SCMP.com will carry a live blog of the foreign ministry’s “two sessions” press conference on Sunday morning (Beijing time). Foreign Minister Wang Yi is likely to speak at the event. China is sharpening its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing as it seeks to bolster the economy and achieve technological self-reliance. The digital economy will grow to 12.5 per cent of gro...
SCMP.com will carry a live blog of the foreign ministry’s “two sessions” press conference on Sunday morning (Beijing time). Foreign Minister Wang Yi is likely to speak at the event. China is sharpening its focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing as it seeks to bolster the economy and achieve technological self-reliance. The digital economy will grow to 12.5 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030, from 10.5 per cent last year, under the 15th five-year plan being...
Disruption to Qatari LNG exports is the "big ticket item" for gas markets, according to Energy Aspects Global Gas Head, Livia Gallarati. In an interview on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, Gallariti said it will take about two weeks to for Qatar Energy to resume gas liquefaction after it stopped production this week. European natural gas prices have soared as the war in the Middle East continues to clou...
Disruption to Qatari LNG exports is the "big ticket item" for gas markets, according to Energy Aspects Global Gas Head, Livia Gallarati. In an interview on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, Gallariti said it will take about two weeks to for Qatar Energy to resume gas liquefaction after it stopped production this week. European natural gas prices have soared as the war in the Middle East continues to cloud the outlook for global flows. (Source: Bloomberg)
Pick of the week I Swear One thing that has been lost in the furore surrounding John Davidson’s outbursts at the Baftas is the film itself. As a plea for tolerance and understanding, Kirk Jones’s award-winning biopic of Davidson – who has Tourette syndrome – is moving and persuasive. And in Robert Aramayo it has a lead who throws himself wholeheartedly into a life that oscillates between desperati...
Pick of the week I Swear One thing that has been lost in the furore surrounding John Davidson’s outbursts at the Baftas is the film itself. As a plea for tolerance and understanding, Kirk Jones’s award-winning biopic of Davidson – who has Tourette syndrome – is moving and persuasive. And in Robert Aramayo it has a lead who throws himself wholeheartedly into a life that oscillates between desperation and hope, tragedy and comedy. Scott Ellis Watson is his equal playing the young John, who starts to develop tics as a teenager and finds his life falling apart. Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan, as the two mentors who help him see his potential, add lustre to a spirited and essential watch. Tuesday 10 March, Netflix Worldbreaker View image in fullscreen Fighting for survival … Billie Boullet in Worldbreaker. Photograph: Voltage Pictures/Everett Collection Inc/Alamy In a post-climate breakdown future, humanity is assailed by Breakers, insectoid creatures that have appeared from beneath the Earth’s surface and infected or killed most of the population, with men particularly susceptible. Luke Evans and Billie Boullet play a father and 15-year-old daughter who hide out on an island while Mum (Milla Jovovich) fights on with her all-female army. Making a virtue of a limited budget, director Brad Anderson focuses on the coming-of-age angle, with Evans’s Welsh lilt giving a bardic feel to the survival story. Saturday 7 March, Prime Video Brief History of a Family View image in fullscreen Deliciously unsettling … Brief History of a Family. Lin Jianjie’s delicious Chinese psychological drama has hints of Parasite but this tale of a cuckoo in the nest of a middle-class family is even more unsettling and ambiguous. Xilun Sun plays Yan Shuo, a reserved boy befriended by his sporty but less academically gifted classmate Tu Wei (Muran Lin). Wei’s mother (Keyu Guo) and father (Feng Zu) see in Shuo the son they wanted – attentive, cultured, smart – but is his escalating presence in their li...
Photographer Murdo MacLeod patrols the snow with members of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, which has for several decades published a vital daily avalanche forecast for mountain areas Scottish avalanches are back. More than 200 have been recorded this winter, against the previous year’s record low of 42. The worst season for fatalities was 2012-13 when eight people died, four of whom w...
