Author: admin@primenews

Shares in crisis-hit Chinese property giant Evergrande have been suspended in Hong Kong amid reports its chairman has been placed under police surveillance. It follows reports earlier this week that other current and former executives had also been detained. Thursday’s market statement did not give a reason for the trading halt. But it marks another low for the heavily indebted property giant which defaulted in 2021, triggering China’s current real estate market crisis. In August, the firm filed for bankruptcy in New York, in a bid to protect its US assets as it worked on a multi-billion dollar deal with…

Elon Musk’s X has disabled a feature that let users report misinformation about elections, said researchers. The tool, available in the US, Australia and South Korea since 2021, was expanded to other countries last year. But Reset.Tech Australia said it was removed in recent weeks, except in the European Union. In a letter, it called the move “extremely concerning”, as Australia is set to hold a referendum next month. “There now appears to be no channel to report electoral misinformation when discovered on your platform,” said the group. Australia’s first referendum in almost a quarter century will take place on…

“I’ve never talked about this in any other interview,” Rina Sawayama says, her voice steady. She keeps eye contact, ready to share the painful inspiration behind her second album, Hold the Girl, which she wrote after several sessions of sex and relationship therapy. A few hours from now she will command the rooftop stage at New York’s Pier 17 venue, performing to a sold-out audience. The crowd is not just made up of teenage girls, the usual staple that dominate audiences for pop starlets. Several same-sex couples are here, swaying and kissing to the more anthemic songs and a group…

One of Vietnam’s best-known climate activists has been sentenced to three years in prison over tax evasion. Hoang Thi Minh Hong is the fifth Vietnamese activist to be jailed over the charge. Campaigners say it is part of a state-authorised move to silence criticism of the country’s climate policies. Hoang Thi Minh Hong was convicted on Thursday in Ho Chin Minh City in a trial that last just three hours. She was also fined $4,100 (£3,380). Human rights groups say this was a preordained outcome to a politically-driven case. They point out that activists have been treated more severely than…

Taiwan has unveiled its first domestically-made submarine as it bolsters its defences against a possible Chinese attack. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over the launch ceremony in the port city of Kaohsiung on Thursday. US officials have warned that China could be militarily capable of mounting an invasion within the next few years. Taiwan is a self-governing island which China regards as a renegade province and has vowed to reclaim one day. Most observers believe China will not attack the island imminently, and Beijing has said it seeks peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan. But at the same time it has warned against…

Indonesia has banned e-commerce transactions on social media platforms, the trade minister said on Wednesday, in a blow to short video app TikTok, which is doubling down on Southeast Asia’s biggest economy to boost its e-commerce business. The government said the move, which takes effect immediately, is aimed at protecting offline merchants and marketplaces, adding that predatory pricing on social media platforms is threatening small and medium-sized enterprises. The move comes just three months after TikTok pledged to invest billion of dollars in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia, over the next few years in a major push to build its…

The judge assigned to the US Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com has recused himself from the case, according to a court document filed on Wednesday. Senior Judge John Coughenour was assigned to the case on Tuesday, when the antitrust lawsuit was filed against Amazon in federal court in Seattle. Coughenour, an appointee of Republican former President Ronald Reagan, did not cite a reason for dropping off the case in the court filing. The case has been re-assigned to US District Judge John Chun based on rotation, according to the document. Chun was nominated by President Joe Biden last…

Donald Trump arrives in Michigan Wednesday with a lot more support among blue collar union members than a lot of Republican presidential candidates before him. But his record as president is decidedly anti-union. “I want a future that protects American labor, not foreign labor,” he said at a rally Wednesday in Detroit, where he opened his speech by praising blue collar workers. But the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees labor relations at most businesses, and Trump’s court appointments, particularly to the Supreme Court, have handed unions major setbacks since he took office in 2017. “He’s not supportive of workers’…

China’s ousted foreign minister Qin Gang had an extramarital affair with a high-profile Chinese television presenter who had a child through surrogacy in the United States, the Financial Times reported Tuesday citing multiple unnamed sources, deepening intrigue around the unexplained disappearance and removal of the senior diplomat. Fu Xiaotian, 40, the former host of a flagship talk show on Hong Kong-based Chinese broadcaster Phoenix TV, was in a relationship with 57-year-old Qin, the FT reported, citing six people close to Fu and China’s foreign policy establishment. Fu had a child last year with the help of a surrogate mother in the US,…

Seven Republican candidates tangled over the economy, immigration and China at the second 2024 presidential debate. Frontrunner Donald Trump – who skipped the event to woo voters more than 2,000 miles (3,200km) away in Detroit, Michigan – was branded “missing in action” by his nearest rival. The contenders on stage also attacked each other during the increasingly heated two-hour forum on Wednesday. But as the night ended, none had had a standout moment to seize momentum. The eventual Republican nominee will face President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic candidate, next year. On stage for the Fox Business Network’s primetime showdown…