It is a sheer coincidence. On September 4, 2015, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel had initiated the open-door refugee policy to let thousands of migrants into the country. Exactly one year later, her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faces elections in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — the home state of Merkel — whose results could be a litmus test ...

  Over the last 20 years, Amazon has taught us to buy everything on the web. At least in urban areas like mine, we are close to realizing the dream of a retail environment that consists entirely of storefronts selling food and beverages, while delivery trucks whiz back and forth before diners beneath umbrellas. But is Amazon content with this ...

Global growth is weak, and will be eroded further by Brexit. Oil prices are low, and likely to plunge further. The world has excess capacity and a wage-depressing labor surplus. Corporate profits are shaky. And deflation is laying bare the impotence of central banks. So where would you logically expect financial markets to be going, given that economic, financial and ...

  The stock market of the late 1990s is remembered mostly for high-flying dotcom equities that eventually crashed back to earth. Yet, from a money flows standpoint, the bigger imbalance of that era was that large-cap stocks fetched very high valuations relative to small cap stocks. This market opportunity was exploited by hedge funds, leading to a decade of outperformance ...

  Hangzhou/ AFP The United States and China on Saturday formally joined the Paris climate deal, with President Barack Obama hailing the accord as the “moment we finally decided to save our planet”. The move by the world’s two biggest polluters is a major step forward for the 180-nation accord, which sets ambitious goals for capping global warming and funnelling trillions ...

  Lagos / AP Gunmen have kidnapped 15 oil workers on a road near Nigeria’s oil hub of Port Harcourt, police said on Saturday, in the latest unrest in the restive region. “Fifteen oil workers, including their driver, were abducted yesterday (Friday) by unknown gunmen who hijacked their vehicle on Omoku/Elele road after shooting into the air to scare passersby,” ...

  New Delhi / AFP Police rescued 22 Nepali women from a hotel in New Delhi who were allegedly being trafficked from the impoverished Himalayan nation to the Middle East, and are searching for two suspects, officers said on Saturday. Officers from the force’s serious crimes branch raided a hotel near the capital’s international airport on Thursday morning after receiving ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong begins voting on Sunday in a legislative election that will test the appeal of a new wave of anti-China activists and set the stage for future political fights over Beijing’s control over the city. The Legislative Council election is the first since police clashes with student protesters two years ago thrust the former British colony’s struggle ...

  Sirte / AFP Forces loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) said on Saturday they have launched a new attack on diehards of the IS group in the coastal city of Sirte. Backed by weeks of US air strikes, the pro-GNA forces have recaptured nearly all of what had been the extremists’ main stronghold in North Africa. “We ...

Detroit /AFP Donald Trump visits Detroit on Saturday insisting he is the change agent that America’s blackest big city needs in the White House, but residents have a message for the Republican presidential nominee: Not buying it. Many here acknowledge that Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, has fallen short in improving conditions in blighted communities. But in interviews ...