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☆ Opinion: Whatever happened to Mutually Assured Destruction?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( David A. Andelman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

On June 14, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced that his country had taken delivery of the first of a collection of tactical nuclear weapons from Russia. Belarus has both a nuclear arsenal and a president who for decades has quietly played the role of Putin’s lap dog. And indeed, in a press conference Thursday in Minsk, he did claim to being in lockstep with Putin — adding that the nuclear weapons were for defensive purposes only. In the same press conference, Lukashenko nodded to the fact that those nuclear weapons were under Russia’s control. “In the early ’60s American officials worried that the Soviet Union would launch a less-than-all-out attack, reasoning that the US would not respond in a way that might trigger Armageddon,” he said.

Persons: David A, David Andelman, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Ukraine’s Leonid Kuchma, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin, Lukashenko nodded, “, Joe Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, Kaja Kallas, Stoltenberg, nukes, Izumi Nakamitsu, Donald Trump, Biden, Vladimir Putin, Antony Blinken, crouch, ” Michael Mandelbaum, ”, Mandelbaum, – Vladimir Putin, hewing Organizations: CNN, French Legion of, The New York Times, CBS News, Soviet Union, Warsaw, David Andelman CNN, NATO, Belarus, Ukraine, Security Council, Nuclear Forces, Treaty, Twitter, Facebook, Johns Hopkins School, International, American Foreign, Power, MAD Locations: Russia, Europe, Soviet, Ukraine, Soviet Union, Crimea, Belarus, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Minsk, lockstep, Vilnius, Lithuania, Brussels, Moscow, Russian

☆ SNAP could close the food insecurity gap between Black and white households, study finds. But researchers say there's so much more that could be done.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new study shows that access to SNAP benefits reduces the racial gap in food insecurity. Black and multiracial households have had higher food insecurity rates than white households over the last 20 years. While Black households had 20% higher food insecurity rates, they were 46% more likely to participate in SNAP than white households. For those not enrolled in SNAP, Black and multiracial households respectively had a 52% and 42% higher risk of food insecurity than white households. When accounting for household characteristics, Black households enrolled in SNAP had a lower rate of food insecurity than white households.

Persons: —, Laura Samuel, Samuel, that's, Gina Plata, Heather Taylor, ., Nino Organizations: SNAP, Service, Black, Nutrition, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Social, Nino, Food Research, Action Center Locations: . Plata, Plata

HONG KONG, June 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - There's plenty to like about Swire Pacific's (0019.HK) Coca-Cola sale. Little wonder Swire's Hong Kong shares rallied as much as 8% on Thursday morning. The Coke sale is refreshing for investors, but only until the rest of Swire Pacific regains its fizz. Upon completion of the sale, Swire Pacific will distribute HK$11.7 billion in special dividends to its shareholders. The company also plans to enter into a 13-year agreement to provide management services to Swire Coca-Cola USA and receive an annual fee of at least HK$117 million.

Persons: Swire Pacific's, Swire, John Swire, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, HK, Cathay Pacific, Swire, Cola, John Swire & Sons, Cola Europacific Partners, Citi, Cathay, Swire Pacific, Hong Kong, Cola USA, Hong, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, China, Cathay Pacific

HONG KONG, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A government-led buyout signals more uncertainty ahead for a chip industry grappling with oversupply and geopolitics. The state-backed Japan Investment Corp will take over JSR (4185.T), which makes light-sensitive chemicals vital to manufacturing semiconductors, among other things. In recent years, the conglomerate has pivoted from a low-margin business of selling synthetic rubber used to make tyres to focus on semiconductor materials - primarily photoresists - and biopharmaceuticals. Yet JIC's mandate to boost the country’s global competitiveness and its focus on consolidating industries helps to justify the hefty premium. Either way, the government's focus on elevating national chipmaking champions creates fresh uncertainty for JSR's foreign customers like South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW).

