China will lay off as many as 6 million workers in the coming years in an attempt to improve the efficiency of the country’s slowing economy.
In an exclusive report, Reuters said Tuesday that 5 million to 6 million employees of state-controlled “zombie enterprises” will lose their jobs in the next three years as China attempts to restructure bloated state industries, such as steel and coal.
The initiative will be China’s most ambitious cost-cutting exercise in nearly 20 years, a source told Reuters.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Cool Hand Luke And Naked Gun Star Dies Aged 91
George Kennedy, who won an Oscar for his role in the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke, has died at the age of 91.
Starring opposite Paul Newman, Kennedy played the role of chain-gang boss Dragline.
The film received four Academy Award nominations and Kennedy was named best supporting actor.
He carved out a niche as one of Hollywood's most recognisable supporting actors.
He had a part in the hit 1970 film Airport, and appeared in several sequels.
Kennedy turned to comedy in the 1980s and 1990s, the most memorable being the three Naked Gun films.
Among his later credits was a small role in Wim Wenders' 2005 film, Don't Come Knocking, and his last on-screen role was in the 2014 remake of The Gambler, starring Mark Wahlberg.
Border Tensions After Migrants And Police Clash
Authorities in Macedonia and France are braced for further possible clashes with migrants after tensions flared yesterday.
Army trucks are at a railway line near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija this morning in anticipation of more trouble.
And riot police have arrived at the 'Jungle' camp in Calais ahead of a second planned day of demolition of part of the camp, which is home to around 4,000 people wanting to reach the UK.
In Macedonia yesterday, hundreds of migrants and refugees stormed the border from Greece - prompting police to fire tear gas as several migrants were nearly trampled and one officer injured.
Austria and several Balkan states have placed caps on the number of migrants who can use the main route into the heart of Europe, creating bottlenecks all the way back to Greece.
people, including children, remain stuck at or near the border crossing at Idomeni in Greece, with another 500 at a makeshift camp on a small concrete strip around 13 miles away.
Police chiefs from Balkan and East European countries are meeting to discuss how to stem the flow of people coming from Turkey and Greece as they try to pass through Europe.
Greece is thought to have 25,000 migrants stranded in the country, with many thousands sleeping in parks and fields as refugee shelters quickly overflow.
Meanwhile, at Calais, the first day of efforts to dismantle part of the 'Jungle' camp saw trouble flare between police and migrants.
Children were among those affected by tear gas fired by police as the bulldozing began. The tear gas was reportedly in response to protesters hurling stones as shanty dwellings were torn down.
Officers also used water hoses to disperse migrants, while fires broke out in some of the shacks.
Last night French police responded with tear gas after 150 migrants threw rocks and struck vehicles heading for England on a port road which runs next to the notorious slum.
The demolition work got under way after a legal ruling cleared the way for the mass evictions from the most populated half of the site.
The plan is for people to be relocated to converted shipping containers nearby and reception centres across France, but campaigners have warned there is not enough alternative accommodation and want the relocation to be delayed.
Super Tuesday: Huge Day In US Presidential Race
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have campaigned heavily ahead of the crucial Super Tuesday contests, which could see the two frontrunner candidates take unassailable leads over their White House rivals.
The presidential hopefuls appealed to voters in a dozen states ahead of Super Tuesday, which will see nearly 600 Republican delegates up for grabs and some 859 Democratic delegates at stake.
Democrat Mrs Clinton, who defeated Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary on the weekend, travelled to several states on Monday to urge a strong turnout among voters.
"I need your help to go and vote tomorrow, to bring people to vote with you," she implored a crowd in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Mrs Clinton also attacked the Republican campaign rhetoric.
"I really regret the language being used by Republicans. Scapegoating people, finger-pointing, blaming," she said in Fairfax, Virginia.
"That is not how we should behave toward one another. We're going to demonstrate starting tomorrow on Super Tuesday. There's a different path that Americans ought to take."
On the eve of Super Tuesday, Mr Trump received the backing of some big names in NASCAR during a rally in Valdosta, Georgia.
He appeared alongside NASCAR chief executive Brian France and several current and former drivers.
