A core function of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) — founded in 1995 to govern the rules of trade between 164 countries — ground to a halt. The reason for that was US President Donald Trump, who has never really had much time for multilateral institutions. The WTO has been on his hit-list for some time as an entity that ...

Even China’s IPO-mad retail investors are souring on the country’s banks. Postal Savings Bank of China Co. began trading with a whimper in Shanghai, after a 32.7 billion yuan share sale that was nation’s largest since 2010. The stock rose as much as 2.7% in the trading, a fraction of the 44% limit that most newly listed shares hit on ...

For weeks, drifting clouds from bushfires around Australia’s east coast have settled on Sydney. Thick smoke has rendered the Sydney Harbour Bridge invisible. Ambulance calls for breathing problems have risen 30% on typical seasonal levels. Beaches are black from settling embers. You’d think that Australia’s political class would be under pressure to come up with solutions to the disaster spreading ...