ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Baekhyun of EXO has achieved another milestone with his fourth solo EP, Hello, World, which sold over one million copies as of Tuesday, according to his agency INB100.
The EP reached the impressive figure in just five days, marking Baekhyun’s third consecutive million-seller as a solo artiste. The six-track mini album sold more than 890,000 units on its day of release and topped iTunes’ Top Albums Chart in 33 regions.
Main track Pineapple Slice was No 1 on its Top Songs Chart in 24.
The album ‘could be one that declares that I am still alive’, he said in an interview with Elle Korea, adding that the instant he heard Pineapple Slice, he had the confidence to put the album together.
BRIDGEHAMPTON (AP) – Ralph Lauren took to Hamptons horse country for a rollout of his signature Americana featuring First Lady Jill Biden,
Usher and Colman Domingo on his front row and Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and a bevy of adorable kids on his runway.
Horses and riders meandered in a nearby field behind a white picket fence at a tony equestrian complex in Bridgehampton as Lauren showed bright tennis whites, baby blue dresses and jackets, and bright orange, green and yellow looks for men, women and the aforementioned tots.
Lauren, for his spring 2025 show, chose Khalily Stables, a state-of-the-art, 19-acre equestrian compound of stalls, barns, riding arenas and grassy paddocks.
Lauren mixed his Ralph Lauren Collection, Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren and children’s wear for an extra-long show that stressed wearability on a weather-perfect evening as summer turns to fall.
There were picnic looks in soft blue dresses, and white trousers and shorts paired with stripes and jackets. There were evening looks, including a stunning long blush pearled skirt worn by Campbell with a knotted white T-shirt.
For the men, Lauren offered skinny cuffed trousers, blue floral dinner jackets and splashes of colour blocking in orange pants paired with navy nautical jackets and wide multicoloured ties over pinstripe shirts.
Whites and blues dominated, with a sprinkling of crochet and khaki. He threw in some sparkle in slinky sequined evening gowns, backless white cocktail dresses and blue blouses, adding a bit of his fairy dust to a pair of torn khaki trousers and other looks.
Lauren’s young ones, from preschoolers to tweens and teens, were ready for anything.
One wore white shorts and a green slicker. Others wore high riding boots with blue polos and matching pants. Still more were tiny prepsters in pinstripe button downs, navy jackets and cropped white pants.
In his show notes, Lauren said the Hamptons is “more than a place. It’s a natural world of endless blue skies, the ocean, green fields, and white fences, rusticity and elegance with a quality of light that drew artists here decades ago”.
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ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Super Junior subunit D&E is set to release their sixth EP, Inevitable, on September 25, according to agency Ode Entertainment.
The duo, comprising Donghae and Eunhyuk, is making a comeback approximately six months after their previous EP, Six Zero Six.
That EP’s lead track topped the iTunes Top Albums Chart in 11 regions, marking another milestone for the pair.
The pair dropped the single Promise in China last month and the digital single Like That in Japan in April, before launching a tour in Japan. The tour was held in eight cities for 15 shows.
In the meantime, the band is in the middle of its Asia tour Super Show Spinoff: Halftime.
The tour began in Seoul in June and the eight members performed in six cities across Asia for 10 concerts. They are set to visit Jakarta today.
ANN/THE STAR – Prepare for a celestial marvel as the Harvest Moon, the second of this year’s four supermoons, graces the sky on Wednesday.
Making its appearance closest to the Autumn equinox, this full moon is set to enchant stargazers with its extra-bright and expansive glow.
According to the Science Centre Observatory, a supermoon is a full moon that appears unusually large and bright because it is at the closest point in its orbit to Earth. Expect it to look six per cent to seven per cent bigger than a typical full moon.
The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest to the Autumn equinox, traditionally providing ample light for farmers to work late into the evening and harvest their crops, the observatory said.
This moon is steeped in cultural significance. Native Americans celebrate with harvest festivals, while in Japan, families admire the moon during Tsukimi and give thanks for the harvest. It also usually coincides with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival when families gather to enjoy mooncakes and the full moon.
This year’s supermoon series continues with two more dates: October 17 and November 15. The first supermoon of the year was observed on August 19.
The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest to the Autumn equinox. PHOTO: THE STAR
ISLAMABAD (AP) – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that his country has met all the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to qualify for a new USD7 billion loan to help prop up its economy.
