Opinions
Possible outcome of Trump-Xi meeting: A truce in trade war
American businesses are bracing for a painful escalation in President Donald Trump's trade war with China. Yet they might just get a reprieve. If history repeats itself — and most analysts are betting it will — Trump and President Xi Jinping will agree to some kind of cease-fire when they… Read
The Carlos Ghosn case – the return of Japan Inc
In just a few days, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will host the G20 summit, bringing leaders from around the world to Osaka and shining a spotlight on Japan’s advancement as a liberal and democratic country with open economies. Unfortunately, this is not the country I have seen lately; instead, I have seen… Read
Obama is a silent partner in Trump's boasts
President Donald Trump has a silent partner behind several of the accomplishments he likes to boast about: Barack Obama. Despite assailing his Democratic predecessor for waging a "cruel and heartless war on American energy," for example, Trump can brag about U.S. energy supremacy thanks to the sector's growth in the… Read
U.S.-China trade talks: Where they are and what's at stake
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at the G20 summit in Osaka this week to discuss how to end a nearly year-long trade war. Trade talks between the United States and China broke down in early May when Trump accused Beijing of making a U-turn… Read
As tensions rise, U.S. plan for Iran is unclear
When Barack Obama was preparing his fight for a second term as U.S. president in 2012, his administration was preoccupied with two big foreign policy crises. The first was the potential unravelling of the euro zone, which his team worried could cause an economic shock and cost him the White… Read
How Japan turned against its 'bazooka'-wielding BOJ chief
In late January 2016, the lights were on well past midnight on the seventh floor of the Bank of Japan's headquarters. Inside, a handful of bureaucrats were working on a shock plan. It was almost three years into central bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's audacious campaign to jolt Japan out of… Read
China blinks, but divide from Hong Kong remains
The leader of China, it turns out, may not be all-powerful. Faced with huge and disruptive protests in Hong Kong, China blinked. The decision to shelve the legislation that sparked the demonstrations shows that limits still exist to how hard China can, or is willing, to push. It also exposed… Read
Massive blackouts and the risk of cyberwarfare
Electricity supplies across Argentina, Uruguay and parts of Paraguay were blacked out for several hours on June 16 when the regional power grid suffered a cascading failure. There is no suggestion that anything malicious caused the blackout; most likely it was an equipment failure. But earlier at the weekend, the… Read
The race to win the U.S. Democratic primary: Where does it stand?
A record 23 Democrats of diverse genders, races and political backgrounds are lining up to try to stop Republican U.S. President Donald Trump from winning a second term in the 2020 elections. Though much will change in the more than 500 days to go before polls open, a nationwide Fox… Read
The media has a big problem: Who will pay for the news?
News organizations are being challenged by technology giants and unsettled by a broader lack of trust but they have a much deeper problem: most people don't want to pay for online news, the Reuters Institute found. Swiftly accelerating mobile internet and smartphones have revolutionised the delivery of news and destroyed… Read
