TAIPEI -- Production of the upcoming Apple Watch has been delayed in large part due to the complicated designs of the new smartwatch, Nikkei Asia has learned.

Manufacturers of Apple Watch 7, as the device is expected to be called, began small-scale production last week but encountered critical challenges in reaching satisfactory production performance, multiple people familiar with the situation said.

Three sources said the current disappointing production quality could be attributed to the complexity of design, which is significantly different from that of previous generations of the watch,

NEW DELHI -- The Taliban's elusive supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has been huddling with his battle-tested deputies in Kandahar, preparing to launch a new government in Afghanistan as the group celebrates the departure of U.S. forces.

"He is present in Kandahar, and has been in discussions with several leaders toward the launch of a new government," a Taliban spokesman told Nikkei, referring to the supreme leader.

Akhundzada has long remained out of the public eye, and his exact whereabouts are largely unknown

SHANGHAI -- China will require nonbank payment apps such as Ant Group's Alipay to report new products and stock market listings to authorities, seeking to regulate a fast-expanding financial technology sector that has become a vital part of the way Chinese pay for transactions.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, will implement the new disclosure measures on Wednesday. The directives require operators to report about significant business matters before and after the fact.

Initial public offerings and capital increases have been categorized as significant matters

TOKYO -- Taiwanese technology companies have made hardly any supply chain investments in Japan as an alternative to mainland China, directing most of their new factory construction and acquisitions to the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia instead, official research shows.

A supply chain report released by Taiwan's economy ministry at the end of July showed that direct investment in mainland China has declined sharply over the past decade.

This shift has been driven by various factors, but tensions between the U.S. and China over trade

BANGKOK -- Cambodia's first 7-Eleven convenience store has opened in Phnom Penh as Thai retailer CP All makes a push for fresh growth beyond the saturated home market it already dominates.

The store carries about 2,000 items, including freshly brewed coffee under the All Cafe brand -- a fixture at Thai 7-Elevens.

CP All -- the Bangkok-listed retail arm of Charoen Pokphand Group, Thailand's biggest conglomerate -- is the sole operator of 7-Eleven stores in its

ISTANBUL -- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks to "strike fear" into Turkey's enemies as the country breaks ground on a massive "Crescent Star Compound" intended to serve as the new home for the defense ministry.

The planned compound, already dubbed by local media as the "Turkish Pentagon," also will house the armed forces chief of general staff as well as land, air and naval command headquarters. Around 15,000 personnel will work in the complex measuring 13 million sq. meters

Stephen Givens is a corporate lawyer based in Tokyo.

The announcement in August that Tokyo Stock Exchange Second Section listed Asia Development Capital and an affiliated fund had accumulated 32% of First Section listed printing equipment supplier Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho -- with the objective of taking control -- could not have come at a worse time.

ADC's murky Chinese ownership and modus operandi tempt a wholesale defensive overreaction that would reverse the progress Japan has made in developing a mature and rational market for corporate control.

Japan's Financial Services

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON -- The U.S. no longer had a vital national interest in staying in Afghanistan and the withdrawal was necessary to shore up the country's competitiveness to meet the challenges from China and Russia, President Joe Biden said in a speech Tuesday.

In his remarks at the White House state dining room, intended to mark the end of nearly two decades in the Central Asian country, the president said that there are two lessons the country has learned regarding foreign policy.

"First, we must

TOKYO -- Fujitsu has developed a system that will allow spacecraft that sweep up space junk to calculate the optimal route for removing debris from orbit, Nikkei has learned.

The Japanese electronics specialist developed the system using its own quantum-inspired computer. Together with the U.K. Space Agency, Fujitsu demonstrated that the route calculated by the new optimization system was able to reduce fuel costs by about 20% compared with a route determined by engineers.

Space junk consists of pieces of satellites and rockets floating in space and