China will raise defense spending by 7.1% in 2022, faster than last year

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects troops during a parade on October 1, 2019, to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China at Tiananmen Square in 1949, in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s defense spending this year is set to grow at its fastest pace…

UAE is placed on money laundering watchdog’s ‘gray list’

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on July 5, 2021. Christopher Pike | Bloomberg | Getty Images An intergovernmental organization dedicated to combating money laundering and illicit cash flows on Friday placed the United Arab Emirates on its “gray list” over concerns that the Gulf country isn’t sufficiently stemming illegal financial activities. The UAE was one of…

PayPal suspends its services in Russia over Ukraine war

In this article PYPL The PayPal app shown on an iPhone. Katja Knupper | DeFodi Images | Getty Images PayPal said Saturday it was suspending its services in Russia, adding to the number of firms retreating from the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine. “Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services…

China sets GDP target of ‘around 5.5%’ for 2022

Workers weld at a workshop of an automobile manufacturer in Qingzhou, East China’s Shandong Province, on March 1, 2022. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — China is slated on Saturday to release its gross domestic product growth target for 2022, as an annual parliamentary meeting gets underway. Analysts widely expect the…

S&P Dow Jones is removing Russia stocks from indices, stripping country of emerging market status

An employee looks at a stock price index graph showing plunging stock prices on an electronic information screen at the headquarters of the Micex-RTS Moscow Exchange. Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images Index giant S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday it is removing all stocks listed and/or domiciled in Russia from its benchmarks in…

Less than 1% of all FDIC-insured banks are Black-owned, according to the FDIC

In this article BAC YELP NFLX MSFT Big banks and corporations like Yelp, Netflix, and Microsoft have announced major investments in Black-owned banks. Yet Black banks are far from thriving. Americans who identify solely as Black or African American make up 13.4% of the U.S. population today, but less than 1% of all FDIC-insured banks…

Russia oil disruption would lead to ‘significantly higher prices,’ says Exxon CEO

In this article XOM Darren Woods, Chairman and CEO, Exxon Mobil. Katie Kramer | CNBC U.S. oil surged to the highest level since 2008 on Thursday, and Exxon CEO Darren Woods said prices could be heading much higher. “If there is a significant supply disruption with respect to Russian crude … that will be very…

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Best Buy, Kroger, Burlington and more

An employee brings a television to a customer’s car at a Best Buy store in Orlando, Florida. Paul Hennessy | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Best Buy — The retail stock jumped 8% after the company announced it was raising its quarterly dividend by 26%. The move…

‘We were terrified’: Block co-founder explains how the fintech giant avoided ‘death by Amazon’

Block co-founder Jim McKelvey. CNBC | NBC Universal | Getty Images BARCELONA — In 2014, Amazon launched a product that sounded strikingly similar to something already on offer from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square, which is today known as Block. It was called Amazon Register, and it would let small businesses accept credit…

Stock futures inch lower as Russia-Ukraine tensions weigh

U.S. stock index futures were modestly lower during overnight trading Wednesday, after the major averages finished the day higher despite escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 28 points. S&P 500 futures shed 0.11%, while Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.2%. During regular trading on Wednesday the…

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Nordstrom, Salesforce, Ford and more

In this article DKNG FSLR F CRM JWN Pedestrians walk past a Nordstrom Inc. store. Ben Nelms | Bloomberg | Getty Images Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading. Nordstrom — Shares of the department store rallied a whopping 39% after the company reported better-than-expected profits and sales for the holiday quarter. The…

Here’s how Chinese media is covering Ukraine

The Shanghai branch of the Communist Party newspaper, People’s Daily, on Feb. 27, 2022. Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — In China, tightly controlled coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has focused heavily on negotiations. Beijing’s line has been to promote negotiations, as China tries to position itself further away from…