A regulatory probe into the Shenzhen branch of Huaxia Bank Co. Ltd. ( 600015.SH ) is raising fresh questions about hidden property-related risks in China’s banking system. Multiple loans issued by the branch to non-property companies tied to developers were found to have violated credit standards or improperly expanded credit exposure, Caixin has learned from sources with knowledge of the matter.
A regulatory probe into the Shenzhen branch of Huaxia Bank Co. Ltd. ( 600015.SH ) is raising fresh questions about hidden property-related risks in China’s banking system. Multiple loans issued by the branch to non-property companies tied to developers were found to have violated credit standards or improperly expanded credit exposure, Caixin has learned from sources with knowledge of the matter.
Coffee machines, fountain pens and Grand Theft Auto: How Murrell spent the money Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party between August 2010 and October 2022. So, where did he spend it?
Coffee machines, fountain pens and Grand Theft Auto: How Murrell spent the money Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party between August 2010 and October 2022. So, where did he spend it?
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Pelicot said she was "deeply shocked that these individuals were in fact able to gain their freedom again when in fact the victims are suffering so hard they will never be able to heal".
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Pelicot said she was "deeply shocked that these individuals were in fact able to gain their freedom again when in fact the victims are suffering so hard they will never be able to heal".
STORY: :: Ferrari Ferrari presented its first fully electric car on Monday, marking a high-stakes shift by the luxury sports car maker. Dubbed the Luce, it has a range of over 300 miles and features four electric motors, which help deliver more than 1,000 horsepower and a top speed close to 200 miles per hour. Priced at $640,000, Ferrari aims to appeal to families with deep pockets, offering them ...
STORY: :: Ferrari Ferrari presented its first fully electric car on Monday, marking a high-stakes shift by the luxury sports car maker. Dubbed the Luce, it has a range of over 300 miles and features four electric motors, which help deliver more than 1,000 horsepower and a top speed close to 200 miles per hour. Priced at $640,000, Ferrari aims to appeal to families with deep pockets, offering them comfortable seats, high-end tech and a big trunk. The four-door Luce, Italian for 'light', is Ferrari's first five-seater and was developed with the help of former Apple design chief Jony Ive and his collective LoveFrom. The Luce marks a gamble that a generation steeped in technology and AI, and less attached to the brand's trademark 12- and 8-cylinder engine legacy, will shift to high-tech luxury EVs. The move comes as competitors including Porsche and Lamborghini scale back their EV ambitions, citing weak demand. Ferrari also hopes the Luce will help it expand in markets like China, where EVs are already widespread and big petrol cars are heavily taxed.
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction The last time I covered Booking Holdings ( BKNG ), I upgraded them to a Strong Buy thanks to their solid performance despite ongoing Iran pressure and overblown AI fears, which pushed the valuation well below their intrinsic value. Following a solid quarter and a more quantifiable impact from the Iran conflict, BKNG remains a Strong Buy, as ...
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction The last time I covered Booking Holdings ( BKNG ), I upgraded them to a Strong Buy thanks to their solid performance despite ongoing Iran pressure and overblown AI fears, which pushed the valuation well below their intrinsic value. Following a solid quarter and a more quantifiable impact from the Iran conflict, BKNG remains a Strong Buy, as the valuation is still attractive while the long-term re-rating potential remains very strong, with the current weakness offering an excellent opportunity to add this at attractive levels, in my opinion, while the long-term potential remains significant. Strong Quarter, Weak Environment Booking Holdings IR Booking’s Q1 report was strong overall, beating the market’s EPS expectations significantly and slightly beating on revenue, reporting a very solid 16.2% increase in revenue YoY (~10% in constant currency), with room nights growing 6% YoY, estimating a 2 percentage point hit from the Iran conflict and a slightly lower one for the revenue, while the free cash flow of $3.1 billion represents a 2% hit. Booking Holdings IR Meanwhile, their Q2 expectations now hint at room night growth of only 2% to 4% due to the Middle East conflict taxing it by about 3 percentage points, slightly offset by their cost control initiatives, while 2026 is expected to deliver high single digits to low double digits in gross bookings growth, high single digits growth in revenue, and low mid-teens in Adjusted EPS. Booking Holdings IR Financially, based on Booking’s latest report , we continue to see a solid position, with the current assets covering their current liabilities and $16 billion in cash and cash equivalents, which is more than their $15.4 billion long-term debt, although we should keep in mind the $8.19 billion deferred merchant bookings, so it’s technically not all “their” money. Still, I’ll also note once again that this delay between when the client pays and when the hotels receive t...
