From a tent in the rebel-held pocket of Syria, Ahmad Rakan has closely followed news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. More than two years ago, a Russian airstrike destroyed his house in a nearby village during a months-long Syrian government offensive backed by Moscow’s firepower that drove him and tens of thousands of others from their homes.
“We more than anyone else feel their pain,” he said of Ukrainian civilians under Russian bombardment.
For the past seven years, Syrians like Rakan have experienced first-hand Russia’s military might as it struck opposition strongholds, brokered mass surrender deals and deployed military police across their
The cartoon character running off the edge of the cliff makes a useful metaphor for the psychology of overvalued markets. As long as Wile E. Coyote does not realize there is no ground beneath his feet, he can keep running in midair. When he looks down, he plummets.
Although the world of physical matter does not behave this way, financial markets sometimes do, and it could be a helpful lens through which to view the situation confronting China.
For the past 18 months, Chinese authorities have been trying to reduce property prices, leverage and the economy’s dependence on the real-estate industry.
The Hong Kong government is expanding its application of a long-dormant sedition law in what some lawyers and democracy advocates say is intensifying a squeeze on media freedom.
Evidence of the renewed reliance on the sedition legislation came in late last month when China-ruled Hong Kong targeted two media companies. On Dec. 29, about 200 police raided the office of online news outlet Stand News and arrested seven people, charging two editors with conspiracy to publish “seditious publications.”
Authorities have not fully detailed what led to the charges, but the pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao and the online publisher DotDotNews listed specific Stand
Employees at a fast-food restaurant in Sacramento, California, feeling exasperated over working in stifling heat for low wages, demanded more pay and a new air conditioner and got both.
Customer orders poured in to an Italian auto supplier, which struggled to get hold of enough supplies of everything from plastic to microchips to meet the demand.
A water shortage in Taiwan magnified a worldwide scarcity of computer chips, so vital to auto and electronics production.
The global economy had not experienced anything like this for decades. Maybe ever. After years in which ultra-low inflation had become a fixture of economies across
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) took a big gamble shaking up key industries ahead of a political gathering that could decide whether he rules the country indefinitely. Now he is starting to hit the brakes.
In the past few weeks Chinese authorities have moved to soften sweeping policies designed to make the economy less dependent on debt, monopolies and fossil fuels.
While Beijing’s edicts chastened China’s corporate elites, they also began showing signs of hitting ordinary citizens with higher power bills, lost savings and if the economy continues to struggle potentially fewer jobs.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) expressed caution a