Cincunri Sakia

Kamis, 21 Oktober 2021

Evergrande shares tumble after sale of services unit collapses - Financial Times

Shares in China Evergrande fell sharply as the company’s stock resumed trading on Thursday after the Chinese real estate developer disclosed that a plan to sell its property services division had collapsed.

Evergrande’s Hong Kong-listed stock fell as much as 13.6 per cent after the end of the two-week suspension, while shares of affiliate Evergrande Property Services, which were also frozen during the same period, dropped as much as 10.2 per cent.

Shares in Evergrande New Energy Vehicle, the developer’s electric vehicle subsidiary which has traded in Hong Kong without interruption in recent weeks, fell as much as 14 per cent.

Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, had halted trading in its shares and those of its property services unit on October 4. Evergrande Property Services advised in an exchange filing at the time that it was expecting a “possible general offer” for its shares.

During the share suspension, Evergrande did not comment on the outlook for the transaction, or on five missed payments to international bondholders totalling $275m.

The developer broke its silence late on Wednesday, revealing that a deal to sell 50.1 per cent of the property services division to Hopson Development Holdings for HK$20bn ($2.6bn) had been terminated last week.

Line chart of Share price (HK$) showing Evergrande’s shares resume trading days ahead of default deadline

The company’s shares remained down about 13 per cent in afternoon trading on Thursday. Evergrande’s stock price has dropped more than 80 per cent this year, with falls across the group’s three Hong Kong-listed businesses representing a total loss of more than $57bn in market capitalisation.

“You have to bear in mind this stock is simply not investment grade at this moment and the default risk is getting higher,” said Dickie Wong, head of research at Kingston Securities. “If you hold [Evergrande] you need to dump it immediately. That’s my only suggestion at this point.”

Evergrande said the deal had been halted because it “had reason to believe” that the purchaser had “not met the prerequisite” to make an offer. Hopson said in a filing that it was “prepared to complete the sale” but was unwilling to pay directly for the unit until obligations between the latter and Evergrande were settled.

Evergrande, which faces liabilities of more than $300bn, has struggled to deal with a liquidity crisis that has spurred concerns over the health of China’s real estate industry.

The disclosure and request to resume trading came on the same day that the Financial Times revealed Evergrande’s stock suspension had helped push the value of Hong Kong-listed stocks under a trading halt to a record high of more than $61bn, raising investor concerns about corporate governance on the exchange.

Evergrande also addressed its string of missed payments, the first of which on September 23 triggered a 30-day grace period that expires on Saturday.

Evergrande said on Wednesday that the grace period had “not yet expired” and that other than the sale of a stake in a regional Chinese lender, “there has been no material progress on the sale of assets of the group”.

Since Evergrande’s first missed payment, yields on dollar bonds for Chinese issuers have soared to the highest level in more than a decade, while developers Fantasia and Sinic Holdings have defaulted on bonds worth a total of $452m.

Video: Is China's economic model broken?

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2021-10-21 05:23:56Z
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Gabby Petito: 'Human remains' found in Brian Laundrie search - BBC News

Investigators leading a search for the missing fiancé of a murdered US blogger have found apparent "human remains" in a Florida park, the FBI has said.

Agents said items belonging to Brian Laundrie, who is a person of interest in Gabby Petito's death, were also found during the search.

Mr Laundrie has been missing for over a month after returning to Florida from a joint trip without his partner.

Her body was later found in Wyoming, where the couple had been travelling.

In a news conference on Wednesday, FBI special agent Michael McPherson confirmed that investigators had found "what appears to be human remains" on a search in the Carlton Reserve area.

He said the remains were discovered along with personal items including a backpack and notebook belonging to Mr Laundrie.

"These items were found in an area that up until recently had been underwater," he added.

Officials say the remains have not yet been identified and a search of the area is ongoing.

The case of Ms Petito, 22, and Mr Laundrie, 23, has sparked widespread media attention.

The couple had spent their summer on a road trip through national parks, documenting their nomadic "van life" trip on social media.

Ms Petito's parents reported her missing on 11 September after they were unable to contact her since the end of August.

It eventually emerged that Mr Laundrie had returned to Florida without Ms Petito on 1 September. Her family repeatedly appealed for her fiancé and his family to cooperate with investigators, but he then went missing himself.

His parents told police they last saw him on 13 September - when he went hiking alone and never returned.

