Opinion

  Eric Mack SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS Last year, a survey of 1,000 20-somethings worldwide found young adults most admire Nelson Mandela and Pope Francis among public figures. But the name coming in third on that list wasn’t Barack Obama or a historical figure like Gandhi, both of whom appear further down in the poll results. The man who ranks …

  South Korea is faced with periodic environmental disasters in the form of pollution blowing from China. In the winter, the source is typically excessive burning of coal used in China for heating. In the spring, yellow dust from the deserts of northern China and Mongolia are blown across Northeast Asia, picking up soot and carcinogens from China-based industrial processes …

  LONDON Leaders of the campaign to end Britain’s membership in the European Union hope that next month’s referendum will make June 23, 2016, a date as luminous in modern British history as May 3, 1979, when voters made Margaret Thatcher prime minister. Michael Gove, secretary of justice and leader of the campaign for Brexit — Britain’s withdrawal from the …

  Had the OPEC meeting been held two months ago, the agenda would have been different in light of plummeting oil prices that hurt many economies and caused volatility at the global markets. But with the current surge in the oil price to around $50, the pressure on OPEC is remarkably easing. This will be reflected at the meeting on …

  Uganda, one of Pyongyang’s few allies, announced that it will put an end to its cooperation with North Korea. The announcement came following a meeting between South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. After his meeting with Park on Sunday, Musevini announced that he’d decided that Uganda would cease its military cooperation with North Korea to …

For some time, tighter monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve was perceived as the largest external economic threat to emerging countries, especially by those countries themselves. Judging from discussions with officials from those nations, as well as private-sector participants, this may no longer be the case. Another concern — the anti-globalization and anti-trade rhetoric of the U.S. presidential election …

  Donald Trump gave a well-timed speech on Thursday, laying out his policies on energy. That day, for the first time in six months, oil hit $50 a barrel, and he was in North Dakota, which produces more oil than any other state but Texas. The audience there welcomed his calls for greater production of fossil fuels, an end to …

  Many questions have yet to be answered regarding the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. It has been widely reported that discussions regarding deployment have been underway since early March 2016 but after initial hopes of a quick resolution, no end to the discussions seems to be in sight. What will South …

WASHINGTON Maybe the middle class isn’t quite so stressed any more. We in the media are rightly criticized for a pessimistic bias. We cover the unfortunate, the grim and the tragic. News is what people don’t know and, as often as not, is sad or shocking. Our prism on the world distorts reality, because reality is often predictable and reassuring …

  Rising oil prices may give the European Central Bank (ECB) a rare opportunity to revise upwards its price growth forecasts when it meets on Thursday. Brent and WTI crude oil topped $50 per barrel on Thursday and remained above $49 on Friday. However, overall inflation remains very low and the euro area slipped back into deflation in April, with …