By Laura He, CNN The property market in China is so depressed that some banks are resorting to drastic measures, including allowing people to pay off mortgages until they are 95 years old. Some banks in the cities of Nanning, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Beijing have extended the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80
Continue Reading By Julia Horowitz, CNN The latest inflation figures from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union are feeding hopes that the worst is over and some relief for struggling households could arrive soon. Annual inflation in the United States slowed to 6.4% in January, easing for the seventh consecutive month. In Europe,
Continue Reading By Michelle Toh, CNN One of China’s top investment bankers has become unreachable, according to his company. China Renaissance, an investment bank and private equity firm based in Beijing, said in a Thursday filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it “has been unable to contact” Bao Fan, its chairman and CEO. Shares of
Continue Reading By Chris Stern, Inke Kappeler and Olesya Dmitracova, CNN Lufthansa has canceled more than 1,300 flights scheduled for Friday after the Verdi labor union called for full-day strikes involving airport workers at seven German airports, including Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg. Lufthansa, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, was ceasing all flight operations at Frankfurt and Munich
Continue Reading By Tara Subramaniam, CNN The energy crisis triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine could push 141 million people worldwide into extreme poverty, according to a new report published Thursday in the journal Nature Energy. Researchers from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China and the United States modeled the impacts of increased energy prices in 116
Continue Reading By Oliver Darcy, CNN The most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air, damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing revealed. The messages, included in a legal
Continue Reading By Donie O’Sullivan, CNN In its annual “worldwide threat assessment,” top US intelligence officials have warned in recent years of the threat posed by so-called deepfakes — convincing fake videos made using artificial intelligence. “Adversaries and strategic competitors,” they warned in 2019, might use this technology “to create convincing—but false—image, audio, and video files to
Continue Reading By Donie O’Sullivan, CNN In its annual “worldwide threat assessment,” top US intelligence officials have warned in recent years of the threat posed by so-called deepfakes — convincing fake videos made using artificial intelligence. “Adversaries and strategic competitors,” they warned in 2019, might use this technology “to create convincing—but false—image, audio, and video files to
Continue Reading By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN Business After asking Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing chatbot for help in coming up with activities for my kids while juggling work, the tool started by offering something unexpected: empathy. The chatbot said it “must be hard” to balance work and family and sympathized for my daily struggles with it. It then
Continue Reading By Chris Isidore, CNN Tesla is recalling all 363,000 US vehicles with its so-called “Full Self Driving” driver assist software due to safety risks, another blow to the feature that is central to the automaker’s business model. “Full self-driving,” as it currently stands, navigates local roads with steering, braking and acceleration, but requires a human
Continue Reading By Alicia Wallace, CNN Americans continued to add to their debt at the end of last year — and grew their credit card balances at record rates, according to data released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Total US household debt hit a record $16.9 trillion during the fourth quarter, an increase
Continue Reading By Anna Bahney, CNN Mortgage rates climbed higher for the second consecutive week, following four weeks of declines. Inflation is running hotter, making rates more volatile, with the expectation that they will move in the 6% to 7% range over the next few weeks. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.32% in the week ending February
Continue Reading By Brian Fung, CNN YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said Thursday she is “stepping back” from her leadership role at the company after nearly a decade of running the video-sharing platform. In a blog post, Wojcicki said she plans to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.” Wojcicki
Continue Reading By Nimi Princewill and Stephanie Busari, CNN President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed Nigeria’s central bank to reissue old 200-naira ($0.43) banknotes withdrawn just days ago as concerns grow that the botched introduction of new money could disrupt general elections later this month. Violent protests have erupted in recent weeks as millions of people struggled
Continue Reading By Paul R. La Monica, CNN Inflation doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. And that’s weighing on Wall Street. Stocks tumbled Thursday after the US government’s Producer Price Index report showed that prices at the wholesale level rose faster than expected in January. The Dow fell more than 430 points, or 1.3%. The
Continue Reading By Kara Scannell and Allison Morrow, CNN A federal judge said Thursday that there may be “probable cause” to believe that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried engaged in attempted witness tampering and other activities that could land him in jail. There “may very well be probable cause to believe that he has committed or attempted to
Continue Reading By Parija Kavilanz, CNN The fierce storms and heavy rain that have pounded California in recent weeks could be the lifeline that one industry — and the communities that rely on it for their own survival — desperately needs. After years of drought, California has received an epic amount of rain already in 2023. While
Continue Reading By Chris Isidore, CNN Tesla has fired more than 30 supporters of a nascent union at its Buffalo facility, just days after the organizing effort was announced, according to the union. The union, Tesla Workers United, has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging the company illegally fired its supporters. The complaint
Continue Reading By Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace, CNN The first tool that mechanic trainees at Maryland’s Vehicles for Change program pick up is not a wrench, but a pair of virtual reality goggles. First, students watch an instructor virtually demonstrate a skill; then they follow prompts to complete a procedure themselves in VR. After that, students
Continue Reading By Anna Bahney, CNN US home building fell again in January, marking five straight months of declines, even as mortgage rates moderated and inflation cooled. Housing starts, a measure of new home construction, fell by 4.5% in January from December. That’s down 21.4% from a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the Census
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