Author: admin@primenews

Evergrande Group has just missed another bond payment, casting further doubt over the future of the embattled property developer at the epicenter of China’s real estate crisis. Hengda Real Estate, Evergrande’s flagship unit in mainland China, missed principal and interest payments on Monday on an onshore 4 billion yuan ($547 million) bond, the company said in a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Evergrande, which had total liabilities of $328 billion at the end of June, first defaulted on its debt in 2021, sparking a crisis that continues to weigh on China’s vast property sector. News that it had missed another payment rattled investors,…

US regulators have sued Amazon, alleging that the internet giant is illegally maintaining monopoly power. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Amazon uses “a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies” to push up prices and stifle competition. Amazon said the lawsuit was “wrong on the facts and law, and we look forward to making that case in court”. It is the latest technology giant to be sued by US regulators. The FTC’s boss, Lina Khan, has had Amazon in her crosshairs for years. In 2017, Ms Khan, then only 29, published a major academic article arguing the online retailer…

Canadian prosecutors began laying out arguments against former fashion mogul Peter Nygard as his sexual assault trial opened in an Ontario court. In opening remarks, they alleged Mr Nygard, 82, used his “power and status” to assault five women in incidents dating from the late 1980s to 2005. He lured the women – aged 16 to 28 at the time – into a private bedroom in his firm’s Toronto headquarters, prosecutors said. Mr Nygard has denied all the charges. He pleaded not guilty last week to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. In the Ontario…

Hollywood writers will end their strike at midnight Pacific time (07:01 GMT) on Wednesday, after nearly five months. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) said in a statement that union leaders “voted unanimously to lift the restraining order and end the strike”. Its 11,500 members will then vote on whether to approve a three-year deal that offers pay raises and protections around use of artificial intelligence. A separate dispute involves actors, who are also on strike. The writers’ walkout began on 2 May, which members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) joined on 13 July, making it the longest strike to affect…

Reddit has unveiled plans to pay its top contributors cash for popular posts, starting in the US on Tuesday. The social media site will split revenue with people who are awarded “gold” by other users, who pay a fee. Gold awards will range in price from $1.99 (£1.63) to $49 (£40), with users receiving as much as half of that. It marks a turnaround for the company since a backlash in June, when much of Reddit became inaccessible in protest of its senior management. Ultimately, the majority of groups on platform returned – although some notable absences remain, such as the end…

Russia’s Defence Ministry has released a video showing the Black Sea Fleet’s commander at a conference, despite Ukraine claiming to have killed him. It’s not clear when the footage, where Viktor Sokolov appears on a video link with the defence minister, was filmed. The ministry said the meeting with senior officials happened on Tuesday. Ukraine special forces said on Monday Adm Sokolov and 33 other officers died in a missile strike on the fleet’s HQ in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea. They did not name the admiral directly, nor did they offer any evidence that he had died. They now say they…

The deadly bombing of an Air India flight in 1985 is back in the news after relations between India and Canada hit a new low. Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating “credible allegations” that could link the Indian government to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. India has denied the allegations, calling them “absurd”. Since then, several commentators in India have brought up the 1985 attack – also known as the “Kanishka bombing” because the Boeing 747 was named after the Emperor Kanishka – which also strained Delhi-Ottawa ties. What happened in…

Donald Trump “repeatedly” misrepresented his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars to banks and insurers, a New York judge has ruled. The decision resolves the key claim made by New York’s attorney general in her civil lawsuit against the former president. “The documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business,” the judge wrote. It is a major blow for Mr Trump before the case goes to trial next Monday. An attorney for Mr Trump called the judge’s decision “a miscarriage of justice” in a statement on Tuesday evening. Attorney General Letitia James sued Mr Trump last…

The Maldives, best known for its pristine beaches, coral reefs and diverse marine life, is the last place you would expect a geopolitical rivalry to play out. The island nation which consists of about 1,200 coral islands and atolls in the middle of the Indian Ocean will see a run-off poll between President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu on 30 September. But also on the ballot are India and China. Both countries are trying to strengthen their presence in the strategically located islands which straddle busy east-west shipping lanes. Maldives’ two presidential contenders, who have been crisscrossing…

Nearly 30,000 ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh – a quarter of the population of the enclave which Azerbaijan seized last week. Hundreds of cars are backed up on the one road leading into Armenia, the destination of those leaving. Azerbaijan says residents will be safe, but Armenia’s prime minister says “ethnic cleansing” has started. Nagorno-Karabakh – recognised as part of Azerbaijan – had been run by ethnic Armenians for three decades. The mountainous region in the South Caucasus has been supported by Armenia – but also by its ally, Russia. At least 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijani soldiers…