Photographer Murdo MacLeod patrols the snow with members of the Scottish Avalanche Information Service, which has for several decades published a vital daily avalanche forecast for mountain areas Scottish avalanches are back. More than 200 have been recorded this winter, against the previous year’s record low of 42. The worst season for fatalities was 2012-13 when eight people died, four of whom were buried in deep snow when an avalanche struck without warning while they descended Glen Coe’s Bidean nam Bian. Fortunately, so far – despite one person being carried a distance down Ben Nevis and two people falling through cornices and triggering slips – there have not been any confirmed avalanche deaths, though one person is still missing on Ben Nevis. The search goes on in and around the sites of recent avalanches. A mountain rescue team looks for a missing climber in Observatory Gully on the north face of Ben Nevis, an area where there has been a succession of avalanches Continue reading...
Weight-loss jabs such as Wegovy and Ozempic could be made for just $3 a month, according to new analysis, potentially making the treatment available to millions in poorer countries as patents expire. More than a billion people live with obesity worldwide, with rates rising fast in lower-income nations as they shift to westernised diets and more sedentary lifestyles. The World Health Organization d...
Weight-loss jabs such as Wegovy and Ozempic could be made for just $3 a month, according to new analysis, potentially making the treatment available to millions in poorer countries as patents expire. More than a billion people live with obesity worldwide, with rates rising fast in lower-income nations as they shift to westernised diets and more sedentary lifestyles. The World Health Organization designated semaglutide – sold to treat obesity under the brand name Wegovy, and diabetes under the brand name Ozempic – as an essential medicine in September last year. But global health leaders warned at the time that high prices were limiting access. New research, published as a pre-print, suggests that semaglutide could be mass produced for $3 (about £2.35) for a monthly dose in its injectable form. Newer formulations, taken as a pill rather than an injection, could be made for about $16 a month. One of the authors, Dr Andrew Hill of Liverpool University’s pharmacology department, said: “These low prices open the door to worldwide access to an essential medicine.” The researchers also found that core patents on semaglutide were due to expire in 10 countries this year, including Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico and Canada from 21 March, opening the way to generic competition. They identified another 150 countries where patents had not been filed, including most of Africa. Those 160 countries are home to 69% of people with type 2 diabetes and 84% of those living with obesity. Another author, Prof François Venter from Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, said: “Drugs to treat HIV, TB, malaria and hepatitis are available in low- and middle-income countries for prices close to the cost of production, saving millions of lives while allowing generic companies to make sufficient profit to ensure sustainable supply. We can repeat this medical success story for semaglutide.” The researchers warned that cheaper treatments would not address the structural drive...
Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify Watch Odd Lots on YouTube Subscribe to the newsletter With war breaking out in Iran, the price of oil is surging, in part due to the destruction of oil energy infrastructure, but also the ability of anything to get through the Strait of Hormuz. But it’s not just oil that moves through this key waterway — there are plenty of other g...
Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify Watch Odd Lots on YouTube Subscribe to the newsletter With war breaking out in Iran, the price of oil is surging, in part due to the destruction of oil energy infrastructure, but also the ability of anything to get through the Strait of Hormuz. But it’s not just oil that moves through this key waterway — there are plenty of other goods, including metals and ingredients for fertilizer getting potentially constrained. It’s also not just the risk of violence itself that’s an issue for shipping companies, there’s also the question of how cargoes get insured. On this episode of the podcast, we speak with return guests Anton Posner and Margo Brock, co-founders of the Mercury Group, which helps dry bunk clients solve issues related to logistics, transportation and insurance. They discuss what’s actually happening on the ground, surging insurance rates, and how shippers and carriers are dealing with the chaos.
Lots More on the Seaborne Chaos Around the Strait of Hormuz Lots More on the Seaborne Chaos Around the Strait of Hormuz Arrow Right 30:26 With war breaking out in Iran, the price of oil is surging, in part due to the destruction of oil energy infrastructure, but also the ability of anything to get through the Strait of Hormuz. But it's not just oil that moves through this key waterway — there are ...