The drivers included two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott and his son, Chase Elliott, whom Mr Trump described as "the hottest young driver in the world".
NASCAR disavowed Mr Trump last summer after he kicked off his campaign with a speech in which he referred to immigrants from Mexico as rapists and drug dealers.
The sport pulled its events from Mr Trump's Doral hotel and resort in Miami at the time.
Republicans will vote in 11 states on Tuesday. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the nomination at the July convention.
Democrats will be voting in 11 states and American Samoa, with 859 delegates at stake.
Mr Trump has been targeted by increasingly personal attacks from his Republican rivals in recent days.
The mainstream favourite Marco Rubio has been stressing that Mr Trump would have serious weaknesses as a presidential candidate.
The Florida senator warned supporters in Tennessee that US media and critics will jump on Mr Trump "like the hounds of hell" if he wins the nomination.
Twitter Has Lost a Staggering Amount of Money
When Twitter went public back in 2013, it was an unprofitable company. More than two years later, that hasn’t changed. In fact, the company revealed in its annual 10-K filed Feb. 29 that it has lost more than $2 billion in total since launching a decade ago.
Twitter had already accrued more than $400 million in losses before going public, but that figure exploded upward after its IPO, largely due to stock-based compensation awarded to employees. The company lost $520 million in 2015 alone.
Like many companies, though, Twitter prefers to talk about adjusted earnings, which exclude stock-based compensation and some other expenses. These are the figures Wall Street investors tend to focus on. By that measure, Twitter had a net income of $277 million in 2015.
But anxiety over Twitter today has less to do with whether or not the company can earn money now and more to do with its prospects in the future. Wall Street appears skeptical that Twitter can effectively grow its user base, serve those users more ads and substantially increase its revenue. The company’s stock sunk below $20 per share at the start of the year, off from a high around $70, and has yet to recover.
Twitter is well aware of its own troubles. Elsewhere in the 10-K the company vows to emphasize live-streaming video, crack down on abusive accounts and “demonstrate our value proposition to a larger audience” through product improvements this year.
Twitter had already accrued more than $400 million in losses before going public, but that figure exploded upward after its IPO, largely due to stock-based compensation awarded to employees. The company lost $520 million in 2015 alone.
Like many companies, though, Twitter prefers to talk about adjusted earnings, which exclude stock-based compensation and some other expenses. These are the figures Wall Street investors tend to focus on. By that measure, Twitter had a net income of $277 million in 2015.
But anxiety over Twitter today has less to do with whether or not the company can earn money now and more to do with its prospects in the future. Wall Street appears skeptical that Twitter can effectively grow its user base, serve those users more ads and substantially increase its revenue. The company’s stock sunk below $20 per share at the start of the year, off from a high around $70, and has yet to recover.
Twitter is well aware of its own troubles. Elsewhere in the 10-K the company vows to emphasize live-streaming video, crack down on abusive accounts and “demonstrate our value proposition to a larger audience” through product improvements this year.
Islamic State Executes Eight Dutch Jihadists
Eight Dutch members of Islamic State have reportedly been executed in Syria by the jihadist group after being accused of trying to desert.
The jihadists were killed in Maadan, in Raqqa province, according to Abu Mohammad, an activist from the citizen group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS).
Three other Dutch jihadists were arrested by Iraqi IS members who accused them of attempting to flee, the RBSS added.
The group said one of the detainees was beaten to death while being interrogated.
The deaths come after a dispute in Raqqa over the past month between 75 Dutch jihadists and IS intelligence operatives from Iraq.
IS leaders in Raqqa sent a delegate to solve the dispute with the Dutch jihadist cell, but the delegate was murdered.
The group's leaders in Iraq then ordered the arrest of all members of the Dutch cell, and imprisoned them in Tabaqa and Maadan, before the executions were carried out.
Dutch officials say some 200 people from the Netherlands, including 50 women, have joined IS in Syria and Iraq.
Adele review: Pop's biggest star opens world tour in Belfast
Pop star Adele enjoyed a rapturous reception as she opened her world tour with an intimate arena show in Belfast.
The star played 18 songs over two hours, in what was her first UK concert in four-and-a-half years.
