HONG KONG: Shares in troubled Chinese property giant Evergrande plummeted more than 80 percent in Hong Kong on Monday morning after the lifting of a 17-month trading suspension. FALLING DOWN A man walks past the China Evergrande Centre in Hong Kong on July 28, 2022. The Chinese property giant nose-dived more than 80 percent in Hong Kong on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, after resuming trade. The plan offers creditors a choice to swap their debt into new notes issued by the company and equities in two subsidiaries, Evergrande Property Services Group and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group. In March 2022, the Hong Kong stock exchange suspended trading in Evergrande shares after the company failed to publish its 2021 financial results.

BEIJING: Chinese electric car giant XPeng said on Monday it would buy the EV subsidiary of ride-hailing platform Didi for more than $740 million and launch a new brand of vehicles. The Chinese electric car giant said on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, it would buy ride-hailing platform Didi's EV subsidiary for more than $740 million. AFP PHOTODidi is China's leading car-hailing app but also operates a subsidiary designing electric vehicles. In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange where XPeng is listed the car giant said it had reached a deal with Didi to buy that subsidiary for $744 million. XPeng will also partner with Didi to launch a new brand of electric vehicles next year.

Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes has refused to wave the white flag and is still hoping against hope, no matter how miniscule the chances are for the Nationals to book a spot to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The objective is to get to the Olympics, so no matter how flickering that hope is, that hope is still alive. Reyes and Gilas Pilipinas do have some glimmer of hope to cling to, but their fate is no longer in their hands. That's easier said than done, however, as Gilas Pilipinas is facing world No. As for the Paris bid, Gilas Pilipinas also hopes that the Akatsuki Five drops its remaining Group Phase game against world No.

ITALY's veteran forward Luis Datome has played in numerous venues packed with hostile crowds during his distinguished professional and international basketball career. ""I think, [it's] gonna be a nice atmosphere and all the players love to play in a nice atmosphere. "Of course, the Philippines, like Dominican Republic, they have a single great player and all around them there's a good team. So for sure, it's very important to limit this player," said Datome. The Azzurri opened the World Cup with an 81-67 dumping of Angola last Friday at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.RICHARD DY

Roger Pogoy vowed that Gilas Pilipinas will continue to fight despite its slim chances of advancing to the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup here in the Philippines. Roger Pogoy PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO"We're going to keep on fighting because we still have some games to play. We won't give up, we will continue to fight," said Pogoy in Filipino. That put the host country's bid of entering the second round as well its Paris Olympic qualification in peril. "We're going to look at the film and asses what are the other things that cost us the game," added Pogoy.

TILBURG, The Netherlands — Thousands of people gathered in the Netherlands this weekend to celebrate their red hair at the annual Redhead Days Festival in the southern town of Tilburg. Scottish Liam Hunter, 30, told Reuters attending the three-day festival made him feel better about himself. Like many redheads Hunter said he has experienced bullying over his unusual hair color. ADVERTISEMENT“I don’t feel alone anymore, I feel together, a part of something,” he said, looking out over the festival grounds, “being here I’m completed”. In 2013, the festival entered the Guinness World Records book as the largest gathering of people with natural red hair with 1,672 redheads in the traditional group picture.

Visitors to Japan are often delighted by the incredible variety of candies. One that is unique to Japan helps children learn by making their own sweets. With no artificial colorings or preservatives, they are perfectly safe to eat. The first candy in this range, launched about 30 years ago, fascinated children by the way it changed colors when mixed, giving them a hands-on experience of the chemical reactions they were learning about in school. Recent research proves that playing with these products have a positive educational effect, such as boosting concentration.

Elected, not selectedOfficials of constitutional bodies such as the Comelec and the Office of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan etc., should be elected not selected. Given the various controversies that now hound constitutional bodies, this idea has become quite attractive as far as insuring the independence and competence of such bodies. There was a time when you could not even imagine casting doubt, much less suspicion on those who head such respected institutions. But in the last year alone, the competence and integrity of such offices have been put under question. For the longest time, we have treated the work of constitutional bodies as simply prosecutorial of the corrupt or the independent body that holds court over election matters.

