Job seekers meet recruiters at a campus job fair in Hefei, Anhui province, on April 22. Photo: VCG As humanity enters an era deeply penetrated by artificial intelligence (AI), we find ourselves caught between the immense productivity dividends of the technology and the looming fear of job displacement. To navigate this wave, we must move beyond blind optimism and paralyzed panic, using the latest ...
Job seekers meet recruiters at a campus job fair in Hefei, Anhui province, on April 22. Photo: VCG As humanity enters an era deeply penetrated by artificial intelligence (AI), we find ourselves caught between the immense productivity dividends of the technology and the looming fear of job displacement. To navigate this wave, we must move beyond blind optimism and paralyzed panic, using the latest tools of labor economics to objectively assess the impact of AI.
The Indian flag flies in front of billboards featuring images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 23, 2020. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The India-U.S. trade deal remains unsigned after months of negotiations, with the Iran war and a U.S. court ruling against tariffs creating room for fresh bargaining — a delay experts warn co...
The Indian flag flies in front of billboards featuring images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad, India, on Feb. 23, 2020. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The India-U.S. trade deal remains unsigned after months of negotiations, with the Iran war and a U.S. court ruling against tariffs creating room for fresh bargaining — a delay experts warn could come at a cost. The first tranche of the deal was expected to be finalized by mid-March , but talks are still ongoing, leading to further delays. "[The] Iran conflict is pulling diplomatic bandwidth toward energy security and geopolitical crisis management," said Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, adding that this could stall trade talks further as a result. An Indian trade delegation wrapped up its visit to the U.S. on Thursday, but the talks have not led to a conclusive announcement. "Both sides are working towards a balanced, mutually beneficial, and forward-looking trade agreement, taking into account each other's concerns and priorities," a spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs said on the same day. The delay in finalizing the deal could prove to be expensive for India as the U.S. administration will wrap up the investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in June, a move that would shift leverage towards the U.S., experts said. In March, the U.S. administration launched trade investigations into China, India, the European Union, and more than a dozen other economies, in a bid to replace President Donald Trump 's reciprocal tariffs, which were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court on Feb. 20. "It's critical that the agreement [between India and the U.S.] is sealed by the end of May," Mark Linscott, former assistant U.S. trade representative and senior advisor at the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum, told CNBC via email. India could face the risk of higher tariffs than what was agreed upon in February if i...
People born after 1997 are now the most frequent cinemagoers, defying fears that digital natives would lose interest in the big screen Rumours about the imminent demise of moviegoing may have been overstated, with 2026 now forecast to be the best year at the global box office since the start of the pandemic. And it is generation Z at the forefront of the cinema revival. According to a US-based sur...
People born after 1997 are now the most frequent cinemagoers, defying fears that digital natives would lose interest in the big screen Rumours about the imminent demise of moviegoing may have been overstated, with 2026 now forecast to be the best year at the global box office since the start of the pandemic. And it is generation Z at the forefront of the cinema revival. According to a US-based survey by Fandango , gen Z are now the most frequent cinemagoers, with 87% saying they have seen at least one film in a cinema in the past 12 months. Millennials are close behind at 82%, followed by gen X at 70% and boomers at 58%. Gen Z also go more often than other cohorts, averaging around seven trips a year. Gen Z – people born between 1997 and 2012 – grew up with near unlimited streaming and social media as their default entertainment. But after spending their lives in algorithm-driven digital spaces, many are beginning to tire of them. “As the internet becomes ever more pervasive, and in many ways ever more annoying, gen Z are looking for experiences beyond the black mirror,” say Benedict and Hannah Townsend, hosts of the film and TV podcast Talk of the Townsends. What gen Z are looking for is a “third space”: a social environment away from home and work. And for many, the cinema can fill that role. Continue reading...
The case suggests Beijing is growing less tolerant of negligence at state-owned firms. A botched corporate acquisition that cost a Chinese state-owned firm 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) has brought a rare criminal charge into the spotlight, underscoring Beijing’s growing scrutiny of executives managing state assets. On Monday, China’s top anti-graft watchdogs, the Central Commission for Discipli...