Ms Petito's body was eventually discovered in Wyoming on 19 September. A coroner ruled last week that she had been strangled to death and left for weeks before her body was found.

Mr Laundrie has not been charged with crimes relating to Ms Petito's killing, however, the FBI has issued a federal arrest warrant and charged him with fraudulently using her debit card after her death.

A lawyer for Mr Laundrie's parents confirmed they were in the area where the items were discovered on Wednesday.

"Chris and Roberta Laundrie were at the reserve earlier today when human remains and some of Brian's possessions were located in an area where they had initially advised law enforcement that Brian may be," Steve Bertolino said.

He added the couple would "wait for forensic identification of the remains" before commenting further.

Mr Bertolino earlier told reporters that "some articles" had been discovered on a trail frequented by Mr Laundrie within a park where a car driven by him was earlier discovered.

The FBI's Tampa field office tweeted after the discovery that the nature reserve was closed to the public.

FBI special agent Michael McPherson said that officers would likely be processing the scene for several days.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but we don't have all the answers yet," he told the media.

The plight of Gabby Petito has captured global attention and triggered a debate over the amount of attention accorded to missing white women compared with other missing persons.

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2021-10-20 22:52:53Z
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Rabu, 20 Oktober 2021

COP26: Russia's President Vladimir Putin will not attend climate change summit in Glasgow, Kremlin announces - Sky News

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will not attend COP26 in Glasgow at the end of the month in what is being seen as another major blow for the climate summit.

A Kremlin spokesman said other representatives of Russia would attend the talks and that Mr Putin would take part remotely.

The decision to not attend by the leader of the world's fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is the latest setback for the summit.

There is also continuing doubt over whether Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be involved in the talks in Scotland.

The UK is hosting the summit from 31 October to 12 November and will be looking to agree a deal for a more radical plan to tackle global warming.

The Kremlin had previously announced that Mr Putin would not attend a Group of 20 summit in Rome in person this month due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

"He will also not fly to Glasgow, unfortunately," Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"We need to work out in what format it will be possible (for Mr Putin) to speak via video conference, at what moment.

"The issues that will be discussed in Glasgow right now form one of the priorities of our foreign policy."

Russia is warming 2.8 times faster than the global average, with the melting of Siberia's permafrost, which covers 65% of Russian landmass, releasing significant amounts of greenhouse gases.

Mr Putin said last week Russia would strive to be carbon neutral no later than 2060.

He said hydrogen, ammonia and natural gas were likely to play a larger role in the energy mix in coming years and that Russia was ready for dialogue on ways to tackle climate change.

Meanwhile, China has not confirmed whether Mr Xi - who has not left his own country since the beginning of the COVID pandemic - will take part in the summit.

Asked by reporters if he would be at the COP26 talks in person or via a video call, China's special climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, said: "We still need to wait for the information (from the) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and only after they make an announcement will we tell you."

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Mr Modi is also yet to decide whether he will attend, Indian officials have said.

However, a large number of other world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, will be at the talks.

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2021-10-20 17:28:20Z
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Gabby Petito: Apparent human remains found in search for fiancé Brian Laundrie - BBC News

Investigators leading a search for the missing fiancé of a murdered US blogger have found apparent "human remains" in a Florida park, the FBI has said.

Items belonging Brian Laundrie, who is a person of interest in Gabby Petito's death, were also found during the search, agents said on Wednesday.

Mr Laundrie has been missing for over a month. Ms Petito's remains were found on 19 September in Wyoming.

Officials say the investigation in the area is ongoing.

In a news conference, FBI Special Agent Michael McPherson said that "investigators found what appears to be human remains along with personal items such as a backpack and notebook belonging to Brian Laundrie".

"These items were found in an area that up until recently had been underwater," he said.

Last week, a coroner in Wyoming ruled that 22-year-old Ms Petito had been strangled to death and left in the woods for weeks before she was found.

This summer, Ms Petito and Mr Laundrie, 23, had embarked on a road trip through national parks in the American West, documenting their nomadic "van life" trip on social media.

Mr Laundrie's parents say he was last seen on 13 September, after he returned to Florida without Ms Petito almost two weeks earlier. They say he went hiking alone and never returned.

On Wednesday, Laundrie family lawyer Brian Bertolino told reporters that after a "brief search" with parents Chris and Roberta Laundrie, "some articles" belonging to him were found.

He said the items were found on a trail frequented by Mr Laundrie in the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park.

The park is where the car driven by Mr Laundrie was discovered after he went missing.

