World News Insights: Opinion Articles

For the first time in history, China’s two largest technology companies posted a decline in revenue as the nation faces unprecedented growth hurdles and an uncertain outlook. But 2,000 miles away, even bigger challenges await one of Southeast Asia’s biggest companies. Sea Ltd., which operates…

Tens of millions of workers had to adjust to working remotely at the onset of the pandemic, and over two years later we continue to debate the right balance between in-person and virtual work. Workers and their employers are still experimenting to see what works best, making the most of an…

In the eyes of Hong Kong’s new leader John Lee, the city has a publicity problem. It has a great story to tell, and just needs to do a better job of showcasing its achievements to the world. “We should not belittle ourselves,” Lee told lawmakers a few days after taking office last month, saying he…

For weeks, Bassam al-Sheikh Hussein did not believe that his savings and life’s work had disappeared. He trusted the authorities and the “the Lira is fine” propaganda campaign. He deposited the money he had worked 20 years to save in the bank that used to welcome him kindly! However, after the…

SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son and Credit Suisse AG Chairman Axel Lehmann doubtless wish their respective firms had never met disgraced financier Lex Greensill. But hopefully they — and the finance industry at large — can learn lessons from the scandal that ensued. …

You can’t step into the same river twice, the philosopher Heraclitus said in a different context. If he were alive in the era of anthropogenic climate change, he might add that you may no longer even have that river to step into. And even if you do, you might not want to, because its fluids could…

There’s a perfectly good reason to break open the secrets of social-media giants. Over the past decade, governments have watched helplessly as their democratic processes were disrupted by misinformation and hate speech on sites like Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube and…

Industrial China is alive and well despite concerns of an economic slowdown. It just doesn’t look like it did before — or at least, what everyone is used to. Data this past week showed a dismal picture: Industrial output rose 3.8% from a year earlier, which was below expectations, fixed…

It is not very important whether or not the novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed in compliance with Khomeini’s old fatwa. The Iranian newspaper Kayhan commended Hadi Matar for his heinous act, bestowing Khomeinist legitimacy derived from this fatwa upon it. Even the Iranian “diplomat” Mohammad…

The current political crisis in Baghdad appears to be the beginning of the end of the Iraqi political system created under the American umbrella of 2003-2011. I was the director of the American Embassy political affairs office most of the time between 2004 and 2009, and I acknowledge a sense of…

As one of the 21st Century’s most powerful data brokers, Facebook is best known for its role in sucking up the personal information of billions of users for its advertising clients. That lucrative model has led to ever-heightening risks — Facebook recently shared private messages between a Nebraska…

There are more than a few commentators and observers who are afraid of what might happen to the United States if the F.B.I. continues its investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents. They are afraid of violence and civil unrest as the most dedicated Trump supporters take up…