November, 2017

• 20 November

  Kurdish referendum unconstitutional, rules Iraqi fed court

  

  BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court ruled on Monday that a referendum held on Kurdish independence was unconstitutional and that the results of the vote were void, a court spokesman said. Kurds voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq in a referendum held on September 25, defying the central government in Baghdad as well as neighbouring Turkey and Iran …

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• 20 November

  Mugabe faces impeachment after balking at directive to end reign

  Bloomberg Zimbabwean lawmakers are set to begin impeachment proceedings against President Robert Mugabe on Monday, after he defied a ruling party directive to end his 37-year rule. The 93-year-old Mugabe was widely expected to announce that he was stepping down in a televised address on Sunday night to enable Emmerson Mnangagwa, who he had fired as vice president earlier this …

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• 20 November

  Chilean election heads to second round as billionaire takes lead

  

  Bloomberg Chile’s presidential election is heading for a hotly contested second round after billionaire Sebastian Pinera took a smaller-than-expected lead in Sunday’s vote. The opposition leader had 36.7 percent of the vote with 89 percent of ballots counted, the electoral service said, short of the 50 percent plus one vote he needed to avoid a run-off. His rival in the …

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• 20 November

  Trump trade: A dead end?

  

  Most Americans likely think that our trade policies have been largely the same since the Republic’s earliest days. The assumptions are that we’re free traders now and always have been; also, that we’ve long been a manufacturing power, boosting exports. If we sometimes lose in global competition, the main cause is that other countries don’t play fair. The truth is …

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• 20 November

  Mukesh Ambani’s softly, softly online approach may outsmart Amazon

  

  Amazon.com Inc. had better watch out. The $200 billion e-commerce market Morgan Stanley is forecasting for India by 2027 just got a new contender — with a very different plan. Energy tycoon Mukesh Ambani has already disrupted the country’s telecom industry. His next big foray may be online retail. But India’s richest man may not create a marketplace of his …

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• 20 November

  Four years on campus might be one too many

  The basic cause of America’s student-loan crisis is no mystery: College tuition and fees continue to soar while the earnings of recent graduates remain flat. It shouldn’t be surprising that there’s also a straightforward way to lower the cost of a college degree: Reduce the amount of time it takes to earn one. The US’s four-year bachelor’s degree is based …

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• 20 November

  Bitcoin has an unusual link with volatility

  Cryptoassets are showing the signs of a bubble. Market capitalization is $222 billion, 16 times as much as a year ago, with no significant change in tangible economic value. The virtual currencies elicit investment excitement and breathless news coverage; sober analysis treating both technical issues and economic fundamentals is rarer. There is incessant cheerleading by people who own cryptoassets, manufacture …

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• 20 November

  Does India deserve latest bout of hype? Yes and no

  

  Moody’s recent decision to raise its rating of India’s sovereign bonds a notch, from Baa3 to Baa2, could elicit one of two reactions. On the one hand, a fair observer could feel that the decision was way overdue. And, on the other hand, an equally fair observer could raise an eyebrow at the timing. Actually, it’s possible to feel both …

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• 20 November

  Toshiba may be able to have its chips and eat them, too

  

  Toshiba Corp. looks to be selling everything. Except its chip business. If ever there was a sign the embattled Japanese firm doesn’t expect — or dare we say it, want — to offload its prized unit to Bain Capital LP and friends, it’s the garage sale that was suddenly launched on Sunday. Toshiba announced plans to sell 600 billion yen …

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• 20 November

  The ‘big five’ could destroy the tech ecosystem

  

  How big can the largest tech companies get? How completely can they come to dominate the economy? The “big five” — Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon — now have a combined valuation of over $3.3 trillion, and make up more than 40 percent of the value of the Nasdaq 100 index. As the digital economy continues to grow faster …

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