Rapa Nui, otherwise known as Easter Island (or Isla de Pascua), is one of the most remote inhabited places on the planet. Despite its extreme seclusion, most people know of Easter Island for one reason: the moai sculptures. Aside from the language, imported food and household goods, the connection between Rapa Nui and Chile is obscure. The moai of Rapa NuiEnormous and iconic, the cartoon-like moai statues scatter the windswept island as sentient guardians of the local culture. Feral horses wande

China said on Thursday it lowered its benchmark lending rates — a move that was widely expected by analysts as the world’s second-largest economy faced threats from an outbreak of a deadly coronavirus. The country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, cut the one-year loan prime rate from 4.15% to 4.05%, and the five-year rate from 4.80% to 4.75%. Loan prime rate is the interest rate that banks charge their most creditworthy clients. The PBOC, in a revamp to China’s interest rates regime l

An employee works on a truck production line at a factory in Zhangjiakou in China’s northern Hebei province on January 13, 2020. The new coronavirus outbreak in China has hit global supply chains hard and spurred sourcing away from the world’s manufacturing hub — a shift that started amid the U.S.-China tariff fight. As business activity and transportation has been restricted in many Chinese cities, companies unable to fulfill contractual obligations are applying for force majeure certificates i

European markets opened mostly lower on Thursday despite a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in mainland China, that has helped other markets to advance. As of February 19, China’s National Health Commission reported an additional 114 deaths from the virus, and 394 new confirmed cases. The number of new cases was drastically lower than the 1,749 reported the day before. Stocks in Asia were also boosted after China lowered its benchmark lending rates to mitigate the economic impact of the

This is how the fallout from the outbreak will affect various sectors in China, according to reports from S&P Global and Morgan Stanley this week. Restaurants, retail and leisureThe restaurant sector in China will see a “significant” fall in first-quarter sales, S&P Global said. The firm projected those figures will only be around 45% to 55% of sales revenue during the same period last year. Real estateAs compared to the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, the new coronavirus outbreak will have a “more sev

China will likely seek to keep “abundant” liquidity in the country as it continues to grapple with the economic impact of a coronavirus outbreak, according to the world’s largest investment firm BlackRock. Seth’s comments came before China cut its loan prime rate (LPR) on Thursday morning, a move that could lower borrowing costs for businesses. In a widely expected move, the People’s Bank of China on Thursday cut its 1-year LPR by 10 basis points, while the 5-year LPR saw a 5 basis points reduct

Business activity in China may look like it’s at a standstill amid the COVID-19 outbreak, but investors should start planning their next moves, experts said on Thursday. “China is still China, the economy is still the economy, the consumers are still consuming,” said Frank Lavin, CEO of Export Now, a digital solutions company. Lavin said he thinks there could still be a few more weeks of bad news after China “got off to a very bad start” handling the new coronavirus crisis. “But most people (who

U.S. government debt prices were higher Thursday morning, as investors awaited economic data and Treasury auctions. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 1.5576%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was lower at around 2.0049%. Market focus is largely attuned to the coronavirus outbreak, as investors continue to assess the potential economic impact of the deadly pneumonia-like virus. On the data front, the latest weekly jobless clai

U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a slightly higher open on Wall Street Thursday morning after closing at fresh record highs, as investors continue to monitor the global economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. ET, Dow futures were 22 points higher and pointed to an implied positive open of more than 23 points, while futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were fractionally higher. Tech shares led the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to new record highs on Wednesday, and some cautious optimism

The quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship sits docked at Daikoku Pier on February 19, 2020 in Yokohama, Japan. – Holly Ellyatt2:57 pm: Japan confirms two elderly passengers from Diamond Princess diedJapan’s ministry of health has confirmed the deaths of two passengers who were on board the virus-stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship which was under quarantine at Yokohama Port, near Tokyo. The coronavirus-stricken cruise ship is currently docked in Japan, near Tokyo. — Weizhen Tan11:07 am: Two

