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☆ China re-opens more areas at risk for COVID spread as lockdowns ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China has slashed the number of locations deemed at high risk of wider COVID outbreaks, re-opening locked down areas including one hosting a key factory of an Apple supplier. The number of high-risk areas tumbled to around 4,500 on Monday, official data showed, down 85% from more than 30,000 on Dec. 7 before the latest policy shift was announced. Last month, thousands of workers fled the Foxconn facility on fears of COVID lockdowns, curtailing production. High-risk areas without new infections for five consecutive days should be released from lockdown, according to one of China's latest protocols released on Dec. 7. Local authorities have also been warned not to arbitrarily expand the scope of lockdowns or prolong them.

☆ Analysis: European food delivery shapes up with Getir's Gorillas buy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

QUICK COMMERCEThe Gorillas acquisition makes Getir Europe's largest quick commerce company. LESS CAPITAL, FEWER COUPONSMore than a dozen smaller European quick commerce companies failed or were acquired since mid-2021. While profits may still be distant for the privately-held quick commerce companies, Europe's listed meal delivery companies have all set formal targets for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Shares in the European delivery companies are down around 60% from a year ago, but have traded sideways since June. So to "all the naysayers saying 'quick commerce is over - No.

☆ I 'missed the watercooler talk': 3 women on WFH, RTO and trying to find the perfect work-life balance
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

As the debate over the merits of in-person versus remote work continues to rage in companies and cities throughout the U.S., one thing has become painstakingly clear: There is no right answer. Pining for the office after months apartMadison Turner never thought she'd work in an office again. "I really missed the watercooler talk I used to have with co-workers at previous in-office jobs," she tells CNBC Make It. "I've seen the biggest improvement in my work-life balance since returning to the office full-time," she adds. Transitioning from an in-person to a remote job has "exponentially improved" DeGeorge's work-life balance, she says, as it's easier for her to drive her son to school and his therapy appointments.

☆ China's capital swings from anger over zero-COVID to coping with infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Pandemic control workers in protective suits sit in a neighbourhood that used to be under lockdown, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue, in Beijing, China December 10, 2022. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many other people are deciding not to go out because of the higher risk of infection. "We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several major cities," Zhong said. China's economy may grow 1.6% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, and 4.9% in the second, according to Capital Economics. Inbound travellers are subjected to five days of quarantine at centralised government facilities and three additional days of self-monitoring at home.

☆ The Twitter Blacklisting of Jay Bhattacharya
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Justin Hart | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jay Bhattacharya , a professor of medicine at Stanford University, was a latecomer to Twitter, joining in the summer of 2021. In his first tweet, he linked to a recent article he had written that discussed age-based mortality risks and natural immunity, among other topics. But it’s possible that many on Twitter didn’t see his message. This week Twitter released a set of internal emails and documents from before Elon Musk’s takeover of the company in October. One of the revelations was that Dr. Bhattacharya, among many others, had been censored and shadow-banned (tweets hidden in various ways) by Twitter.

☆ How to earn more money and increase your income through side hustles, according to 5 early retirees and entrepreneurs who have done it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider spoke with entrepreneurs and early retirees about the lucrative side hustles they started. Below, Insider rounded up various side-hustle ideas from entrepreneurs and early retirees who found ways to diversify their income. Shan Shan Fu started selling face masks on Amazon and turned it into a robust e-commerce businessShan Shan Fu sells socks and tights (including the ones pictured) online. Courtesy of Shan Shan FuWhen the Covid-19 pandemic sent the US under lockdown in the spring of 2020, Shan Shan Fu had a lot of free time after work. She launched her e-commerce company, Millennials In Motion, in April 2020 and immediately started making money.

☆ I'm a wellness-app founder who developed insomnia in lockdown. Here's the routine I used to get my sleep back on track.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Lola Christina Alao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

She told Insider she began sleeping terribly while working up to 14 hours in lockdown. My morning — and evening — routines used to be very different when I had insomnia in 2020. I like to say affirmations when I'm in a depressed mood — but when I'm feeling tired, breathing exercises help a lot. I start with more high-level strategic things, like reviewing the product roadmap — things that actually require a lot of brainpower. After three hours of this deep-focus time, I go out and walk my dog to make sure I'm getting enough exposure to light.

☆ In China's Wuhan, a shadow of reserve and resentment even as COVID lockdowns ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"We know the country is reopening but we ourselves haven't let down our guard," said one Wuhan cornershop owner. "This has never happened before, not even at the start of the outbreak in 2020," said one Wuhan pharmacist surnamed Liu. Health authorities in Wuhan reported 229 new COVID cases on Thursday, while health authorities in Beijing reported more than 16,000 cases nationwide on the same day. REUTERS/Martin Pollard 1 2 3 4By November, as frustration towards the zero-COVID policies mounted, some Wuhan residents like Sam Yuen, a teacher, joined protests demanding an end to the lockdowns, alongside thousands of others in cities across China. City authorities put the official death toll at 3,869 in April 2020.

