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☆ China Clamps Down on Internet as It Seeks to Stamp Out Covid Protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Liza Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE—China’s internet watchdog instructed tech companies to expand censorship of protests and moved to curb access to virtual private networks this week, as a government clampdown succeeds in keeping most protesters off the streets after nationwide demonstrations erupted over the weekend against the country’s strict Covid policies. The Cyberspace Administration of China issued guidance to companies on Tuesday, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of short video apps TikTok and Douyin, asking them to add more staff to internet censorship teams, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies were also asked to pay more attention to content related to the protests, particularly any information being shared about demonstrations at Chinese universities and a fire in the western Xinjiang region that triggered the nationwide backlash over Covid policies.

CNN —A man is reported to have been killed by security forces in northern Iran during public celebrations by anti-government protesters following the national football team’s defeat against the United States on Tuesday. Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Mehran Samak was shot in the head by security personnel when he was out celebrating in Bandar Anzali Tuesday night. Based on existing evidence, he had been shot by a hunting rifle,” Bandar Anzali police chief Colonel Jafar Javanmardi said according to Tasnim. Footage obtained by CNN from pro-reform news outlet IranWire shows Samak's funeral in Bandar Anzali. Several videos were posted on social media Tuesday night showing people in cities across Iran, including in the capital Tehran, celebrating inside their homes and residential buildings after the US defeated Iran 1-0 in the World Cup.

☆ Morning Bid: China, COVID and Crude
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Rare anti-government unrest across China's cities over the weekend has unnerved world markets, weakening crude oil prices and adding fresh political risks to a fragile year-end. Wary that both the unrest and the COVID crunch compound the economic hit to China and the world, the initial market reaction on Monday was to sell Chinese stocks, the yuan and oil - with crude oil prices falling to close to $80 per barrel, their lowest since January. A U.S. regulatory clampdown on Chinese tech giants, citing national security concerns, also weighed on shares of tech firms. As U.S. markets return after the Thanksgiving weekend, attention will return to Federal Reserve tightening, the labour market and inflation picture. The German banking giant said it expected U.S. output to drop 2% over the whole year, euro zone output to decline 1% and world economic growth to slow to a recessionary 2%.

☆ Chinese lender BoCom agrees $14 bln credit line with developer Vanke
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Nov 23 (Reuters) - China's Bank of Communications Co Ltd (BoCom) (601328.SS) said on Wednesday it would provide a 100 billion yuan ($13.98 billion) credit line to developer Vanke in the latest sign of support for the embattled property sector. The property sector makes up about a quarter of the economy. Under the agreement, BoCom will likely offer Vanke (000002.SZ) property development loans, mortgage loans and loans for merger and acquisition deals, according to a statement released by the lender. The agreement is part of the bank's efforts to implement 16 measures outlined by Chinese regulators to support the property sector, it said in the statement. China's property sector, once a pillar of growth, has slowed sharply this year due to government efforts to restrict excessive borrowing by developers.

It was a game that produced another World Cup shock as Japan came from behind to win 2-1. “We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect,” the DFB said. Germany captain Manuel Neuer also did not wear the armband on Wednesday. Before the game, Faeser had criticized FIFA, slamming the threat of sanctions for wearing the armband. “In today’s times it is incomprehensible that FIFA does not want people to openly stand for tolerance and against discrimination.

REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Beijing shut parks and museums on Tuesday while more Chinese cities resumed mass testing for COVID-19, as China fights a fresh nationwide spike in cases that has deepened concerns about its economy. In the capital Beijing, cases have hit a fresh record high, prompting calls for more residents to stay put. There were two new deaths attributed to COVID-19, compared with three over the weekend, which were China's first since May. Beijing reported 1,438 new local cases, up from 962 on Sunday. "Reopening could be back and forth as policymakers may back down after observing rapid increases in cases and social disruptions.

☆ Several Beijing districts shut schools as China COVID cases rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

China is fighting numerous COVID-19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest and for Sunday reported 26,824 new local cases, nearing April's peaks. It also recorded two deaths in Beijing, up from one on Saturday, which was China's first since late May. It also suspended dine-in services and shut night clubs and theatres in Tianhe, home to the city's main business district. This sparked worry among some local residents. The capital Beijing reported 962 new infections, up from 621 a day earlier.

☆ Iran intensifies crackdown in Kurdish area; rights group says four killed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said military helicopters carried members of the widely feared Revolutionary Guards to quell the protests in the Sunni-dominated Kurdish city of Mahabad. The widely-followed activist account 1500Tasvir said a 16-year-old student and a school teacher were killed in the Kurdish city of Javanrud. Iran's state media said calm had been restored in the area. "In (the Kurdish city of) Marivan repressive forces have opened fire at people," Hengaw said. Some 54 members of the security forces were also killed, it said, adding that more than 17,251 people have been arrested.

☆ Putin purges Russia's Human Rights Council, replacing critics with pro-war cheerleaders
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia's Human Rights Council was reshuffled to exclude critics and bring in pro-war cheerleaders. It comes ahead of a key annual meeting where free speech about the Ukraine war was to be discussed. This system — often referred to as controlled opposition — is what Chatterje-Doody said had allowed organizations such as the Human Rights Council to express genuine criticism. On October 7, Russia rejected a UN Human Rights Council draft resolution condemning what the body called "the significant deterioration of the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation." Top Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that membership rotations at the Human Rights Council are normal.

