OK, THURSDAY'S jobs report settles it. We're going to need a bigger stimulus. But does the president know that?

SO YOU think China's 6 per cent growth will power a global recovery. Think again. Economists, for example, can't put a gloss on how ugly Japan's data are getting.

(TOKYO) The US dollar was stable against the yen in Asian trade yesterday ahead of a report that is expected to show another wave of job losses in the United States, dealers said.

TRUE to the enterprising spirit of the genre, an upcoming event for entrepreneurs, The BlueSky Festival, focuses on what's positive in the current downturn.

THE article 'Westech proposes $10m RTO deal' (BT, July 2) should not only raise eyebrows as mentioned, it should agitate the regulators and anyone who cares about good corporate governance to challenge what is happening.

A STABLE Indian government at the centre after a fairly long time has led to anticipation and hype over a pro-growth agenda in India's annual budget to be presented by the new Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, in Parliament on July 6.

IN the aftermath of the ousting of Saddam Hussein and the 'liberation' of Iraq by US forces, Bush administration officials who had earlier compared Saddam to Adolf Hitler were extending that historical analogy and suggesting that post-war Iraq would be 'like' post-World War II Germany, Japan and Italy. America's military occupation would help replace totalitarian regimes with a thriving democratic system.

HAS the Pakistani government, after years of vacillation, finally gotten serious about eliminating the Taleban threat? Maybe.

AT the risk of sounding like a broken record, this week was very much like last week - which in turn was like the week before that which, if you really get down to brass tacks, was all about the browning of the green, or if you prefer, doubts over the strength of the supposed 'green shoots' economic recovery.

CONSERVATIVE relative to peers. While the big Chinese sports shoe producers have been giving positive growth guidance of more than 20 per cent y-o-y for this year, Hongxing remains cautious and continues to guide for a decline in earnings.

A QUESTION is cropping up more and more on the streets of Tokyo: Male or female? It's not an exaggeration to point out that many young Japanese men are looking a bit ladylike.