Higher for longerLast Friday, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell made his much-awaited keynote speech at the Jackson Hole economic symposium. Woodstock for economistsThe annual symposium in Jackson Hole is considered the holy grail for economists and central bankers. It is, therefore, essential for investors to take their cues from Powell’s latest Jackson Hole statement. The hawkish stance of central bankers, coupled with the recent credit rating downgrades (see Fitch downgrade hurts markets, Aug. 7, 2023; Moody’s downgrades US banks, Aug. 14, 2023) results in a scenario where interest rates will remain higher for longer. Higher interest rates would indeed tame inflation eventually, but these would also hamper economic growth, increase recession risk, and usher financial market volatility.

The Philippine team is all set to compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Under-18 Women's Softball Asia Cup to be held in Pingtan, Fujian, China from August 29 to September 3, 2023. Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines (Asaphil) president Jean Henri Lhuillier is optimistic and enthusiastic of the team's chances in the tournament. Get the latest newsdelivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyThe Asia Cup is also a qualifying tournament for the WBSC Under-18 Women's Softball World Cup to be held in 2024. 3 China, will vie for one of the three available tickets for the 2024 World Cup. Lizviminda Jalandoni, assistant coach Sheirylou Valenzuela, pitching coach Kaith Ezra Jalandoni and head of delegation Dino Bernardo Lee.

Tier 1 ranking is an indication that a country is fully compliant with the minimum standards aimed to eliminate human trafficking and is actively working to address the issue. Human trafficking is one of the pressing issues President Marcos is expected to raise in the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia next month, Malacañang said. Marcos has been given a situation update on human trafficking and he "understands very clearly the depth and how widespread this problem is." While the country seeks to create more jobs for Filipinos, it must also limit — if not totally eradicate — human trafficking. They also identified hotspots for human trafficking.

Such a finish would grant the team an automatic berth to the 2024 Paris Olympics — a goal that is surely in the mind of every Asian team in the tournament. So far, all Asian teams have dropped their first assignments, with Gilas Pilipinas being the lone team that managed to put up a fight and avoid being blown out by higher-ranked opponents from the Americas and Euro qualifiers. Co-host Japan came the closest to Gilas Pilipinas' feat, being able to put up a fight in the early going against Germany. Jordan was also one of the other Asian teams that held its ground, but stunningly lost steam in the end. The rest of the Asian teams absorbed complete blowouts.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: A white man driven by racial hatred shot dead three Black people in a Florida discount store Saturday before taking his own life after a standoff with police, authorities said. "He targeted a certain group of people and that's Black people. And that's very clear," Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters told a news conference about the gunman, who was in his early 20s. The shooting took place near Edward Waters University, a historically Black college in the southern US state. "An on-campus Edward Waters University security officer engaged an unidentified male in the vicinity of the Centennial Library on campus," it said.

Thirty percent of the world's population – about two billion people – have no access to safe drinking water. A major reason is the high cost of water treatment plants. We meet a researcher whose low-cost method for purifying water using natural ecosystems is now in use in over 30 countries. In an alternative approach, another researcher developed an artificial crystal for use in water bottles that removes harmful heavy metals like lead. It's contributing to one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals of safe water for all.

GILAS Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes had no intentions of benching Kai Sotto in the Philippines-Dominican Republic FIBA World Cup game at the Philippine Arena on Friday evening, August 25. He was playing really, really well," explained Reyes. Gilas Pilipinas’ Kai Sotto (left) and Dominican Republic’s Angel Delgado battle for the rebound during the Philippines-Dominican Republic FIBA World Cup game at the Philippine Arena on Friday evening, Aug. 25, 2023. He was a minus 4 in the plus minus category. Edu, who shot 3-of-3 from the field, was a +4 in the plus minus department.