Global Courant
China targets Evergrande executives
Two former executives of China Evergrande, the world’s most debt-ridden real estate developer, have been arrested and the company’s billionaire chairman is under police surveillance, fueling fears of a deepening real estate crisis.
Just a few weeks ago, Evergrande wrote its next chapter, working to resolve disputes with its creditors following its collapse two years ago. Now the pages are torn.
The rapidly changing events have increased pressure on policymakers in Beijing trying to tackle China’s real estate crisis. Investors sold their shares in Evergrande, causing the already in poor shape to fall more than 40 percent in the past week. Evergrande yesterday suspended trading in its three listed companies in Hong Kong.
Context: The turmoil at Evergrande and other developers has exposed deeper problems within China’s financial system, which has long allowed rampant lending, unchecked expansion and often corruption. But even as regulators have tightened the rules and tried to force companies to behave, Evergrande continues to be distinguished by poor corporate governance.
Details: On Monday, Chinese media outlet Caixin reported that Xia Haijun, a former CEO of Evergrande, and Pan Darong, a former chief financial officer, had been arrested. The two resigned last year over their involvement in a plan to siphon $2 billion from a subsidiary into the coffers of Evergrande’s main holding company.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported that Hui Ka Yan, the real estate company’s chairman and founder, had been taken by police and was under residential surveillance. Evergrande confirmed that Hui had been “subject to mandatory measures” by authorities for suspected “illegal crimes.”
The government of Nagorno-Karabakh will be dissolved
The government of Nagorno-Karabakh said yesterday it would cease to exist, formally ending more than three decades of separatist rule. The move came a week after a swift attack by Azerbaijan returned the territory to Azerbaijani rule.
The territory’s leader said in a decree that all government agencies would be dissolved by the end of the year. Ethnic Armenian residents of the area must decide whether they want to live under Azerbaijani rule or leave, the decree said. The Armenian government said more than 76,000 people, about half the region’s population, had left Nagorno-Karabakh to seek safety within its borders.
How Modi uses Sikh separatism
India’s feud with Canada over the killing of a Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil highlights how India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has increased the threat of Sikh separatism.
Analysts, political leaders and residents say there is little support in Punjab for the creation of an independent Sikh state, a cause that peaked in terms of deadly violence decades ago and was then wiped out. But Modi’s pursuit of a small group of extremists in Canada, and amplification of the danger they pose, has allowed him to create a major political narrative ahead of next year’s national elections. It promotes his image as a leader who will do anything to protect his nation.
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Asiatic-Pacific
Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda is atypical for a Japanese top athlete. With a mischievous personality and a devilish attitude, he is known for swearing vigorously at his team over the radio during races – audio that is also broadcast to fans.
His cult status and international appeal surpass his F1 achievements.
Lives lived: Michael Gambon, an Irish-born actor who made his mark in London in the 1970s with his stage and film work before playing Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 82.
MS Swaminathan, a crop geneticist who helped transform India into one of the world’s top producers of wheat and rice, has died at the age of 98.
A Beyoncé renaissance
Beyoncé’s first tour in almost seven years kicked off in Stockholm in May, with 56 shows scheduled worldwide. Everything Beyoncé does becomes a cultural event, but the Renaissance World Tour has become a cultural movement, writes my colleague Jenna Wortham.
People travel across the world to see her, comparing set lists and fashion choices and attending multiple shows. Silver and rhinestones have become tour signals, as recognizable as any brand logo.
As an album, Renaissance is a blueprint for how to cultivate pleasure and hold onto it at all costs, writes Jenna. The tour is an opportunity to put into practice the vision for the world we hope to live in, and to release sadness about the world we live in.
