Bloomberg When US retail sales came in lower than expected last week, some began to worry that the average consumer wasn’t as strong financially as previously believed, but according to analysts at Macquarie Capital Markets Ltd., this is just a blip on the radar. While there are a number of reasons for consumers to be more cautious with political ...

  Bloomberg Former Turkish Airlines Chief Financial Officer Coskun Kilic said he’s suing to be reinstated to the job following a “completely unfair” mass firing at the carrier last month that was part of a government purge against alleged coup plotters. The lawsuit, which Kilic said he filed in an Istanbul administrative court last week, demands that the state-controlled carrier ...

  Bloomberg Canada’s hottest housing market may be cooling. Home sales in Vancouver fell a third straight month in July, the Canadian Real Estate Association said, with price gains also showing signs of slowing. The data should be a relief to buyers and policy makers who have been growing increasingly worried about affordability in the city, and suggest Vancouver’s market ...

  Bloomberg When the world’s superrich shop for a lavish garden to frame their sprawling estates, they call Belgian master-landscaper François Goffinet. Goffinet’s secret weapon: a deep knowledge of the land and a timeless classical style. With his pavilions, ironwork, gate lodges, and follies (who doesn’t love a good hedge maze?), he’s reviving the grand tradition of the 18th century ...

  Bloomberg The July wobble in China’s economy — like its multi-year slowdown — has much to do with the waning “animal spirits” of Chinese businesses caused by an historic shift in housing. That’s according to Chi Lo, greater China senior economist at BNP Paribas Investment Partners in Hong Kong. A property-led pick up in the first half lost momentum ...

  Bloomberg Google nailed e-mail with the 2004 introduction of Gmail. Now it’s the No. 1 form of electronic correspondence in the US. But as traditional e-mail falls out of favor with a growing sliver of the population, Google has struggled to make its messaging tools relevant or introduce new ones that resonate with younger users. Now Google is trying ...

  AFP China leads the world in connecting everyday devices to the internet, but is creating huge hacking vulnerabilities for itself and others by doing so, renegade American software pioneer John McAfee warned. Hackers had already been able to gain control of devices such as safes and heating controls, and take over the computer systems of automobiles and aeroplanes, he ...

  Bloomberg Cyberdyne Inc., a Japanese maker of robot exoskeletons for patients with spinal difficulties, tumbled after short-seller Citron Research said the company’s stock is poised to plunge. Shares fell as much as 11 percent in morning trading in Tokyo after Andrew Left’s Citron said Cyberdyne is too expensive, citing declining growth in the company’s core assistive-limb product and valuations ...

    Bloomberg Hike Messenger became India’s newest internet unicorn after securing a round of funding at a valuation of almost $1.4 billion from investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Foxconn Technology Group. The app, which seeks to compete with Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp, raised more than $175 million via a series D round in which existing backers Tiger Global, SoftBank ...

  AFP Sitting cross-legged, 68-year-old Supadmi fires an arrow across a field into a small stick target and sets a bell ringing, taking the lead in the game — an ancient form of Indonesian archery. She was among sportsmen and women in colourful headdresses and sarongs who sent hundreds of arrows flying through the sky in unison at a recent ...