The Trump administration’s move to ban US residents from doing business with Tencent Holdings’ WeChat app rippled through Chinese markets, erasing $30 billion from the Internet giant’s market value and sending the yuan to its biggest slump in two weeks.
The US president’s executive order fuelled concern that the deteriorating US-China relationship will weigh on companies, economies and markets. Confusion over the scope of the order led to volatile trading on Friday, with Tencent plunging more than 10 per cent before paring its loss to 4.3 per cent at 1:53 pm in Hong Kong. A US official later clarified the ban will only cover WeChat.
The vaguely-worded order raised concern a ban could hammer not just the use of WeChat and WeChat Pay in the US but extend to business relationships with some of America’s largest corporations. The world’s biggest games publisher by revenue in 2019, according to Newzoo data, Tencent collaborates with US industry leaders like Activision Blizzard and Electronics Arts. It also holds a large stake in Fortnite maker Epic Games and owns League of Legends developer Riot Games.
Before Friday’s drop Tencent was worth $686 billion, making it the world’s eighth-largest company by market capitalisation and bigger than Berkshire Hathaway. Its huge size means it occupies a dominant position on global indexes. The firm accounts for more than 6 per cent of MSCI’s developing nation gauge and 4 per cent of its Asia Pacific measure.
Mr Trump’s order on WeChat came after a similar injunction against ByteDance’s TikTok, the viral video service the White House accuses of jeopardising national security. But Tencent is at the heart of communications between people and businesses within China and abroad, as the operator of WeChat.
“The US government is expected to follow up with more measures targeting Tencent,” said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong).
“Tencent’s overseas expansion map now looks a bit uncertain, since some M&A deals, especially if its targets are based in the US, will face challenges.”
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Company%20profile
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The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Friday's schedule in Madrid
Men's quarter-finals
Novak Djokivic (1) v Marin Cilic (9) from 2pm UAE time
Roger Federer (4) v Dominic Thiem (5) from 7pm
Stefanos Tsitsipas (8) v Alexander Zverev (3) from 9.30pm
Stan Wawrinka v Rafael Nadal (2) from 11.30pm
Women's semi-finals
Belinda Bencic v Simona Halep (3) from 4.30pm
Sloane Stephens (8) v Kiki Bertens (7) from 10pm
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
