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Gov't hygiene officer kicks pro-democracy party out of Hong Kong's New Year fair for breaching ban on politics – Hong Kong Free Press

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The Hong Kong government has kicked a pro-democracy party out of Causeway Bay’s Lunar New Year fair after political slogans and material were found at their stalls.

Last year, the government announced a ban on dry goods at Lunar New Year fairs citing public safety concerns. It meant that stalls would only be able to sell flowers and food, and the usual political satire items would be banned.


League of Social Democrats Lunar New Year fair stall

Photo: League of Social Democrats.

The League of Social Democrats (LSD) had been operating two stalls – at pitch number four and 37 – in Victoria Park in order to sell flowers.

But the party decorated their stand with political banners featuring slogans such as “anti-mass arrest” and “independent investigation” in reference to Hong Kong protesters’ demands. They also had a table for a petition against pay rises for the police.

Inside the stalls, they displayed photos of the ongoing demonstrations as well as political cartoons. There was also a “Lennon Wall” message board for visitors to share pro-democracy sticky notes.

League of Social Democrats Lunar New Year fair stall

Photo: League of Social Democrats.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) pasted notices at the stalls on Sunday night stating that officers from the department found items unrelated to the selling of flowers, and thus there was a violation of the stall rental agreement.

“Under the premise of protecting public interests, we now… issue a warning to you,” the notices said.

The department warned that the stalls could be terminated if the party refused to remove objects unrelated to the selling of flowers before 1am on Monday.

League of Social Democrats Lunar New Year fair stall

Notice from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. Photo: League of Social Democrats.

At a press conference on Monday morning, LSD Chair Avery Ng said the party had reached out to the FEHD to explain the items and discuss solutions, but officers did not show up.

“The government should not waste time on suppressing our stalls. [Chief Executive] Carrie Lam banned us from buying dry goods and toys, in order to make Victoria Park unattractive for visitors. Ours were the stalls most visited by residents – banning us would be very shameless,” Ng said.

Photos from United Social Press on Sunday appeared to show a sparsely-attended New Year’s fair, whereas – in previous years – the park had been packed with festive shoppers.

Meanwhile, a stall run by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China sold a goddess of democracy statue combined with a flower.

The stall had a donation box and promotional banners.

Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China

Stall of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Photo: Facebook/Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

Another stall operated by the Justice Defence Fund sold flowers and also displayed portraits of nine Umbrella Movement activists charged by the government. Neither of the stalls received any notices to remove the items.

At around 1pm on Monday, officers from the FEHD returned to the LSD’s stalls and said the party had failed to remove the relevant items, and the stalls were therefore terminated.

A hygiene inspection officer surnamed Chan told the party that the stalls would have to cleared by 3pm on Monday.

League of Social Democrats Lunar New Year fair stall

Photo: League of Social Democrats.

One of those running the stall asked Chan if the move amounted to “political suppression,” but Chan did not give a direct answer.

The woman helping to run the stall said it had been a tradition for political parties to decorate their stands with political items: “We have been doing this for years – we had a reasonable belief that doing so would be fine.”


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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.

Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).

SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.

The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.

WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.

SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.

SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.

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Yuri Kageyama is on X:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.

“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.

“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”

Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.

On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.

If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.

These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.

If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.

However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.

He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.

“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.

Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.

The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.

Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.

Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.

Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.

Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.

Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”

In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.

“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.

The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.

The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.

RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.

The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.

RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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