Bloomberg South African President Jacob Zuma said he would appoint a commission of inquiry into allegations that the Gupta family was allowed to influence state decisions and that he would abide by a court ruling for the Chief Justice to select its leader. The High Court in December rejected Zuma’s arguments that he alone can set up the commission and ...

The UK’s obvious turnabout on the desirability of a no-deal exit from the European Union shows how completely the tables have turned in the Brexit negotiations. With less than a year to seal a trade deal, the EU is nudging the UK towards an understanding that the only benign outcome is agreeing to a long transition period. That could allow ...

I repeat myself. For years, I have advocated a wall along our Southern border, which would (I believe) discourage illegal immigration without stopping it altogether. But let’s face it: Whatever the virtues or vices of a wall, it has largely become a political symbol. President Trump and Republicans love it; Democrats and immigration groups despise it. It’s time to break ...

Now this is embarrassing. Shares in Samsung Electronics Co. dropped almost 6 percent in two days this week after operating income for the three months ended December missed analyst estimates. But it wasn’t South Korea Inc.’s crown jewel capturing most investors’ attention. That accolade went to SillaJen Inc., a little-known biotech firm with $5 million in sales. Its turnover was ...

Stock markets started the year on a strong note, and everyone seems to be asking the same question: How much more can high-risk assets appreciate? The dollar may provide the answer. The US currency’s weakness throughout 2017 provided much support for the domestic economy, arguably more than even the anticipation of tax cuts that boosted equities. It has also been ...

Suppose you have two loans. The first is a student loan of $40,000 with an interest rate of 6 percent, and the second is a credit-card balance of $12,000 with an interest rate of 11 percent. You find that at the end of each month, you have about $1,000 left over, and you want to use it to pay down ...

Ever since it took over from national authorities as the euro zone’s supervisor-in-chief, the European Central Bank (ECB) has prided itself on taking a tough stance when it comes to bad loans. But has the ECB neglected other risks in the financial sector? This is the thesis of a curious paper published by the Bank of Italy at the end of ...

Americans are boringly predictable when it comes to smartphone shopping. Roughly three-quarters of Americans with smartphones own either a Samsung or Apple device. Every other mobile phone maker is competing for scraps. Perhaps the company with the best shot at shaking things up, China’s Huawei Technologies Co., has suffered a big blow to its ambitions to dislodge the Coke and ...

Bloomberg China, poised to become the world’s biggest aircraft buyer, will finalize orders for 184 Airbus SE A320 family aircraft soon, French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The previously unannounced orders are mainly for the A320neo jets, with deliveries to 13 airlines scheduled in 2019 and 2020, an aide to Macron told reporters ...

Bloomberg The battle for e-commerce dominance in India between Amazon.com Inc. and local rival Flipkart Online Services Pvt. has opened the door for one of the nation’s largest logistics companies to reinvent itself. Mumbai-based Allcargo Logistics Ltd., with a presence in more than 160 countries, plans to transform into a business-to-customer company with a focus on e-commerce from its traditional ...