NEWSWORTHY
Spies and satellites: Analyzing North Korea's economy isn't easy
As informal markets and budding entrepreneurs rise to fill more of the void left by failed state-owned enterprises in North Korea, analysts outside the notoriously secretive country are finding it even more tricky to measure its economy. That is the message from Cho Tae-hyoung, the ...
Nature-short Bangkok debates whether to turn 'last' big green space into park or mall
The fate of a large green space in the middle of one of the world's most built-up cities is pitting communities and conservationists against developers and cash-strapped authorities — a type of battle that is increasingly common in Asia. The Makkasan area in central Bangkok, ...
With the G20 facing numerous challenges, do the summit's engagement groups have the answers?
In the run-up to the Group of Twenty Leaders’ Summit in Osaka in late June, several related meetings of what are known as engagement groups are scheduled to take place in Tokyo and around the country. One of the more influential engagement groups is ...
Hong Kong's government says it needs to build billions of dollars' worth of artificial islands to give the city's glittering skyline room to grow, but critics say developers are hoarding unused land that could solve the problem. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam estimates the ...
Brazil's 'Chicago Oldies' team aims to revive Pinochet-era economic playbook
Brazil's new Economy Minister Paulo Guedes worked in Chile 40 years ago after earning his doctorate at the University of Chicago, giving him a front-row seat to dictator Augusto Pinochet's economic shock treatment. Even as Pinochet's authoritarian regime left a brutal human rights legacy — ...
Will future mega-cities be a marvel or a mess? Look at New Delhi
Focus Jill Ward The effects of unbridled urbanization are inescapable in India's capital city. Smog blankets landmarks such as India Gate in winter and delays flights at the airport due to poor visibility. Traffic jams are part of the daily routine. Slums abut New Delhi's luxury ...
Hundreds of millions of children and adults in Asia's rapidly expanding cities are undernourished, and will remain so without "inclusive, sustainable and nutrition-sensitive" urban planning, United Nations officials said Friday. The Asia-Pacific region has the world's highest rate of urbanization and is home to more ...
Japan to discontinue development assistance projects for China: Taro Kono
The government has decided to end its 40-year official development assistance projects as the need for aid has receded with the growth of the Chinese economy.
Malaysian island city in trouble as PM targets China-linked projects
An ambitious $100 billion island city being built off Malaysia has found itself in troubled waters as the new government takes aim at the development, the latest in a series of China-linked mega-projects started under the scandal-plagued ex-premier to come under attack. Forest City's futuristic ...
China's massive and expanding "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project is running into speed bumps as some countries begin to grumble about being buried under Chinese debt. First announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the initiative, also known as the "New Silk Road" envisions ...
When financiers can be agents of positive change
With Strategy 2030, the Asian Development Bank has a crucial chance to make a difference in achieving a better quality of growth in the region.
Laos investigates why dam collapsed during floods, killing 27
Laotian authorities have ordered closer monitoring of hydroelectric facilities as they investigate why a dam in the country's southeast collapsed earlier this week, killing at least 27 people and leaving 131 missing. Floodwaters that rose to rooftops were slowly receding Thursday as villages began digging ...
