Andrew North is a journalist based in Tbilisi and a regular commentator on Asian affairs. He has reported widely from South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East.

If you have missed the story of the Turkish mafia boss turned YouTube whistleblower alleging that President Tayyip Recep Erdogan presides over a deep state of crime involved in everything from drug trafficking to arming Islamic militants and covering up murder, one place you can catch up is through Saudi Arabia's media.

Not usually so concerned with crime and politics inside the Ankara and Istanbul

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande Group, the world's most indebted property developer, has arranged to use $1.75 billion of its own funds to redeem offshore bonds maturing on Monday and to meet interest on all its other outstanding dollar notes, the company said on Thursday.

The developer, which is trying to quell mounting concerns over its financial health, said in a statement that it will repay $1.45 billion for the maturing bonds and remit the rest into a repayment account for interest payable

MANILA -- Philippine former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has died at the age of 61, according to several government officials.

The cause of death is not immediately clear, though local media has reported he was rushed to Capitol Medical Center in Metro Manila on Thursday. The former president, a bachelor, was known to be a chain smoker, which raised concerns about his health while he was in the office.

Aquino, son of democracy icons former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon Aquino, was

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has just completed a hectic diplomatic schedule that began with a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in April and ended with the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Cornwall, England.

At last, the prime minister can say he has paved the way for closer ties with the U.S. and Europe as Japan deals with China and brings to fruition a vision of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" that he espouses.

But does Japan have the capacity

DUBAI/CAIRO/ISTANBUL -- Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi appears determined to focus on preserving the country's Islamic regime, in a marked departure from incumbent President Hassan Rouhani's emphasis on reform and a more conciliatory stance toward the outside world.

The conservative hard-line leader, who currently heads the judiciary, will take the helm of the country amid simmering domestic and international problems, with discontent growing among citizens, especially young people eager for greater freedoms, and a chaotic outlook for negotiations between Iran and

MANILA -- Philippine former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino has died at the age of 61, according to several government officials.

The cause of death is not immediately clear, though local media has reported he was rushed to Capitol Medical Center in Metro Manila on Thursday. The former president, a bachelor, was known to be a chain smoker, which raised concerns about his health while he was in the office.

Aquino, son of democracy icons former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon Aquino, was

SHANGHAI -- China is tightening the screws on after-school education operators blamed for intensifying already cutthroat competition among students and adding to parents' financial burdens.

If implemented, stricter regulations, including requirements for Chinese Communist Party involvement, may affect an array of investors who have poured money into the sector, including Alibaba Group Holding and Japan's SoftBank Group.

The Education Ministry said this month that an agency would be created to rein in nearly half a million tutoring services that provide extracurricular lessons to children from kindergarten to 1

TAIPEI -- Tech suppliers rushing to expand production amid an unprecedented global chip shortage risk being stung once supply catches up with demand, according to the chairman of one of Taiwan's leading chip material makers.

Canon Huang, chairman and CEO of Chang Wah Electromaterials and Chang Wah Technology, told Nikkei Asia that a market correction is inevitable given how many chipmakers are ramping up output to tackle supply shortages that have hit a swath of industries from cars to consumer electronics. Intel and TSMC -- the world's two leading

KARACHI -- Fiscal sustainability has become a major issue among political and economic analysts after Pakistan revealed early this month that servicing debt accounts for more than one-third of its federal budget.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen announced the fiscal 2021 federal budget of 8.48 trillion rupees ($54 billion) in the National Assembly on June 12. Interest payments on debt account for 3.06 trillion rupees, or 36% of budget expenditures. In contrast, the government is only spending