Softbank’s bet on Chinese app Didi falls $4bn into the red July 26, 2021 Softbank’s bumper bet on Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi has plunged $4bn (£2.9bn) into the red as authorities in Beijing crack down on the app following its New York stock market float. The Japanese conglomerate took a 2.1 per cent stake in Didi worth $11.8bn in 2019, but its shareholding is now worth just $7.8bn, the [...]
Tencent shares fall after Beijing orders end to exclusive music rights deals July 26, 2021 Shares in Tencent have fallen after China ordered the company to end exclusive music licensing agreements with record labels across the world. The move is said to be aimed at tackling the technology giant’s dominance of online streaming in the country. They must cease engaging in any of these deals in the future and any [...]
Exclusive: London Mayor Sadiq Khan welcomes Hongkongers with open arms July 24, 2021 London’s City Hall announced this week it plans to free up £900k to help tens of thousands of Hong Kong migrants to settle in the capital this year. The financial package is part of a wider strategy to help those fleeing the political turmoil in Hong Kong set up home in London. In an exclusive [...]
Listed luxury: Ermenegildo Zegna’s decision to go public comes at a crossroads for high-end fashion July 23, 2021 Luxury Italian brand Zegna has decided to go public via special purpose acquisition (SPAC), in an interesting blend of the old and the new. The move to go with a listing model that some still consider untested for the long term comes after a track record of over a century of excellence in high quality [...]
Why has north Asia outperformed its south-east Asian peers? July 23, 2021 The success of north Asian countries (China, South Korea, Taiwan) in containing the Covid-19 pandemic last year is well-known. Strict lockdowns and quarantine procedures helped all three countries return to relative economic normality last year while Western economies suffered protracted disruption. China and Taiwan even recorded positive GDP growth for 2020. This success was, in [...]
China locks down city the size of London after 17 Covid cases found July 22, 2021 China has locked down a city of some 9.3m people, a similar population to that of London, after just 17 cases of Covid-19 were found. It comes as China reported its highest daily number of new cases since January on Tuesday and shot down plans to investigate the Covid-19’s origin. A senior Chinese health official [...]
Three new gins that prove small-batch distilling is alive and well July 22, 2021 You may have thought that the hand-crafted gin market had run out of USPs but three new small-batch gins show there is no drought of new ideas. New Zealand’s Scapegrace Gin, just launched in the UK, is the first black-ish gin. Because of botanicals including aronia berry, butterfly pea, saffron, pineapple and sweet potato, it [...]
Tokyo 2020: What Covid-19, no fans and public opposition mean for sponsors and the International Olympic Committee July 22, 2021 The 60,000 seats of Japan’s national stadium, built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, are coloured in muted shades of green, brown, beige and grey. Architect Kengo Kuma chose those tones to fit his vision of the stadium, which he wanted to look as natural and organic as possible. Timber is the most visible material and [...]
China rejects WHO plan to further investigate Covid-19 origin July 22, 2021 A senior Chinese health official rejected the next stage of a World Health Organisation investigation into the origin of Covid-19, which plans to audit labs and markets in the city of Wuhan. Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission, said in a press conference in Beijing that he was taken aback by a hypothesis [...]
Bitcoin tumbles below $30k as cryptocurrency markets see major falls July 20, 2021 The world’s leading cryptocurrency has fallen below the major psychological mark of $30,000 as a market slump across the board continues to sting all major cryptocurrencies.