Mainstream News

PayPal unfreezes $45,000 cancer donation after media investigation

"A $45,000 donation for an Auckland man's cancer treatment has finally been released by electronic payment firm PayPal. The company, which processes online transactions, put a hold on the donation after it was picked up by its money-laundering filters. The money was meant to fund private chemotherapy treatment using an expensive new drug for Justin Crockett, who has an aggressive brain tumour. Mrs Crockett rang PayPal without success and said she felt 'helpless' and 'stressed out'. 'I just think it's a bit appalling that they have that power to freeze it. It's not their money. People shouldn't be put through this stress.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPayPal unfreezes $45,000 cancer donation after media investigation

Five surprising facts about Bitcoin

"This has been a big year for Bitcoin. At the start of the year, interest in the virtual currency was largely limited to technology buffs. Then the price rose more than 10-fold, prompting regulators, investors and the general public to take a closer look. To help policymakers get up to speed, the Mercatus Center, a libertarian think tank, has published a new primer on the technical, economic and legal issues raised by the currency. Here are five of the most interesting observations that the authors, Jerry Brito and Andrea Castillo, make about Bitcoin." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Understated benefits and overstated risks

"Built within the Bitcoin protocol are capabilities to develop other financial innovations, like notary services, encrypted communications, and 'smart' collateral contracts. Developers and businesspeople are still learning the myriad applications for this innovative technology. Just as the public debate understates some of the benefits of Bitcoin, it also overstates some of the concerns. The hypothetical crimes that Bitcoin may enable are traditionally committed with cash, but policymakers would never dream of criminalizing cash. Instead, they regulate the use of cash. Regulations targeting Bitcoin could adopt this time-tested approach." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin: Understated benefits and overstated risks

Nepal’s tourism bureau promises to keep ‘tighter control’ of Mount Everest climbs

"Nepal’s tourism ministry said Friday it plans to exercise tighter control of climbers scaling Mount Everest to make sure they keep the world’s highest peak clean and to prevent rows. The ministry will set up a 10-member team made up of government officials, veteran Nepalese climbers and security officers that will start work when the next climbing season opens in the spring. The team will ensure that climbers do not leave trash on the mountain, Purna Chandra Bhattarai, of the tourism ministry told AFP. Nepal has already made it mandatory for each expedition team to hire liaison officers from the ministry to ensure better relations with locals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNepal’s tourism bureau promises to keep ‘tighter control’ of Mount Everest climbs

8 Chinese police officers fired for skinny dipping at tourist destination

"Eight Chinese policemen were sacked Monday after their naked swim at a tourist venue made waves online, state media said. The auxiliary police officers were dismissed for 'causing a negative impact on the image of the police', Xinhua news agency quoted the public security bureau of Lushan county in the central province of Henan as saying. It said the dismissals came after photos circulated online showing the eight skinny-dipping or standing on the shore, with their uniforms on the bank. Two police vehicles were parked nearby." Continue reading →

Continue Reading8 Chinese police officers fired for skinny dipping at tourist destination

Credit crisis begins to cripple Chinese cities

"Worried lenders in the informal sector raised interest rates for small and medium-size businesses, setting off a much broader wave of defaults in recent weeks, as owners found themselves unable to repay billions of dollars in bad debts, many of them handwritten and hard to enforce in court. State-owned banks have long been allowed to lend only at low, regulated rates barely above the inflation rate, with the total value of loans controlled by quarterly quotas. These loans go overwhelmingly to large state-owned businesses, government officials and politically connected individuals, who then relend the money at much higher interest rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCredit crisis begins to cripple Chinese cities

The Beginnings of a Chinese Banking Crisis?

"The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) displaced Bank of America to become the world's biggest bank in 2012, marking the first time in history a Chinese bank has reached this pedestal. China now has four of the world's ten biggest banks. Together, these Chinese banks have a combined market capitalization of close to $1 trillion Canadian dollars, or three times the market cap of the Canadian banking sector. ICBC alone has 393 million individual customers, which according to the Telegraph is the equivalent of a single bank managing the bank accounts of every man, woman, and child in Western Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Beginnings of a Chinese Banking Crisis?

Top Chinese official warn of ‘empty cities’ emerging in China

"In a grim warning against rapid urbanisation in China, a top development official has said that reckless expansion of cities has turned many of them into ghost towns with no occupants in sight. Qiao Runling, deputy director of the China Centre for Urban Development, said local governments had relied on quick urbanisation to stimulate economic growth and generate fiscal revenue. State-run broad cater CCTV recently carried a report showing two such 'ghost cities' with massive apartment and commercial complexes with no occupants, leaving local governments in deep debts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTop Chinese official warn of ‘empty cities’ emerging in China

Bitcoin Spawns China Virtual IPOs as U.S. Scrutiny Grows

"The Bitcoin craze is catching on in China. A small but growing group of investors in China have put the country into contention with the U.S. as the biggest downloader of the virtual money that’s being used to buy a growing range of goods and services online. While intensified scrutiny by U.S. regulators casts doubt on the currency’s future there, China’s Bitcoin industry is expanding. The China Securities Regulatory Commission didn’t respond to a faxed query on whether it’s looking at new rules regarding Bitcoin. So long as it remains small, the industry may continue to fly below the radar screen." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Spawns China Virtual IPOs as U.S. Scrutiny Grows

Capital Flows Back to U.S. as Markets Slump Across Asia

"Asia’s role as the world’s growth engine is waning as economies across the region weaken and investors pull out billions of dollars. The clouds forming in Asia as liquidity tightens and China’s slowdown curbs demand for commodities and goods are fueling a selloff of emerging-market stocks, reversing a flow of money into the region in favor of nascent recoveries in the U.S. and Europe. Emerging markets from Brazil to Indonesia have raised borrowing costs in 2013 to try to aid their currencies as the prospect of reduced U.S. monetary stimulus curbs demand for assets in developing nations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCapital Flows Back to U.S. as Markets Slump Across Asia