ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kyrgyzstan's populist president heads off to Russia on Monday as problems mount on the home front, following the seizure of a gold mine run by the country's biggest private investor and deadly clashes along the disputed border with Tajikistan.

President Sadyr Japarov will fly into Sochi on Russia's Black Sea coast for his second meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in three months. What, if anything, he will extract from the trip remains unclear.

What is clear is international criticism of the Japarov

HONG KONG -- At times marred by salacious headlines, Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions has a large mouth and a global appetite.

The densely populated 17-story building, which houses an estimated 4,000 residents from 129 countries and for 60 years has served as a key hub for trade and currency exchange, is a unique Hong Kong icon.

Passing through several iterations over the last six decades, the urban monolith was initially known for its culturally diverse residents and notoriously awful accommodation.

SEOUL/NAGOYA, Japan -- Two black shipping containers bearing the Hyundai logo sit side by side in a corner of a thermal plant run by a power company in the South Korean city of Ulsan.

The boxes hold fuel cell systems of the same type used in Hyundai Motor's hydrogen-powered Nexo sport utility vehicle. Each container is a generator with a capacity of 500 kW, enough for 1,100 average households, according to the automaker.

The pilot project is part of Hyundai'

TOKYO -- Sumitomo Corp. will offer mobile services in Ethiopia as part of a consortium with British telecom provider Vodafone Group, becoming the first Japanese company to enter the market in Africa.

Ethiopia approved a license for the consortium to provide mobile services in the country. The grouping, which also includes British development finance specialist CDC Group, will establish a joint venture. Sumitomo is expected to hold a stake of slightly less than 30%.

Outlays are projected to top $8 billion over 10 years, including capital

TOKYO -- Analysts are predicting "Dr. Copper" will go on a sustained rally as the China-led global economy shows signs of climbing out of the coronavirus slump, though some long-term investors are adamant about staying away.

The benchmark copper price on the London Metal Exchange in early May hit a record high, at $10,460 a ton, and has since remained above $10,000. Its price had not been near that threshold for a decade; to

SEOUL -- U.S. restrictions on South Korea's ability to develop missiles have been lifted under an agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries.

"I am pleased to announce the termination of the missile guidelines," South Korean President Moon Jae-in said following his meeting with American counterpart Joe Biden in Washington on Friday.

Under the U.S.-South Korea missile guidelines, which date to 1979 and the government of Park Chung-hee, Washington agreed to the transfer

William Pesek is an award-winning Tokyo-based journalist and author of "Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades."

If Bitcoin enthusiasts think Elon Musk is ruining their party, wait until they get a load of what China's Yi Gang has in store.

Yi runs the central bank of the world's second-biggest economy. Until recently, China was the epicenter of cryptocurrency mining -- and broader optimism that this nascent "asset class" would decentralize financial power everywhere

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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After more than 100 days under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi will appear in court on Monday as the junta levies five criminal charges against her. And with 60 days to go before Tokyo welcomes 15,000 athletes and over 80,000 Olympic guests, Japan will finally open mass vaccination centers in its two largest cities.

Singapore posts GDP data on Tuesday, and the Bank of Korea's monthly rates meeting is on Thursday.