Amazon is taking over the world. And paradoxically that may hurt Amazon’s ability to take over the world. It’s been clear for a while that Amazon’s ambitions know few bounds. Sure, Amazon is a global shopping mall. But it’s also making its own household products like baby wipes and batteries, becoming a silent giant in advertising, opening its own ...

  Representative Devin Nunes’ decision to recuse himself from leading the congressional investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election is as surprising as it is welcome. His erratic behavior, much of which appeared intended to protect President Donald Trump and his top aides from scrutiny, had compromised the integrity of the probe before it even got off the ...

  What the drowning of Aylan Kurdi, the refugee toddler whose death drew an outpouring of sympathy around the world, failed to do, harrowing images of beautiful babies gasping for breath surrounded by dead bodies have done. The images brought about Trump’s change of heart on Syria. But it is too late. The protracted Syrian civil war has already killed ...

  Economists have long argued that the gross domestic product has many flaws as a measure of well-being and policy success. Yet there’s a good reason it’s still being used: There’s a certain magic to it, despite its science being somewhat iffy. Recently, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a paper by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein detailing an argument ...

  The Norwegian government is resisting calls for its $873 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, to add unlisted infrastructure projects to its portfolio of stocks, bonds and real estate. It should relent, recognizing both the financial and societal benefits from expanding the universe of potential investments available to the fund. Last week, the Conservative-led government rebuffed a second ...

  Since China’s four major state-owned banks reported results last week, analysts have been cheering. Profit growth was up and non-performing loan ratios were down. Much has been made about progress in improving underwriting standards. But it would be wise to hold off on the euphoric pronouncements — and to take a closer look at how the banks produced these ...

  SAN FRANCISCO / AP Uber is scoffing at claims that its expansion into self-driving cars hinges on trade secrets stolen from a Google spinoff, arguing that its ride-hailing service has been working on potentially superior technology. The legal defense, presented in documents filed in San Francisco federal court, marks Uber’s first detailed response to explosive allegations that its self-driving ...

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co.’s earnings grew at their slowest pace in five years, as China’s biggest maker of telecommunications gear sank money into research and a marketing blitz to gain ground on Apple and Samsung in smartphones. Huawei, founded by former army engineer Ren Zhengfei three decades ago, has emerged as one of China’s most recognizable consumer brands. A ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business P&O Ports, owned by the Government of Dubai, has won a 30-year concession for the management and development of a multi-purpose port project at Bosasso in the Puntland State of Somalia. The approximate investment for the modern multi-purpose facility will be USD336mn divided into two phases: $136 million for Phase 1 and $200 million for ...

  SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) and the Sharjah National Oil Corporation (SNOC) discussed ways to jointly promote innovation and sustainable development in the emirate. This step aims to strengthen their strategic plans to preserve the environment, enhance Sharjah’s competitiveness and focus on the implementation of relevant research studies to apply the vision and guidance ...