Feeling defiant, I told him, I will let the world know what you police are doing," said Pei, 27. He asked to be identified only by part of his name for fear of repercussions. China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a request for comment on the laws they might use against protesters. Zhang Dongshuo, a Beijing-based lawyer who has handled rights cases in the past, said the levels of punishment for protesting in China vary widely. "They just sprang up organically because people were driven by a sense of hopelessness and desperation about the never-ending COVID restrictions," Wu said.

This week she was arrested in a raid as part of a group suspected of plotting to violently overthrow the German government. Prosecutors have said the 58-year-old, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was to become justice minister in a new state headed by aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss after the coup. The AfD said in a statement on Wednesday that it condemned the efforts of the suspected plotters. The inscription 'To the German people' is written above the entrance to the Reichstag building, the seat of Germany's lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany December 9, 2022. Nationwide it is polling at 14%, making it the most successful far-right party in Germany since World War Two.

☆ Hair oiling, cups of tea and mom's beauty secrets: Welcome to South Asian Gen Z’s ‘auntie’ era
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sakshi Venkatraman | Sakshi Venkatraman Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +10 min

Before Kaaviya Sambasivam left for elementary school each morning, her mother performed a ritual that generations of South Asian women had done before. South Asian women, fueled in part by lockdown forcing them to go home to their moms, have become a receptive TikTok community. Uniquely South Asian routines that once relegated them to the social outskirts now find an audience of thousands online. Other South Asian women say they can relate too. She remembers the days when the Facebook group Subtle Curry Traits was the only cultural touchstone for South Asian diaspora kids.

“The world changed overnight, and that’s really amazing,” said Echo Ding, 30, a manager at a tech company in Beijing. They said it’s good, so then it’s good … that’s what I feel right now. In Beijing, authorities on Wednesday said a health code showing a negative Covid-19 test would still be required for dining in at restaurants or entering some entertainment venues – in conflict with the national guidelines. Now, with the new rules she knew she could largely go out freely, but instead she stayed at home to “wait and see.”“We are still waiting and watching. It is not the case that people all rushed out once the seal is off,” she said.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn reportedly helped convince China to loosen Covid rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man passes by a compound of the electronics manufacturer Foxconn in Shenzhen on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. The founder of China-based Apple supplier Foxconn helped convince the country's leaders to loosen the Covid restrictions that led to protests in China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Gou's letter helped Chinese health officials and government advisers make the case for accelerated easing of Covid restrictions, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal. WATCH: iPhone workers in China revolt against Foxconn and zero-Covid policy

☆ Factbox: Far-right attacks, scandals in Germany
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Following are some of the far-right attacks and scandals that have shaken Germany in recent years:Jan. 2021 - Far-right sympathiser Stephan Ernst is handed a life sentence for shooting dead pro-immigration conservative politician Walter Luebcke who was found lying in a pool of blood outside his home in western Germany in 2019. Luebcke had been an outspoken supporter of former Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision in 2015 to let in refugees. June 2020 - German defence minister disbands company of its elite KSK special forces after a scandal over its links to far-right radicals. The attacker, a 27-year-old German, fatally shoots a woman outside the synagogue and a man inside a nearby kebab shop. An official report later says police had "massively underestimated" the risk of far-right violence and that missteps had allowed the cell to go undetected.

☆ Yellen 'open' to visiting China, will seek deeper economic engagement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday said she was "open" to visit China as she seeks to deepen economic engagement with Beijing after the leaders of the world's two largest economies met last month, signaling a possible easing of tensions. "I have no definite plan to visit China, but I am certainly open to it and look forward to more intense interactions than we've had over the last year or two," Yellen said. Yellen said she had raised the debt issue with her Chinese counterpart, departing Vice Premier Liu He, and other officials, but had not seen much progress. She said she hoped to increase economic engagement with China in the future. Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Apple says its new iMessage can send an alert if a state-sponsored hacker is spying on your conversation — but both parties have to turn on the feature for it to work
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple says its new iMessage feature can notify people if their conversation is being watched. Both people in the conversation must have the feature enabled to get an alert if there's a breach. Since the feature only works if both people have it enabled, it's limited to iMessage users to whom the feature is available. Despite this, iMessage users have been the targets of spyware before. In addition to iMessage Contact Key Verification, Apple released two other security features: Security Keys for Apple ID and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud.

☆ Chinese Exports Fall at Steepest Pace in More Than Two Years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Stella Yifan Xie | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

HONG KONG—Chinese exports fell at the steepest pace in more than two years in November, the latest indication of how the country’s pandemic restrictions and waning global demand for goods is throttling China’s economy. Outbound shipments from China plunged 8.7% year-over-year last month, the biggest dip since February 2020, when a nationwide lockdown ground economic activities to a halt. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 2% drop.

