Tue, 21-Oct-2025

China lowers rates because of lockdowns as the real estate crisis faces the heavy loss

China

The primary rate at which the People’s Bank of China provides banks with short-term liquidity was lowered from 2.1% to 2%. Meanwhile, the yuan declined in value relative to the US dollar. The National Bureau of Statistics stated that retail sales increased 2.7% from a year earlier in July, slowing from June’s 3.1% gain. As … Read more

Oil prices drop due to economic fears and China COVID restrictions

Oil

Brent crude futures fell 82 cents, or 0.8%, to $106.20 at 0314 GMT.  U.S. WTI crude futures declined by $1.04, or 1%. Trading was thinned by a public holiday in parts of Southeast Asia. Maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is due to run from July 11 to 21. Oil prices fell around $1 … Read more

China’s June manufacturing inflation slows down but consumer prices rise

China's June

China’s factory-gate inflation cooled in June to the lowest in 15 months. Consumer inflation rose to the highest in nearly two years. The producer price index (PPI) rose 6.1% year-on-year, after a 6.4% rise in May. 19 lockdowns were lifted in June, but some areas have reported flare-ups in infections. China’s June manufacturing plant entryway … Read more

Sajid Javid thinks Boris Johnson’s problems start with him

Sajid Javid
  • Sajid Javid launched a scathing critique of Boris Johnson in the House of Commons.
  •  He quit as health secretary on Tuesday, precipitating other ministry resignations.
  •  Javid said he had been promised “at the highest level” that there were no parties during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Sajid Javid has launched a devastating critique of Boris Johnson in the House of Commons as he explained why he quit as health secretary, warning that “the problem starts at the top” with the prime minister.

When he resigned on Tuesday evening, Javid precipitated other ministry resignations.

After Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, the Tory member of parliament stated that he had been promised “at the highest level” that there were no parties in Downing Street during the Covid-19 lockdowns, only to find out afterward that this was false.

More recently, he stated, the administration lacked “truth and honesty” about the crisis involving deputy chief whip Chris Pincher, who has been accused of sexual misconduct.

“Eventually, we must realize that enough is enough. I believe that time has come,” Javid stated.

He stated that the “great democracy” of the United Kingdom was supported by the national interest and the need to retain integrity. “This issue is not abstract. In large democracies, we have witnessed what occurs when divisions are entrenched and not overcome. We cannot for it to occur here,” he stated.

He stated, “I will never risk losing my ethics.” “In my opinion, a team is only as good as its captain, and a captain is only as good as their team, therefore devotion must be reciprocal. Recent events have made it increasingly difficult to be a member of that squad.”

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Japan’s Q1 GDP falls less then first

Japan's

Japan’s economy shrank an annualized 0.5% in January-March. That was a more modest drop than the primer perusing of a 1.0% fall delivered the month before. Steady production network disturbances stay a gamble to financial energy in April-June. Japan’s economy shrank somewhat not exactly at first revealed in primary quarter, as confidential utilization stayed strong … Read more

Airbnb to close in China

As the country’s zero-Covid policy, lockdowns, and travel restrictions persist, Airbnb is shutting down its operations in China permanently. Airbnb informed its Chinese users on Tuesday that as of July 30, it will no longer accept any bookings for lodging or activities in China. According to screenshots of the Airbnb notification published throughout Chinese social … Read more

Tencent revenue stagnates with China crackdowns and lockdowns

China crackdowns

Chinese internet large Tencent on Wednesday stated document-low quarterly sales growth as Beijing’s regulatory crackdown — and the united states’ economically debilitating coronavirus lockdowns — persevered to wipe out gains within the tech quarter. Revenue for the Shenzhen-primarily based company got here in at one hundred 35.5 billion yuan ($20.1 billion) within the first sector, … Read more

China lockdowns weigh on Adidas’s first-quarter profit

China

Adidas, the German sportswear behemoth, revealed a dip in first-quarter profits on Friday, blaming widespread coronavirus lockdowns for hurting operations in crucial market China. The group’s continuing operations net profit declined to 310 million euros ($326 million) from 502 million euros the previous quarter. The setback was accompanied by a three-percent drop in sales across … Read more

Oprah Winfrey still wears a mask and fears Covid is not over yet

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey still wears a mask and fears Covid is not over yet Oprah Winfrey condemned a court deciding recently that lifted veil commands for public transportation, saying ‘it’s too early’ to eliminate specific COVID-19 limitations and that she will keep on wearing a cover inside planes. Examining her new narrative ‘The Color of Care’ … Read more

Oil prices dive after IMF cuts global growth forecast

Oil

Oil prices jumped by greater than 5 percent Tuesday as traders were involved in a drop in call after the International Monetary Fund reduced its international growth forecast. Around 1530 GMT the price of Brent crude, the primary global oil settlement, was down 5.4 percent to $107.Eleven in step with the barrel, even as the … Read more

