President Donald Trump’s apparent willingness to exit an agreement with Iran could undermine any hope of negotiations with another adversary: North Korea. The credibility of Washington’s international commitments is now at stake, and mixed messages coming out of the White House are only exacerbating the situation. Trump last week refused to formally certify that Tehran […]

As the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting drew to a close over the weekend, Tao Zhang, the deputy managing director of the fund, outlined his view on the global economy in his first interview with an international media organization since joining the IMF from the People’s Bank of China. Zhang joined the IMF in 2016, […]

North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador warned Monday that the situation on the Korean Peninsula “has reached the touch-and-go point and a nuclear war may break out any moment.” Kim In Ryong told the U.N. General Assembly’s disarmament committee that North Korea is the only country in the world that has been subjected to “such an […]

Commodities gained on the back of better-than-expected China producer prices and the dollar firmed ahead of Asia’s Tuesday trading day. Copper prices surged overnight after China’s producer price index for September beat expectations in its Monday reveal. That metal cracked the $7,000 per ton level, reaching heights not seen since 2014. Copper last traded at […]

North Korean race-goers who once risked three years hard labor for gambling are now able to bet on local horse races, as the one-party state searches for new ways to generate hard currency in the wake of tough international sanctions. In recent weeks, North Korea’s access to foreign money has been significantly limited by a […]

Admiring the spectacular floral decorations gracing Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to celebrate the Communist Party Congress, I had a fleetingly mischievous thought: Where is, I wondered, a dollar-shaped flower pot? Perish the thought, of course. But think of this. By intermittently pegging their currency to the dollar, and closely managing the dollar-yuan exchange rate, the Chinese, […]

China is boasting of its growing economic and political development as the country comes to a standstill for the once-every-five-years Communist Party Congress. Over the weekend, China’s ruling Communist Party said it has agreed to amend the party constitution amid expectations that it will be incorporating President Xi Jinping’s political thought. The communique came after […]

South Korean police are seeking an arrest warrant for Cho Yang-ho, chairman of Hanjin Group, the parent of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd, on charges of breach of trust following their probe intoconstruction work at his house, a police official said on Monday. In July, police raided the headquarters of Korean Air Lines, South Korea’s […]

Canadian athletic apparel retailer Lululemon, hungry to expand, could lean further on Alibaba to drive growth, according to CEO Laurent Potdevin. And while the relationship with China’s e-commerce giant pays dividends, Lululemon isn’t worrying about threats from its main U.S. rival: Some reports have said Amazon is planning to create its own sports apparel line, […]

Household debt in Australia has been on the rise as more people are taking out loans to buy houses in the country’s red-hot property market. But Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said the situation is under control thanks to a series of “strong” measures undertaken by the country’s regulators. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, […]