The legacy of Jay Powell at the Fed

The outgoing chair has made some mistakes, but his decision to stand up to Trump was heroic

Ukraine has turned its battlefront into a charnel house with Russia’s casualty rate at 35,000 a month.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Putin and Trump don’t have the cards

The wars waged by Russia and the US in Ukraine and Iran are case studies in geopolitical self-harm

Elon Musk’s latest pitch to the public market involves a mooted US$2 trillion valuation for SpaceX, where he is CEO, chief technical officer and chairman.

SpaceX writes Tesla’s future in the stars

The IPO of Elon Musk’s space company reveals similarities with his electric vehicle maker

A cargo ship docks at the Dammam Port in Saudi Arabia. Middle Eastern nations have been doubling down on trade with Asean and the broader Asian continent.

Asean will benefit from breakthrough trade deal between UK and Gulf states

Britain and the Middle East states have a shared interest in the Asian region

Toyota may be the world's biggest car company by volume, but it has hardly set the world of EVs alight, mainly because it has continued to bet heavily on hybrids such as the Vellfire Hybrid.
THINKING ALOUD

In the EV race, Japan’s most dangerous rival could be closer to home than China

Chinese carmakers may have pulled ahead in tech and value, but something else is holding the Japanese back

Cuba is more economically fragile than at any point since 1993, with nationwide blackouts now routine.

Will Washington’s Cuba campaign succeed this time?

There’s a strong case for ousting President Miguel Diaz-Canel, but any attempt could risk real complications

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the world leaders who visited China to meet President Xi Jinping in rapid succession recently.

China’s diplomatic successes are broad but shallow

It asks little of its foreign ‘partners’, and gives little back

The energy shock from the Strait of Hormuz's closure has not led to a collapse of Pakistan's public finances. There is no currency crisis, either.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Pakistan is defying some long-held investing myths

Islamabad’s unlikely role as a broker of peace in the Gulf has put it back on institutional investors’ radar

If there are Singapore depository receipts for Taiwan stocks, their accessibility for Singapore investors will be improved.
HOCK LOCK SIEW

Investors can ride Taiwan’s AI boom with Singapore depository receipts

Several are available, offering an option to tap the sizzling stock market

A pharmaceutical firm in India has launched a weight-loss injection that costs from 1,290 rupees (S$17) a month.
THINKING ALOUD

A GLP-1 tsunami is headed for the vice industry. Good.

A new wave of cheap weight-loss drugs heralds an existential crisis for the sin economy