith Freehills CIBEL Centre at the law and justice faculty at UNSW Sydney.

It might have come as a surprise to some, but China's formal application last week to join the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership is a chance to rethink Beijing's involvement in regional trade.

Despite concerns over its inward-looking "dual circulation"

BEIJING -- Universal Studios opened its long-awaited first Chinese theme park in Beijing on Monday to crowds and political symbolism that would have seemed unlikely when the unit of U.S. telecommunications company Comcast unveiled the project in 2014.

Media affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party hailed the arrival of the park behind the wildly popular Kung Fu Panda series as a sign that there is no knee-jerk anti-Americanism in the country despite strained bilateral relations.

The mood music around the multibillion-dollar Universal Beijing