Why yak hair is taking over our homes and wardrobes February 1, 2021 As we sit around our houses staring at the same four walls, we seem to have come to a collective conclusion: short-legged, long-haired ox and even-toed ungulates are in. One of the less predictable trends emerging in 2021 is our increasing propensity to dress ourselves and our interiors in the understated but highly functional elegance [...]
WPP signs early access advertising deal with Tiktok February 1, 2021 WPP has secured an advertising partnership with Tiktok, marking a key step in the holding group’s efforts to cash in on the wildly popular video app. The tie-up will give WPP’s clients early access to Tiktok’s new advertising services while they are under development, which the ad giant said will ensure they remain “at the [...]
This morning: Silver receives Gamestop treatment on Reddit February 1, 2021 Silver shines this morning as the metal is experiencing a rise in demand thanks to postings on Reddit, targeted in a similar fashion as Gamestop last week. What silver is going through this morning is the same rude awakening financial markets received last week when a swarm of retail investors, who were chatting with each [...]
Takeover talk mounts as Chinese tycoon ups stake in Cineworld January 29, 2021 A secretive Chinese tycoon has increased his stake in Cineworld, fuelling speculation of a possible takeover offer for the UK’s largest cinema chain. Liu Zaiwang’s Jangho Group has built its holding in Cineworld to 13.3 per cent, according to stock market filings published yesterday. The Chinese magnate, whose net worth is valued at $760m (£556m) [...]
Best of travel: Why the best Chinese food is found in Taiwan January 27, 2021 To tide us over until we’re able to travel again, we’re republishing classic travel stories from our archives. This week we revisit Simon Thomson’s trip to Taiwan, home to some of the world’s finest Chinese food. ••• In 1949, after years of civil war, the nationalist forces of the Kuomintang withdrew to an island in [...]
HSBC boss stands by bank’s support for Hong Kong’s freedom of speech crackdown January 26, 2021 HSBC’s chief executive has today stood by statements made by himself and another senior executive in support of Hong Kong’s draconian national security laws that clamp down on freedom of speech. Noel Quinn told MPs today that laws were needed to “stablise” the region last year and said there was no situation in which he [...]
HSBC exec ‘protected’ from alleged sex assault claim through Chinese Communist Party membership January 24, 2021 A parliamentary committee is investigating allegations that an HSBC executive was protected from sexual assault claims by being a member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The explosive claims are reportedly contained in a dossier that is being compiled for a Foreign Affairs Committee report into HSBC’s role in Beijing’s freedom of speech crackdown in [...]
Topshop set for discount sale price after Next pulls out of race, analysts say January 22, 2021 The bidders circling Sir Philip Green’s collapsed retail empire Arcadia could bag a good deal to buy Topshop, after Next – a frontrunner to rescue the firm’s “crown jewel” – pulled out of the race. Restructuring experts said Next’s exit from the sales process will put the other bidders in a stronger position, making it [...]
Wall Street slides as ‘Biden bounce’ runs out of steam January 22, 2021 Wall Street fell today as global markets stepped back from the highs they reached on the back of Joe Biden’s new economic stimulus proposal. After once again hitting record highs earlier this week, Wall Street’s main markets once again showed that they were not immune to the malaise felt around the world. The S&P 500, [...]
Excl: Hong Kong activist Nathan Law slams firms ‘colluding’ with Beijing January 21, 2021 Western firms operating in China and Hong Kong are “compromising their integrity,” one of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy activists has told City A.M. Nathan Law, one of the leaders of the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests in the territory and now in exile in London, warned that “Beijing manipulates its economic power to conduct and expand [...]