Interesting observation from the FT: None of this will give president Dmitry Medvedev sleepless nights. With record foreign reserves, oil and gas prices high and economic growth strong, Russia is well placed to weather much greater storms than this. The authorities can finance public spending, war costs included, for years to come. Also, the financial market sell-off follows a long asset-price boom, which was, in any case, running out of steam. But life could be somewhat harder for Russian policymakers as they struggle to contain rampant inflation, the top economic challenge. Also, with foreign credit costs rising, big infrastructure schemes could become more costly. With the west powerless to stop Russia’s Georgian campaign militarily or politically, there is an obvious attraction in considering economic levers instead. But the US and the European Union should resist the temptation. Even when the political interests of the west and Russia clash, as they have done ...

In the battle for supremacy in the aircraft business, there are only two real players - Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Airbus (EPA:EAD).  These two companies compete for market share in commercial and military planes, with demand far exceeding each company’s manufacturing ability, and both have a long order backlog.  Some of Boeing’s customers, for example, will wait as long as five years before the planes they ordered are delivered.  And while they fill these orders, both companies must keep innovating.  As oil prices continue to soar, and airline companies like Delta and American Airlines struggle with tight margins, planes that fly faster, fit more passengers, and consume less fuel are at a premium.

And so each company has designed its own new super-plane - for Airbus, the A380, and for Boeing the 787 Dreamliner.  The Airbus plane has already debuted (its first flight was in October 2007),

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If you are at all interested in the Georgia issue, many of these photos are unforgettable. TBILISI, Georgia—After several weeks of protest, opposition demonstrators overrun police barricades, storm the parliament’s first session and force President Shevardnadze to abandon the parliament and his chancellery. Pro-Shevardnadze demonstrators are chased away. The police force changed sides, and opposition demonstrations and vigils took place in front of the Georgian Parliament, Nov. 22, 2003. © Thomas Dworzak / Magnum Photos

Ever-Glory International Group, Inc. is opening two additional La Go Go retail stores in downtown Shanghai this August. The stores are located in City Center Shopping Mall and Longzhimeng Shopping Mall in Shanghai and occupy 115 square meters and 71 square meters, respectively. Both shopping centers are in large, densely populated commercial districts. With these two [...]