China plans to give a further boost to its economy by spending $503B on expansion of its railways. As China turns to investments in infrastructure to bolster growth and improve connectivity across the country, it plans to spend 3.5 trillion yuan ($503 billion) to expand its railway system by 2020. According to details released at…
Just look at Mongolia if you think air pollution in China has been bad. Levels of particulate matter in the air have risen to five times worse than Beijing during the past week’s bout with the worst smog of the year and are almost 80 times the recommended safety level set by the World Health Organization. While acrid…
According to a new congressional study, while being far ahead of France, the No. 2 weapons dealer with $15 billion in sales, the United States again ranked first in global weapons sales last year, signing deals for about $40 billion, or half of all agreements in the worldwide arms bazaar. With Qatar signing deals for…
What shape Brexit will take is still the question as the new year approaches. In return for securing control of immigration as well as most of its money and laws, the U.K. will surrender most of its existing economic and trade ties, according to a new report by a group of academics. “I’d put my…
As families, kids, and even child-less millennials looking for a new way to socialize with friends, board games are returning as a mainstream entertainment among these groups. The board game boom has led to cafes and bars focused on gaming apart from leading to the creation of new games. According to Euromonitor International, with expected…
Consumer virtual reality (VR) has failed to gain traction from investors heading into the New Year even though it might have been a buzz phrase in the tech scene for most of 2016, according to a venture capitalist. “I think 2017 will be what we call the winter of VR … especially from an investment…
According to a study by the wine and spirits industry, more than half of the average Brit’s Christmas drink bill will go the taxman. According to research by the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA), U.K. consumers pay more in alcohol duty than most of their European Union (EU). In fact, in comparison to the typical…
Despite a conviction on negligence charges over a state payout made while she served as France’s finance minister in 2008, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde escaped punishment and kept her job. Hours after the verdict was issued by a panel of judges in Paris with no fine or jail term, the executive board representing the IMF’s 189…
Parity between the value of the euro and dollar would be brought about by divergence in monetary policy between the United States and Europe, according to ING Group. Hitting the lowest level since August 2003 when it traded as low as 1.0357, on Thursday the euro hit a low of 1.0364 against the dollar. Due…
Saudi Arabia has had its way at OPEC for decades now. But now Riyadh finds its power waning against a resurgent Iran and Iraq all of a sudden as the position has turned. By hinting it’s prepared to walk away from the negotiations, Saudi Arabia is trying to reassert its authority as Organization of Petroleum…
