YANGON/BANGKOK -- Myanmar's military on Feb. 1 detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in the country's first coup since 1988, bringing an end to a decade of civilian rule.

The Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had won a landslide in a general election in November . But the military has claimed the election was marred by fraud.

For all our coverage, visit our Myanmar Coup page.

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TOKYO -- Japan was warned years ago about the risk of a major outbreak of a new infectious disease like COVID-19.

A Japanese council tasked with drawing lessons after the 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus, warned of a future public health crisis caused by a global outbreak of an infectious disease. The panel called for policies to improve the nation's preparedness for virus outbreaks, including steps to enhance public health centers and capabilities to develop vaccines.

But

TOKYO -- One in three listed companies in Japan are planning to increase dividend payouts this fiscal year, the largest number in three years, reflecting corporations' bullish business outlooks.

Japan Inc.'s shift from hoarding cash to increasing shareholder returns for the year ending in March 2022 shows improvements in the economic outlook, as companies dust off the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nikkei surveyed about 1,800 companies, including financial institutions. Comparisons were made taking stock splits and

Richard Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, columnist and author of "The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy" and the "The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China and the New Struggle for Global Mastery."

Despite decades of democratic experience, the Southeast Asian country is no stranger to political chaos and inept leadership. But it is the legacies of its authoritarian leaders that have been most devastating. Former strongman Ferdinand Marcos oversaw decades of cronyism and destructive wars against myriad insurgencies, which reduced the once

DHAKA -- Bangladesh is offering $200 million worth of credit to Sri Lanka, changing its image from helped to helper nation while flexing newfound economic muscle.

Once thought of as an economic disaster, Bangladesh has seen annual economic growth over the past decade rumbling along at a robust 7% while significantly increasing exports and building foreign currency reserves thanks to steady remittance earnings.

"In the last fiscal year [ended June 2020], we have been able to achieve real [gross domestic product] growth

SEOUL -- A Seoul district court on Monday unexpectedly dismissed a compensation lawsuit filed by 85 Korean laborers forced to work for 16 Japanese companies during World War II.

The Seoul Central District Court rejected the complaint filed against the companies including Nippon Steel, Nissan Chemical, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sumiseki Materials because South Korea and Japan signed a treaty in 1965 to resolve the issue.

The ruling was supposed to come on Thursday, but the court changed the date abruptly.

"Citizens of the Republic of Korea

PHNOM PENH -- The company operating Cambodia's only active oil field has collapsed under its debt, dealing a blow to the country's hopes of becoming a significant oil producer.

In an announcement on Friday, Singapore-listed KrisEnergy said it was unable to pay its debts and "will proceed to liquidation."

KrisEnergy in December celebrated pumping the Southeast Asian country's first oil from the Apsara field, an offshore concession also known as Block A.

The company's heavy debt, however, was a

JAKARTA -- A long-delayed project to construct the first railway on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is gaining traction, with contractors securing 693.8 billion rupiah ($48.5 million) in an Islamic law-compliant syndicated loan led by Bank Syariah Indonesia.

The financing agreement is for the construction of a 145 km system encompassing five municipalities and regencies in South Sulawesi Province. It will connect the provincial capital Makassar, the largest city on the eastern Indonesian island, with the town of

TOKYO -- Growth of Sony Group's semiconductor business has slowed, reflecting a plunge in shipments of image sensors for smartphones to Huawei Technologies as a result of the U.S.-China trade war.

Although Sony has avoided a fall in the volume of shipments thanks to orders from other Chinese smartphone makers, the recovery of earnings appears likely to be delayed until fiscal 2022 through March 2023 because of weakened demand for sensors for high-end smartphones.

As Samsung Electronics of South Korea