| Hello from Tokyo. A series of big international conferences held in Asia is heading into the final stretch. The ASEAN Summit in Cambodia and G20 Summit in Indonesia have finished, while the APEC Summit has just started in Thailand. Between these events, Chinese President Xi Jinping had two important bilateral summits. One was with U.S. President Joe Biden, and the other with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. At the separate events, the subjects of Ukraine, Taiwan, semiconductors and more were discussed. Naturally, there must have been many disagreements between the sides. Still, I was a little relieved. At both events, the leaders of the three biggest economies of the world smilingly shook hands. I might be a little naive, but I take a positive message from this. Even after a missile killed residents in Poland near the Ukrainian border, risking escalating the current military action, these leaders have delivered a sign that they do not want war or conflict. The result of the U.S. midterm elections may have had a positive effect on these events. Democrats took a majority in the Senate, and while they lost the House, the result was very close. Overall, it was a better result for Biden than expected, allowing him to avoid becoming a lame duck. Because Biden held on to his leadership, Xi recognized him as a legitimate counterpart. We have many good interviews with participants at these important events. Among them, please do not miss interviews with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who chaired the G20, and with French President Emmanuel Macron. The Big Story this week focuses on "Asia's scamdemic." It's a thrilling story of crime, violence and scamming. Award-winning journalist Dominic Faulder approaches the dark side of Southeast Asia. I hope you enjoy our visually rich content. We also have feature stories about trade in the former Soviet Central Asian region in Asia Insight, the South Korean corporate debt liquidity crunch in Market Spotlight, and climate risk management among Thai businesses in Business Spotlight. For a lighter business read, I recommend an article on Thai billionaire Anne Jakkapong, who owns the Miss Universe Organization. Jakkapong transitioned as a woman at the age of 39, and under her initiative, Miss Universe will accept all candidates who identify as women, whether they be single, married or divorced. In the end, the Miss Universe pageant is not a sexist tale, but one of gender diversity. The author Francesca Regalado points out that beauty pageants are not unlike sports competitions. Reading the story, you will recognize how similar beauty pageants are to the business of sport. | 
