In The News

Call for US Ban on Muslims and Business Deals: IBT

Sarah Berger and David Sirota December 9, 2015
Bans of any sort are not good for business, perhaps especially so when a leading Republican presidential candidate calls for a blanket travel ban for Muslims seeking to enter the United States. One out of seven people in the world are Muslim, and simply uttering the broad and unworkable proposal could disrupt investment plans for Donald Trump’s business. “His company's on-the-ground dealings...

Biggest 2016 Risk May Be the One Just Behind Us: Oil

Mike Dolan December 9, 2015
Oil prices have remained stubbornly low – and could go even lower, suggests Mike Dolan for Reuters. The Brent crude oil price was above $100 per barrel and is now down to $40. “More than a trillion dollars of market capitalization has been wiped off oil stocks worldwide,” he writes. “Almost $2 trillion of debt sold by energy and mining companies since 2010, many of them high-yield or 'junk...

The Islamic State Wants the West to Over-React and Hasten Apocalypse

David C. Rapoport December 8, 2015
The Islamic State’s brutality has shifted targets – from expanding territorial control for a so-called caliphate in the Middle East to inspiring random attacks on soft targets in the West. The terrorist group emerged during Syria’s civil war, initially targeting Shia and other Muslims who resisted the primitive beliefs. By 2015, air attacks by the United States, Jordan and other nations combined...

The World Reacts to Candidate’s Proposed Ban on Muslims Entering US

Annie Gowen December 8, 2015
The leading Republican candidate for US president handed the Islamic State terrorists a new recruiting message by proposing a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Other candidates, both Democrats and Republicans, swiftly condemned the proposal as “unhinged” and “unconstitutional.” The billionaire, a former reality television star known for extemporaneous and shocking comments, called for “a...

Laser Beams Aimed at Aircraft at Atsugi Base

December 7, 2015
Laser pointers, a tool for business, are being used as a weapon. Pilots have filed reports about laser lights targeting their plans while flying over Europe, Japan and the United States. The light can flood cockpits, causing distraction and momentary vision problems. “Laserlike beams, possibly from pointers, have targeted U.S. military and Maritime Self-Defense Force aircraft at least 70 times...

San Bernardino Redefines Obama's Remaining Time in Office

Susan Page December 7, 2015
US President Barack Obama entered office charged with ending war in Iraq. His final year in office will center on defeating Islamic State extremists that have emerged amid power vacuums in the same region, in the wake of civil war leaving 200,000 dead in Syria and millions displaced. The new push on terrorism comes as the Islamic State uses social media to incite sympathizers in launching attacks...

COP21: A Potluck Dinner in Paris

John Cassidy December 4, 2015
Nations will likely agree to limit greenhouse gas emissions, but governments must ensure enforcement. The climate conference in Paris does not aim for a treaty. Instead leaders “have agreed to hold a huge potluck dinner, in which each country brings what it can,” explains John Cassidy, writing for the New Yorker. The result is a hodgepodge of targets and pledges to reduce emission levels by some...