☆ G20's criticism of Russia reflects the rise of new Asian power: India
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“Today’s era must not be of war,” it said, echoing what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian leader Vladimir Putin during a face-to-face meeting in September. “How India united G20 on PM Modi’s idea of peace,” ran a headline in the Times of India, the country’s largest English-language paper. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo hold hands during the handover ceremony at the G20 leaders' summit, in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, November 16, 2022. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a bilateral meeting on November 16, 2022 in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. And while this year’s G20 was looked at through the lens of the war, India could bring its own agenda to the table next year.

☆ China regulators order more financing support for property firms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The move, first reported by Bloomberg, comes as cash-strapped property developers struggle to tap sources of funding to finish projects and pay suppliers. Chinese regulators are telling financial institutions to allow real estate companies to defer repayment of some loans, such as property development and trust loans, the sources said. China's property sector, once a pillar of growth, has slowed sharply this year as the government sought to restrict excessive borrowing by developers. Goldman Sachs said in a note that the basic principles of the property measures are not new. Chinese regulators expanded a key financing support programme designed for private firms, including real estate companies, to about 250 billion yuan ($35.18 billion) this week.

☆ EU piles pressure on Iran's leaders with more sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Macron said the crackdown by Iranian leaders would make it harder to reach agreement on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which would give Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. "I don't think there will be new proposals which can be made right now to save the nuclear deal." Speaking after he met four Iranian women activists in Paris over the weekend, Macron said that more European Union sanctions would be adopted in reaction to Tehran's actions. Iranian leaders blame foreign enemies including the United States for what they call riots. In a letter published by Emtedad news website, some 2,300 graduated students of Amirkabir University in Tehran urged authorities to release students detained.

☆ UN human rights chief fears pushback on gender issues, cites Iran clampdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Cecile Mantovani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The new U.N. human rights chief said on Wednesday there was a worrying pushback against progress in easing rights abuses, above all on gender issues, pointing to Iran's violent clampdown on unrest touched off by a woman's death in police custody. Turk, whose predecessor Michelle Bachelet drew criticism in some quarters for appearing soft on some governments when they were backsliding on human rights, also promised to speak out "when we feel our voice can make a difference". He takes charge of the U.N. human rights office at a time of turbulence in Europe over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as some of the most widespread unrest in Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Turk pointed to what he called a pushback on human rights, especially with respect to gender issues, and highlighted to a "strongman mentality" and autocratic tendencies in a number of countries. "And unfortunately, human rights is thrown into the vortex of these dynamics and has become a battlefield which we cannot afford and human beings cannot afford," he said.

☆ China property slump persists in October with falling prices, sales as COVID bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s property market continued its slump in October, with private data showing home prices and sales falling, suggesting lacklustre sentiment and a bleak outlook amid strict COVID curbs, which hit consumer confidence. Property sales by floor area in 100 cities fell about 20% year-on-year in October, according to a separate statement by the academy. Analyst Chen Wenjing at the research firm said property recovery depends on COVID containment measures and the strength of policies. Any rebound in the real estate market is expected to be delayed if the country sticks with strict COVID restrictions to quell the repeated coronavirus outbreaks, Chen said. Home sales by floor area in Shanghai and Guangzhou fell 35% and 26% in annual terms, respectively.

Here are some of the ways that China has changed under Xi. The taming of once-unruly borderlandsThe regions of Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, all far from Beijing, have long created headaches for China's ruling Communist Party. Average particulate matter, a common measure of air pollution, has gradually declined in China since 2017, when Xi Jinping began his second term in office. Extreme poverty eliminated, inequality persistsXi describes elimination of extreme poverty in China as one of the key Communist Party achievements of the past decade. Reuters GraphicsIn 2021, Xi Jinping declared victory over extreme poverty, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.

Iranian Americans rally outside the White House in support of anti-regime protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Washington, U.S., September 24, 2022. Belgium's foreign minister and two other lawmakers cut their hair in parliament. "We are not looking to get involved in regime change," said a Western diplomat. Some officials and analysts argue Tehran may not seek a deal given the political sensitivities at home. "Why would we throw a lifeline to a regime that is on the ropes and that is killing young women?"

☆ Why analysts say Netflix's third-quarter results signal the start of a 'narrative defining period'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix 's subscriber turnaround in the third quarter signaled to many that the streaming giant's troubles are behind it. But some analysts warn the company isn't out of the woods just yet and the stock is entering a defining period. The streaming giant on Tuesday reported subscriber growth of roughly 2.4 million, topping expectations set by analysts, after back-to-back quarters of subscriber losses. That said, Morgan Stanley's Benjamin Swinburne wrote in a note to clients that the stock is overstating Netflix's outlook ahead. But without a boost in the pace of streaming growth, he sees difficulty for Netflix to surpass 10% growth in the foreseeable future.

