A year ago, we were hit by the greatest financial crisis in a century. Its scale was greater than the 1929 Crash, principally because of its more global nature.

Anti-piracy measures off Somalia appear to be forcing pirates to extend their range to strike deep into the Indian Ocean, shifting the menace even further from the protection of international naval forces.

When President Obama sits down next week with Chinese leader Hu Jintao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the two are likely to cover the familiar terrain that has marked relations between their nations: the global economy, currency and trade disputes, carbon emissions and the upcoming Copenhagen summit, and, of course, Taiwan.

This week, Barack Obama will make his first visit to Southeast Asia since becoming president of the United States, confirming a new direction in American foreign policy.

With Japan's public debt set to bulge to more than double GDP this year, new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has little to spend — except the political capital that is keeping his support rates above 60 percent.

North Korea increased regional tension just ahead of a trip to Asia this week by U.S. President Barack Obama by sparking a small-scale naval skirmish with the South on Tuesday.

South Korea has done half the work to avoid the “Japan trap” of relying on foreign demand and overprotecting exporters as its embrace of free trade and move of production abroad gives it an advantage for years to come.

Days after coming to power in September, Japan's new prime minister broached forming a new East Asian trading bloc with rival China — one that would exclude the United States.

APEC countries including the United States, Japan and China are expected to pledge this week to keep up their stimulus policies and push for a global trade deal in 2010 to spur a lasting economic recovery.

Warren Buffett has just closed the largest deal of his spectacular career with an agreement to purchase the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad for US$26.3 billion.