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☆ Cathay Pacific bans couple after seat-reclining spat
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-23 | by ( Jack Guy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific has banned two passengers from its flights after an argument over seat-reclining etiquette descended into xenophobic insults. People from Hong Kong speak mainly Cantonese, whereas mainland Chinese mainly speak Mandarin. However, Cathay, Hong Kong’s flag carrier, has got into hot water with Chinese authorities in the past. In a statement announcing the dismissals, Cathay Pacific CEO Ronald Lam said he would personally lead a task force to improve service and avoid similar incidents in the future. “We need to ensure that all Cathay Pacific employees must at all times respect customers from different backgrounds and cultures, and that we provide quality services consistently across all markets that we serve,” he said.

Persons: ”, ’, “, Hong Kongers, Ronald Lam, CNN’s Michelle Toh, Shawn Deng Organizations: CNN, Cathay Pacific, Cathay, Cathay Group, Hong Locations: Hong Kong, London, China, Cathay Pacific, Hong, Cathay, Hong Kong’s

☆ Jeff Bezos dethrones Elon Musk to become the richest person on earth again
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —Jeff Bezos has reclaimed the title of the richest person on earth, surpassing Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on Monday. The Amazon founder’s net worth was $200 billion, while Musk followed at $198 billion. Musk has lost about $31 billion over the past year, while Bezos has gained $23 billion, according to the index. The three centibillionaires — Musk, Arnault and Bezos — have been in competition with each other for the top spot for months. Of course, the title of the richest person on earth swaps every few months, depending on markets performance.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Elon, Musk, Bezos, Bernard Arnault, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine, Arnault, Michelle Toh, Tami Luhby, Chris Isidore Organizations: New, New York CNN, Bloomberg Locations: New York, Delaware

Tokyo CNN —China has formally arrested a Japanese man who was detained in March, according to officials from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. The arrest of the Japanese national, who was reportedly an employee of a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm, could further rattle foreign businesses in China, which have reported feeling more unsettled this year amid a crackdown on international consulting firms on national security grounds. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the man was an employee of drugmaker Astellas Pharma and was detained in March by Chinese security authorities in Beijing on suspicion of violating the country’s criminal law and anti-espionage law. In May, state security authorities said they had raided several offices of Capvision, an advisory network. The issue has been cited as headache for foreign businesses, some of which were already having trouble convincing workers to relocate to China.

Persons: Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s MOFA, Mao Ning, “, ”, Weeks, Bain, — CNN’s Michelle Toh, Sophie Jeong, Mengchen Zhang Organizations: Tokyo CNN, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Embassy, NHK, drugmaker, Pharma, CNN, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of State Security, Mintz Group, American Chamber of Commerce, China’s Commerce Ministry, State Administration of Foreign Exchange Locations: China, Tokyo, Beijing, MOFA, Shanghai, Hong Kong

☆ The latest data signals the Fed will pause next week and keep future rate hikes on the table
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That data indicates that the Federal Reserve is still likely to hold rates steady next week, some investors say. Inflation: US inflation climbed 3.7% in August from the prior year, marking an acceleration for the second consecutive month, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Excluding the boost from gas station sales, retail spending added 0.2% in August from July. Traders see a roughly 97% chance that the central bank keeps rates unchanged in September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The central bank has now raised its main interest rate at 10 consecutive meetings, taking it to the highest level since the launch of the euro currency in 1999.

Persons: “, ”, Sam Millette, Price, Taylor Swift, Bill Adams, Jerome Powell, Liz Young, CNN’s Olesya, Michelle Toh ., Read Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, Federal Reserve, Commonwealth Financial Network, National Federation of Independent Business, Comerica Bank, Traders, European Central Bank, Central Bank, ECB, Cornell University, Schroders, Fashion, Cornell’s Global Labor Institute Locations: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Schroders

☆ Twitter took two days to suspend accused Pride flag killer's account
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Josh Campbell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —X has suspended an account that posted numerous anti-gay and antisemitic posts and was used by the man accused of killing store owner Lauri Carleton over her display of a Pride Flag. But the account had remained live two days after law enforcement publicly confirmed its existence on the platform formerly known as Twitter. The social media company finally suspended the account Wednesday evening. The X account used by the suspect contained a pinned tweet with an image of a Pride Flag set on fire. It was not clear if the suspension of the account was a result of CNN’s query.

Persons: Lauri Carleton, Alejandra Caraballo, —, We’ll, ”, X, Elon Musk, — CNN’s Michelle Toh, Juliana Liu Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Cyberlaw Clinic, Harvard Law, San Locations: San Bernardino County

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's 'fear gauge' is rising as US debt talks drag on
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Markets will get volatile, maybe the stock market will go down, the Treasury markets will have their own problems,” he said. But this fear of market volatility isn’t going away. A similar fight around the debt ceiling in 2011 spurred a serious bout of market volatility. Wall Street’s key measure of volatility, the VIX, reached two year highs and soared more than 35% in just one day. Wall Street typically uses the VIX, known as the market’s “fear gauge,” as a way to measure how investors feel about financial and economic uncertainties.

☆ China is waging a war on its financial industry. Some high-profile bankers are ensnared
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Last Friday, authorities opened a similar probe into Liu Liange, former chairman of state-owned Bank of China, the country’s fourth largest lender. And in January, Wang Bin, who headed state-owned China Life Insurance from 2018 to early 2022, was charged by national prosecutors with taking bribes and hiding overseas savings. They include financial giants such as China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, China Development Bank, which provides financing for key government projects, and Agricultural Bank of China, another large state-controlled lender. “The current financial crackdown is a new wave of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign against the financial sector for consolidation of his power,” said Chongyi Feng, an associate professor in China Studies at the University of Technology Sydney. But the deepening crackdown on the vast financial sector could rattle investors.

☆ How China is helping to prop up the Russian economy through the war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

China has been buying more energy from Russia since the Ukraine war started. Total trade between China and Russia hit a new record high in 2022, up 30% to $190 billion, according to Chinese customs figures. In particular, the energy trade has risen markedly since the onset of the war. Russian companies have been using more yuan to facilitate the increased trade with China. UnionPay, the Chinese payments system, has reportedly stopped accepting cards issued by Russian banks over fears of international sanctions, according to Russian paper Kommersant.

☆ Crypto: Regulators are cracking down as FTX fallout casts a shadow over digital assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —When FTX collapsed in November, it was a seismic event for the crypto industry. On Monday, New York regulators ordered blockchain firm Paxos to stop issuing BUSD, aka Binance USD, citing “several unresolved issues” related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with crypto exchange Binance. Investors typically buy them to store money and facilitate deals within the cryptocurrency infrastructure, making them a bedrock of the crypto ecosystem. “Regulation by enforcement is puzzling for crypto enthusiasts,” said Marcus Sotiriou, market analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, in a note. In January, regulators warned US banks and other market participants about the risks of fraud, volatility, and shoddy risk management in the crypto world.

☆ Shein tells suppliers to end long working days at factories by end of the month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In October, the UK’s Channel 4 broadcast a documentary that made allegations of labor exploitation against two of Shein’s factory suppliers in China. In its statement, Shein said audits carried out by independent experts had refuted most of the allegations. But the investigation showed that workers at two of its suppliers were working longer hours than allowed under local rules. Employees at one factory were working a maximum of 13.5 hours per day, with at least two to three days off per month, the statement claimed. At another factory, staff were found to be working 12.5 hours a day with no fixed schedule for days off.

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