June trade data may point to global slump

June trade data from Beijing may point to a sharpening slump in global demand, with economists worried that the world's two biggest economies - the United States and China - are slowing and that Europe may already be in recession. Yesterday's machinery order data from Japan and export figures for Taiwan were sharply weaker than expected, increasing the fears that the global economy is stalling.

New Delhi pre-empts rare Gandhi auction

India's government stepped in at the last minute to buy thousands of letters, papers and photographs shedding light on the life of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, before they were to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London today. A government official said India paid around 60 million rupees (HK$8.3 million) for the documents which will be placed in the National Archives. The documents previously belonged to relatives of Hermann Kallenbach, a German-born South African Jew whom Gandhi once described as his 'soulmate'. Quoting from their correspondence, Pulitzer prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld published a biography last year, Great Soul (pictured), which was taken to suggest the two men had had an intimate fair. Lelyveld denied this claim, but the book was banned in Gujarat, Gandhi's home state.

'Yellow Shirt' leader accused of royal insult

Thai media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul (pictured), the leader of the royalist 'yellow shirt' movement, is due back in court after his conviction earlier this year for fraud. This time he faces allegations of insulting the monarchy by quoting a member of the rival 'red shirts'. In February, Sondhi was released on bail of 10 million baht (HK$2.5 million) after a court in Bangkok convicted him of violating the Securities and Exchange Act in a case dating to the mid-1990s.

Greek debt auction to expose market confidence

An auction of Euro1.25 billion (HK$11.9 billion) in six-month bonds from Greece will highlight just how confident the market is that the euro-zone crisis has turned the corner or is set to worsen. It is the first Greek auction since the government won a confidence vote at the weekend.

Graft watchdog to rate corporate transparency

Transparency International, the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog, will release a report ranking 105 of the world's biggest publicly traded companies on their commitment to openness. The report will rate firms on their anti-corruption systems and 'a measurement of how open they are about their subsidiaries, units and other entities they control'.