Opinion

The small but diverse group of classical-music lovers is in deep mourning after one of the pillars of its community died. Primephonic, a Dutch-American app that streamed a wide catalogue of classical music went dark last month, after being acquired by Apple Inc, which aims to fold the service into Apple Music. But why would the world’s largest company be ...

For the more than 1 billion iPhone enthusiasts around the world, no product unveiling is more anticipated than Apple Inc’s annual reveal of its newest lineup of smartphones. Except for maybe this time. The Cupertino, California-based company introduced four iPhone 13 models with some minor enhancements, including a faster processor, better camera, longer battery life and nicer displays. They are ...

The signing bonus, once the province of elite athletes and corporate executives, has gone mainstream. In the tightest labour market in years, employers like Amazon are shelling out thousands of dollars up front to truck drivers, trash collectors, warehouse workers and other in-demand workers. It’s a recruiting tool with a long history. But signing bonuses have evolved significantly over the ...

A restructuring at the world’s most indebted real estate developer is looming. The Chinese government has already hired financial advisors to assess China Evergrande Group. With more than $300 billion in liabilities on its books and not even $15 billion in cash, Evergrande is racing against time. It will not be able to make loan interest payments, Bloomberg News reported. ...

The list of candidates hoping to take on Emmanuel Macron for the French presidency in April is getting long. About 30 people have thrown their hats in the ring, including Paris’ Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Similar numbers have been seen in previous elections, and the ranks will thin eventually. ...

Most of the talk this year about the labour market recovery has focussed on the hardest-hit industry, leisure and hospitality, and the struggles that restaurant and hotel owners have had trying to staff up. Under the radar, it’s a different industry — manufacturing — that’s having even more difficulty finding the workers it needs. And that’s what last week’s job ...

Back in February, biotech firm Valneva SE’s proposed Covid-19 vaccine was touted by Boris Johnson’s government as a key plank of its ambitious, whatever-it-takes race to immunise the Brits. The UK had poured millions of pounds into Valneva’s Scottish factory, secured an extra 40 million vaccine doses on top of the 60 million it had already agreed to buy, and ...

There’s not a more important economic imperative for the US than the transition to renewable energy. Ominously, anti-development forces — commonly known as NIMBYs — threaten to make this transition much harder. And much of that NIMBY energy is coming from the political left. Consider the recent blockage of a solar power plant near Las Vegas. The Battle Born Solar ...

The European Central Bank (ECB) has made a very small down payment on a prolonged economic recovery, one durable enough to withstand Covid-19’s troubling variants and any other pandemic developments. But the big decision-making comes in December, when the central bank undertakes a comprehensive review of its bond-buying program, with a few more months of delta under its belt and ...

It has been 20 years. Like most of us who were in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, I find it difficult not to think of that day’s events at the best of times. The focus on the 9/11 terrorist attacks over the 20th anniversary this weekend was close to intolerable. However, the topic can’t be avoided, even for people who ...