World

China ordered broadcasters on Thursday to shun artists with "incorrect political positions" and "effeminate" styles, and said a patriotic atmosphere needed to be cultivated, widening a crackdown on its booming entertainment industry. After years of runaway growth in the world's second largest economy, regulators have been to trying to strengthen control over Chinese society by tightening oversight over a broad swathe of industries ranging from technology to education and culture. Communist Party authorities can censor anything they believe violates core socialist values and already have stringent rules on content ranging from video games to movies and music. The latest moves reining in the entertainment industry come in the wake of a series of celebrity scandals involving tax evasion an...

China's tech stocks slumped to new lows on Friday (Aug 20) and Hong Kong's benchmark index hit an almost 10-month trough, as an unrelenting series of Chinese regulatory crackdowns crushed investors' confidence. More than US$560 billion in market value has been wiped off Hong Kong and China exchanges in a week as funds capitulate out of once-favoured stocks, unsure which sectors regulators will target next. The Hang Seng fell 1.8 per cent and its weekly drop of 5.8 per cent was the largest since the height of the pandemic panic in financial markets in March 2020. Stocks in Shanghai also fell, while investors sold risky corporate debt and the Chinese currency. The yuan was poised for its biggest weekly loss in two months as investors rushed to safety amid global coronavirus concerns. "Th...

NEW YORK : The dollar slipped from 4-1/2-month highs to trade little changed on Wednesday after minutes of last month's Federal Reserve meeting suggested there was no consensus about the timing of a tapering of its asset purchases under the U.S. central bank's quantitative easing program. A reduction in debt purchases is typically positive for the dollar as it means the Fed will not be flooding the financial system with cash, increasing the greenback's value. The minutes also said most participants "judged that the Committee's standard of 'substantial further progress' toward the maximum-employment goal had not yet been met." This means that Fed policy would remain accommodative for some time, providing no support for the dollar. "The market ... read the minutes as more dovish, leading...

WASHINGTON: The White House is hosting an event on Wednesday that will bring together the largest US technology companies for a discussion about cybersecurity challenges following a raft of high-profile hacking incidents earlier this year, people familiar with the event told Reuters. It comes as Congress weighs new legislation concerning data breach notification laws and cybersecurity insurance industry regulation, historically viewed as two of the most consequential policy areas within the field. The guest list includes Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna, according to two people familiar with the event. Another said the topics of discussion will include ransomware, critical infrastr...

It has been six months since Myanmar’s military, angered over a humiliating defeat in national elections, rejected the results and overthrew the government. International condemnation has had no effect. The junta, led by Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has dug in its heels, announcing that it will hold elections by August 2023 and that Min Aung Hlaing will remain as head of a caretaker government until then. This is unacceptable. The military must restore the democratically elected government and return to the barracks. Half measures and prevarications cannot be accepted. The military launched its coup on Feb. 1, alleging that massive fraud produced the overwhelming victory of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the previous November’s ballot. While the national election commission and...

China’s push to reduce carbon emissions is providing a tailwind for steel producers worldwide as it limits output from the country and pushes down the cost of key ingredient iron ore, according to Nippon Steel Corp. Japan’s biggest producer of the metal is on track to exceed its full-year profit target as elevated steel prices and the recent slump in iron ore widen its margins, Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori said in an interview. Steel output from the world’s biggest producer slumped in July amid a push by Beijing to curb pollution from the sector that accounts for 15% of China’s carbon emissions. The drive to cut production, which is expected to continue through the rest of the year, has pushed down the price of iron ore, the main ingredient used to make steel, by around 30% sin...

Flashpop | DigitalVision | Getty Images There's something different about the flood of new investors who entered the market in the last 18 months. They are younger, more diverse, use technology to make trades and turn to social media to learn about investing and research investment ideas, a new CNBC/Momentive Invest in You survey found. More than a quarter of investors polled started investing within the last 18 months, and 73% began in 2019 or earlier. Momentive surveyed 5,523 U.S. adults between Aug. 4 and Aug. 9, 2021; of those, 45% are investors. More from Invest in You: How you should be investing your money in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond Here's to find the right help to manage your money Even if you aren't working, you may be able to open an IRA. Here's how The distinctions bet...

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 17: The Amazon Web Services (AWS) logo, a division of Amazon.com's US e-commerce group is displayed during the 4th edition of the Viva Technology show at Parc des Expositions Porte de Versailles on May 17, 2019 in Paris, France. Viva Technology, the new international event brings together 9000 startups with top investors, companies to grow businesses and all players in the digital transformation who shape the future of the internet. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images) Amazon confirmed on Monday that Charlie Bell, one of the top executives in its cloud business, is leaving the company. Peter DeSantis, a senior vice president at Amazon Web Services who has worked on global infrastructure, will become the new leader for utility computing, which Bell was managing, according t...

There have been a number of whirlwind rallies this year, from dogecoin's 12,000% climb in May to "meme stocks" like Gamestop and AMC seeing their prices increase more than tenfold in February. These rallies created a frenzy that saw investors rushing to get a piece of the profit. And despite the risk of buying high and selling low, many people joined these rallies anyway. Why? FOMO, or the fear of missing out, can cause investors to make riskier choices than they otherwise might, wealth manager and behavioral finance expert Shari Greco Reiches tells CNBC Make It. Watching others make a lot of money on a certain stock or token having a massive rally may make you feel obligated to join in and get in on the gains, even if the logical part of your brain is telling you that the biggest reward...

KUALA LUMPUR: Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Wednesday (Aug 4) picked Brunei Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as their special envoy to Myanmar, in a breakthrough after months of delay for regional mediation to help end the country's deepening crisis. Erywan has been tasked with ending violence in Myanmar, opening dialogue between the military rulers and their opponents in the crisis-torn country, according to a communique released after meetings on Monday and Wednesday by foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asians. Erywan will begin his work in Myanmar to “build trust and confidence with full access to all parties concerned", according to a joint statement. He will also oversee a humanitarian aid package, although no details of the assistance were announced, acc...