Lots More on the Seaborne Chaos Around the Strait of Hormuz Lots More on the Seaborne Chaos Around the Strait of Hormuz Arrow Right 30:26 With war breaking out in Iran, the price of oil is surging, in part due to the destruction of oil energy infrastructure, but also the ability of anything to get through the Strait of Hormuz. But it's not just oil that moves through this key waterway — there are plenty of other goods, including metals and ingredients for fertilizer getting potentially constrained. It's also not just the risk of violence itself that's an issue, there's also the question of how cargoes get insured. On this episode of the podcast, we speak with return guests Anton Posner and Margo Brock, co-founders of the Mercury Group, which helps dry bunk clients solve issues related to logistics, transportation and insurance. They discuss what's actually happening on the ground, surging insurance rates, and how shippers and carriers are dealing with the chaos.
stuartmiles99/iStock via Getty Images By Christian Floro, CFA, CMT Market Strategist The economy was among one of the focal areas of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last month. Indeed, as more voters sour on the administration’s ability to address cost-of-living issues, the affordability crisis has seemingly become top of mind for the administration, especially as the midterm e...
stuartmiles99/iStock via Getty Images By Christian Floro, CFA, CMT Market Strategist The economy was among one of the focal areas of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address last month. Indeed, as more voters sour on the administration’s ability to address cost-of-living issues, the affordability crisis has seemingly become top of mind for the administration, especially as the midterm elections approach. Yet many potential policy options require Congressional authority, which will be a tough path. While there are certain policies that Trump can act on unilaterally, beyond tariffs, they will likely be too limited in scope. As a result, the overall economic impact of these affordability policies should be small. Nevertheless, there is a risk that a detour into more populist policies may have medium- to long-term consequences. The affordability crisis Despite the surprising resilience of aggregate consumer spending data, consumer confidence remains very poor. While this largely reflects the sharp price surge during the pandemic and a weak hiring environment, another important factor is at play: bifurcated outcomes across income groups. Indeed, beneath the surface, a clear K-shaped divide has opened between high- and low-income households. While the overall macro data has remained solid, it has been largely anchored by high-income households that drive about 35-50% of all consumption. Meanwhile, spending among lower-income households has weakened, constrained by budgets stretched to the limit. Cumulative retail spending growth by income 2020–2025 The root cause of this bifurcation is affordability, which has disproportionately impacted lower-income households: Inflation: Relative to more affluent households, lower-income households have experienced higher rates of inflation as food and housing costs, expenses this cohort spends the most on, have continued to run hot. Wages: As the labor market has softened, lower-income households have borne the brunt of this...
HONG KONG, March 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988 (HKD Counter) and 89988 (RMB Counter), "Alibaba" or "Alibaba Group") today announced that it will report its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 before the U.S. market opens on Thursday, March 19, 2026, and will hold a conference call to discuss the financial results...
HONG KONG, March 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988 (HKD Counter) and 89988 (RMB Counter), "Alibaba" or "Alibaba Group") today announced that it will report its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 before the U.S. market opens on Thursday, March 19, 2026, and will hold a conference call to discuss the financial results at 7:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (7:30 p.m. Hong Kong Time) the same day. All participants must pre-register to join this conference call using the Participant Registration link below: English: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10052713-hndm7s.html Chinese: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10052714-wh6tua.html Upon registration, each participant will receive details for the conference call, including dial-in numbers, conference call passcode and a unique access PIN. To join the conference, please dial the number provided, enter the passcode followed by your PIN, and you will join the conference. A live webcast of the earnings conference call can be accessed at https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/ir/earnings. An archived webcast will be available through the same link following the call. A replay of the conference call will be available for one week from the date of the conference (Dial-in number: +1 855 883 1031; English conference PIN 10052713; Chinese conference PIN 10052714). Please visit Alibaba Group’s Investor Relations website at https://www.alibabagroup.com/en/ir/home on March 19, 2026 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call. About Alibaba Group Alibaba Group is a global technology company focused on eCommerce and Cloud Computing. We enable merchants, brands and retailers to market, sell and engage with consumers by providing digital and logistics infrastructure, efficiency tools and vast marketing reach. We empower enterprises with our leading cloud infrastructure, services and work collaboration capabilities to facilitate thei...
