Biden exited the 2024 race, endorsing Harris. China cut lending rates to boost growth; a mystery buyer aids China Fortune Land’s debt reduction. A faulty CrowdStrike update triggered a global IT outage, highlighting tech vulnerabilities.
On July 21, President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, facing growing opposition from within the Democratic Party.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate to run against Donald Trump in November’s election.
China Cuts Key Lending Rates to Stimulate Economic Growth
China’s central bank cut the one-year prime rate from 3.45% to 3.35% on Monday, its first rate reduction since August, aiming to boost consumer and business confidence.
The rate cut comes as China faces sluggish domestic demand, ongoing property sector challenges, and a lower-than-expected GDP growth of 4.7%, below its 5% target.
Mystery Investor Clears China Fortune Land Bonds to Reduce Debt
An unknown buyer has been purchasing bonds from China Fortune Land at significant discounts, then canceling them to help reduce the company’s debt burden.
The strategy appears to involve buying bonds at a steep discount (e.g., at 10% of face value) and selling them back to the company at a higher, but still discounted, price.
Global IT Outage Caused by Faulty CrowdStrike Update
A CrowdStrike Falcon sensor update included a faulty file, “C00000291*.SYS,” which triggered system crashes and the “blue screen of death” on Microsoft Windows systems, resulting in a widespread IT outage.
The incident revealed vulnerabilities in global IT infrastructure, showing the risks of relying heavily on a few dominant tech companies like Microsoft and CrowdStrike.
CrowdStrike, which holds 18% of the endpoint protection market and serves 29,000 organizations globally, faces criticism for inadequate quality assurance and testing before releasing the update.
Federico Charosky, CEO of Quorum Cyber, emphasized the need for the tech industry to prioritize thorough testing over speed, warning that overreliance on such essential technology is creating global risks.
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