Even before the release of the Hollywood movie starring Julia Roberts, the Balinese inland cultural and tourist center of Ubud had been overrun with visitors seeking to follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir. Balinese believe good and bad balance, even if one seems more evident at the moment.
Anti-whaling vigilantes who harass Japanese fishing vessels are being featured for daredevilry in US cable television programming that is meant to garner sympathy for their cause. But it is time these wildlife conservationists are reined in for their acts of vandalism and violence.
Dreaded “Triple Ds”– deflation, demographics, and deleveraging– are stalling American economic recovery and also creating conditions that will erode Asian exports. Production costs for Asian exporters are rising while consumers in the U.S. wait for further falls in prices of goods. This spells danger for the world economy.
India has persuaded the European Patent Office to reverse a decision to award Chinese pharmaceutical company Livzon with patents based on two herbaceous plants. The u-turn is payoff for India's decade-long effort to draw up a detailed database of its own traditional medicinal formulations.
The upwardly mobile sales graph of South Korea's Hyundai Motors in the US auto market is an outcome of the company's combative and cheeky advertising as well as the intrinsic quality of its various models. This combination has helped Hyundai pose a challenge to Japanese and American competitors.
The struggling United States auto industry and its counterpart in China appear to be heading on opposite trajectories, but as standards become increasingly common labor activists recognize similarities in the challenges facing workers and the need to shape global alliances.
Azov City, near the mouth of the River Don, hopes to attract up to 25 million visitors annually as one of four far-flung zones exempt from a gambling ban imposed in Russia last year. For now, its isolated first casino welcomes up to 400 people a day, leaving much to do before an estimated US$1 billion drain in state tax revenues resulting from the ban is plugged.
Last week's landmark healthcare legislation in the United States ignores the potential savings for overseas patients travelling to high-quality, lower-cost hospitals in Asia. The added cost of reforms to insurers and consumers could breathe new life into medical travel.
A "cash for clunkers" scheme and Formula One sponsorship could prove a turning point for AvtoVAZ, Russia's largest automaker and producer of Lada cars, after a 13-year low in annual sales. The life of an entire town may hinge on it.
Toyota's fall from grace is echoed by the disillusionment Japanese consumers increasingly show towards auto ownership, while management's handling of the company's multi-million vehicle recalls adds to concern that the world will no long consider "quality" and "Japan" to be synonymous.
India is concerned that the arrest in Sri Lanka of losing presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka signals a slide towards authoritarian rule. New Delhi had quietly wanted President Mahinda Rajapaksa to win a second term; it is now unhappy with what it wished for.
This weekend's opening of the US$4.6 billion Resorts World Sentosa and its all-important casino adds a new dimension to gambling in Singapore. The government's firm hand and tough regulations mean the resort and yet-to-be-opened rival Marina Bay Sands will have to outperform the world's most profitable casinos to earn decent returns.
Changes in Chinese government procurement rules are set to give a turbo-charged boost to Chery Automobile, BYD and other local makers of small cars, already enjoying a boom as China runs away from the United States as the world's biggest car market.
China's tropical island of Hainan, one of the country's poorest provinces, is to become an international tourist destination, by government edict, with visitors lured by fine beaches, duty-free shopping and maybe even gambling. Concern in Macau and Hong Kong at the new competition may be misplaced - Hainan has a history of thwarting plans to make it rich.
The Lion City's first multi-billion dollar casino resort welcomes visitors this weekend. The gaming floors won't open for weeks - or months - but the chips are down already when it comes to profits.
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