Persons: Sharp, Eric Johnson, Una Galani, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Japan Investment Corp, Renesas Electronics, chipmakers, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Japan Investment Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Tokyo, Taiwan, Japan, United States, South Korea, South

☆ Ukraine accuses Russia of blowing up dam to put a massive natural obstacle in the way of its counteroffensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A huge dam in Ukraine was breached on Tuesday, creating a natural disaster. Ukraine said Russia blew up the damn to try and hamper Ukraine's counteroffensive. An expert said the flood will make it harder to Ukraine to reach occupied territory over the Dnipro river. Podolyak's comment suggests he thinks Russia would struggle to keep Ukraine back without taking such action. Russia and Ukraine both warned earlier in the war that the other side may target the dam.

Persons: —, Mykhailo Podolyak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Podolyak, Andrii Yermak, Sergey Radchenko, Vladimir Leontiev, Nova Kakhovka, Zelenskyy, Mustafa Nayyem, Oleksandr Prokudin, Yermak Organizations: Service, Twitter, Russia, BBC, Johns Hopkins School, International, Politico, Kremlin, NATO, Ukraine's State Agency for Restoration, Infrastructure Development, International Atomic Energy Agency Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Dnipro, Nova, Crimea, Kherson, Europe

HONG KONG, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shein is threading the world’s trickiest geopolitical needle. But rising American pressure is forcing it to tweak its business model right as it tries to list there. Last year, its top line surged 46% to $23 billion, per the Wall Street Journal, surpassing $22 billion at H&M and outpacing the 18% growth at Inditex. A Boston Consulting Group report notes that this model allows Shein to keep inventory turnover at just 40 days. That will be expensive; the company's net profit margin was a razor-thin 3.5% last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, far below bricks and mortar rival Inditex's 13%.

Persons: Shein, Bernstein, Chris Xu, Xu, Mubadala, Pete Sweeney, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, U.S ., Rivals, Street, Financial Times, Boston Consulting, Morningstar, Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street, ’, Singapore, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Zara, China, Inditex, Guangdong, U.S, Xinjiang, Nanjing, Singapore, Mexico, Brazil, India

Foxconn's turnaround efforts initially paid off: by 2018, Sharp was back in the black. Moreover, analysts estimate assembling iPhones and other Apple (AAPL.O) gadgets still brings in more than half of Foxconn’s annual sales. The troubled unit was once a joint venture between Sharp, Foxconn and an entity tied to Gou. The company attributed the slump to a non-operating loss of T$19.7 billion related to its 34% stake in Japanese electronics maker Sharp. Sharp reported a 220-billion-yen ($1.6 billion) impairment loss in the quarter, mostly from buildings, machinery and goodwill relating to display businesses.

☆ Prescription Drug Shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( German Lopez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Americans are confronting a shortage of several major drug treatments. medication shortage, which is reflective of many of the broader drug supply problems. The Food and Drug Administration first acknowledged the shortage in October. Patients complain that they have to shop around at pharmacies to get their medications, if they can find them at all. After a week without the drug, he went to bed one day at 7 a.m. “It’s a bit of a curse to not have control over your own energy,” he said.

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. While Beijing’s crackdowns on domestic technology companies and property developers have eased, other risks are rising. Separately, quarterly revenue at Alibaba is expected to rise 3% year-on-year to 211 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in the three months to March, according to the average analyst forecast on Refinitiv.

HONG KONG, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Money flowing into the People's Republic is getting uncomfortably hot. Yet recent reversals in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai suggest that is driven by fickle short-term funds – exactly what Beijing doesn’t want. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsFollow @mak_robyn on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSChinese spirit maker ZJLD shares closed down 18% lower than their initial public offering price on their trading debut April 27. The KKR-backed company raised $676 million in what was the biggest offering in Hong Kong since October 2022. Separately, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's third largest pension fund, closed down its China equity investment team based in Hong Kong, Reuters reported on April 25, citing sources.