The FBI's Tampa field office tweeted: "Items of interest were located at the Carlton Reserve this morning in connection with the search for Brian Laundrie."

"An FBI Evidence Response team is processing the scene. The reserve is closed to the public and no further details are available at this time."

Possible partial human remains have been discovered in the area, NBC News reported, citing an unnamed official.

Mr Laundrie has not been charged with crimes relating to Ms Petito's killing, however the FBI has issued a federal arrest warrant and charged him with fraudulently using her debit card after her death.

The plight of the travel influencer has captured global attention, and triggered a debate over the amount of attention accorded to missing white women.

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2021-10-20 20:57:51Z
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Nikolas Cruz: Parkland gunman pleads guilty to murdering 17 - BBC News

A Florida man has pleaded guilty to murdering 17 people in a 2018 mass shooting at a high school campus in Parkland, Florida.

Nikolas Cruz, 23, also pleaded guilty to 17 counts of attempted murder for those he injured in the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

He faces the possibility of the death penalty or life in prison.

One of the deadliest school shootings in US history, the incident became a rallying cry for gun control activists.

Mr Cruz was 19-years-old when he shot dead 14 students and three employees with an AR-15 rifle at his former school. Another 17 people were wounded.

The case will now head to a penalty trial in which jurors must determine whether Mr Cruz is spared the death penalty to face life without parole.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer has said she hopes that the case - for which thousands of jurors will have to be screened - can begin in January.

In court on Wednesday, Judge Scherer asked Mr Cruz how he pleaded to each murder.

Following the plea, Mr Cruz tearfully addressed the judge and the victims' families.

"I am very sorry for what I did and have to live with it every day," he said. "If I were to get a second chance, I would do everything in my power to help others."

Mr Cruz added that he has "nightmares" about his crime and "can't live with" himself. He also said that he believes that the US would "do better if everyone would stop smoking marijuana".

Lawyers representing Mr Cruz had repeatedly said that he would plead guilty if the death penalty was not considered. Last week, his attorney, David Wheeler, told the judge that Mr Cruz's lawyers were asking the court to impose 17 consecutive life sentences for the massacre.

The offer had been rejected by prosecutors, who in earlier court documents said they would seek his execution and prove that the crime "was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel".

Following the hearing, Tony Montalto - whose 14-year-old daughter Gina was killed in the shooting - told the Associated Press that Mr Cruz's guilty pleas "are the first step in the judicial process".

"But there is no change for my family," he added. "Our bright, beautiful and beloved daughter Gina is gone while her killer still enjoys the blessing of life in prison."

March for Our Lives, a gun law reform organisation started by Parkland survivors in the wake of the shooting, said in a statement that it has "no comment" on Mr Cruz and "a guilty plea will not erase the past, and it will not bring us peace".

"What is clear is that gun violence is a systemic crisis and a uniquely American epidemic," the statement said.

The organisation added that it is "appalled and disgusted that policymakers continue to waffle and play games" rather than implement reforms. "We are not at peace, we are as angry and determined as ever."

Last week, Mr Cruz pleaded guilty to a separate charge of attempted aggravated battery and three other felony charges stemming from an attack on a jail guard nine months after the shooting.

On Wednesday, Judge Scherer sentenced Mr Cruz to 26 years in prison for the jailhouse assault.

In a hearing on Friday, he acknowledged that his conviction in the jailhouse assault could become an "aggravating factor" in determining whether he will be executed.

Ahead of Mr Cruz's guilty plea, Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the shooting, told CBS News that he hoped that Mr Cruz would pay for his crimes "with his life".

"My daughter should be living the best years of her life. My son heard his sister get shot and his life is forever impacted. My wife and I had two children that killer took this from us."

Mr Cruz had been expelled from the school in 2017. Students and staff later described him as an "outcast" and troublemaker.

He had previously been investigated by local police and the Department of Children and Family Services after posting evidence of self-harm on the Snapchat app.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later admitted it did not properly follow up on a tip-off about Mr Cruz the month before the shooting.

Many of the shooting's survivors went on to become prominent advocates for gun legislation reform and have demanded that action be taken to prevent similar incidents.

In an event marking the third anniversary of the shooting in February, US President Joe Biden called for Congress to pass gun law reforms, including a ban on assault weapons and an end to legal immunity for gun manufacturers.

"We owe it to all those we've lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change," Mr Biden said. "The time to act is now."

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2021-10-20 16:18:32Z
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