China’s government this week waded into a feud between the film industry and review websites that have panned some of the country’s biggest budget movies, censuring critiques and saying the sites are “malicious and irresponsible”. Topping off a year of lacklustre films and slow ticket sales, the intervention was meant to bolster confidence in China’s ability to generate blockbusters. China’s goal is to catch up to the […]
By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK NEW YORK The U.S. dollar slipped on Friday but notched its fourth straight year of gains against a basket of major currencies. The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, gained about 3.7 percent for the year. The index rose about 7.1 percent during the fourth quarter, more than half that gain coming since […]
Oil prices were on track for their biggest annual gain since 2009 after the OPEC grouping and other major producers agreed to cut crude output to reduce a global supply overhang that has depressed prices for two years. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slipped 12 cents to $53.62 a barrel by 1400 GMT on Friday, while Brent front-month March crude futures were down 19 […]
Hindsight Capital beats the market, and all competition, every year. But how would it do over a decade? For the uninitiated, Hindsight Capital is an imaginary hedge fund that is blessed with perfect foresight, which features at this time of year in the Long View column. As real fund managers deploying real money have to hedge their bets, it always does far better than any of them […]
A team of researchers made a significant breakthrough which will help patients with heart problems all over the world. The scientists managed to create synthetic stem cells, which can help the heart tissue regenerate just as well as normal stem cells, while also avoiding the complications associated with them. Promising Results A team of American and Chinese researchers joined efforts in order to provide a better treatment […]
Trade between the UAE and China is expected to increase to $60 billion by the end of this year, up from $54.8 billion in 2015, according to the Dubai Economic Council. It said the UAE is now China’s second largest trading partner in the Middle East and the region’s biggest market for Chinese goods, news agency WAM reported. China, whose trade with the UAE stood at only […]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates – December 30, 2016 Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region’s largest multi-themed leisure and entertainment destination, today announced that Lapita Hotel, Dubai’s first theme park hotel, will welcome its first guests on 2nd January 2017. Located in the heart of Dubai Parks and Resorts in close proximity to all three connected theme parks, the Polynesian themed clustered resort is the latest addition to […]
Microsoft’s Surface Studio offers a new angle on the desktop PC Image: Microsoft Microsoft’s high-priced Surface Studio may be selling better than expected, if we can believe a recent report from Digitimes. The Taiwanese company – which publishes a Chinese daily newspaper on IT and high-tech supply chains – reports that “Microsoft has ordered 30,000 units to be shipped in the first quarter of 2017, according to […]
FRANKFURT China’s Midea said it will complete its takeover of German robotics maker Kuka in the first half of January after the United States authorities gave the deal a green light. Midea, which launched a 4.5 billion euro ($5 billion) offer for Kuka in May, said Germany’s markets regulator had approved the settlement of the transaction, allowing it to control a 94.55 percent voting stake in Kuka […]
BEIJING Prosecutors in China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang have set up a special team to handle terror-related cases, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in resource-rich Xinjiang, on the borders of central Asia, in violence between the Muslim Uighur people who call the region home and ethnic majority Han Chinese. The government has blamed the […]
The usage of popular messaging app WeChat continues to expand, with the number of daily users exceeding 768 million in September, up 35 percent over the same period last year, according to a year-end report on WeChat released by the Chinese technology giant Tencent on Wednesday. The report, which unveiled a series of key figures of the most popular messaging app in China, said 50 percent of […]
HONG KONG China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], one of the world’s largest telecom equipment makers, said on Friday it expects 2016 revenue growth to slow slightly to 32 percent and forecast greater uncertainties next year. The Shenzhen-based company, which competes with Sweden’s Ericsson (ERICb.ST) for the top spot in the global market for telecoms equipment, sees 2016 revenue hitting 520 billion yuan ($74.8 billion), said Eric […]
BEIJING Two Beijing police officers have been punished following the death of an environmentalist in custody in May, state media said on Friday, a case that sparked public disquiet about China’s law enforcement methods. Lei Yang, 29, was arrested in a massage parlour as part of a police operation against prostitution and died hours later after choking on his own vomit. While prosecutors decided last week not […]
Chinese netizens are mourning the demise of a popular online talk show that dared to tackle social and political topics in a media landscape dominated by vapid soap operas, staid costume dramas and webcam girls. The final episode of “Xiaosong-pedia“, hosted by songwriter, music producer and film director Gao Xiaosong, was aired on Friday on iQiyi, the online video platform owned by internet search group Baidu. The show received […]
Samsung Electronics’ 2017 premium TV line-up to debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), branded Samsung QLED TV, applied ‘metal coating’ to improve the integrity of the quantum dot (QD) materials, company insiders say, allowing colour in a wider range to be accurately represented at higher brightness level or better than those reached in OLED TVs. Internally called the “Q Project,” the business set a target resolution […]
BEIJING A Chinese general is being investigated for suspected bribery, the defence ministry said on Thursday, a man connected to the jailed former domestic security chief and one of the most senior incumbent military officials to be targeted for graft. Military prosecutors had already opened a case into Wang Jianping, a deputy chief of the joint staff department under the powerful Central Military Commission, ministry spokesman Yang […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened corrupt government officials with the prospect of being thrown out of a helicopter mid-air, warning he has done it himself before and had no qualms about doing it again. The fiery-tempered former prosecutor said he once hurled a Chinese man suspected of rape and murder out of a helicopter. “If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter […]
BEIJING Attackers drove a car into a government building in China’s unruly far western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday and set off an explosive device killing one person, while all four of the attackers were shot dead, the regional government said. Hundreds of people have been killed in recent years in resource-rich Xinjiang, on the borders of central Asia, in violence between the Muslim Uighur people who […]
TAIPEI Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will pass through the United States when she visits Latin America next month, the foreign ministry said Thursday, a move bound to infuriate China which had urged the United States to block a transit stopover. China is deeply suspicious of Tsai, who it thinks wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing regards as a renegade […]
Chinese technology giant Tencent, along with Beijing-based mapping company NavInfo and Singapore state-owned investment firm GIC, announced this week the trio intended to jointly take up a 10 percent share of mapping company Here, with current owners Audi, BMW, and Daimler reducing their indirect holding by the same amount. As well as the share purchase, the companies announced the creation of a 50/50 joint venture between Here […]
Some of the biggest law firms on Wall Street are scrambling to shore up their defences against cyber attacks, in the wake of a raid by Chinese hackers which led to millions of dollars of profits from insider trading. Preet Bharara, US attorney for the southern district of New York, this week charged three individuals who he said infiltrated law firms over a period of about 18 […]
When Jack Ma criticised Hong Kong last month for having outdated stock market listing practices, the Alibaba founder hit the city where it hurts. Hong Kong’s rivalry with New York has only heightened since the billionaire chose the US for his ecommerce group’s initial public offering two years ago. And next year, the battle between the world’s two largest listing centres will only become more heated, as three […]
The FTSE 100 was within touching distance of a closing high on Wednesday, as optimism about the outlook for metal prices lifted the shares of the heavyweight miners on Britain’s blue-chip index. On the market’s first day back after the Christmas holiday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6 per cent at 7107.56 in early afternoon trading, putting it on track to surpass its closing high of 7103.98 […]
Law Blog rounds up the morning’s legal news: Law firm hacking: Three Chinese traders earned more than $4 million in illegal profits after they hacked into the computer systems of prominent U.S. law firms and stole nonpublic information on mergers and acquisitions, according to an unsealed federal indictment. [WSJ, NYT] Student loan bankruptcy: Borrowers are beginning to win battles to erase some student loans in bankruptcy court, […]
