How to command a premium for mediocrity? If that question is posed to Postal Savings Bank of China Co., which counts almost half the people in the world’s most-populous nation as its customers, the answer may well be ‘superior tax planning.’ The Hong Kong-listed Chinese lender enjoys an 8 percent to 26 percent valuation premium over the four largest …

  Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford found something constructive to tell senators on an appropriations subcommittee this week, even if it had nothing to do with the Pentagon budget. The two men challenged lawmakers to finally provide a legal basis for the U.S. war against terrorist groups. It’s something that President Barack …

  Iraqi and coalition forces launched the operation to liberate western Mosul, the most populated urban areas, from IS extremists on February 19. Since then the Iraqi forces have wrested back a series of neighbourhoods. Troops have also retaken the city’s airport, a sprawling military complex, the main government compound. The offensive is being waged from three directions advancing along …