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United Shares Fall After False Report of Bankruptcy
Shares of United Airlines lost nearly all their value Monday morning when a false rumor swept financial markets that the struggling carrier had filed for bankruptcy protection.
United’s stock fell 76 percent to $3 before trading was halted at 11:08 a.m. Trading resumed at 12:30 p.m. and shares closed down $1.49, or 12.1 percent, to $10.92, on a volume of 54.6 million shares.
A United spokeswoman, Jean Medina, denied the bankruptcy rumor.
The circumstances surrounding the rumor were still being sorted out Monday afternoon.
In a statement, United said the rumor occurred when the Web site of The Sun-Sentinel, a Florida newspaper, posted a six-year-old article from The Chicago Tribune archives about United’s previous bankruptcy filing. The airline operated under bankruptcy protection from 2002 through 2006.
“United has demanded a retraction from The Sun Sentinel and is launching an investigation,” the airline said in a statement.
Curbs Imposed on Muslims in Western China During Ramadan
Local governments in a Muslim desert region in western China have imposed strict limits on religious practices during the traditional Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began last week, according to the Web sites of four of those governments.
The rules include prohibiting women from wearing veils and men from growing beards, as well as barring government officials from observing Ramadan. One town, Yingmaili, requires that local officials check up on mosques at least twice a week during Ramadan.
The local governments administer areas in the western part of Xinjiang, a vast autonomous region that is home to the Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people who often chafe under rule by the ethnic Han Chinese. In August, a wave of attacks swept through Xinjiang, the largest surge of violence in the region in years. Some local officials blamed separatist groups for the instability, and the central government sent security forces to the area.
The limits on religious practices put in place by local governments appear to be part of the broader security crackdown. The areas affected by the new rules are near Kuqa, a town struck by multiple bombings on Aug. 10.
It was unclear whether the rules would be relaxed after Ramadan, an observance that some Islamic extremists have used elsewhere as a symbolic backdrop for attacks on their perceived enemies. It was also unclear how the Chinese authorities intended to enforce the rules, which appeared to run the risk of antagonizing devout Muslims who present no obvious security threat.