☆ Janet Yellen says national security may come at a cost in US-China relationship
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington, DC CNN —The United States will safeguard its national security, even if it comes at an economic cost to its relationship with China, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday. The federal government will address any national security concerns through export controls, sanctions and by restricting foreign investments, Yellen said. In a speech at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Yellen outlined three objectives of the US relationship with China: prioritizing national security and defending human rights, promoting a healthy and fair economic relationship with China and cooperating with China to address global issues. Yellen’s remarks come at a time when tensions with China remain high, a few months after a Chinese spy balloon flew across the continental United States. “Even though these policies may have economic impacts, they are driven by straightforward national security considerations,” said Yellen, a former Federal Reserve Chair.

Beijing's retaliatory strategy against U.S. chip sanctions is a bigger worry. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has so far remained relatively unscathed since Washington stepped up sanctions to hobble China’s domestic semiconductor development. Second, even if Chinese companies account for just 11% of TSMC’s top line, its other customers are far more exposed to the People's Republic. How Beijing responds to American pressure will define the scope of TSMC’s recovery. In January, TSMC said its capital spending in 2023 would be between $32 billion and $36 billion, compared to $36.3 billion in 2022.

HONG KONG, April 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hong Kong could use a shot of something. Yet compared to the $313 billion Shanghai-listed behemoth Kweichow Moutai (600519.SS), debutante ZJLD is a drop in the near-$100 billion baijiu industry: it logs less than 1% market share. At the top of the marketed price range, ZJLD could be worth $5.4 billion, or almost 24 times this year's forecast earnings, IFR reports. Revenue at the company, which will be the first baijiu distiller to list in Hong Kong, was up a healthy 15% last year, while its adjusted net profit margin topped 20%. For Hong Kong, consumer stocks will put the focus back onto classic risks.

☆ Wagner Group leader says a Ukrainian counter-offensive would likely succeed as Russia is in 'crisis,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Wagner Group leader criticized Russia's "deep state" in an essay published Friday. Yevgeny Prigozhin said a Ukraine counter-offensive is likely to succeed as Russia is in "crisis." Prigozhin also criticized Russian state elites, who, he said, "operate independently of the political leadership of the state and have close ties and their own agenda." A mural depicting mercenaries of Russia's Wagner Group. The Wagner Group, which has lost more than 30,000 soldiers in Ukraine, works more closely with the Russian military than Prigozhin portrays, Insider previously reported.

With that out of the way, Zhang is cleared to focus on Alibaba's massive corporate overhaul unveiled last month. Current shareholders will be left with a holding company led by Zhang, plus Alibaba's cash-cow Chinese commerce business. After all, Alibaba's U.S. shares are down over 60% in the past two years, while the S&P 500 has stayed largely flat. The sales will eventually reduce SoftBank's stake in Alibaba to 3.8%. In 2022, SoftBank booked a gain of $34 billion by cutting its stake in Alibaba to 14.6% from 23.7%.

Thomson ReutersRobyn Mak joined Reuters Breakingviews in 2013. Previously, she was a Research Associate for the Global Policy Programs at the Asia Society in New York where she focused on US-Iran relations, US-Myanmar relations and sustainability issues in Asia. She has also worked as a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and interned at several consulting firms, including the Albright Stonebridge Group. She holds a masters degree in international economics and international relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and is a magna cum laude graduate of New York University.

☆ Factbox: In Middle East, once improbable ententes set new tone
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Some U.S. allies had concluded their interests are not best served by a highly polarised Middle East, he added. The agreement between leading Sunni Arab power Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ite Islamist government in Tehran could defuse tensions and conflicts such as the Yemen war. Saudi Arabia has turned to China at a time of strain in its historic alliance with the United States. Saudi Arabia took the lead in rebuilding ties in 2021, declaring an end to the boycott of Qatar. Sources say Syria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to reopen embassies.

