(Removes repeated word in paragraph 1)

BEIJING, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Beijing has stepped up security and COVID curbs and decorated the capital with red political banners as it gears up for a Communist Party congress where President Xi Jinping is poised to become China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

The 20th party congress, which opens on Oct. 16, occurs every five years and brings together 2,300 party members, mostly behind closed doors, at the vast Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square.

Beijing has hired extra security personnel, according to procurement tenders, including 42 guards to keep 24-hour watch on "key people", a term authorities use to describe individuals deemed to be troublemakers, from Oct. 6-23.

This week, dozens of additional security personnel stood at regular intervals along Chang'an Avenue, the main east-west road through the centre of Beijing.

Shops that provide photocopying services have been told to deny service to petitioners, who tend to gather in Beijing when it holds important meetings.

An employee at one photocopy shop near Tiananmen said he had stopped more than 10 people who tried to print petitions or court documents about conflicts with the government or state-owned companies.

"I would be in hot soup if I let them print from my shop," he told Reuters, declining to be named as he is not authorised to speak with foreign media. "We've been told to be extra alert this month," he added.

But it is enforcement of China's zero-COVID policy as the country battles numerous outbreaks that is most irritating many Beijing residents. Numerous residents have been prevented from returning to the capital after the recently-concluded October "Golden Week" holiday.

China's Twitter-like Weibo has been flooded with complaints from users claiming they were unfairly hit by COVID "pop-up windows" on their smartphone health apps which require a positive PCR test to be cleared and allow unrestricted mobility.

One hashtag about Beijing "pop-up windows" started on Oct. 5 and generated over 12 million views by Tuesday. At least one similar hashtag was censored.

"I'm a pregnant woman that has done nothing. This pop-up window has delayed my pregancy check in Beijing. How can people live like this?" user monianOPQ wrote on Monday.

In May, Xi called out critics of China's zero-COVID policy amid widespread anger at a months-long and often chaotic lockdown in Shanghai, China's most populous city. A lockdown in Beijing during Congress would be an even larger dent on Xi and the Party's unwavering commitment to zero-COVID.

Besides the COVID "pop-up windows", Beijing authorities recently introduced a series of measures to show their commitment to keeping the Congress virus-free, from reinforcing COVID monitoring teams at key airports and railway stations to increasing the frequency of COVID testing for office workers.

Red banners with slogans written in a large white font have been placed on bridges overlooking major thoroughfares in Beijing. One reads: "Closely unite around Comrade Xi Jinping as the core of the Party Central Committee."

Xi is widely expected to break with precedent and win a third term as party general secretary, China's most powerful post, securing his place as the country's most powerful leader.

As authorities seek to avoid any potential risk ahead of the big event there were signs that certain services in the capital were being curtailed.

"You cannot send out certain packages from Beijing and won't be able to receive certain packages coming from outside of Beijing at the moment due to the Party Congress," a delivery worker at SF Express, a major Chinese courier firm, told Reuters late last month. SF Express did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A banker, who declined to be named due to the sensitvity of the matter, told Reuters that applications for new financial products or businesses were on hold ahead of the Congress.

"If you want to apply for a new product, or if you want to upgrade a new system in October, that's all suspended," the banker said.

"Regulators would tell you that new products involve risks (and say) 'Couldn't you just wait for another 30 days?'" (Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Additional reporting by Yew Lun Tian and Martin Quin Pollard Editing by Tony Munroe and Michael Perry)

The self-described free-speech absolutist has said he would prefer to stay out of politics but has also used Twitter to weigh in.

The Senior Citizen’s League says there ‘may be no COLA payable in 2024.'

Elon Musk says that his company SpaceX cannot fund Starlink services in Ukraine in perpetuity because it’s too expensive. In a tweet on Friday Musk claimed the “burn is approaching $20 million a month”. In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February, SpaceX transferred Starlink terminals, the satellite-powered distributed internet service operated by SpaceX, in part to help keep Ukraine’s military defend itself against the invasion by its nuclear-armed and territorially ambitious neighbor.

The disclosures weren't easy to access.

