May, 2016

• 15 May

  Efforts to counter IS propaganda bear fruit, say experts

  

    Washington / AFP US authorities and Internet giants are boosting attempts to counter the IS group’s online propaganda, though it is unclear how effective these efforts are in hampering the extremists’ public-relations machine. With calls to holy war and highly produced videos of IS fighters in battle or killing captives, the IS group has long used the Internet and ...

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• 15 May

  Let us praise GDP

  

  It’s time to cut the GDP some slack. Overhauling the GDP — as some critics would — threatens to politicize one of our most useful economic indicators. It could be twisted to advance or retard political agendas. This is a bad idea. First, some background. GDP stands for “gross domestic product,” and it’s our standard measure of economic growth. When ...

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• 15 May

  Bonn meet must move from vows to action

    The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement will face its first acid test when signatories gather in Bonn, Germany, on Monday to iron out details and set new mechanisms to fund climate adaptation projects amid reports the global warming has caused the water-rise that vanished five Islands of Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Against the backdrop of such a grim ...

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• 15 May

  China eyes Vietnam and the TPP warily

    Andrew Collier SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam later this month, taken together with the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, signals a closer economic alliance between the two countries. The TPP will be a boon to Vietnam – but could be a problem for China. The TPP – which has been signed but not ratified ...

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• 15 May

  How we’re losing the other climate fight

    Christopher Flavelle The proposal boiled down to just three paragraphs in the Federal Register: Would it be a good idea, the Federal Emergency Management Agency wondered, if Washington gave states a financial incentive to pass building codes, better protecting their residents against the effects of climate change? That was in January. By March, the response from states was clear: ...

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• 15 May

  NATO’s build-up in the Baltics unnecessary

  

    While showing off some new UAZ Patriot pickup trucks armed with machine guns and grenade launchers to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, a general couldn’t open the door of one of the trucks and, in his desperate desire to please the commander-in-chief, ripped off the door handle. “Well done,” Putin said, laughing. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ...

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• 15 May

  In Myanmar, Suu Kyi’s brand is a double-edged sword

  

    While Aung San Suu Kyi’s inauguration as Myanmar’s state councilor early last month was largely academic, it certainly wasn’t short on significance. With the globally revered democracy icon vowing to be “above the president” anyway, the international community is now queuing up to engage with the once pariah state. But though Suu Kyi’s ‘brand’ has the power to attract ...

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• 15 May

  KSA stocks defy Moody’s cut as Maaden rallies

  

    BLOOMBERG Saudi Arabian stock investors showed they care more about the price of oil than what New York-based Moody’s Investors Service Inc. thinks about the kingdom’s debt dynamics. A day after Moody’s became the latest company to reduce the nation’s credit rating, the Tadawul All Share Index added as much as 0.8 percent before closing little changed. Saudi Arabian ...

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• 15 May

  In Brazil, yesterday’s studs are today’s duds — and vice versa

  

    Bloomberg To understand just how volatile Brazil’s stock market is, take a closer look at this year’s winners and losers. Last year’s reigning stocks — pulpmakers Suzano Papel & Celulose, Klabin SA and Fibria Celulose SA — are among the worst performers on the Ibovespa index this year. But 2015’s big dud — Metalurgica Gerdau SA — posted Brazil’s ...

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• 15 May

  May harshest month for Brazil stocks as Ibovespa retreats

    BLOOMBERG Brazilian stocks fell on Friday, keeping the Ibovespa benchmark on course for its first monthly drop since January. If history is any guide, that shouldn’t surprise investors. Brazilian stocks have fallen every May this decade, adding weight to the old adage “sell in May and go away.” The Ibovespa declined 2.7 percent to 51,804.31 at the close of ...

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