Bloomberg A Tokyo election this weekend gives Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a chance to stop the bleeding from a series of recent scandals that hurt his popularity. Polls indicate that his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) risks losing its position as the largest party in the capital’s assembly on Sunday to a group led by Governor Yuriko Koike, who resigned …

In the capital of Iraqi Kuridstan, the mood is ‘Kurdistan First’ with the announcement of a referendum on independence in September. In Moscow, where I visited a few weeks ago, it’s ‘Russia First,’ with a vengeance. And so it goes, around most of the world. The politics of national self-interest is on steroids these days. For global leaders, it’s the …

Now that Toshiba Corp. has chosen the preferred buyer for its chip unit, Japan Inc. needs to watch exactly what the new owner will do with the business. No doubt partnering with influential local names strengthened the hand of Bain Capital Private Equity LP in beating out rivals such as Western Digital Corp., Broadcom Corp. and Foxconn Technology Group. Any …