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Eric Schmidt describes activity on board the U.S.S. Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, a critical part of the U.S. navy's air capabilities in the Iraq-Syrian war. Aircraft from the carrier are helping cut supply lines of Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria in 2014-2015.

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About 500 million smartphones are expected to be sold in China in 2015, according to IDC. Xiaomi has gained a firm foothold in China among young people and a fan base similiar to the way Apple is seen in the U.S. The next phase of growth is in countries where there is still room to grow with a large number of people without smartphones. Founder Lin Bin is a former Google executive. He has hired another Google employee Hugo Barra to plan the next stage of expansion overseas. He says Xiaomi will continue to focus on areas other than Europe and the U.S. where there are weak telecom carriers. Xiaomi's pricing model is based on selling quality smartphones with many features at lower prices. In the U.S. and Europe where large service providers offer large subsidies to users of smartphones Xiaomi cannot compete because its pricing advantage disappears. This means taking on the market in places such as India, Indonesia and Brazil where there are many people looking for a smartphone at a smaller price. One obstacle is that Xiaomi has few patents, and competitors are likely to mount paten challenges in these markets. In India, the second largest market, Ericsson has mounted a patent challenge leading to a court order suspending sale of Xiaomi phones. Xiaomi's strengths in China lie in savvy use of the internet and media to market its phones, using some of the methods used by Apple. ...

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Issues relaed to tech startups driving up rents in residential neighborhoods of San Francisco, London, Berlin, Stockholm, and other cities.

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Rachel Swarns describes life for Latinos working parttime or working close to the minimum wage in New York City.

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Sony's television business is expected to show a profit in 2014 after years of losses. Sony is concentrating on the high end 4K part of the television business. It has 8% global market share in televisions compared to Samsung at 27% and LG at 15%.

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South Africa suffers from power shortages reducing output at metals and engineering firms. The electricity supplier Eskom has a large $20 billion funding gap and has cash shortages. About $230 million is owed by South African cities which collect payments. IMF estimates are for slower growth with a ceiling of 2.5% with the dire power situation. Growth in 2014 is estimated at a mere 1.4%. The government of president Zuma is not seen by experts as effective in tackling the economy and problems at Eskom. Moody's has cut Eskom's debt to junk status making it difficult to attract financing. Foreign investment is declining.

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Fronterra Cooperative Group Ltd. cuts it forecast payout for the current dairy season to 4.70 New Zealand dollars per kilo (U.S. $3.70) for milk solids, a sharp decline from NZ$8.40 in 2013. This reduces farmer incomes by NZ$6 billion. Farmers are culling herds and cutting the size of farms as it becomes unprofitable to remain in dairy farming. Milk makes up 30% of overseas sales for New Zealand. Lending to farmers increased 42% since 2008 to NZ$34.5 billion.

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The art of storytelling is important to startup companies and to job candidates in any field. What makes you interesting or different and worth the commitment as a startup or job candidate is the silent question that is posed in encounters with the public or the interviewer. Alina Tugend touches on the personal narrative we all need to get right for advancement. The Freytag pyramid provides a structure for the storytelling- with the first part the scene, second the rising action, third the turning point, fourth the denouement or closing which gives the listener some sort of release. For it to be effective our narrative has to be about our unique experiences with detail, it has to be genuine, it does not have to be perfect, just make that connection and gain empathy, trust of the listener, hopefully a new fan. For it to be real it becomes important to not self-censor. Other people may have the same experience but it is not talked about much, that itself may add to its newness and claim to being something fresh, and it may take some courage overcoming fear of ridicule to tell the story. Telling stories also can work to bring an organization or different departments work better around shared perceptions, values and goals. In this sense stories and narrative are about everyday life and anywhere we are trying to achieve something worthwhile. ...

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The Japanese yen surged in value following the 2008 financial crisis as it was seen as a safe haven. As a result the Korean won declined by 42% against the Japanese yen. This continued till 2012. Japanese companies had to compete overseas at 80 yen to the dollar and shifted operations overseas. Now with the policy of monetary expansion of the Japanese central bank the situation is reversed in December 2014. The Korean won is up 40% against the Japanese yen since 2012. The Japanese yen is now down to 118 to the dollar in Dec. 2014. Abenomics gets a new mandate with the snap election in Dec. 2014. Aaron Back says Samsung may have gained ground in televisions and smartphones but other areas in electronics such as chips, displays and image sensors remain competitive and responsive to price. In autos Hyundai market share has declined to 4.4% by Dec. 2014 from 5.1% in 2011, according to MotorIntelligence.com. So far Japanese companies have used the currency advantage to improve profits and come up with better products. By using profits to invest in new technology and productivity Japanese companies can provide more features at the same price points to gain market share without having to cut price. After years of declining margins in electronics, autos and other markets this appears to be the current strategy. Another reason for this is that Japanese companies have already shifted production overseas, the shift being higher for Honda than for Toyota. Technological improvements from investments in R&D in Japan can be transferred to manufacturing operations overseas just as Apple is doing with smartphones manufacturing in China. The currency shift also improves Japan's position relative to American and European competitors in international markets....