- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
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- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
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- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
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- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
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- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
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- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
Chinese food delivery giant slumps on new fee-cut measures
Shares of Chinese food delivery giant Meituan slumped Friday as Beijing released new guidelines instructing internet platforms to lower fees for struggling eateries.
The guidelines, published by China's top economic planner, aim to support a service sector hit especially hard by restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Shares in Meituan, which has hundreds of millions of users in China, plunged almost 15 percent in Hong Kong when markets closed Friday.
Earlier this week, a State Council meeting pledged to scale up support for sectors such as catering, retail and tourism, including temporary tax breaks, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
And internet companies, including those doing food delivery, should be guided to further cut service fees, helping merchants bring down operating costs, according to the latest document from the National Development and Reform Commission.
"Internet platform companies shall be guided to give preferential service fees to catering firms... where medium- or high-risk areas in the pandemic are located," the NDRC added.
Beijing has embarked on a sweeping regulatory crackdown in the past year or so, clipping the wings of several major internet firms and leaving investors jittery.
Meituan shares have dropped nearly 60 percent in the last year, according to Bloomberg News.
China's economic growth also slowed dramatically in the second half of 2021, raising concerns about the impact of a strict zero-Covid approach that has left borders mostly closed to the outside world and impacted on supply chains.
P.Silva--AMWN