Societies can suffer from famines of the mind as well as famines of the belly. Ideas wither on the vine; plants turn into husks; fields lie fallow; and before long the economic growth that ultimately feeds on the imagination stalls. This is what is happening to the world’s imaginative life, most notably in the West, which since the days ...

  Four months of fighting in Ukraine has brought staggering levels of destruction, from bridges to homes, hospitals and shopping malls. A recent estimate from the head of the European Investment Bank put the cost of rebuilding at more than $1 trillion. With millions of citizens displaced and the country’s infrastructure in ruins, Ukraine will be unable to support itself ...

Bloomberg After a dismal first six months, things are finally looking up for initial public offerings in Hong Kong as several large Chinese firms line up to list in Asia’s financial hub in the second half. Battery materials producer Tianqi Lithium Corp just opened its books for what is set to be the city’s first billion-dollar deal this year while ...

  Bloomberg Advanced Info Service Pcl, Thailand’s biggest mobile phone operator, plans to expand its network by acquiring Triple T Broadband Pcl and an infrastructure fund for a total of 32.4 billion baht ($908 million). The Bangkok-based company will buy internet provider Triple T from Jasmine International Pcl for 19.5 billion baht, Chief Financial Officer Tee Seeumpornroj said. It will ...

  Bloomberg China’s Silk Road Fund signed a deal with Indonesia’s wealth fund to make joint investments that strengthen economic links between the two countries. China’s state-owned investment fund plans to invest up to 20 billion yuan ($3 billion) or the equivalent amount under the framework agreement, said President Yanzhi Wang in a joint statement. The Indonesia Investment Authority, or ...

  Bloomberg Bankrupt Sri Lanka is offering a guaranteed fuel quota to any company that can pay in dollars. Potential purchasers must pay as much as a month in advance to open a consumer account at state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera tweeted. Fuel will be issued on a daily or weekly basis from July 12, according to ...

  Bloomberg Indonesia will ask people to show proof of a third Covid-19 vaccine shot to access crowded areas as the government banks on inoculation to manage an increase in cases. The government seeks to encourage people to get their booster shots, said Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin in a briefing. Previously, limiting entry to shopping malls and public areas ...

Bloomberg China’s household spending may rebound in the second half of 2022, increasing 4.5% from a year earlier as Covid restrictions ease and the economy begins to recover, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc economists. That expansion would follow a gloomy second quarter, with Goldman forecasting spending in the April-to-June period likely contracted 1.5%, largely because of slower growth in ...

Bloomberg The US ambassador to China called on the Foreign Ministry in Beijing to stop spreading Russia’s “lies,” in an unusually direct and public rebuke by the top American diplomat in the country. Ambassador Nicholas Burns made the “request” in response to a question at a government-backed forum Monday about what China could do to resolve the crisis over Russia’s ...

  Bloomberg The British Army’s Twitter and YouTube accounts have been hacked, according to a statement from an Army spokesperson. A series of posts promoting non-fungible tokens were retweeted on the Army’s account on Sunday. Its YouTube account has been renamed “Ark Invest” and features several videos from a panel hosted by Ark Investment Management LLC last year on Bitcoin. ...