Lewandowski reportedly walked into the cockpit of the Coast Guard plane as it was ascending and demanded to know where Noem's blanket was. In a text with Reuters, Lewandowski disputed the account of the incident, which the media dubbed "blanketgate".
Lewandowski reportedly walked into the cockpit of the Coast Guard plane as it was ascending and demanded to know where Noem's blanket was. In a text with Reuters, Lewandowski disputed the account of the incident, which the media dubbed "blanketgate".
Key Points It's important to understand how Social Security calculates benefits. Know how your filing age affects your monthly checks. Read up on what happens when you work while receiving benefits. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › Claiming Social Security is probably one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make in the context of retirement. And as you're...
Key Points It's important to understand how Social Security calculates benefits. Know how your filing age affects your monthly checks. Read up on what happens when you work while receiving benefits. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › Claiming Social Security is probably one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make in the context of retirement. And as you're probably aware, there's a lot riding on that choice. You might think you're ready to file for benefits and start getting those monthly checks. But before you claim Social Security, make sure to familiarize yourself with these essential rules. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » 1. How benefits are calculated Social Security doesn't pay all retirees the same benefit each month. Rather, the amount of money you're eligible for is based on your earnings history. To get even more specific, Social Security takes your 35 highest-paid years of income into account when calculating your monthly payments. Earlier wages are adjusted for inflation as part of that benefits formula. What this means is that if you don't have 35 years of work under your belt, you'll have a $0 factored into your benefits calculation for each year you're missing an income. Too many of those $0s could bring your monthly payments down quite a bit. It's important to know this, as it might push you to work a bit longer before applying. 2. How your filing age affects your monthly checks The monthly Social Security benefit you're entitled to based on your earnings history is yours to collect without a reduction once you reach full retirement age. That age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later. You're allowed to claim Social Security as early as age 62. But for each month you file for benefits ahead of full retirement age, your mont...
David Lammy has said it is an “absolute travesty” that details were leaked from a top secret national security meeting on the US-Israel attacks on Iran and has called for an investigation. Cabinet splits at a national security council meeting, which is protected by the Official Secrets Act, over allowing the US to use British bases for the strikes against Iran were reported over the weekend. Keir ...
David Lammy has said it is an “absolute travesty” that details were leaked from a top secret national security meeting on the US-Israel attacks on Iran and has called for an investigation. Cabinet splits at a national security council meeting, which is protected by the Official Secrets Act, over allowing the US to use British bases for the strikes against Iran were reported over the weekend. Keir Starmer suggested allowing the US to use the bases to carry out defensive strikes against Iranian targets at the meeting last Friday but was met with opposition from Ed Miliband, Rachel Reeves, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood, according to the Spectator, which was then picked up by several media outlets. Permission to allow the bases to be used against Iran’s missile sites was granted on Sunday after Tehran had launched a wave of retaliatory attacks against countries across the Middle East. Asked about the unity of the cabinet on Friday, Lammy told BBC Breakfast: “It’s an absolute travesty that there would be any kind of leak from a NSC meeting and the reason I think that is that it must be right that ministers are allowed to make their assessment supported by chief of defence staff our intelligence agencies and others and we do nothing that would put our people at risk. “I will not get into any discussions we had at a national security council meeting.” The justice secretary added: “The cabinet is absolutely united and supportive of a calm, cool head at this time of being clear we will not be involved in the offensive action but we will absolutely defend our allies and people across the region. The cabinet is entirely united behind the prime minister.” A leak from the national security council is considered a serious breach. In 2019, the then defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, was sacked by Theresa May over a leak. Lammy repeated his assertion that any leak was a “travesty” on Sky News and went further calling for an investigation. “I don’t recognise those reports and ...