The case suggests Beijing is growing less tolerant of negligence at state-owned firms. A botched corporate acquisition that cost a Chinese state-owned firm 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) has brought a rare criminal charge into the spotlight, underscoring Beijing’s growing scrutiny of executives managing state assets. On Monday, China’s top anti-graft watchdogs, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, cited a failed acquisition by Xinyu Investment Holding Group Co. Ltd. as a textbook example of bureaucratic mismanagement. The deal, rushed through in just three months, resulted in massive losses for the state-backed entity.
Audi AG is doubling down on its dual-marque strategy in China, sticking to its goal of delivering more than 600,000 vehicles this year as it navigates a market where it once enjoyed institutional cachet. The German automaker embraced a new approach three years ago by introducing the lettered AUDI brand without the traditional four rings with SAIC Motor Corp. , its local partner. Gernot Döllner , A...
Audi AG is doubling down on its dual-marque strategy in China, sticking to its goal of delivering more than 600,000 vehicles this year as it navigates a market where it once enjoyed institutional cachet. The German automaker embraced a new approach three years ago by introducing the lettered AUDI brand without the traditional four rings with SAIC Motor Corp. , its local partner. Gernot Döllner , Audi’s chief executive officer, said he was “very happy” with the performance of the first E5 sportback model as a new entrant last year, showing that there’s little cannibalization between the two sets of buyers. By diversifying its approach, Audi is seeking a firmer foothold in the world’s largest automotive market, where it once accounted for more than two-thirds of cars used by Chinese bureaucrats. The goal with the dual branding is to keep its classic appeal while targeting younger, tech-focused car buyers; the company is pushing forward with a second model, the E7X, unveiled at the Beijing auto show this week along with plans for a third iteration in a year. “Brand building is always more of a marathon than a sprint,” Döllner said, adding that the rocky start of the year for the E5 was in line with developments in the Chinese electric-vehicle segment, which has seen weaker sales growth as some incentives are phased out. Read More: Audi’s Future Hinges on Winning Back World’s Top Car Market Deliveries in March have started to rebound, Döllner said, adding that it will probably take two to three years to determine whether the dual-brand strategy will pan out. Audi, which entered the Chinese market decades ago, is also seeking to advance its internal-combustion engine lineup, such as bringing Huawei Technologies Co. ’s driver-assistance systems to its popular A6L to deliver automation. Even so, the features are only available for premium A6L variants and not on entry-level trims, while local rivals tend to offer them as standard or even free of extra charge. Audi chose a ...
China has removed a senior official overseeing social security fund investments, weeks after he was placed under investigation for suspected corruption. The State Council removed Wang Wenling from his post as vice chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF), the government said Friday. Wang, 59, spent more than two decades at the NCSSF, overseeing its securities investments s...
China has removed a senior official overseeing social security fund investments, weeks after he was placed under investigation for suspected corruption. The State Council removed Wang Wenling from his post as vice chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF), the government said Friday. Wang, 59, spent more than two decades at the NCSSF, overseeing its securities investments since becoming vice chairman in 2015.
Diplomats poke fun at Donald Trump, while elsewhere Madonna loses her corset off the back of a golf buggy The one upside to a rolling international crisis is that it can give backroom people a rare chance to shine. Witness, this week, the breakout stars of the Iranian diplomatic corps, who from two different diplomatic missoverions managed to poke fun at Donald Trump while maintaining the base-lev...
Diplomats poke fun at Donald Trump, while elsewhere Madonna loses her corset off the back of a golf buggy The one upside to a rolling international crisis is that it can give backroom people a rare chance to shine. Witness, this week, the breakout stars of the Iranian diplomatic corps, who from two different diplomatic missoverions managed to poke fun at Donald Trump while maintaining the base-level decorum that so eludes the American president. Continue reading...
Indonesia’s blasphemy law has once again come under scrutiny after former vice-president Jusuf Kalla was reported to police over remarks linking past Muslim-Christian conflicts to beliefs about martyrdom. The case is unusual because it involves Christian complainants against one of the most senior Muslim figures in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and reflects what critics have lon...
Indonesia’s blasphemy law has once again come under scrutiny after former vice-president Jusuf Kalla was reported to police over remarks linking past Muslim-Christian conflicts to beliefs about martyrdom. The case is unusual because it involves Christian complainants against one of the most senior Muslim figures in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation and reflects what critics have long called the law’s central flaw: its susceptibility to politicised use. Kalla, a career politician...