☆ Iran airs video from Evin prison hours after fire, tells Biden to stop interfering
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Iran, which has blamed the violence on enemies at home and abroad, deny security forces have killed protesters. The footage of Evin aired on state television showed firefighters inspecting a workshop with fire damage to the roof. State news agency IRNA said on Saturday eight people were injured in the fire at the Evin prison. Video obtained by Reuters showed protesters marching amongst traffic towards Tehran's Evin prison on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Iran's notorious Evin prison, which holds criminal convicts as well as political detainees, has long been criticised by Western rights groups and was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2018 for "serious human rights abuses".

☆ Xi set to open party congress at challenging time for China
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Tony Munroe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China's President Xi Jinping attends a wreath laying ceremony on Tiananmen Square to mark Martyrs' Day on the eve of the National Day in Beijing, China September 30, 2022. Still, diplomats, economists and analysts spoken to by Reuters say Xi is set to consolidate his grip on power. In securing a third term Xi breaks with the two-term precedent of recent decades. Also breaking with norms: no successor to Xi, 69, is expected to be identified, analysts say, which would indicate he plans to remain in power even longer. Still, analysts say, the views of any individual matter less nowadays as Xi has sidelined those seen as "reformers" in favour of his more state-driven and nationalistic economic policies.

☆ When Chinese protesters came up against Xi's security machine
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Handout via REUTERSBEIJING, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Jack Yao, a Chinese Communist Party member, never wanted to be an activist. It offers a glimpse of the lengths some frustrated citizens will go to in taking on the world's most powerful security state. China's Ministry of Public Security, the Henan and Anhui local governments, and police departments in those provinces and Beijing didn't respond to requests for comment for this article. Chinese authorities say social stability is the foundation for a prosperous future and dismiss human rights complaints as Western propaganda and interference in internal affairs. Protesters chanted: "Henan banks, give us back our deposits."

☆ Palestinians protest as Jerusalem refugee camp locked down
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A woman reads in a commercial thoroughfare which is closed in protest of an Israeli clampdown on Jerusalem's outlying Shuafat refugee camp after a Palestinian gunman carried out a deadly attack on a military checkpoint, in Jerusalem's Old City October 12, 2022. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinians protested at checkpoints into a major refugee camp in Jerusalem on Wednesday and shops across the West Bank closed, following an Israeli security crackdown after two soldiers died in shooting attacks this week. Earlier this week, security forces began a manhunt for the killer of an 18-year-old soldier who was shot while on duty at a checkpoint into the Shuafat refugee camp on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem. Many shops in East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank were closed as a mark of protest, while private schools also told pupils to stay at home. "The strike is in solidarity with Shuafat refugee camp and how it is being dealt with," said Jerusalem resident Khaled Alqam.

☆ Beijing in 'iron fist' security, Covid clampdown ahead of key leadership shuffle
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Eunice Yoon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBeijing in 'iron fist' security, Covid clampdown ahead of key leadership shuffleCNBC's Eunice Yoon joins 'Squawk Box' to report how a historic third term for China's President Xi Jinping could affect the country's stringent zero-Covid policies and more.

☆ India’s words are anti-war, but New Delhi’s actions are propping up Putin’s regime
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-03 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New Delhi has repeatedly abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations – providing Moscow with a veneer of international legitimacy. And in August, India participated in Russia’s large-scale Vostok military exercises alongside China, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan – where Moscow paraded its vast arsenal. “There’s a feeling that Putin is pushing India’s limits because in some ways, it’s put itself out on a limb. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty ImagesSuperficially at least, India and China also appear to have similar positions on the Ukraine war. But despite India’s increasing closeness with the West, it is prioritizing the dangers in its own backyard, analysts say.

☆ Nicaragua asks EU ambassador to leave the country - diplomatic sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 28 (Reuters) - Nicaragua has asked the European Union's ambassador to leave the country, three diplomatic sources told Reuters on Wednesday, after officials deemed the representative "persona non grata." European Union Ambassador Bettina Muscheidt was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where she was declared "non grata" and notified that she should leave the country, one of the diplomatic sources said. Muscheidt is no longer welcome in Nicaragua, according to one of the diplomatic sources who requested anonymity to discuss the decision. Hugo Rodriguez, a nominee to serve as U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, was denied his post by the government in June. In February, the Vatican's ambassador to Managua, Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was declared persona non grata and ordered to leave.

☆ Eight U.S. state regulators charge Nexo for failure to register interest account
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSept 26 (Reuters) - Eight U.S. state regulators on Monday charged cryptocurrency lender Nexo Group for allegedly failing to register its Earn Interest Product, as authorities crackdown on digital asset platforms rocked by a crypto winter in recent months. "Since the SEC guidance on earn products in February 2022, Nexo has voluntarily ceased the onboarding of new U.S. clients for our Earn Interest Product as well as stopped the product for new balances for existing clients," the company said in an emailed statement. Nexo's interest accounts offered under the product promise an annual interest rate as high as 36%, according to California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The regulatory clampdown comes in the midst of a crypto winter that has seen crypto prices have plummet this year as a risk-off sentiment and fears of a looming recession crushed risky assets, forcing some companies into bankruptcy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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