Dedicated fans had travelled from Japan and South Africa to see her perform, but Adele also had a message for anyone attending under duress.
"I know some of you have been dragged along," she joked, "but I'm going to win you over."
"Although some of my songs get a bit depressing."
By the end of the night, however, even the steeliest of hearts would have been forced to concede she had brought the goods.
Perspiration
Even if they weren't moved by the songs - Set Fire To The Rain, Make You Feel My Love, Rolling In The Deep - there was always Adele's disarming and bawdy humour.
She first addressed the audience 15 minutes into the show, explaining: "They told me not to talk for three songs so my nerves could calm a little."
After that the floodgates opened. She discussed perspiration ("I need to wipe the puddle off me face"); Bob Dylan ("I couldn't understand what he was saying"); and being a working mum ("you should have seen me in the dressing room - I had to do an emergency shave on my legs").
The 27-year-old, who openly admits to suffering stage fright, also talked about her toilet habits for the day.
But for many fans, this no-frills honesty is what makes Adele so endearing - and sets her apart from contemporaries like Taylor Swift, Coldplay and Rihanna.
"She's just so down to earth. She's not a superstar, she's normal," said Rosemary Shield, who attended the show from Belfast.
"She talked about her wee boy and she talked about going to the zoo. Just normal things that we all do."
'Dream come true'
"I love how she acts on and off stage," agreed Melissa Gordan, who had travelled from Johannesburg for the opening night.
"She's just human. I think she's a phenomenal person."
Hiroki Takahashi, who had flown 18 hours from Saitama, near Tokyo, to attend the concert, added: "She has a powerful energy and an amazing voice.
"My dream has come true."
The concert began simply enough, with a moody black and white projection of Adele's eyes on two gigantic silk screens, as the refrain from Hello echoed around the arena.
Then, to the audience's surprise, the star rose out of a satellite stage in the middle of the auditorium (she had been smuggled underneath it, inside a black box, 10 minutes earlier).
It was one of a small handful of production flourishes in what turned out to be a simple, stripped-back stage show.
'It's not Beyonce'
For the most part, Adele stood, or sat, at the front of Belfast's SSE Arena, belting out the hits with a large grin plastered across her face.
There were no pyrotechnics, no video interludes and no costume changes. She wore a black sequinned custom Burberry dress all night, exuding an old school glamour.
"It's not a Beyonce show," she noted, drily at one point.
SETLIST
- Hello
- Hometown Glory
- One And Only
- Rumour Has It
- Water Under The Bridge
- I Miss You
- Skyfall
- Million Years Ago
- Don't You Remember?
- Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
- Make You Feel My Love
- Sweetest Devotion
- Chasing Pavements
- Someone Like You
- Set Fire To The Rain
- All I Ask
- When We Were Young
- Rolling In The Deep Despite a few jitters at the Grammy Awards two weeks ago, her voice was flawless throughout.It's no secret that Adele possesses a powerful set of lungs (a high note on When We Were Young made some people around me gasp) but she refrains from the showboating that ruins many divas' performances, instead aiming directly for the emotional core of her songs.The show also highlighted the subtlety of her phrasing, particularly when she dipped into her low register on Million Years Ago - although that may have been helped by the fact she "woke up sounding like Arnold Schwarzenegger" after leaving the air conditioning on in her hotel room.Further highlights included her Oscar-winning Bond theme, Skyfall, during which searchlights dramatically swept over the arena; and a warm-hearted audience singalong to Someone Like You.Musically, the songs stayed true to the recordings - except for a playful acoustic take on Send My Love (To Your New Lover) - aided by a 21-piece backing band that included an eight-strong string section.In the tour programme, Adele said the production was guided by two big questions: "How do I make an arena show feel intimate?" and "how do I put my stamp on a big industrial room?"The answer turned out to be deceptively simple: Play the hits and have a chinwag.No doubt the show will develop over the coming months - there are more than 100 dates pencilled into Adele's diary before November - but the pacing, flow and sound design have already been meticulously and thoughtfully honed."This was the best way to kick off our world tour," Adele declared as she left the stage."I could get used to this."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)