China’s emotional economy is on the rise

A giant inflatable Labubu toy floats on the water at Victoria Harbour on October 25, 2025 in Hong Kong, China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images 28-year-old Rebecca Zhou, born in China’s Sichuan province, owns an assortment of Moomin merchandise — bags, mugs, and figurines featuring the white hippo-looking cartoon character from Finland…

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Iran war puts listings on hold

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) building in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Dhiraj Singh | Bloomberg | Getty Images Global volatility is threatening a pipeline of multibillion-dollar stock market listings in India, the world’s busiest IPO market. Payments app PhonePe’s move on Monday to halt its listing plans has underscored a growing strain…

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Gold loans are thriving in India

Hello, I am Priyanka Salve, writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to the latest edition of Inside India — your one-stop destination for stories and developments from the world’s fastest growing large economy. This week, I unpack what’s driving the rapid surge in gold‑loan growth in the world’s second‑largest bullion market. Loans against gold are…

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Trump warns to ‘blow up’ South Pars gas field in Iran if strikes against Qatar energy continue

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in central Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 12, 2026. Claudia Greco | Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that if Iran continued targeting Qatar’s energy facilities, America would “massively blow up the…

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