Twitter will soon begin paying verified content creators for ads in their replies, with the first payment block of around US$5 million (RM23.07 million), company owner Elon Musk said on Friday (June 9).

Twitter to pay verified creators for ads in replies, Musk says

The US expanded a ban on imports from China’s Xinjiang region, placing two more companies on its so-called entity list, the first additions since a law targeting forced labour in the area took effect a year ago.

Printing and imaging company Ninestar Corp and eight of its subsidiaries, as well as Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical Co Ltd, were added to the list “for working with the government of Xinjiang to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor or receive forced labour” involving Uyghur and other ethnic minorities, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement on Friday (June 9).

US expands China forced-labour embargo, banning two new firms

Thailand’s Election Commission will investigate if prime minister front runner Pita Limjaroenrat violated an election rule on candidacy after earlier throwing out some complaints against him, according to local media reports.

Thai election agency to probe PM front runner Pita — Bangkok Post

Egyptian inflation accelerated after a month-long respite, as a round of price increases by authorities fans pressures already building following three currency devaluations.

Consumer prices in urban parts of Egypt climbed an annual 32.7% in May from 30.6% the previous month, according to a statement on Saturday (June 10) from the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS. Food and beverage costs, the largest single component of the inflation basket, rose 60%.

Egypt’s inflation accelerates anew to stay above 30%

China should play a key role in shaping the artificial intelligence (AI) guardrails needed to ensure the safety of transformative new systems, OpenAI Inc chief executive officer Sam Altman said.

OpenAI’s CEO calls on China to help shape AI safety guidelines

Switzerland’s neutral interest rate may be a bit lower than that of other advanced economies, according to Swiss National Bank (SNB) president Thomas Jordan.

The rate that neither slows nor accelerates output typically is “in the range of 2%-to-3% in developed countries, while in Switzerland it might be slightly lower”, Jordan told Swiss newspaper Corriere del Ticino in an interview published on Saturday (June 10).

SNB president puts Switzerland’s neutral interest rate around 2%

After being wrong-footed by a US$1.5 trillion (RM6.92 trillion) rout in Chinese stocks, some of Wall Street’s biggest banks are coming around to a less optimistic consensus. 

Strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Nomura Holdings Inc and Morgan Stanley have all slashed their MSCI China Index targets over varying periods by at least 11%. Their latest projections suggest that while the gauge may rebound from current levels, it will struggle to reclaim the high seen in January, when the reopening frenzy was at its peak.

China stock bulls hit reset button after US$1.5 trillion rout

The clouds are finally parting for Tesla Inc investors who stuck with the electric-vehicle (EV) maker through a rough ride. A rush of good news for the company and the return of bullish market conviction have put the stock on pace to more than double this year.

Tesla’s record run drives nearly US$200b jump in value

Boris Johnson quit his seat in the UK Parliament, denouncing as a “kangaroo court” the panel of lawmakers investigating his behaviour and attacking the policies of the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Ex-UK PM Boris Johnson resigns as MP

US shares struck new highs for the year on Friday (June 9), and helped lift world stocks to a 13-month peak, as rising bets that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will skip a rate hike next week overshadowed worries about US markets being drained of cash.

World shares at 13-month peak as Wall St scales 2023 highs

A conflict between the US and China over computer chips — or semiconductors — has been escalating in recent months. In particular, the US has taken steps to limit China’s access to advanced chip technology amid heightened international competition in the area.

The US recently tightened export controls to undercut China’s access to high-end chip manufacturing equipment and has banned top talent from working for Chinese semiconductor firms. Beijing retaliated by banning US chip maker Micron from operating in China.

The microchip industry would implode if China invades Taiwan, and it would affect everyone

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had certainly begun their expected counteroffensive in intense fighting in Ukraine, but that every attempted advance had failed, at a heavy cost in casualties.

Putin says Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed so far

The White House said on Friday that Russia appeared to be deepening its defence cooperation with Iran and had received hundreds of one-way attack drones that it is using to strike Ukraine.

Citing newly declassified information, the White House said the drones, or Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), were built in Iran, shipped across the Caspian Sea and then used by Russian forces against Ukraine.

Russia has received hundreds of Iranian drones to attack Ukraine — White House

Foreign investors piling into Asian fixed income and stocks propelled emerging market portfolio inflows to US$10.4 billion in May, offsetting Chinese bonds suffering a third straight month of outflows, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) found.

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