The Chinese government’s efforts to clean up air quality are bearing fruit as use of dirty coal has likely dropped 40 percent over the last five years, said Wood Mackenzie. According to data from the consultancy, the use of low-quality or dirty coal, known as sanmei, will fall to 469 million tons this year from […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
'Best time in history' for China-Russia relationship: Xi and Putin boost ties
Strategic ties between Russia and China were appraised in glowing terms as Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up a two-day state visit to Russia, concluding with at least $10 billion in agreements. Xi, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the trip, told Russian media that relations between the two countries were currently at […]
Read moreNorth Korea’s latest missile launch indicates the reclusive regime is trying to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea, a former U.S. ambassador to that country said Wednesday. Christopher Hill, who was ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2004 to 2005, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the North Korean regime believes […]
Read moreChina Caixin services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Wednesday showed growth slowed in June, as new order volumes weakened, but it continued to show rising demand. The June Business Activity Index came in at 51.6, down from May’s four-month high of 52.8, with the release from Caixin and PMI by IHS Markit saying it pointed […]
Read moreGrowth in shadow banking in China is slowing due to coordinated government action to contain systemic financial risks, a development that will benefit banks, although it will also bring adjustment risks, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report Tuesday. The ratings agency’s analysis showed the effectiveness of coordinated measures by authorities by the central bank, […]
Read moreMark Pincus and Reid Hoffman want to hack the Democratic Party. Not literally. Not the likes of what befell the team behind Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, resulting in scores of private emails being published online — and countless news stories that helped seal her defeat. No, Pincus, the co-founder of Zynga, and Hoffman, the brains […]
Read morePrime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers on Tuesday that it was time to end France’s addiction to public spending and rein in debts that he said were at an unacceptable level. France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron, sees taming France’s spending and reducing its budget deficit was key to winning the trust of European Union partner […]
Read moreTWO not entirely unrelated pieces of aviation news have come out of the Gulf in the past few days. The first is that America has lifted its laptop restrictions on Etihad. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) imposed a ban on large electrical devices in the cabins of planes flying from ten Middle Eastern countries […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
UK broadcaster BBC invests $44 million to compete with Facebook, Netflix and Amazon
The U.K. public service broadcaster BBC announced it would spend £34 million ($44 million) on children’s programming over the next three years to face off competition from global media giants like Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. Proposals to draw young audiences away from the Silicon Valley firms include multimedia content such as video, live online programming, […]
Read moreRussian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday called North Korea’s latest test launch of a ballistic missile a breach of a U.N. Security Council resolution, the RIA news agency reported. It also cited Ryabkov as saying that tensions with Pyongyang risked leading to catastrophic developments and that the missile launch showed that the only […]
Read more