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Paramount’s Warner Bros. Takeover Makes David Ellison a Hollywood Mega-Mogul
With Paramount and Warner Bros. under his control, Mr. Ellison will be “the Hollywood equivalent of Superman, Caesar and Midas combined.” But challenges remain.
What’s Behind Bessent’s Boasts About the U.S. Bond Market
By one measure, U.S. government bond markets have posted negative returns, but markets in others countries have experienced steeper losses.
How to Split Expenses on a Group Trip Without Fighting
From bachelorette trips to family vacations, group travel can cause relationship-ending fallouts. Here’s how to navigate difficult conversations about finances.
HK stocks inch up as all eyes turn to Xi-Trump summit
Hong Kong and mainland stocks eked out gains on Tuesday as investors assessed their positions ahead of a meeting of the presidents of China and the United States this week, while AI shares rose after officials of the two countries agreed to hold talks on the safety of artificial intelligence. The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,087 on turnover of HK$249.21 billion. The tech index rose 14 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,438 while the China enterprises index gained 22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,362. Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group hit a one-month high at one point after chief executive Eddie Wu said on Tuesday that the firm aims for its cloud global data centre capacity to surpass 20 GW by 2032. Tencent Holdings jumped after it released a preview of its latest AI image-generation model. Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up two points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,952. The Shenzhen Component Index too barely registered movement, closing six points, or 0.05 percent, lower at 13,723 while the ChiNext barely moved the needle from its opening to end 0.91 percent, at 3,399. Shanghai's tech-focused Star50 index rose 0.5 percent while an AI sub-index advanced. Senior Chinese and US officials will meet again in about two months in Shenzhen to discuss AI dangers and communications protocols in the event of AI safety incidents, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday. Bessent also offered positive comments about the Sino-US trade relations, ahead of President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25 at the invitation of his counterpart, Donald Trump. "Our expectations for this state visit are limited, with our focus more on the optics and symbolism of the trip rather than actual outcomes," said William Bratton, head of cash equity research for APAC at BNP Paribas. "In addition to the extension of the Busan truce, we expect any new announcements to be focused on the setting of guardrails and frameworks to manage and entrench the status quo of 'constructive strategic stability' that both countries committed to post Trump's May visit to China." In Seoul, the Kospi cut early gains to close just 10 points, or 0.15 percent, up at 7,017 on caution over oil prices ahead of the Chuseok Mid-Autumn festival holidays on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters/Xinhua) Edited by Tony Sabine
Unexpected UK borrowing surge adds to pre-Budget pressure on chancellor
Borrowing was higher than expected in August as inflation piles pressure on the government ahead of the Budget.
Who made this car? That's getting harder to answer
For years, the economic relationship between China and the United States has been described in terms of competition: Who sells more, who makes more. But there is another crucial side to the relationship — cooperation — and sometimes, you can see it most clearly in a single product. This is especially true when it comes to the cooperation between the two countries in the automotive sector.
'Nightmare' for taxi drivers as fuel prices soar
Volunteer blood bike charity Freewheelers workers said they are also facing tough choices.
JD.com, Alibaba, Hengli head top-500 companies
China on Tuesday released the 2026 list of the country's top 500 private enterprises, with 110 companies reporting operating revenue of over 100 billion yuan, underscoring robust growth in the country's private sector. JD.com, Alibaba (China) and Hengli Group retained the top three positions, according to the 2026 China Top 500 Private Enterprises list unveiled by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce in Tianjin. The 28th large-scale private enterprise survey conducted by the federation took in a total of 6,350 companies, each with operating revenue of over one billion yuan in 2025, with the top 500 companies by revenue making up the list. The survey showed that China's private enterprises continued to improve their innovation capacity, operating efficiency and core competitiveness, demonstrating an overall trend towards new and higher-quality development. The top 500 private enterprises reported total operating revenue of 44.93 trillion yuan in 2025, up 4.35 percent. They also saw a combined net profit of 1.83 trillion yuan, with 17 companies each posting over 20 billion yuan in net profit. Manufacturing companies on the top 500 list recorded total operating revenue of 32.22 trillion yuan, up 8.73 percent. The top 500 companies are actively positioning themselves in strategic emerging and future industries. Of those that provided relevant data, 311 companies invested in 679 strategic emerging industry projects, and 82 launched 112 future industry projects. In innovation, the top 500 companies that provided relevant data reported total research and development spending of 1.26 trillion yuan, with R&D investment averaging 2.95 percent of revenue. In addition, they paid 1.3 trillion yuan in taxes last year, with 254 companies each paying over one billion yuan. (Xinhua) Edited by Tony Sabine
Paramount Settles States’ Lawsuit, Clearing Way for Warner Bros. Merger
By resolving a lawsuit filed by a group of states, the media mogul David Ellison removed the last major hurdle he faced in buying Warner Bros. Discovery.
Vet prescription fees capped under rule changes
Vets must also tell clients if cheaper medicine is available online as part of the rule updates which surgeries have the coming months to bring in.