This Month
Just how naughty was AirTrunk’s Robin Khuda?
Let’s meditate on the businessman of the year’s fantastic origin story: his use of super to pay employees.
- Mark Di Stefano
AirTrunk’s $23.5b AI pay day
Blackstone emerged as the winning bidder in the year’s biggest merger and acquisition deal, netting its founder Robin Khuda a $1 billion-plus payday.
- Paul Smith and Anthony Macdonald
Robin Khuda is the ringleader of this year’s biggest M&A deal
The founder of AirTrunk has cashed in on the inexorable rise in demand for processing power and built a vast fortune on the rise of cloud computing.
- Paul Smith and Tess Bennett
August
Bangladesh protesters back Nobel laureate for government role
Protesters have called for Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to be named chief adviser of a new interim government after PM Sheikh Hasina fled the country.
- John Reed, Benjamin Parkin and Lucy Fisher
Bangladesh protesters to march on government after deadly clashes
At least 91 people were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday in a wave of violence in the country of 170 million, as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
- Ruma Paul
July
- Analysis
- Global economy
China’s low-tech manufacturers hanging on by their fingernails
China is shifting more to high-tech and EV manufacturing as its clothing, toy and furniture factories struggle against anaemic orders, trade restrictions and competition.
- William Langley
June
Why Hong Kong ‘is still good’ for commercial lawyers
Australian lawyers are missing out on opportunities in Asian markets, says a newly promoted partner at King & Wood Mallesons.
- Maxim Shanahan
August 2023
- Opinion
- Soft commodities
India key in recipe to avoid global food crisis
Rice and wheat shortages now threaten a world food emergency to rival the last one in 2007–08
- Peter Timmer
The data that signals ‘students’ are coming for work, not uni
Universities are bleeding money as thousands of international students enrol in dodgy colleges as a means of accessing paid work.
- Julie Hare
April 2023
Southern Asia swelters as Bangkok hits 54 degrees
Recent extreme heat in Thailand smashed electricity consumption records there as Bangladesh and India also suffer.
- Reuters
October 2022
Europe faces ‘unprecedented risk’ of gas shortage, IEA says
The IEA says in its quarterly gas report that EU countries will need to reduce use by 13 per cent over the winter in case of a complete Russian cut-off amid the war in Ukraine.
- David McHugh
August 2022
- Opinion
- Globalisation
Is China finally hitting the economic wall?
Globalisation is heading into a perfect storm – and for China in particular it could not be coming at a worse time.
- Arvind Subramanian and Josh Felman
January 2022
Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to another four years in prison
Monday’s guilty verdict on three counts comes on top of her December 5 conviction on charges of inciting public unrest and a separate count of breaching COVID-19 protocols.
- Richard C. Paddock
December 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Human progress unexpectedly stumbles on during pandemic
Even during a health emergency, the capitalist system delivered enough growth to lift people out of poverty.
- Robin Harding
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
What South Africa and omicron tell us about inequality
There is still much to learn about omicron, but one thing is clear. Stark inequality, both within nations and between them, is good for pathogens.
- David Pilling
October 2021
- Opinion
- Climate policy
In the developing world, the chat about climate change is different
No one can do much about climate change if they are trapped in poverty already. Australia can help to fix both challenges.
- Tanveer Ahmed
September 2021
Xi pledges to stop building coal-fired plants outside China
China is by far the biggest producer of coal domestically and the largest financier of coal-fired power plants abroad.
- Somini Sengupta and Rick Gladstone
July 2021
What remained of the Surfside condo is levelled with explosives
Demolition was initially thought to be weeks away – until the increasingly urgent forecasts that said Tropical Storm Elsa could lash the area with strong winds and heavy rain.
- Updated
- Reis Thebault and Brittany Shammas
June 2021
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Delta variant adds urgency to nations’ vaccination programs
The health consequences of the delta variant in advanced countries appear less severe so far. This is due in part to a better understanding of COVID-19 some 18 months into the pandemic. But most important is vaccination.
- Mohamed El-Erian
May 2021
India’s COVID-19 surge rocks global shipping
Ports including Singapore and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates have barred ships from changing crew members who have recently travelled from India.
- Updated
- Harry Dempsey and Benjamin Parkin