During a Cabinet meeting, Sharif praised his finance team and other advisers for complying with the requirements set by the IMF, which is expected to sign a formal approval to the loan on September 25, when the global lender’s board of executive directors is scheduled to meet. Sharif specially thanked China for helping Pakistan to secure the bailout, but declined to provide further details.
The IMF had asked Pakistan to broaden the country’s tax base and eliminate energy subsidies, a demand Sharif’s government has already implemented, raising concerns among Pakistanis who say they are unable to pay high energy bills.
Pakistan’s Finance Ministry said on Thursday in a statement that all the matters with the IMF have been finalised “amicably”.
Thursday’s announcement comes two months after the IMF said it had reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan for the new USD7 billion loan deal.
Pakistan is currently facing one of its worst economic crises and Sharif has expressed hope that the country would be able to reduce its reliance on foreign loans in the years to come.
The new loan deal, if approved by the IMF’s board of executive directors, would last for 37 months.
People visit a market in Lahore, Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States (US) government said yesterday it will work to curb the “overuse and abuse” of a mechanism allowing lower-value imports to enter the country duty-free.
Under a new regulatory effort, US officials will be seeking to disqualify certain products from this trade exemption – a move that could impact a majority of Chinese textile and apparel imports.
While roughly 140 million annual shipments entered the US under the de minimis exemption a decade ago, this has surged to over a billion last year.
A key factor behind the rise in volume is the growth of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu, according to US officials. Both platforms are known for selling items at low prices.
“Foreign companies, predominantly e-commerce platforms, are flooding the US market with low-value products,” National Economic Council Deputy Director Navtej Dhillon told reporters.
“This exponential increase in de minimis shipments makes it more challenging to enforce our laws,” he added.
As the exemption stands, such foreign shipments enter the country with fewer oversights, potentially allowing unsafe products and illicit substances to avoid scrutiny as they enter the US, Dhillon said.
To prevent this, President Joe Biden’s administration will seek to disqualify certain products from the exemption.
This includes goods facing Section 301 tariffs.
Section 301 tariffs hit approximately 70 per cent of Chinese textile and apparel imports, meaning the move would drastically reduce the number of shipments entering through the de minimis exemption, said Deputy national security advisor for international economics Daleep Singh.
But officials added that the tighter rules would not only apply to imports from a single country.
On Wednesday, a group of over 120 US lawmakers raised “grave concerns” over the de minimis “trade loophole” in a letter and urged Biden to close it. They said such imports threatened US manufacturers and charged that these “expose American consumers to great risk by flooding the market with fake and sometimes dangerous imported goods”.
US officials will also look to introduce rules for those who continue using the de minimis exemption, such as new information collection requirements.
“The administration is calling on Congress to pass legislation this year to comprehensively reform the de minimis exemption,” said Singh.
Shein and Temu are known for selling items at low prices. PHOTO: AFP
AFP – Hansi Flick’s Barcelona face Girona tomorrow in a Catalan derby aiming to secure a fifth win from five La Liga matches at the start of the season.
Last season the Catalan giants were upset twice by their upstart minnow neighbours, who thumped Xavi Hernandez’s side 4-2 home and away in the top flight.
Girona, in their fourth ever season in La Liga, ultimately finished third, behind second-place Barca, but for much of the season the Blaugrana could only watch as the tiny club battled Real Madrid for top spot.
Although Girona’s title bid eventually collapsed, their second triumph over Barca secured them Champions League football and delivered Madrid’s record-extending 36th league crown.
A lot has changed since then, with Flick’s arrival in place of Xavi seeming to revitalise Barcelona’s squad. Led by teenage star Lamine Yamal, new arrival Dani Olmo and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski they have won their opening four matches and are the only team in La Liga with a 100 per cent record.
Girona, on the other hand, have lost star names including Artem Dovbyk and Savinho and coach Michel Sanchez is still fitting together his replacement puzzle pieces.
After a 3-0 thumping by Atletico, Girona responded with 4-0 and 2-0 wins over Osasuna and Sevilla respectively, indicating they are on the right track once more.
“It was a difficult market because we had an excellent season, we knew it could be a long window,” said Girona Sporting Director Quique Carcel earlier this week.
“We did what we had planned, which was to think about the players who might leave – we had planned for some of them,” he added.
Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo vies with Girona’s Artem Dovby. PHOTO: XINHUA
AFP – Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola said he is pleased that the club’s long-awaited hearing into 115 charges brought by the Premier League is set to start on Monday.
City face 80 breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018, plus a further 35 of failing to cooperate with a Premier League investigation.
The English champions stand accused of failing to provide accurate financial information between 2009 and 2018, including revenue from sponsors and salary details of managers and players.
City have vehemently denied any wrongdoing and Guardiola has backed his superiors when pressed about the charges in the past.
“Start soon, and hopefully finish soon,” Guardiola said of the hearing at his pre-match press conference yesterday ahead of Brentford’s trip to the Etihad. “I am looking forward to the decision.
“I’m happy it’s starting on Monday. I know there will be more rumours, new specialists about the sentences.
“We’re going to see. I know what people are looking forward to, what they expect. I know what I read for many, many years. Everybody is innocent until guilt is proven. So we’ll see.”
If found guilty on some or all of the charges, City face a severe points deduction and possibly even expulsion from the Premier League. The hearing is set to last at least two months, with a decision not expected until 2025. The Premier League brought the charges in February 2023 but there has been a lengthy wait for the case to proceed before an independent commission. In the meantime, City have lifted two more Premier League titles and the club’s first ever Champions League last year.
Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola holds the Premier League trophy. PHOTO: XINHUA
BEIJING (AFP) – Accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was banned in China yesterday for six months and slapped with a fine of USD62.2 million over problems with its audit of beleaguered property company Evergrande.
The moves by Chinese regulators mark the latest development in a crackdown on PwC for its work with Evergrande, which has become emblematic of a protracted debt crisis in the country’s real estate sector.
In the announcements yesterday, regulators hammered PwC for its failure to identify and bring attention to severe financial problems within Evergrande – once China’s biggest real estate firm – ahead of its default in 2021.
“After investigation, it was found that PwC and its Guangzhou branch knew that there were major misstatements in Evergrande Real Estate’s financial statements during the audit,” China’s Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
The ministry added it had imposed administrative penalties on PwC that included the “suspension of its business for six months and the revocation of its Guangzhou branch”.
In a separate statement yesterday, China’s top securities regulator said it had penalised PwC, while another fine in coordination with the Finance Ministry brought the total to CNY441 million (USd62.2 million).
The Libeskind Tower (Il Curvo), adorned with the logo of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in the business district of Milan. PHOTO: AFP
The statement said the penalties were because the firm had “failed to perform due diligence” in its work involving Evergrande.
PwC “failed to maintain due professional scepticism, failed to make correct professional judgements, and failed to discover Evergrande Real Estate’s financial fraud, which was of large scale and high proportion”, it added.
In response, PwC said its China auditors had fallen “unacceptably below standards” during their work with Evergrande.
“Following a thorough investigation, we ensured that actions were taken to hold those responsible to account and a comprehensive remediation programme will build a stronger PwC China firm for the future,” PwC Global Chair Mohamed Kande said in a statement on the firm’s website.
“China remains an important part of the PwC network and I remain confident in the China firm’s partners and staff as we work together to rebuild trust with stakeholders,” Kande added.
Last month, Evergrande liquidators filed a lawsuit against PwC in Hong Kong, part of an effort to recover investments after a court ordered the property firm’s liquidation, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The lawsuit targeted PwC’s “negligence” and “misrepresentation” in connection to reports on Evergrande’s financial statement for 2017 and the first half of 2018, according to the report.
AFP – Inter and AC Milan yesterday rejected the project to modernise and restructure the iconic San Siro stadium which they share, city Mayor Giuseppe Sala announced.
“The two clubs said no to the restructuring of San Siro proposed by (construction group) WeBuild,” Sala said after a meeting with officials of the two Italian clubs.
“They provided detailed analyses of technical and economic feasibility and their conclusions are that this project cannot be carried out at a sustainable cost and that they do not wish to move in this direction.”
The two clubs would, however, be ready to relaunch the initial project of a new stadium in the immediate vicinity of San Siro, according to Sala.
“We are not starting from scratch on this subject, but there is resistance from local residents,” Sala pointed out.
“They must present us with a project within a fairly short time frame, but building stadiums in Italy is never easy, it is always very complex,” he added.
File photo of San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy. PHOTO: AFP
