By JODI RUDOREN May 25, 2015 JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday named a longtime confidant who is hawkish on Iran and the Palestinian issue to run the foreign ministry, the latest in a series of moves that consolidate Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative grip on his new government. The new ministry director, Dore Gold, is a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a prolific […]
Shareholders arrive for the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin April 1, 2015. Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke/Files FRANKFURT German carmaker Daimler is to make software from web services company Baidu available in its Chinese Mercedes-Benz cars as part of a trend of deepening ties between carmakers and consumer technology companies. Carmakers are seeking to extend information and entertainment services available in vehicles, as well as smartphone compatibility, in an […]
A box from Amazon.com is pictured on the porch of a house in Golden, Colorado July 23, 2008. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files NEW YORK Amazon.com Inc has started booking revenue from retail sales in individual European countries, instead of channeling all sales through low-tax Luxembourg, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The change was made effective May 1, a company spokesman told the Journal. Amazon said it had started […]
Guards stand near an entrance to Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, May 18, 2015. Reuters/John Ruwitch PUTIAN, China Criticised and even sued by luxury brand Gucci and others for facilitating the counterfeit goods trade, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has been quietly piloting a scheme to try to curb fakes at source. In the coastal city of Putian, in Fujian province, Alibaba is […]
MUMBAI Indian e-commerce firms are offering funding help and tech support to woo small retailers, emulating a strategy used by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to expand into the towns and villages home to the majority of consumers. India’s biggest e-tailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and the local arm of Amazon.com Inc are online marketplaces, with commission from sellers accounting for the bulk of […]
Plunging iron ore prices are providing a lifeline for some of China’s biggest steel mills, but raising the prospect of a rising tide of exports and increased friction with the European Union and countries such as India. Even as China’s domestic steel demand shrinks and the industry battles chronic overcapacity, lower iron ore prices have helped many large mills post better earnings in 2014 than a year […]
India has bought the first oil for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), trade sources said on Monday, marking the start of a round of purchases by the world’s fourth-biggest oil consumer to build up emergency stockpiles. Oil prices have almost halved in the past year due to excess global production, leaving traders looking for any signs of new demand to help absorb the surplus. The sources said […]
QATAR. Notwithstanding the weak start for the global economy, Asian economies are expected to continue to grow rapidly in 2015. We expect economic growth to average 5.7% in 2015, the same rate as in 2014. However this masks significant differences across Asian countries that mainly depend on their exposure to global headwinds. India and Myanmar stand out as bright spots for 2015, while China, Indonesia, Malaysia and […]
Brent crude oil held below $56 a barrel on Tuesday on signs of slowing growth in China and as Saudi Arabia said its production was close to an all-time high. Factory activity in China, the world’s second-largest economy and top oil importer, slipped in March with the flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) reading at 49.2, below the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction. Economists polled […]
BARCELONA Sun Mar 1, 2015 7:06pm IST A man walks past a logo during the presentation the Huawei’s new smartphone, the Ascend P7, launched by China’s Huawei Technologies in Paris, May 7, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Philippe Wojazer/Files Related Topics Stocks Images of “Lathmar Holi” at Nandgaon in Uttar Pradesh. Slideshow BARCELONA (Reuters) – Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei on Sunday launched its first smartwatch, a round-faced […]
SHANGHAI Sun Jan 4, 2015 7:47pm IST Lei Jun, founder and chief executive officer of China’s mobile company Xiaomi Inc, introduces the new features of Xiaomi Phone 4 at its launching ceremony, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee/Files Related Topics Stocks Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone turns 29. Pics SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Fast-growing Chinese tech firm Xiaomi Technology Ltd Co booked 74.3 billion yuan […]
India’s long-held position as the world’s top diamond polisher is being challenged by soaring output from China, compelling the south Asian country to seek help from ally and top rough diamond supplier Russia to defend its market share. India has traditionally relied on the middlemen in trading hubs of Antwerp, Tel Aviv and Dubai for its supply of rough diamonds, which mainly come from Russia or Africa. […]
