Opinion

  Airlines operate in such a brutally competitive market that it’s sometimes tempting to view them as an undifferentiated group. The most richly valued of the big three US carriers, United Continental Holdings Inc., trades on a forward price-earnings ratio of 9.8; the cheapest, Delta Air Lines Inc., is on 8.7. The clustering is even tighter in China, where Beijing-based ...

  President Trump has been trying since early this month to deflect the FBI and congressional investigations of Russian covert action by asserting that he had been a victim of improper US surveillance. His argument got little traction until last week, when Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., made the case for him. Nunes declared that intelligence about Trump associates had been ...

  Just as Britain’s prime minister began proceedings to exit the European Union, lawmakers in India approved the creation of an economic zone that’s been 17 years in the making. A nationwide goods and services tax (GST) would, as early as 1 July, change the way your hotel bill in Mumbai reads. Mine, from a business trip earlier this month, ...

  South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has a choice: It can help President Jacob Zuma, or it can help the country. Its survival as a respected national force depends on doing the latter. Support for the ANC has fallen amid charges of corruption and incompetence. Now Zuma is embroiled in a struggle with his finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, and ...

  Israeli Cabinet approved first Jewish settlement in West bank in 20 years, the latest blow to any peace prospect in Middle East. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was alarmed by Israel’s decision to build a new settlement. Guterres has consistently stressed that there was no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security. Israel ...

  The Senate’s coming confirmation of Neil Gorsuch will improve the Supreme Court, and Democrats’ incontinent opposition to him will inadvertently improve the Senate — if Republicans are provoked to thoroughly reform the filibuster. If eight Democrats will not join the 52 Republicans in providing 60 votes to end debate and bring Gorsuch’s nomination to a vote, Republicans should go ...

  Xiaomi Corp. is going to double down on India. Literally. Chairman and CEO Lei Jun sat down with Bloomberg’s Saritha Rai and Jason Gale in Bangalore this week to explain how he plans to resume rapid growth. The Chinese smartphone maker will spend $500 million in the country over the next three to five years, after spending a similar ...

  President Donald Trump is poised to sign legislation to overturn Federal Communications Commission rules forbidding internet service providers from selling data they have vacuumed up about the online habits of their customers. Privacy groups are understandably perturbed. But I wonder whether all the brouhaha is just shouting at the horse to come back long after he’s left the barn. ...

  As the White House reboots for ‘Trump 2.0’ after a largely unsuccessful first two months, one lesson should be obvious: The radical, polarizing politics of the campaign trail don’t work well in governing the country. America isn’t Russia or the Philippines. Our system has speed bumps, carefully constructed by our Founders. Presidents don’t rule simply by executive order. They ...

  One of the first things Rodrigo Duterte’s economics team did in September, three months after the drugs-busting former city mayor became president of the Philippines, was call for bids to upgrade and operate the main Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. From San Miguel Corp. and Ayala Corp. to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., the ...