Stock in Asia were set to trade higher at the open on Thursday, with the People’s Bank of China widely expected to cut its loan prime rate as the country grapples with the economic impact of an ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Futures pointed to a higher open for Japanese stocks. Meanwhile, stocks in Australia were higher in early trade as the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.17%. Investors will await the release of the PBoC’s loan prime rate, set to be out around 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN. Hong Kong-listed stocks of cas

Less than a day remains until the longest season of Fortnite to date finally concludes and Season 2 of Fortnite Chapter 2 begins, and yet even now there is little that is officially known about the new things it will add to the game. advertisingRELATED: Fortnite Update Adds Chaos Physics and MoreOne such discovery, as shared by dataminer HYPEX, looks like it clears up some of the mystery behind the “oil rig operation” mentioned in some of Fortnite’s real-world ads. Specifically, it’s believed th

Bad news for PlayStation fans who were planning on attending PAX East next week. With the spread of the coronavirus becoming a greater and greater emergency, Sony has decided to not participate at PAX, scrapping its plans to have a major presence at the upcoming event. “Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment made the decision to cancel its participation at PAX East in Boston this year due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as “novel coronavirus”),” it wrote in an update on the

If you’ve been after a cheap tablet this winter then Best Buy has you pretty well covered right now – if you prefer an android slab that is. And specifically the Samsung Tabs and Galaxy Tabs. The pick of the budget bunch is the modestly sized – in every way – 7-inch Tab A that comes in at only $99.99. At the premium end of the scale, there’s the 10.5-inch Tab S5e, with 64GB of memory, going for $349.99 – a solid saving of $50. These have some of the best screens and performance going when it com

Now Sonic fans have come out of the woodwork to support the blue blur, including Santa Monica Studio’s Art Director Raf Grassetti. advertisingRELATED: Early Sonic Movie Art Shows Hedgehog Fighting Alongside Chris EvansThis isn’t the first time Grassetti has made waves by posting art depicting characters from other video game franchises, though. While the Sonic the Hedgehog movie did not feature Sonic’s immense collection of friends and rivals from the games, it did tease characters like Knuckles

Share Tweet Email Copy Link CopiedGamers discover that searching for the Steam store on Google turns up an offensive message for Epic Games as the first result. Epic Games created its Epic Games Store as a response to Steam and the large revenue cuts that Steam takes from game sales and the two sites have been locked in a battle since. advertisingIt’s not surprising why fans thought that the Epic Games Store message wasn’t a mistake. Ubisoft has chosen to put many of its new games on Epic Games

One new build has been put together for popular character FL4K, and it’s so powerful that it is capable of one-shotting enemies, even when the game is set to Mayhem 4. This new Borderlands 3 FL4K Mayhem 4 build is being nicknamed Deputy FL4K, named after a similar build that was made for the Gunzerker in Borderlands 2. advertisingThat’s because the Wedding Invitation sniper rifle in Borderlands 3 is only in the game for a limited-time. advertisingSomething else that Borderlands 3 players will wa

Shop all Logitech gaming deals on Amazon USShop all Logitech gaming deals on Amazon UKLooking for more ways to play? Gaming mouse dealsLogitech gaming mouse deals in the USLogitech G203 Prodigy RGB wired gaming mouse | $39.99 $27.99 at WalmartThis super cheap gaming mouse offers a superb sensor at this price, making every response instantaneous. View DealLogitech gaming mouse deals in the UKLogitech G402 Hyperion Fury wired gaming mouse | £49.99 £29.99 at CurrysThe G402 Hyperion Fury gaming mous

Specifically, it was during the Direct that the Pokemon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass was revealed, as was Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. Now players can see even more of this forthcoming remake of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, as a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX trailer has recently been released. The new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX gameplay trailer begins with a question, inquiring about what a player might do if they were t

The Gothic remake is going into full production. THQ Nordic confirmed today that development is going ahead as the playable teaser got enough attention and positive feedback. The goal is to make a faithful remake of the 2001 German RPG, as to be expected, but with modern graphics and updated mechanics. “There’s more than a whiff of The Witcher 3 about it, surprisingly,” Fraser Brown wrote after taking the teaser for a spin. Apparently one of the biggest requests off the back of the teaser has be