A day after President Joe Biden drew criticism from conservatives on social media for giving unsolicited dating advice to a young teen girl in California, the president is again in hot water for claiming the "economy is strong as hell."

WASHINGTON—Policy makers around the world see rising risks that the global economic slowdown could turn into a steeper slump due to strong inflation, high energy costs and climbing interest rates. Another bad U.S. inflation report last week is likely to keep the Federal Reserve lifting interest rates at a rapid clip. Key energy producers are crimping supply, feeding price pressures and slowing economic activity, particularly in Europe.

In a state dominated by progressive politics, some Oregonians east of the Cascade Mountains want to move the border so that their counties become part of Idaho, a more conservative state that more closely aligns with their values.

From dizzying tax U-turns to Britain's fourth chancellor this year. Here's what has happened as the government descends into chaos.

Yahoo Finance Live’s Rachelle Akuffo discuss the fall of the British pound amid reports that UK Prime minister Liz Truss has replaced the country’s Finance minister.

OLHA HLUSHCHENKO - SATURDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2022, 05:07 Ukrainian soldiers have hit positions of Russian troops 13 times from the sky in the south of Ukraine. Source: Operational Command Pivden (South) Quote: "Russians have intensified their air reconnaissance, especially in Bashtanka (Mykolaiv Oblast) and Beryslav (Kherson Oblast - ed.

George Clooney on Donald Trump

While speaking at an event to grant relocation bonuses to police officers, Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican from Florida, compared crime in some other states like that of third-world countries. The topic of “defunding the police” has been a prominent talking point for Republican candidates and there have been intense debates between candidates surrounding crime and police. You have some places in this country that are operated almost like third world countries with the crime, just totally out of control.

(Reuters) -Some of oilfield service firm Schlumberger's more than 9,000 Russian employees have begun receiving military draft notices through work, and the company is not authorizing remote employment to escape mobilization, according to people familiar with the matter and internal documents. Schlumberger's cooperation with authorities by delivering the military call-ups and its refusal to allow Russian staff to work outside the country has caused a backlash, according to the sources. Russian law requires companies to assist with delivering a summons to employees and to conduct a military registration if at least one of its employees is liable for service, according to advocacy group Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, which tracks corporate performance on human rights issues.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX does not digest leaks related to the Starlink service provided to Ukraine at war against Russia.

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.Most Read from BloombergNATO-China Tension Over Ukraine Flares at Conference in IcelandRolex Prices to Drop Further as Supply Surges: Morgan StanleyDiesel Hits Chaos Mode in Fresh Blow for Global EconomyEuropean Central Bank Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said interest rates should be raised beyond year-end -- a time when economists increasingly expect the euro zone to be in th

(Bloomberg) -- Most Read from BloombergNATO-China Tension Over Ukraine Flares at Conference in IcelandRolex Prices to Drop Further as Supply Surges: Morgan StanleyDiesel Hits Chaos Mode in Fresh Blow for Global EconomyChinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that economic development is the Communist Party’s “top priority,” a signal that Beijing will continue to emphasize growth despite some analysts expecting a shift toward greater focus on national security.At the opening of the 20th party cong

Britain's new Treasury chief on Saturday acknowledged mistakes made by his predecessor and suggested that he may reverse much of Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss' tax-cutting plans in order to bring stability to the country after weeks of economic and political turbulence. Jeremy Hunt, who was brought in Friday to replace Kwasi Kwarteng as Treasury chief and restore order in Truss' administration, warned of “difficult decisions” to come. Truss on Friday fired Kwarteng and ditched her pledge to scrap a planned increase in corporation tax as she sought to hang on to her job — after just six weeks in office.

Chinese President Xi Jinping says the country must stick with socialist market economy, high-level opening up, and dual circulation strategies in growing its economy. (Translated excerpt)(Source: CCTV via APTN)

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and his Republican opponent, former football star Herschel Walker, faced off on Friday night for their first and likely only debate, using the face-to-face meeting to make their cases to voters just a few weeks before Election Day. The debate came amid a hectic final push by the…

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert took to Twitter to criticize Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after the New Yorker was heckled at her own town hall this week.