opinion - INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR JOURNALISM AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

India: What the smartphone market tells us about its economy

Even as Apple touts India as its next big growth area, clouds are gathering over the country's smartphone market. ...

The Debt Panel: 'Can a bank use my gratuity to pay off a loan?'

I have been with the same bank in the UAE for many years. I changed jobs a few months ago and my previous employer transferred my end-of-service payment worth Dh85,000 ($23,146) to the bank. ...

Can Morocco solve Europe’s energy crisis?

Morocco has big ambitions to export electricity produced by solar and wind farms to Europe, but should it be prioritising such renewable energy for its home market? ...

Bill C-11: Why is YouTube mad at Canada?

A new law that seeks to give Canadian artists a leg up online has left many influencers and tech giants alike seeing red. ...

Is the UK a bad place for tech firms?

Microsoft is seething. Despite months of lobbying and negotiation, the UK's competition regulator ruled yesterday that the tech firm should not complete its proposed multi-billion dollar purchase of the games maker Activision Blizzard. It would have cemented Microsoft's status as a video game uber-giant. ...

KitKat maker Nestle hikes prices but sales still sweet

KitKat maker Nestle has hiked the prices of its products by almost 10% in the past year to offset a "significant" rise in costs. ...

The wedding tech now at the heart of couples' nuptials

Instead of traditional gold bands, Czech couple Jiri and Ondrej Vedral exchanged smart rings on their wedding day. ...

How LinkedIn is changing and why some are not happy

Social media is where we project a version of ourselves. And a pensive Dan Kelsall is nothing like his rowdy character on LinkedIn, the social media platform famously tagged "Facebook for suits". ...

How the GCC can capitalise on assets to become a global centre for value chains

The value chain for an iPhone includes components from suppliers in 43 countries, which get shipped to manufacturing facilities in a few key locations and then back out to warehouses and retailers around the world. ...

How artificial intelligence is matching drugs to patients

Dr Talia Cohen Solal sits down at a microscope to look closely at human brain cells grown in a petri dish. ...

Who are the Rapid Support Forces?

The notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at the centre of this dispute, which is over the move towards civlian rule. ...

The bean that could change the taste of coffee

On the fertile slopes of Mount Kenya, an extinct volcano, smallholder coffee farmer Martin Kinyua has decided against planting new crops. ...

The Ukrainian refugees making a living somewhere new

When Anastacia Kozmina and Oleksiyy Danko woke to the sound of bombing in February 2022, they immediately decided to leave Ukraine. They joined some eight million Ukrainian refugees faced with finding a safe place to live and work. ...

What India needs to do to become a global green hydrogen hub

Green hydrogen can play a crucial role in India's future energy plans as the country aims to become a global destination for the clean fuel. ...

Sri Lanka airline boss says 'don't be a CEO during Covid'

Sri Lanka's national carrier has been struggling against even more headwinds than many of its rivals. ...

Is the US dollar losing its status as the king of currencies?

Last year, the US dollar was king of the world. The world’s reserve currency had once again confirmed its status as the ultimate safe haven, crushing rivals gold, the Swiss franc, Japanese yen and Bitcoin. ...

The coming doom loop

In January 2022, when yields on US ten-year Treasury bonds were still roughly 1% and those on German Bunds were -0.5%, I warned that inflation would be bad for both stocks and bonds. Higher inflation would lead to higher bond yields, which in turn would hurt stocks as the discount factor for dividends rose. But, at the same time, higher yields on “safe” bonds would imply a fall in their price, too, owing to the inverse relationship between yields and bond prices. ...