July, 2017

• 8 July

  ‘Singapore luxury home prices set to recover’

  

  Bloomberg Singapore’s luxury home prices, which have been the worst hit by the government’s property curbs in recent years, are finally showing signs of a recovery, according to developer Guocoland Ltd. High-end home sales in the city-state had been on an upswing even before the government in March eased some of its cooling measures in place since 2009, according to ...

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• 8 July

  G-20 forges compromise on trade as US tariff threat looms

  

  Bloomberg World leaders reached a compromise on trade at the Group of 20 summit as officials agreed to fight protectionism while tacitly recognizing US President Donald Trump’s concerns about excess steel capacity and what he says are unfair trade practices. Hours after the agreement was struck early on Saturday, the final statement nonetheless left the U.S. isolated on climate change, ...

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• 8 July

  Allianz, Columbia form $1.3bn US real estate venture

  

  Bloomberg Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, is partnering with Columbia Property Trust Inc. to create a $1.26 billion joint venture for US real estate. The Munich-based insurer contributed an office tower at 114 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan that’s valued at $220 million to the partnership, Allianz’s real estate unit said in a statement. Columbia added University Circle, a $540 million ...

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• 8 July

  Mexico no longer top US corn-buyer after trade tensions

  

  Bloomberg Mexico is no longer the biggest buyer of corn from the US, a sign that trade tensions are pushing American grain toward other markets while its southern neighbor lines up new suppliers. Sales to Mexico through May were $1.04 billion, down 6.7 percent from a year earlier, the US Department of Agriculture said in a monthly update. That contrasts ...

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• 8 July

  Fines for fuel economy shortfalls under review by US

  

  Bloomberg The Trump administration is considering easing steeper fines proposed by Obama-era regulators for automakers that don’t meet tougher fuel economy standards, a move that would give a break largely to luxury brands like Jaguar, BMW and Porsche that have paid the highest penalties in the past. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a regulatory filing it will ...

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• 8 July

  Manhattan home sales surge as price discounts draw in buyers

  

  Bloomberg Manhattan homebuyers found deals they couldn’t refuse in the second quarter, driving up sales of previously owned properties by the most in more than two years. Purchases of resale homes jumped 16 percent from a year earlier to 2,597, according to a report by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Buyer interest was fueled by ...

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• 8 July

  Be grateful for brave Americans in Syria

  

  For this Independence Day, at a moment when the tone of our political life would probably shame our Founders, here are snapshots of some brave American soldiers and civilians I met inside Syria last week who should make us all proud. Let’s start with a bearded sergeant major from Oklahoma. He’s driving an armored SUV down a dusty road toward ...

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• 8 July

  Don’t blame China’s politics for this Korean car crash

  

  Executives at South Korea’s carmakers recently blamed strained Chinese relations for a massive sales shortfall in the world’s largest auto market. Foreign affairs only partly explains the story. Just as Bejing’s boycott over Seoul’s plan to host a US missile defense system hurt Korean makeup and toy brands, it also hit the auto industry: in the first half of the ...

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• 8 July

  Cities need data from Uber and Lyft

  

  With the ouster of Travis Kalanick, its founder and chief executive, Uber has vowed to mend an array of broken and frayed relationships. It can start with cities. It can focus on the sharing of some basic information. Its competitors, including Lyft, can join in this project, too. App-based ride services have changed the urban world, often for the good. ...

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• 8 July

  Africa’s demography is not its destiny

  By 2050, more than one-quarter of the world’s population will live in Africa — up from about one-sixth today. Even if these projections are slightly off, that fact should serve as a call to action for a continent whose long-term promise is equaled by wide-ranging perils. The numbers come from the latest United Nations report on population trends, which projects ...

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