May, 2016

• 24 May

  Defeating IS means getting the politics right

  

    ANKARA A tour of the war zones in Iraq and Syria with the top American commander ends, appropriately enough, here in Turkey, the strongest power in the region and the place where the modern troubles began a hundred years ago with the collapse of the Ottoman empire. The abiding strategic fact about the current war against the IS is ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Lifting of Vietnam arms ban a vital US move

    Rapprochement between Washington and Hanoi has moved an extra mile towards deeper engagement following the US decision to lift a decades-old ban on lethal arms sales to Vietnam 40 years after a the bitter US– Vietnamese war ended. Amid growing tension with China over a maritime dispute, the lifting of arms embargo is vital as it will allow Vietnam ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  US presidential race gets harder to predict

    Jonathan Bernstein With a bunch of new polls released over the weekend, speculation about how a general election race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ends is beginning to matter. Just not in the way you would think, based on all the hype. We have three ways to predict what will happen, each with strengths and weaknesses. First, there ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  China poses a threat, just not the one Trump thinks

  Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have propelled their campaigns in part by appealing to globalization’s losers. The blue-collar American workers who have seen wages shrink and jobs disappear offshore have responded strongly to Trump’s China-bashing and Clinton’s newfound suspicions about free trade. Free Trade Feud The reality, though, is that neither candidate is going to bring manufacturing jobs back ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Dollar advances with stocks as traders assess Fed; Pound jumps

  

    BLOOMBERG The dollar and stocks worldwide climbed, as investors awaited additional clues on the health of the global economy amid speculation higher interest rates in the U.S. may come as soon as July. The pound and oil gained. The U.S. currency touched its strongest level since March against the euro, while Australia’s dollar and South Korea’s won posted the ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Hedge funds have $17.7bn at stake with insurers fleeing

  

    Bloomberg Insurers have had about enough of hedge funds. Stung by market-trailing returns, the industry in the U.S. is reversing course after more than doubling its hedge fund allocation over five years, to $17.7 billion as of Dec. 31, according to data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Just this month, American International Group Inc. said it submitted ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Gulf mostly rises, quieter as Ramadan nears

  

    Dubai / Reuters Most Gulf stock markets rose on Tuesday but trading volumes were small as some investors stayed away because of the approach of the holy month of Ramadan and summer holidays, when activity tends to decrease in some bourses. Dubai’s index spent most of the day little changed but closed 1.0 percent higher after a surge in ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Empty stores tarnish S’pore’s shoppers’ paradise image

  

    Singapore / Bloomberg Empty storefronts in Singapore’s prime shopping district may become a more common sight. Vacancies in the city’s main Orchard Road area, a magnet for tourists lured by malls and Japanese department stores such as Takashimaya, have risen to a five-year high and across the island, they’ve soared to the highest since 2009. As economies around the ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Xiaomi to plan first drone at $610

  

    Shanghai / Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone maker that challenged Apple Inc. with sleek designs and low prices, is planning to introduce its first drone at a price more than 20 percent below a comparable product from market leader SZ DJI Technology Co., according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The drone, made by FIMI ...

  Read More »
• 24 May

  Apple to hit setback in push to open retail stores in India

  

    New Delhi / Bloomberg India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board has ruled Apple Inc. must comply with local sourcing rules to sell products through its own retail stores, according to people with direct knowledge of matter, a setback to the iPhone maker’s plans to open retail outlets in the country. The FIPB has cleared Apple’s application to open retail stores ...

  Read More »