Last this week, the London-based PR outfit Portland Communications released its second annual list of nations with the greatest magnitude of “soft power.” Relying on Joseph Nye’s traditional delineation of “soft power” – attraction as influence; the “pull” to hard power’s “push” – the group, patching together a supposed formula, claimed to reveal the 30 nations with the largest ...

  Anthony Fensom Asia’s leaders have warned Britain against contemplating a split from the European Union in its June 23 referendum, fearing the consequences for the global economy. With financial markets already showing the ill effects of nervousness over the risk of “Brexit,” global growth forecasts dropping and analysts warning of further fallout, the downside risk to Asia has rapidly ...

  AFP Sydney is imposing new taxes on foreigners buying homes as concerns grow that a flood of mostly Chinese investors is crowding out locals and killing the “Great Australian Dream” of owning property. Ownership rates across the country are among the highest in developed nations, with having your own house long viewed as a key aspect of Australian identity. ...

  AFP An influx of capital from Asia is partly to blame for soaring housing prices in Vancouver and Toronto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “We know that there is an awful lot of capital that left Asia in the past few years,” Trudeau told Canada’s public broadcaster CBC. “Obviously overseas money coming in is playing a role” in ...

  AP U.S. homebuilders are feeling more optimistic about their sales prospects this month than they have since the beginning of the year. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose two points to 60. That’s the highest reading since January. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good, rather than poor. The index ...

  Bloomberg Zinedine Zidane is renowned for his prowess on the football field. Now a Mumbai developer is counting on the retired French football star’s power off the pitch to revive flagging sales in the city’s luxury home market. Kanakia Spaces Pvt has hired the former attacking midfielder to market a high-end residential project named Paris in Mumbai’s new business ...

  Neil C. Hughes / TNS An unprecedented speed of technological change has transformed almost every aspect of our lives. We can book a table in a restaurant, hail a cab or even rent an apartment on the other side of the world at the click of a button. But not all industries have embraced this digital transformation. Healthcare, for ...

  Ashalim / AFP In the middle of southern Israel’s desert, engineers are hard at work building the world’s tallest solar tower, reflecting the country’s high hopes for renewable energy. Once completed in late 2017, the Ashalim Tower will rise to 240 metres (787 feet), taller than Paris’s Montparnasse Tower and London’s Gherkin, according to the Israeli government and the ...

    Dubai / Emirates Business NRS International, a Dubai-based family-run company that develops and manufactures products for the humanitarian aid, public health and development sectors, published the results of a survey which gauged the level of humanitarianism amongst UAE residents. NRS International sold 42 million relief essentials to UN and aid agencies to alleviate the suffering of 75 million ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) on Sunday announced a partnership with Europcar, the world-leading provider of vehicle rental services, to offer enhanced mobility to visitors of Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Under the agreement signed between Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Acting Group CEO of ADNEC and Mohammed Shabeeb Mohammed Hilal Al Dhaheri, ...