Showing 1 - 10 of 19
7-Eleven deserves more than shareholder primacy
News, Published on 09/09/2024
» Over two weeks from the first report of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc's bid to acquire Japan's Seven & I Holdings Co, the battle lines for public opinion are being drawn.
I'm with the band -- how music made me British
News, Published on 31/08/2024
» 'Wonderwall' is all I remember. The rest of Oasis is a blur to me. I was still living in New York City when the band had their global breakthrough -- and that song was everywhere. From the album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, it's one of the few mid-1990s songs whose lyrics this Boomer can remember. I admired its Beatles-like off-kilter poetics, its love-will-save-the-day (if not, maybe it'll just save me) sentimentality. And Liam Gallagher's voice, while not beautiful, was pure plaintive Britpop, a plangent inflexion echoing from as far back as 1962's Love Me Do by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Taylor Swift can learn a lot from Billie Eilish
News, Published on 17/05/2024
» Not long ago, I lamented the lack of climate anthems. Perhaps we'll find one on Hit Me Hard and Soft, the third studio album from Billie Eilish that's due to drop today.
It's getting too hot to vote in India
News, David Fickling, Published on 24/04/2024
» How do you run a democracy when the mercury rises above 40 degrees Celsius? That's the problem faced by voters in India. A swath of the country's east is sweltering under a heatwave. The city centre of Kolkata has emptied out, schools have cancelled classes, and one TV presenter collapsed on air with heat stroke.
Disney's 'Shogun' has a lot to teach the West
News, Published on 28/02/2024
» One of the most famous tales ever set in Japan is back. Walt Disney Co is spending millions on a glossy new adaptation of the James Clavell saga Shogun, the story of the Englishman who arrives in 1600s Japan and goes on to become a samurai.
A 14th century warning for the 21st century
News, Published on 12/02/2024
» A history student told me recently that he loves researching the 20th century but can't see the point of the Middle Ages. I responded that it can be a big help to understanding our own times -- very troubled times -- to view them in the context even of the remote past.
Don't rely on last year's trends for global economy
Oped, Published on 16/01/2024
» Behavioural economists have popularised the term "recency bias" to describe our tendency to be disproportionately influenced by the latest events compared to earlier ones. Could this cognitive phenomenon explain why numerous analysts have a rather optimistic tilt for the world economy in 2024? Or are there really positive trends counterbalancing the obvious and mounting challenges to global growth?
Chokepoints could cripple trade
News, Published on 16/01/2024
» When traffic through the Suez Canal ground to a halt in 2021, the extraordinary cost and disruptions to global commerce seemed overwhelming. But 8,000 kilometres from the canals of Suez and Panama lie even more important shipping lanes, chokepoints that could cripple global trade should any disaster befall them.
US-led naval force may not end Houthi ship strikes
News, Published on 22/12/2023
» US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has announced a new military effort in the Middle East: Operation Prosperity Guardian. It will bring together a coalition of nations to safeguard the dangerous waters of the Red Sea, North Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean from surprisingly sophisticated attacks by Iranian-sponsored terrorists from the Houthi rebellion in Yemen.
Prabowo gets a TikTok makeover
News, Published on 12/12/2023
» Indonesians will get a chance to hear from their presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls in the first of five televised debates this week. The theme of the discussion is, among other issues, human rights. It should provide an opportunity for voters in the world's third-largest democracy to probe the calibre and character of the front-runner for the country's top job.