North American 3D film profits dropped by 18 percent last year compared to 2010’s figures. The 3D-ready US and Canadian markets struggle to cope with consumer fatigue: “Consumers criticize uneven content quality and overpriced tickets,” according to PwC. On a global scale, 3D is expanding as theaters renew their infrastructure to accommodate digital technology — especially […]
Tag Archives: infrastructure
Sports as Diplomacy: How Small Gulf Countries Use Big Sports to Gain Global Influence
This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English.
Deadly Clashes on South Sudan’s Path to Freedom
Days after Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accepted the referendum results granting southern Sudan its independence, more than 100 people have died in clashes between the south’s army and a renegade general. The fighting is the latest in a wave of violence that has all but extinguished the party atmosphere in the south, while raising serious questions over the future of the world’s newest nation
Bankers See a Bonanza in Post-Gaddafi Libya
Muammar Gaddafi remains hunkered down in Tripoli, ever defiant despite the the heaviest bombing of NATO’s three-month campaign. But outside Libya, the talk has moved on from war to the business opportunities offered by a post-Gaddafi Libya
Japan Disaster Drives Oil Below $100
Oil prices dropped below $100 a barrel Monday after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, denting demand for crude from the world’s third-largest economy.
China: Nuclear-Power Projects Move Ahead Amid Safety Fears
Even for a country known for completing massive infrastructure projects with frightening speed, China’s nuclear-power-plant building spree boggles the mind. China has 13 reactors in operation now and is currently building another 27 — nearly half of the total under construction worldwide
Half of U.S. pays no federal income tax
Half of U.S. pays no federal income tax Credits for low- and middle-income families exempt many Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it’s simply somebody else’s problem. About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, […]
China cracks down on Chongqing’s gangsters
China’s long simmering battle against corruption has come to a boil, this time in Chongqing, the largest megalopolis in the world. A massive crackdown has implicated millionaires, gangsters, and even police officers
China’s GDP grows nearly 9 percent last quarter
China’s GDP increased 8.9 percent for the third quarter, moving closer toward the goal of 8 percent growth for the year. Criminal trials are underway following months of police investigation.
Top China banker warns on asset bubbles
China needs an “urgent” tightening of monetary policy to prevent the huge stimulus measures introduced this year from inflating stock and property bubbles, one of the country’s leading bankers has warned. Qin Xiao — chairman of China Merchants Bank, the country’s sixth-biggest — says in Thursday’s Financial Times that the government should not be afraid of a “moderate slowdown” in the economy.