Global News

[ad_1] A sign hangs outside the Shein warehouse in Whitestown, Indiana, on Nov. 29, 2023. Scott Olson | Getty Images The chair of a powerful House committee is drilling down on Shein's data privacy practices and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party as the fast-fashion giant moves closer to a U.S. initial public offering .  Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Washington Republican who leads the House's Committee on Energy and Commerce, sent a letter to Shein on Wednesday asking about the user data it collects and the communications it has had with the Chinese government. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., who chairs the panel's Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce, co-signed the letter. The lawmakers sent similar missives to TikTok, Temu and Alibaba.  "Media reports indicate that Chinese-owned e-commerce marketplaces are increasingly popular in the western world. This is a serious risk for e-commerce, consumer safety, and people's data privacy and s

[ad_1] Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform and microblogging service X and the renowned company Tesla, which mainly manufactures cars in the United States, has once again reclaimed the title as the world’s richest person. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Inde, tech tycoon Elon Musk’s wealth has surged to $232 billion in 2023, a $92 billion increase in the past year. According to Bloomberg’s report, Elon Musk’s wealth has increased due to a 12.95% stake in his company Tesla (an automotive company), which has performed exceptionally well this year. The world’s most expensive carmaker concluded the year with a market value of $248 billion, which is 130% higher than the previous year. In addition, despite the ups and downs of the microblogging website X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk’s wealth increased. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, there has been an increase of more than $1.5 trillion in the combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest individuals this

[ad_1] TikTok has officially launched its e-commerce service TikTok Shop in the US.  Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Consumers are increasingly turning to social media for their shopping this holiday season, and TikTok's latest venture into e-commerce has emerged at the forefront. For some, it means weighing the convenience of mobile shopping and often low prices against ethical questions. The platform introduced TikTok Shop in the U.S. in September as an in-app shopping experience, capitalizing on the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend. The shop gives opportunities to both content creators who could sell their own products and avid TikTok users who could buy directly on the app, following in the footsteps of other social media apps such as Instagram. Though TikTok Shop previously faced backlash and was forced to shut down in Indonesia, consumers are increasingly trending toward buying off social media. A recent Shopify-Gallup survey says nearly half of respondents ages 18 to 29 s

[ad_1] G-7 leaders stand together after the family photo. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the Japan on Saturday to attend the Group of Seven (G-7) summit, giving him a rare chance to both drum up support from the world's rich democracies and sound out "Global South" leaders with long ties to Russia. The Ukrainian president's attendance at the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, the first city to suffer a nuclear attack, also put in sharp relief western concerns over the nuclear threat posed by Moscow. G-7 members — the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada — are grappling with the immense challenges posed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tensions with China, notably over Taiwan and economic security. Worried by the outsized role China now plays in supply chains in everything from semiconductors to critical minerals, the G-7 issued a communique that set out a common strategy tow

[ad_1] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) walks with China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang (R) ahead of a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on June 18, 2023. Leah Millis | Afp | Getty Images U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on a high-stakes diplomatic mission to cool U.S.-China tensions that have overshadowed geopolitics in recent months. The trip by Blinken makes him the highest-level American official to visit China since Joe Biden became U.S. president and the first U.S. secretary of state to make the trip in nearly five years. Blinken had "candid, substantive, and constructive talks" with Qin, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement Sunday . He raised concerns as well as "opportunities to explore cooperation," and he emphasized the importance of open communication, according to the statement. "The Secretary made clear that the United States w

[ad_1] The United States is facing a potential economic disaster if the country defaults on its debt payments, the White House warned on Wednesday. The president's Council of Economic Advisers cautioned that this could cause an economic shock that would lead to eight million job losses this summer and a 6% drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The council also predicted that the stock market could drop 45% in the third quarter and warned that even a brief interruption in payments could lead to a recession and a surge in unemployment. President Joe Biden is at odds with Republicans in the House of Representatives over national spending and public debt. The Democratic president has urged Republicans to raise the country's debt ceiling, which is the maximum amount of debt the government can take on legally. Republicans have refused to do so without a broader agreement to cut government spending. The Treasury Department estimates that the country will reach its debt cap o

