每日三篇英语新闻随记138

2019年8月13日

Global stocks slide as continued unrest in Hong Kong shakes already-rattled investors

Stocks fell on Monday as flaring political unrest in Hong Kong rocked markets already fragile from a deteriorating outlook for a US-China trade deal. Hong Kong’s airport was forced to cancel more than 100 flights on Monday after thousands of demonstrators clogged departure and arrival halls preventing passengers from boarding any planes. Chinese authorities have warned that the unrest could send Hong Kong into a recession and said that the city is at a “critical juncture.”

Adding to the concerns of a global recession, Argentina’s currency and equities fell after the country’s incumbent president suffered an unexpected defeat in primary presidential elections.

Here’s a look at the major indexes as of the 4 p.m. close on Monday: The S&P 500 slid 1.23%, to 2,882.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.49%, to 25,896.44. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.20%, to 7,863.41.

Shares of cannabis producer CannTrust fell as much as 25% on Monday after Health Canada rated one of its facilities in Vaughan, Ontario non-compliant. The company’s stock tumbled as much as 5% last Friday after KPMG, its auditor, withdrew its most recent quarterly and full-year results over. Shares of Cathay Pacific slid as much as 4.9% to a decade low on Monday after China demanded the airline prevent protesting employees from flying to the mainland.

Coach and Versace sparked fury in China by selling t-shirts that listed Hong Kong as a separate country

Luxury fashion labels Versace and Coach stoked fury in China over the weekend after images of t-shirts which described Hong Kong as separate from China began circulating on the internet.

Hong Kong is considered to be a semi-autonomous Chinese territory and operates under a “one country two systems” rule with China since its handover from British rule in 1997. Under the rule, Hong Kong is allowed to keep its own political, legal, and economic systems separate from China until 2047. Following the controversy, the brand published a note on Twitter signed by Donatella Versace, saying that she was “deeply sorry” for the company’s error. “Never have I wanted to disrespect China’s national sovereignty and this is why I wanted to personally apologise for such inaccuracy and for any distress that it might have caused.”

On Monday, American luxury brand Coach issued an apology for a similar faux pas it made on one of its t-shirt designs, which listed Hong Kong and Taiwan as countries separate to China. Though China considers Taiwan to be its own territory under the “One China” principle, Taipei maintains some degree of autonomy from the mainland and holds member, observer, or other status in over 50 international organisations. In its apology, Coach said it “respects and supports China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and said they discovered “a serious inaccuracy” in the design of the t-shirt in 2018.

“We immediately pulled those products from all channels globally,” the label wrote in a note published to Twitter. “We are fully aware of the severity of this error and deeply regret it.” The t-shirt controversy also highlights current tensions between China and Hong Kong, as protests have rocked the city for over 10 weeks.

Qantas and Australia Post have signed a $1 billion deal to deliver your parcels by air — and it could be the key to Amazon's success down under

Qantas and Australia Post have inked a new $1 billion expansion of the national delivery system, in a move that promises to overhaul online shopping for Australians.

The seven-year deal will see Australia Post use Qantas domestic flights to move freight around the country, commandeering in the process three enormous Airbuses exclusive for freight delivery.

“The enhanced air freighter network complements $900 million in investment across our network through automation and infrastructure, and provides the speed, flexibility and reliability customers expect,” Australia Post CEO Amanda Holgate said.Each will allow the postage service to deliver an additional nine tonnes of post on each flight. That combined with access to as many as 1500 domestic passenger flights a day promises to be a coup for Australian e-commerce.

Amazon is predicted to take up the largest slice of the pie as the Australian online retail market grows. Accordingly, the shopping giant needs the kind of distribution network to allow it to expand here. “Last year we flew more than 400 tonnes of mail on our busiest night, and more than 40 million parcels during December,” Holgate said.

“Online shopping nationally still represents less than 10% of all retail sales but it represents $30 billion worth of parcels and that figure is experiencing double-digit growth,” he said.“It’s expected to grow by somewhere between 15 and 20% on average over the next five or so years.”

Given it only launched in Australia in late 2017, Amazon has perhaps got a few years before it begins to fill freight planes all of its own.