Opinion

So far this year, US carriers have cancelled almost 3% of flights and delayed more than a fifth by an average of 48 minutes, according to data compiled by FlightAware. That compares with just more than 2% of flights cancelled by US carriers during the same stretch of 2019 and about 17% delayed — a reminder that flying wasn’t exactly ...

  Malaysia should be booming as manufacturers exit China. But it isn’t, and its own short-sighted labour policies are to blame. For decades, Malaysia served as an export manufacturing hub, boosted by location and access to low-cost migrant labour. Those migrants haven’t returned as the Covid-19 pandemic eased. According to a recent analysis by Reuters, as of June the country ...

  European natural gas prices are still well below the all-time high set in March. Dig a bit deeper, however, and they are signalling a more protracted disruption than markets anticipated in the immediate aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. While the gas market then priced in a short-lived crisis, lasting perhaps a couple of months, it’s now flashing ...

Five years ago, India’s federal and state governments struck a historic deal. From July 1, 2017, a uniform tax on goods and services — marketed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “One Nation, One Tax, One Market” — replaced a bewildering array of local sales and entry levies. But the many compromises that were struck to bring more than 1 ...

In May, for the first time in more than three decades, Germany’s storied trade surplus disappeared. Not only is imported natural gas more expensive, but demand in China is falling — neither of which is good news for Germany. Nevertheless, the fallout will be more manageable than many people expect, the Germans included. For decades there has been too much ...

  If the fiascoes at WeWork Inc and Greensill Bank AG were not enough, Klarna Bank AB should serve as another fine reminder that SoftBank Group Corp is the unluckiest whale in a crowded venture capital world. Founder Masayoshi Son somehow always manages to hold the worst cards. The Sweden-based fintech, known for its buy-now-pay-later offering, is in talks to ...

  At their summit in Madrid, Nato’s leaders agreed to add two new members, Finland and Sweden, and to beef up the alliance’s presence in Eastern Europe. Taken together, the moves will greatly enhance Nato’s firepower and strengthen its ability to deter Russian aggression. They also could create new risks, which all member states will need to be attentive to. ...

Britain certainly feels fragile at the moment with runaway inflation, war in Ukraine and all manner of local difficulties plaguing the UK body politic. Already beset by various scandals and electoral setbacks, Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered even greater body blows with the resignation of both Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the exchequer, and Sajid Javid, the health secretary, key ...

More than 70% of the roughly 1 million Porsche 911 sports cars built since the 1960s are still on the road. While one wonders what happened to the others, it shows 911s are prized by collectors and so tend to hold their value. Alas, one can’t say the same about parent company Volkswagen AG’s shares. Porsche has been touting its ...

  China is turning back to low-cost coal to boost its ailing economy. It’s an understandable reaction to the toll caused by Covid lockdowns. But it will come with a steep price for the environment and the health of its citizens. It’s also likely to worsen food insecurity in China just as the world is trying to fend off a ...