The U.S. Treasury thinks it’s bad enough that companies such as Apple park piles of cash overseas to avoid paying tax. What’s worse is when foreign authorities change the rules that attracted the money in the first place, and tax those holdings for themselves. In effect, the European Commission is threatening to do just that. Apple and other U.S. ...
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Trudeau’s China visit must reset trade ties
The long-standing dispute over canola exports will weigh heavy on Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s August 30-September 6 visit to China as he readies to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend the G20 summit. In the run-up to the significant tour that comes at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang, Ottawa has sent strong feelers that it ...
Read More »Why Trump needs a real campaign apparatus to win
Donald Trump is a terrible campaigner. He is still struggling to assemble the basics of a campaign operation. Gaffes drop from his lips with the regularity of a waterfall rushing over a cliff. Now he seems to be backtracking on his signature issue, a hard-line stance on immigration. Or maybe he isn’t. Well, strategy and messaging aren’t his strong ...
Read More »Trump’s 2,000-mile mistake on immigration
Even Donald Trump recognizes that he has an immigration problem. No, I’m not talking about his wife, Melania, whose promised news conference detailing her sketchy immigration history has, almost three weeks after Trump announced it, still failed to materialize. I’m talking about the pronouncements — mass deportations, the famous Mexican-financed border wall — that have been the centerpiece of ...
Read More »Waging peace in Colombia after 52 years of war
In the coming weeks, Colombians will be asked to cast a vote like none other in the country’s history. The sole question on the ballot will be whether Latin America’s third most populous nation should ratify a historic peace agreement to end the longest-running guerrilla insurgency in the Western Hemisphere. It seems like a silly question: After a conflict ...
Read More »Saudi’s biggest Asian buyers await Crown Prince visit
Reuters China and Japan, Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil buyers in Asia, are preparing for a visit by the kingdom’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an opportunity to deepen energy ties as the world’s largest crude exporter prepares what’s expected to be the biggest IPO ever. Selling about 5 percent of the state-run oil producer Saudi Arabian Oil Co., ...
Read More »Iraq seeks formal deal with Kurds to protect new oil exports
Bloomberg Iraq’s resumption last week of oil shipments through a Kurdish-controlled pipeline bumped up its export capacity by five percent almost overnight. Now OPEC’s second-biggest producer is seeking a formal deal with the self-ruling Kurds to ensure it can maintain the increased flows. The central government in Baghdad has been locked in a dispute with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional ...
Read More »N Africa’s largest Crystal Lagoons’ project to be built in Egypt
Emirates Business Crystal Lagoons, the multinational innovation company and developer of the world’s top amenity patented technology that makes giant crystal-clear lagoons a reality, has announced two new project wins in Egypt, bringing its total portfolio of active and under development projects in the Middle East and India to 15. Showcasing a range of projects at this year’s Cityscape ...
Read More »Facebook reduces human input in ‘trending topics’
AFP Facebook said it is further automating its “trending” stories feature, a move that will scale back human input to prevent personal bias from influencing which stories get highlighted. The social media giant will rely more heavily on an algorithm to operate the feature — which lists what news or events are hot topics — no longer requiring people ...
Read More »Spotify to retaliate against Apple’s exclusive artists
Bloomberg An escalating battle between Apple Inc. and Spotify Ltd. is leaving some musicians caught in the crossfire. Spotify has been retaliating against musicians who introduce new material exclusively on rival Apple Music by making their songs harder to find, according to people familiar with the strategy. Artists who have given Apple exclusive access to new music have been ...
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