Pursglove would soon learn, however, that navigating this offshore archipelago is not easy. In any given year, trillions of dollars sit safely in the offshore financial world, effectively stateless, protected by legions of well-compensated defenders and a tangle of laws deliberately designed to impede creditors and tax collectors. Even the United States government finds it challenging: A special Internal Revenue Service division known as the “wealth squad,” […]
By Saikat Chatterjee | HONG KONG HONG KONG China’s factories notched their strongest growth in activity in two years and Japanese firms’ order books rose in November, masking concern about the protectionist leanings of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and an OPEC-induced oil price rally. Factory surveys produced stronger purchasing manager index (PMI) numbers in China, Taiwan and Vietnam, and while activity in Japan’s factories was still growing […]
Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via Strategic-Culture.org, Looking at US history over a fairly long period of time, it is easy to see the destructive path that has accompanied the expansion of the American empire over the last seventy years. While World War II was still raging, US strategists were already planning their next steps in the international arena. The new target was immediately identified in the assault […]
Thursday 06:00 GMT Overview Markets across Asia saw a day of solid gains as oil continued to trade higher following Opec’s decision to cut output for the first time since the financial crisis and as Japanese stocks benefited from recent weakness in the yen. European bourses are expected to open little changed, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will add 2 points to 6,785 and Germany’s […]
Four major automakers just formed a new joint venture to build an electric vehicle charging station across Europe. Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler have joined forces to create a network of chargers with a charging capacity of up to 350 kW, aiming to make it easier to move around Europe using electric vehicles. The team aims to start installing the fast-charging stations next year. Europe’s Highest-Powered EV […]
BAKU Azerbaijan’s parliament on Wednesday made online defamation of the president a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. With almost all traditional media strictly controlled by the government, social media networks have become outlets for people to voice criticism in a country where the economy has suffered from the global slump in oil prices and a depreciating currency. Azerbaijan criminalised defamation over the internet three years ago, meaning […]
Just as horror movies can spook fright nerds more than they expect, so political risk is sparking heightened levels of anxiety among seasoned investors. Investors caught out by Brexit and Donald Trump are making better preparations for political risk in Europe, plotting a route to the exit door if the unfolding story of French, German and Dutch elections poses a serious test for markets. One key measure […]
DAYING COUNTY, China You too may soon be able to feel what it was like to hit an iceberg on the Titanic. Construction of a life-size replica of the doomed passenger ship began in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Wednesday with a keel-laying ceremony and fireworks to mark the occasion. It is part of Star Energy Investment Group’s plans for a tourist resort along the Qijiang River […]
Photo Khalid al-Falih, center, the Saudi energy minister, at the OPEC meeting in Vienna on Wednesday. Credit Christian Bruna/European Pressphoto Agency VIENNA — After years of trying fruitlessly to prop up energy markets, OPEC on Wednesday finally reached a consensus on production cuts, sending oil prices soaring. The problem is, the euphoria may not last. With prices still at less than half the levels of two years […]
Qatar said it would provide $1.25 billion in aid to shore up Tunisia’s post-revolution economy as regional and Western partners pledged extensive financial backing at an investment conference on Tuesday. The money from Qatar, announced by the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is the biggest single offer of aid to Tunisia since a 2011 uprising ushered in a democratic transition but also years of economic uncertainty […]
5774 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil October 14, 2016 Demonstrators chant slogans while flashing the Oromo protest gesture during Irreecha, the thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people, in Bishoftu town, Oromia region, Ethiopia, October 2, 2016 (Reuters/Tiksa Negeri). Fighting the Worst Kleptocracies Worse than kleptocracies are violent kleptocracies, as defined in a new report by advocacy group The Enough Project. In these, leaders run the state as […]
By Noah Barkin | BERLIN BERLIN Fear of globalisation is the most important factor in pushing European citizens towards populist right-wing parties and those fears are most acute in Austria and France, a survey by Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation showed on Wednesday. The study showed that 55 percent of Austrians and 54 percent of French view globalisation as a threat, the only countries surveyed in which a majority […]