[ad_1] The world is aging rapidly, and there are more and more ways to invest in this theme. Shams Afzal, managing director at Carnegie Investment Counsel, noted that 17% of the U.S. population is now over the age of 65, and that proportion is expected to grow higher. And the demographics of that age group is changing. There's been a "marked jump" in education levels — just 5% of those aged above 65 were degree holders in 1950, much lower than the 29% in 2018, Afzal said, citing Population Reference Bureau statistics. The gender gap in terms of mortality has also narrowed, from seven years in 1990 to five years in 2017, he said. "The aging population discussion in recent years has mostly revolved around future challenges to labor productivity and its economic growth implications," he said. "We see meaningful efforts by companies large and small, working to enhance the quality of life for individuals in this age group," Afzal, also a portfolio mana

[ad_1] Peter Coker Jr., left, is issued search warrants from police at his villa on the southern resort island of Phuket, Thailand, Jan. 11, 2023. Crime Suppression Division, Royal Thai Police | AP NEWARK, N.J. – A former fugitive in the securities fraud case involving a New Jersey deli company once valued at $100 million renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2019, prosecutors revealed Thursday as they asked a judge to deny him bail. Peter Coker Jr. "poses a serious risk of flight, and ... there are no conditions or combination thereof that can assure his appearance at future proceedings," said the letter by the U.S. Attorney's Office to federal Magistrate Judge Edward Kiel. In the same letter, prosecutors said Coker Jr. had "stood to make tens of millions of dollars" from a hoped-for reverse merger of the deli company, which the goal of the "complex, long-term fraud' spanning at least seven years that grossly inflated its stock price. "And t

[ad_1] Drone warfare in Bakhmut An Ukrainian serviceman attaches a hand grenade to use in an attack, near Bachmut, in the region of Donbas. An Ukrainian serviceman attaches a hand grenade on a drone to use in an attack, near Bachmut, in the region of Donbas, on March 15, 2023.  Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty Images An Ukrainian serviceman attaches a hand grenade on a drone to use in an attack, near Bachmut, in the region of Donbas, on March 15, 2023.  Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty Images — Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty Images Russia ambassador says Moscow will "no longer allow anyone to break into its waters" Russia's Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov appeared to blame the U.S. for the downing of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday that the U.S. military blamed on the "reckless" and "unsafe" behavior of Russian fighter jets. Mark Wilson | Getty Images News | Getty Images Russia's Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow will "no l

[ad_1] A messy legal fight over the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone poses risks to the biopharma industry that go beyond the single drug. If a subsequent decision tosses out the pill's approval, it could potentially stifle innovation in the sector and deter investments in the development of life-changing drugs, biopharma companies and experts in law and economics say.  related investing news The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of Amarillo, Texas, appears to be the first time a court has suspended the FDA's approval of a medication. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Wednesday partly granted the Biden administration's request to put the order on hold, making mifepristone available for now but with significant restrictions .  The Justice Department will seek emergency intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, it said Thursday. Nationwide access to mifepristone still hangs in the balance as the

[ad_1] A man drinks a coke and eats a Big Mac at a McDonald's in Cologne, Germany, on May 25, 2015. Oliver Berg | picture alliance | Getty Images McDonald's has upgraded its burgers — but it's unclear if its sales will get the same boost. The fast-food giant has outperformed its rivals in recent quarters, helped by price hikes across its menu and higher-income customers trading down to its McNuggets and Big Macs. Still, McDonald's U.S. traffic dipped in the third quarter as low-income diners cut back their visits. When the company announces its fourth-quarter results Monday morning, analysts are expecting U.S. same-store sales growth of just 4.4%, according to StreetAccount estimates. That's an obvious lag compared with the third quarter's 8.1% U.S. same-store sales growth. McDonald's and rival fast-food chains will face pressure to grow traffic this year. Diners won't stomach the double-digit price hikes that fueled last year's sales. Instead