☆ Jamie Dimon sounds off on the economy, Fed, and crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There are few top executives who draw as much attention and speak as freely as Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan. "Inflation is eroding everything…and that $1.5 trillion will run out sometime mid-year next year," Dimon said. Never one to mince words, Dimon then blasted the cryptocurrency sector when asked what he thought of the FTX collapse. Meanwhile, days after the EU's $60 per barrel price cap kicked in, oil prices slumped to levels not seen since before the invasion of Ukraine. There's been much debate about how the measure will alter oil prices moving forward — but PIMCO commodities strategist Greg Sharenow said it's going to come down to three factors.

☆ China eases some of its Covid restrictions, in significant step toward reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNS/AFP/Getty ImagesSince early in the pandemic, China has used health codes on mobile phones to track individuals’ health statuses. Residents line up for Covid tests in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China on December 1. Schools with Covid cases can continue “normal teaching and living,” as long as they designate certain “risk areas” with control measures. Since early in the pandemic, China has required a prescription and negative Covid test to buy these. Some experts have warned that a broader reopening inevitably brings health risks, especially to those vulnerable groups.

☆ China's trade shrinks sharply as feeble demand, domestic COVID woes take toll
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Of much greater consequence will be the downturn in global demand for Chinese goods due to the reversal in pandemic-era demand and the coming global recession." Inbound shipments were down sharply by 10.6% from a 0.7% drop in October, weaker than a forecast 6.0% decline. But analysts remain sceptical the steps could achieve quick results, as Beijing has not announced a full reopening from COVID containment yet. China's economy grew just 3% in the first three quarters of this year, well below the annual target of around 5.5%. "As global demand weakens in 2023, China will have to rely more on domestic demand," he said.

☆ UK construction growth ebbs away as economy falters: PMI
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Kaori Kaneko | Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Growth in Britain's construction industry slowed to a crawl in November as high borrowing costs and the gloomy economic outlook crimped building work, a survey showed on Tuesday. The S&P Global/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a three-month low of 50.4 from 53.2 in October, barely above the 50 dividing line between growth and contraction. The survey's gauge of future activity sank to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, consistent with recession. With demand fading from the economy, various measures of price pressures from consumers and businesses have started to ease - including in Thursday's survey. The construction PMI's index of input prices fell in November to its lowest level since January 2021.

☆ Stocks suffer biggest drop in two weeks; dollar gains on upbeat U.S. data
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Asian stocks logged their sharpest declines in two weeks but the dollar held on to gains following strong U.S. data that again suggested the Federal Reserve might stick longer with aggressive interest rate increases. Chinese stocks extended their recovery, with the broader index (.CSI300) gaining 0.6%, while Japan (.N225) was up 0.3%. Futures show the market expects U.S. short-term interest rates to peak at 5.001% in May. The dollar stayed firm versus major peers, following its biggest rally in two weeks on Monday, which was helped by the strong U.S. services data. The Australian dollar regained some ground after the country's central bank raised interest rates to decade highs and stuck with a prediction of further hikes ahead, quashing any thought it was near to pausing.

☆ Expect Chinese stocks to rally hard now that Beijing has set a 'clear path' to reopening, Morgan Stanley says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley upgraded its outlook for China equities and expects a move toward ending zero-COVID controls to boost stocks. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index could rally 13% from its current level by the end of 2023, strategists said. That could lift the Hong Kong Hang Seng index 13% and lead to MSCI's China Index jumping 14% as a revival in demand leads to companies posting stronger earnings, according to Morgan Stanley. But that doesn't mean investors should pile into Chinese stocks right now — with the impact of the economic reopening likely to lag until the second quarter of next year, according to Morgan Stanley. Official confirmation of that trip would likely further lift the market's view on Chinese equities, strategists said.

☆ This 28-year-old built a side hustle that brings in $30,000 a month: 'I only have to work 6 hours a week'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Quinn Miller | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Quinn Miller started his vending machine business as a side hustle in 2020. That spring, I read on Twitter about someone making passive income by placing vending machines in office buildings. I only have to work six hours a week on vending machine operations. One vending machine business owner, for example, has 21 locations but only pays one venue 15% of his monthly profits. Vending machines are heavy and dangerous to move, so it's hard to fit them into tight spaces.

☆ Special Report: In France, minority communities decry a surge in police fines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +18 min

Hassan Bouchouf received fines on more than two dozen occasions, according to the town’s fine data. The Essonne police department didn’t respond to questions about the fines received by Assam and Bouchouf. After learning of the April 2020 fines, Assam verbally confronted Dumas on the street later that same month, according to both men and a witness. That prompted a review by the prosecutor’s office, which found that police had issued fines to Assam remotely, that person said. The watchdog is investigating about 10 complaints alleging improper police fines, mostly from Paris, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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