Almaty / AFP Major Russian mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has abandoned its stake in a lucrative joint venture in Uzbekistan, the Central Asian country’s communications ministry said late on Friday. The ministry’s announcement, which the company also confirmed later, said the state-owned Center of Radio Communication, Broadcasting and Television had become “sole owner” of the pair’s joint venture …

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s second-quarter growth beat expectations as President Joko Widodo’s government embarked on a spending spree to boost an economy grappling with a slowdown in China and low commodity prices. Gross domestic product increased 5.18 percent from a year earlier, compared with a revised 4.91 percent in the first three months, the statistics bureau said in Jakarta on Friday. …

  Bloomberg Japan’s biggest steelmaker is top of the pile no more, as a resurgent yen hands a competitive advantage to overseas rivals amid an unprecedented global glut. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. has been overtaken as the world’s most valuable producer by Europe’s ArcelorMittal and is neck and neck with a revitalized Posco in South Korea for second …