Nearly 30 million under lockdown in China as virus surges

china

BEIJING: Nearly 30 million people were under lockdown across China on Tuesday, as surging virus cases prompted the return of mass tests and hazmat-suited health officials to city streets on a scale not seen since the start of the pandemic. China reported 5,280 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, more than double the previous day’s tally, … Read more

Famine looms on doorstep of Kinshasa

Famine looms

KINSHASA – “It’s hard to eat here. There are no fields and no food. Life is hard,” says Albertine Nzale, traditional chief of Kinduti, on the outskirts of the DR Congo capital, Kinshasa. The village sits at the end of a bumpy track through the savanna outside the largest city in the Democratic Republic of … Read more

PNSC invites bids to procure three used Aframax tanker vessels

PNSC

KARACHI: The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) will procure three second-hand Aframax tanker vessels, while offers had already been sought from shipbrokers enlisted with Baltic Exchange, an official said. An Aframax vessel is an oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 tonnes. The term is based on the Average Freight Rate Assessment, a … Read more

Lockdowns hit Pacific islands as Covid-19 defences falter

pacific islander

HONIARA: Lockdowns in Samoa and the Solomon Islands were extended Tuesday as Covid-19 outbreaks worsened in remote Pacific island nations that have previously held the pandemic at bay. Pacific nations, many just dots in the vast ocean, successfully used their isolation as a buffer to the pandemic when they closed their borders in early 2020. … Read more

China lifts Xi’an lockdown as Beijing virus fight ramps up

china

BEIJING: One of China’s longest coronavirus lockdowns since the start of the pandemic came to an end on Monday as authorities announced the lifting of most restrictions in the northern megacity of Xi’an. The historic city’s 13 million residents had been confined to their homes since December 22 after the discovery of a Covid-19 cluster … Read more

World Bank loans South Africa $750 million to fight Covid

World Bank

JOHANNESBURG: The World Bank has approved a $750-million (660-million-euro) loan to support South Africa’s Covid response and to bolster the economic recovery from the pandemic, the Treasury said on Friday. In a statement, the Treasury said the loan aims at “protecting the poor and vulnerable from the adverse socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic and supporting … Read more

CES tech fair prepares to draw crowds as Covid surges

CES

LAS VEGAS: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), one of the world’s largest trade fairs, returns to Las Vegas in person this week under a newly resurgent pandemic that has supercharged the industry but threatens its downsized expo. Multiple companies, including Amazon, BMW and Microsoft, reduced or canceled their attendance as Covid-19 case numbers broke records, … Read more

‘Ghost kitchens’ Asia’s trending siesta

Ghost kitchens

In an industrial unit on the outskirts of Taipei chefs are plating meals that will never be served in a restaurant: welcome to the world of “ghost kitchens”. Even before the pandemic sent an earthquake through the global restaurant trade, the ‘Amazonification’ of commercial kitchens was well underway, but coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have fuelled … Read more

Textile exports up 8% in November

Textile exports

Pakistan’s textile exports witnessed an increase of 8 per cent month-on-month to reach a record high of $1.74 billion in November, a report by Topline Securities showed. During the month of November, the value added textile exports recorded a growth of 7 per cent month-on-month as the exports of ready-made garments recorded an increase of … Read more

Textile exports up 8% in November

Textile exports

KARACHI: Pakistan’s textile exports witnessed an increase of 8 per cent month-on-month to reach a record high of $1.74 billion in November, a report by Topline Securities showed. During the month of November, the value added textile exports recorded a growth of 7 per cent month-on-month as the exports of ready-made garments recorded an increase … Read more

Australian farmer pays tribute to his late aunt by love heart made out of sheep

Australian farmer pays tribute to his late aunt heart made out of sheep

A sheep farmer who was unable to attend his aunt’s funeral due to a lockdown in New South Wales has paid tribute to her memories, a love heart made of sheep. Ben Jackson, from Guyra, was unable to travel to Brisbane to be with his aunt in her dying moments following a two-year battle with … Read more

Pakistan equity market remains bearish on global cues

PSX

KARACHI: In line with the selloff in global equity markets, the local bourse witnessed profit-taking, as Covid cases keep on increasing, leading to more stringent lockdowns, dealers said on Wednesday. An analyst at Pearl Securities said the market witnessed a bearish session and closed in the red zone due to the substantial rise in the … Read more

57 new cases of Coronavirus emerged in China

China

Concerns over the resurgence of novel coronavirus grow in China as the country has reported 57 new cases. According to reports, the coronavirus outbreak in China, through strict lockdowns that were imposed early this year; had been brought largely under control. However a new outbreak has been linked to a meat and vegetable market in … Read more