Author: ALJAZEERA

China’s central bank says measures will lower borrowing costs and inject more liquidity into market.China has announced a slew of stimulus measures to boost the economy amid signs that Beijing’s growth target for this year is slipping out of reach. China’s central bank said on Tuesday that it would take steps to lower borrowing costs, inject more liquidity into the economy, and ease mortgage repayments for households. Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, told a news conference that the central bank would soon cut the amount of cash banks must hold as reserves – called the reserve…

Donald Trump has pledged not only to stop US businesses from offshoring jobs, but also to take other countries’ jobs and factories in part through huge tariffs that economists say could actually raise domestic prices. Among the ideas the former president pitched in Georgia on Tuesday was cutting the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 percent, but only for companies that produce in the United States. His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, wants to raise the corporate tax rate to 28 percent. It had been 35 percent when Trump became president in 2017, and he later signed a…

The former CEO of Alameda Research served as a key prosecution witness against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.Caroline Ellison, the former business partner and girlfriend of cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in one of the biggest financial frauds in history. Ellison, the CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s on-and-off girlfriend, was a key prosecution witness in last year’s trial that saw the founder of ill-fated crypto exchange FTX sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ellison pleaded guilty to seven charges, including fraud, shortly after the collapse of FTX in 2022, crimes…

In his first policy address after taking office in October 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to “faithfully rebuild” the economy after three decades of stagnation. In a speech to parliament almost exactly two years later, Kishida said the economy was his priority “above all else”. “The Japanese economy is facing a unique and unprecedented opportunity to achieve a transformation not seen in 30 years,” he told lawmakers. “To seize this opportunity, I am determined to undertake bold initiatives never seen before.” As Kishida prepares to step down following a leadership vote by his scandal-tarnished Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)…

The use of pagers and walkie-talkies in back-to-back coordinated explosions in Lebanon has drawn scrutiny to the security of global supply chains and their vulnerability to tampering by governments or other actors. The utilisation of thousands of electronic devices in the apparent attacks, which are widely believed to have been orchestrated by Israel as part of an operation targeting Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah, has raised the spectre of everyday communications equipment being weaponised in the future. Tech companies are likely to see the attacks as a powerful reminder of the importance of securing their supply chains, while the general public’s…

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s presidential election, no issue is more central than the economy. With the South Asian country still struggling from its worst financial crisis in decades, Saturday’s ballot amounts to a referendum on austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year. In a crowded field of 38 candidates, all eyes are on three men: incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his two closest rivals, Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sajith Premadasa, both of whom want a new deal with the Washington, DC-based lender. A six-time prime minister, Wickremesinghe represents the old guard. His United National Party (UNP)…

CEO of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo released after questioning over role in deadly explosions.Components used in thousands of pagers that detonated on Tuesday in Lebanon in a deadly blow to Hezbollah were not made in Taiwan, Taiwan’s economy minister has said. Taiwan-based Gold Apollo said this week it did not manufacture the devices used in the attack, and that Budapest-based company BAC to which the pagers were traced has a licence to use its brand. It was not clear how or when the pagers were weaponised so they could be remotely detonated. The same applies to the hundreds of hand-held radios used by Hezbollah…

Expert body makes seven recommendations on regulating AI, including establishment of fund to help developing countries.There is an “irrefutable” need for global governance of artificial intelligence and its development cannot be left to the “whims” of the market alone, a United Nations advisory body has warned. While national governments will play a crucial role in regulating AI, the borderless nature of the technology necessitates a “global approach”, the High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence said in a report on Thursday. “The accelerating development of AI concentrates power and wealth on a global scale, with geopolitical and geoeconomic implications,” the 39-member…

Authorities charge 32-year-old Sydney man over Ghost network allegedly used by crime gangs in multiple countries.Australian police have arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly building and administering an encrypted message app used by organised crime gangs around the world to traffic drugs and firearms, launder money and order killings. Jay Je Yoon Jung appeared in a Sydney court on Wednesday on charges related to the creation of the Ghost messaging platform, which authorities allege was “built solely for the criminal underworld”. Jung faces five charges, including supporting a criminal organisation and benefitting from proceeds of crime. Australian Federal Police (AFP)…

White House condemns Tesla CEO’s post on X as ‘irresponsible’.Tech billionaire Elon Musk has deleted a social media post about the lack of assassination attempts on United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris following widespread criticism. In the wake of a second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sunday, Musk wrote in a post on X that “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” along with an emoji of a face with a raised eyebrow. The chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, who has emerged as an outspoken Trump supporter in recent months,…