news
China kicks off antitrust probes into Alibaba over alleged monopolistic practices, as regulators summon Ant to meet Jane Zhang jane.zhang@scmp.com The State Administration of Market Regulation has officially started investigating Alibaba Group Holding over suspected monopolistic practices. Photo: Reuters
China s antitrust regulator has officially started investigations into Alibaba Group Holding over alleged monopolistic business practices including a requirement for e-commerce merchants to pick only one platform as their exclusive distribution channel.
Separately, China s central bank said it would summon Ant Group s executives for a meeting with the financial regulators covering banking and insurance, securities and foreign exchange, as it tightens regulations on the fintech industry.
news
China kicks off antitrust probes into Alibaba over alleged monopolistic practices, as regulators summon Ant to meet Jane Zhang jane.zhang@scmp.com The State Administration of Market Regulation has officially started investigating Alibaba Group Holding over suspected monopolistic practices. Photo: Reuters
China s antitrust regulator has officially started investigations into Alibaba Group Holding over alleged monopolistic business practices including a requirement for e-commerce merchants to pick only one platform as their exclusive distribution channel.
Separately, China s central bank said it would summon Ant Group s executives for a meeting with the financial regulators covering banking and insurance, securities and foreign exchange, as it tightens regulations on the fintech industry.
How do people celebrate Christmas and the festive season around the world? A Santa in Osaka, Japan, where Christmas is celebrated with buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Photo: Shutterstock
One of the questions my six-year-old daughter has begun to ask concerns Santa Claus. How does he manage to deliver all those presents to the world s children in a single night? Luckily, she already knows the answer: a combination of magic reindeer, an ability to scale the insides of chimneys at warp speed and a deft negotiation of international time zones.
Another new question this Christmas is: do people across the world celebrate Christmas in the same way? Right now, she thinks eight billion people celebrate like she does, eating their weight in advent calendar chocolate, singing Jingle Bells over and over until you think no other words exist, and dropping none-too-subtle clues about what should drop down our own chimney come Christmas Day.
news
‘I was coerced’: Chinese woman pleads not guilty to serial murders Lao Rongzhi stands trial in Nanchang Intermediate People’s Court. Photo: CCTV
A Chinese woman accused of murdering seven people, including a three-year-old girl, more than two decades ago pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying she was coerced into the crimes, according to state media reports.
In a two-day trial that ended on Tuesday, Lao Rongzhi, 46, told Nanchang Intermediate People s Court that her involvement stopped at kidnapping and robbery and that she was not aware the victims would be murdered by her boyfriend and partner in crime Fa Ziying, according to Procuratorial Daily, a newspaper published by the Supreme People s Procuratorate.