Deutsche Bank is open to offers for its London-based gold vault following the closure of its physical precious metals business, three sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. “If the right offer came along, then the bank would sell the London vault,” one source close to the situation said. The German bank shut its physical precious metals trading arm last month as it further reduced its […]
DUBAI, 2 days ago Developing countries in Asia—particularly China and India—are rapidly becoming the biggest trading partners with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries ahead of other regions, according to a new report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in conjunction with Falcon and Associates. The study, entitled ‘GCC Trade and Investment Flows,’ explored the GCC’s economic ties with each world region and identifies major growth drivers. […]
Microsoft on Monday made available the first public preview of Skype Translator, its service for real-time language translation. The preview program will kick off with two spoken languages, Spanish and English, according to Skype. Additionally, more than 40 instant messaging languages will be available to Skype customers who have signed-up via the Skype Translator sign-up page and are using Windows 8.1 on their desktops or mobile devices. […]
India wants to buy more rough diamonds directly from mining companies as the world’s biggest polisher of the gems seeks to bypass traditional dealers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on more major suppliers such as Russia’s OAO Alrosa to sell directly to India, which polishes 80 percent of the world’s diamonds, avoiding trading centers such as Antwerp and Dubai. Speaking alongside President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi […]
If some information leaked online this week is any indication, Samsung’s next Galaxy phone will feature a yet-bigger and improved display. A screenshot of the new phone was published on the Chinese Web site CNMO, which said it got the information from the database of benchmarking site AnTuTu. The specs supposedly show details of the yet-to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S6. The most prominent features of the new Galaxy, […]
When it comes to smartphone sales, the growth is still there — but it’s slowing. Smartphone sales growth will continue at nearly 10 percent each year through 2018, well off the pace of recent years, according to a new mobile phone forecast from International Data Corp. (IDC). Worldwide smartphone shipments will reach a total of nearly 1.3 billion units in 2014, an increase of 26.3 percent over […]
By Nantoo Banerjee War is not all about attack. History has shown that tactical retreat as a war strategy had succeeded in winning more wars by entrapping advancing enemy than the show of blind belligerence by a brigade. Unfortunately, the use of tact is not a very strong point of this last Lok Sabha poll defeated Sonia-Rahul led Congress party. Its leaders are speaking in babel of […]
New Delhi: India has signed a euro 13 million deal with Airbus Defence and Space for the delivery of a dedicated facility in the country for the maintenance and repair its submarine fleet periscopes. The project is due to be completed in September 2016. “When a product is serviced, a lot of time is lost during the transport between different facilities. Once maintenance work can be […]
By Kalyani Shankar Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi wooing the Indian Diaspora? While Modi’s critics say that he is building up the brand Modi abroad, Modi is clear that with their support he could build a better image for himself. There are about 100 million Indians living abroad and he obviously feels that their power should be harnessed for the growth of India and for his […]
Bad debts in China are well underestimated because authorities persist in propping up weak companies and bailing out local investors, according to DAC Management LLC. The Chicago-based asset management and advisory firm, which focuses on distressed credit and special situations in China, says the worst is yet to come, and that means lots of opportunities for the world’s biggest distressed debt traders. Nonperforming loans at Chinese banks […]
NEW DELHI: With global energy firms refusing to participate in the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline, India may propose getting a Chinese company to lead a consortium that will build the USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. French giant Total SA had initially envisaged interest in leading a consortium of national oil companies of the four nations in the TAPI project, but backed off after […]
By Nantoo Banerjee Given the size of the country’s domestic market of goods and services, the prime minister’s vision of manufacturing in India is no doubt a very practical idea not only from the point of view of the scale of local consumption but also the opportunity it holds for the export of surplus production. No country can sustain an import-led economy forever. However, its success will […]
