Norway’s US$2 trillion wealth fund is sounding a warning on Iran

It is now planning for all sorts of potentially bleak scenarios as global economic resilience is tested

In more dynamic talent markets, domain-switching is not merely tolerated; it is treated as evidence of range and adaptive capacity.
STEWARDSHIP MATTERS

The ‘CV trap’: Why Singapore must hire for potential, not pedigree

If the city-state is to turn AI into a national advantage, companies must rethink how they evaluate talent

The concern is that graduates will lack the judgement to know when AI has supplied knowledge badly.

AI may reshape the labour market, but the deeper disruption is in education

We must relook how students are being formed, not just how workers are being retrained

A potential inflow of wealth from the Middle East could help Singapore's banking trio as interest rates soften and net interest margins inevitably face compression this year.
HOCK LOCK SIEW

DBS, OCBC, UOB could benefit as the Middle East’s ultra-rich relook where to park their billions

The three local lenders have all spent years expanding their private banking capabilities to capture a growth in global wealth flows

Three of the most successful Chinese firms – Temu, Shein and TikTok – have tried to distance themselves from their roots. None has succeeded, the writer notes.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Why firms are pivoting from ‘China-shedding’ to ‘China-maxxing’

The approach of hiding one’s ties to Beijing has run its course for the bigger players

Most of US President Donald Trump’s temporal nihilism operates on longer, less-legible timelines.

Trump is spending tomorrow’s security today

Neither incompetence nor impulsiveness explains the US president’s decision to start a war

A garment factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Targets of the US probes include Vietnam, which had the largest trade surplus with the US in January.

US tariff turmoil: Will partners in Asia and Europe break away from their 2025 deals?

For economies already hit by the war in Iran, America’s new ‘unfair trade practices probes’ spell only more trouble

It is still possible that a ground invasion is ordered, or someone reaches for the nuclear button in pursuit of a quick end to the Middle East conflict.
THINKING ALOUD

Nothing should be ruled out if Iran war drags on for much longer

Religious convictions on every side are also weighing on the willingness to fight

The illusion of human control can be more dangerous than its clear absence, says the writer.

Why it’s hard for humans to have the final say over AI

We need to learn from the mistakes we have made in the past

The importance of self-reliance in China’s strategic thinking also helps explain why, when things go awry, it can seem distant from its partners.

A Maoist survival guide to the Iranian energy crisis

For a self-reliant power like China, no supplier is ever irreplaceable