HONG KONG, April 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Alibaba's (9988.HK) worth may be hiding in plain sight. The $260 billion Chinese group wants to split off faster-growing, money-losing bets like its cloud and logistics units. It accounted for 9% of Alibaba's top line in the nine months to December, nearly double five years ago. Zhang would do well to focus investor attention back onto Alibaba's commerce operations in China. That’s some 30% more than the company’s entire market value as of Wednesday.

That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. Investors promptly added nearly $23 billion, or 10%, to the New York-listed company’s market value, now at $250 billion, following Tuesday’s announcement. The $460 billion video-game giant also operates in sensitive areas like online media, cloud computing and mobile payments. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and chief executive of Alibaba, which will follow a holding company management model, and concurrently serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence.

HONG KONG, March 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - In the biblical parable of the prodigal son, a repentant wastrel returns home to a forgiving and beneficent father. In China, Alibaba (9988.HK) founder Jack Ma's homecoming and rehabilitation appears to be part of an official campaign to revive flagging private sector investment. However, if officials believe the mere sight of Ma in public will revive business confidence, that hope has a whiff of desperation. Ma the prodigal entrepreneur has returned, but perhaps not for long. Shares of Alibaba rallied as much as 4% in Hong Kong following the SCMP report before closing flat at HK$85.25 on March 27.

HONG KONG, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tencent (0700.HK) is sounding more like its normal self again. The combination of regulatory respite, a post-lockdown consumption bounce plus cost cuts have put the company in a sweet spot for 2023. Revenue in the three months to December inched up 0.5% from a year earlier, to $21 billion, reversing year-on-year declines from the previous two quarters. With 2022 firmly behind it, Tencent can put a spring back in its step. Shares of Tencent rose 4.7% to HK$364.00 during early morning trading on March 23.

Concerns that Chinese investors are buying overseas to make a quick profit at home are valid. Since last year, 11 Chinese companies have raised a combined $3.6 billion by selling GDRs on the Six Swiss Exchange, data from Dealogic show. Savvy punters with access to foreign funds can therefore make a quick and relatively risk-free profit by shorting the Chinese stock and buying the discounted GDRs. This helps explain why Swiss shares of Chinese companies barely trade. Since the launch of a China-Swiss stock scheme in 2022, 11 Chinese companies have raised a combined $3.6 billion, according to data from Dealogic.

HONG KONG, March 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - European financial centres are rolling out the red carpet for Chinese companies. Its free-float market capitalisation of $1.9 trillion is just a tenth of the New York Stock Exchange, January data from the World Federation of Exchanges show. Yet as tensions between Washington and Beijing rise and Chinese companies in New York face the threat of delisting, traditionally neutral Zurich has become an attractive alternative. That removes the risk that overseas regulators will demand access to mainland companies’ books - the source of a lengthy spat between the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and Beijing. Deutsche Börse (DB1Gn.DE), which operates Frankfurt’s stock exchange, is technically ready to launch the China-Germany Stock Connect, board representative Niels Tomm said in November.

The usually sleepy Ministry of Science and Technology will be tasked to help lead the country's efforts to reduce dependence on Western suppliers. Meanwhile, creating a National Data Bureau should streamline the myriad of regulations spanning cybersecurity, personal privacy and information transfer. The benefits of upgrading the science, technology and patent ministries are less clear. And despite China being the world's most prolific patent filer, 90% are low-value "trash", estimated one Chinese official in 2019. Other proposals from the State Council include creating a National Data Bureau to coordinate sharing and developing the country's data resources.

With Alibaba shares down 30% in one month, enthusiasm for China's return to normalcy is peaking early. The Alibaba chief executive also cautioned that January was a "challenging time" and that the company is keeping an eye on how the reopening develops. Alibaba has hit the limits of the reopening boon. Reuters GraphicsFollow @mak_robyn on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSAlibaba on Feb. 23 reported revenue of 248 billion yuan ($35.9 billion) in the three months to December, an increase of 2% year-on-year. Adjusted earnings rose 12% to 40 billion yuan.

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