Wednesday 06:00 GMT Overview Markets across Asia were treading cautiously on Wednesday, following mild overnight gains for Wall Street, a weakening of the US dollar and as investors turned their attention to a meeting between Opec members later today. European bourses are expected to open with only meagre moves, with spreadbetters predicting the UK’s FTSE 100 will slip 10 points to 6,762 and Germany’s Dax to be […]
COLOGNE, Germany Ford (F.N) wants to raise profitability in Europe by adding higher-margin versions of the Fiesta subcompact, its best-selling regional model, the carmaker’s top European executive said. High-volume carmakers such as Ford have for several years been squeezed in a downmarket expansion by luxury rivals including Daimler’s (DAIGn.DE) Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen’s (VOWG_p.DE) Audi. But Ford, which already targets premium buyers with higher-end versions of some of […]
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel told parliamentary members of her conservative Christian Democrats on Tuesday that she opposed opening new negotiations with Turkey as part of its quest to join the European Union, the Bild newspaper reported. That means the discussions are effectively over, the newspaper reported in Wednesday editions, citing sources who participated in the party meeting. Merkel recommended spelling that out to voters who asked […]
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon addresses the Annual Conference of Swiss Developement Cooperation in Zurich, Switzerland January 22, 2016. On the screen behind are displayed the 17 goals of UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann). Emerging Voices highlights new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges from contributing scholars and practitioners. This post is from Niklas Kossow, communications officer for the European Union FP7 ANTICORRP […]
5836 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil November 11, 2016 A man displays a new 2000 Indian rupee banknote after withdrawing from a bank (Reuters/Mukesh Gupta). France’s Anticorruption ReformsAfter years of criticism for failing to prosecute foreign bribery, France adopted a new anticorruption law that will force companies doing business on its soil to take more aggressive preventative measures, and also gives the government stronger tools to fight […]
Video ‘The Priority: Saving Lives’ A chartered plane carrying 81 people, including a soccer team from Brazil, crashed on the outskirts of Medellin, Colombia, killing most on board. By YARA BISHARA on Publish Date November 29, 2016. Photo by Luis Benavides/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » A chartered plane carrying 81 people, including members of a Brazilian soccer team that had made a stunning climb up […]
Tuesday 15:15 GMT Overview The dollar and Treasury yields are steadying, but US equities are edging lower, as stronger-than expected US GDP data raise concerns that the Federal Reserve may quicken the pace of interest rate rises. The firmer buck is adding to pressure on commodity prices, with gold selling off and oil prices sliding on scepticism over an Opec deal to curb output. Hot topic It […]
FRANKFURT Europe’s space agency expects its member states to back major programmes such as the International Space Station and the ExoMars mission to the Red Planet this week, even if it does not receive the full 11 billion euros ($11.6 billion) of funding it is requesting, its director general said. “If we get only 90 percent of the funding then this is not a catastrophe,” Jan Woerner […]
Government Communications Headquarters, the UK signals intelligence agency, in Cheltenham, United Kingdom. (UK Ministry of Defence). Alex Grigsby is the assistant director for the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Two weeks ago, with much fanfare, the United Kingdom released a new strategy that sets out UK government’s approach to improving the country’s cybersecurity over the next five years. It follows the UK’s previous […]
An employee of a foreign exchange trading company works near monitors showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaking on TV news (top) in Tokyo, Japan, November 9, 2016. (Toru Hanai/Reuters). With Donald Trump’s victory, the prospects for digital trade have dimmed. This development owes much to the hostility towards trade that Trump brings to the presidency. But it also involves shifts more fundamental than Trump’s rejection of trade […]
4188 28 by Adam Segal November 16, 2016 A man stands in a phone box in front of graffiti art on a wall near the headquarters of Britain’s eavesdropping agency, Government Communications Headquarters, known as GCHQ, in Cheltenham, western England April 16, 2014. (Eddie Keogh/Reuters). The Council on Foreign Relations is holding a half-day, multi-session symposium to bring together leading policymakers and experts for candid analysis of […]
4224 28 by Adam Segal November 18, 2016 A man is silhouetted against a video screen with an Facebook logo as he poses with an Samsung S4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, August 14, 2013. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters) Here is a quick round-up of this week’s technology headlines and related stories you may have missed: 1. Disinformation. Disinformation everywhere. Since Donald Trump’s […]