High unemployment and a lack of support mean life can be tough in Grimsby, but 19-year-old Cohen is determined to make the best of life in this coastal town It’s mid-afternoon in the Lincolnshire seaside town of Cleethorpes and Cohen is sitting in the back seat of a car putting on an Easter bunny outfit. A group of teenagers nearby stare in amusement. Cohen isn’t fazed. He is hoping we can take so...
High unemployment and a lack of support mean life can be tough in Grimsby, but 19-year-old Cohen is determined to make the best of life in this coastal town It’s mid-afternoon in the Lincolnshire seaside town of Cleethorpes and Cohen is sitting in the back seat of a car putting on an Easter bunny outfit. A group of teenagers nearby stare in amusement. Cohen isn’t fazed. He is hoping we can take some new photographs that he can use to advertise his mascot business for the upcoming holidays. Cohen, 19, lives with his parents a couple of miles down the road in neighbouring Grimsby and set up Co Co Mascots last year as one of his many attempts to find work. People can hire him in one of the outfits for birthday parties, events and doorstep surprises for children. He’s done a few paid gigs so far, which has been a boost for his confidence, he says, but what he really wants is a permanent job. Cohen, who is looking for a permanent job, makes money as a mascot at birthday parties and events Continue reading...
People sleep outside because their houses are too hot to inhabit, water is scarce and supermarkets are for the wealthy If you think the temperature uncomfortable today, let me take you to the last day of July 2052, the rays of the climbing sun reveal a city still sweltering in the residual heat of the day before. From the air, London resembles a colossal refugee camp. Streets, gardens and parks ar...
People sleep outside because their houses are too hot to inhabit, water is scarce and supermarkets are for the wealthy If you think the temperature uncomfortable today, let me take you to the last day of July 2052, the rays of the climbing sun reveal a city still sweltering in the residual heat of the day before. From the air, London resembles a colossal refugee camp. Streets, gardens and parks are teeming with tents and cobbled-together shelters, within which the city’s residents have spent another uncomfortable night away from the heat traps that their houses and flats have become. After six days when the temperature peaked at about 40C, another scorcher is on the way. Half-hearted attempts to upgrade insulation across the country’s housing stock ran out of steam and cash decades earlier, and most homes still have few barriers to the infiltrating heat. Almost all the country’s electricity is now from renewables, which has brought the cost down, but the relentless onslaught of extreme weather has driven an ever-deepening economic depression across the world. Many now have air conditioning, but can’t afford to run it. Continue reading...
The British security services were involved in formulating the controversial Legacy Act, which offered an amnesty to soldiers and paramilitiaries despite MI5’s role in many killings during the Northern Ireland Troubles, it can be revealed. The presence of policing and state agency figures among a secret policymaking group involved in devising the act – a fact established through an investigation b...
The British security services were involved in formulating the controversial Legacy Act, which offered an amnesty to soldiers and paramilitiaries despite MI5’s role in many killings during the Northern Ireland Troubles, it can be revealed. The presence of policing and state agency figures among a secret policymaking group involved in devising the act – a fact established through an investigation by Belfast-based newsletter the Detail and shared with the Guardian – has angered victims’ groups already critical of the legislation. The 2023 act’s conditional immunity, which the current government removed after a vote in January, was opposed by all political parties in Northern Ireland, albeit sometimes for different reasons. Daniel Holder, from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), a Belfast-based NGO, fought an eight-month battle to have documents relating to the legacy senior working group released after his freedom of information requests were initially rebuffed. Holder, who shared the documents marked “official secret” with the Detail, said: “It is only now that some detail of the group has emerged. The legacy investigations senior working group was set up behind closed doors to assist the development of what became Boris Johnson’s government’s notorious Legacy Act. “Despite the legal duties to ensure effective and independent investigations into legacy cases, which clearly include those involving the security forces, the group itself tasked with advising on how the policy should be developed heavily involves policing and security figures.” The revelations that security services were involved in the act’s formulation lend weight to long-held public concerns that the security and policing services were behind the Legacy Act and the Independent Commission for Reconciliation (ICRIR), the body it set up to investigate cases. The previous attempt to address legacy issues, the Historical Enquiries Team, was folded in 2014 after it was found that it had fai...