Category Archives: World News

Credit Suisse puts Zurich hotel up for sale in urgent liquidity dash

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Ailing Swiss bank’s share price has collapsed after being hit by series of crises

Credit Suisse, the investment bank whose shares plummeted to record lows this week over fears it could be on the brink of collapse, is selling the five-star Savoy hotel in the centre of Zurich for as much as 400m Swiss francs (£361m).

The bank, whose stock has fallen by more than 40% in the past six months, said on Thursday it had put the 184-year-old hotel on Paradeplatz in the heart of the city’s financial district on the market as part of a regular review of its global real estate assets.

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‘It’s like The Godfather’: Irish dancing world hit by cheating allegations

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Former judge appointed to investigate claims prominent dance schools have rigged competitions

The ostensibly quaint world of Irish dancing has been rocked by allegations of competition fixing and cheating, with some parents and teachers saying there is a code of omertà akin to The Godfather and The Sopranos.

The Irish Dancing Commission, a governing body known in Irish as An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), has appointed a former judge to investigate claims that prominent dance schools and teachers have rigged competitions, it emerged this week.

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‘Miracle find’: rare Don Quixote and short stories could sell for €900k

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Sotheby’s describes 17th-century Cervantes editions as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for collectors

One day in the early 1930s, a young Bolivian diplomat named Jorge Ortiz Linares walked into the illustrious Maggs Bros bookshop in London to ask if they might have a particularly fine edition of Don Quixote for sale.

But even for Ortiz Linares – a dedicated bibliophile who also happened to be the son-in-law of Simón Patiño, the Bolivian tin magnate nicknamed the Andean Rockefeller – the answer was a polite no.

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Zero-Covid measures cause chaos as China prepares for Beijing summit

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President Xi Jinping expected to start third term while citizens express frustration with restrictions

Lockdowns and travel restrictions are continuing to cause chaos across China in the run-up to a crucial political meeting next week as the government holds fast to hardline zero-Covid policies.

As thousands of Communist party delegates prepare to descend on Beijing for the twice-a-decade congress meeting, where Xi Jinping is expected to start his third term as leader, local authorities are under pressure to control contain outbreaks. This week 2,883 cases were reported across more than 25 provinces, including 227 on Wednesday. The number is small compared with global cases but relatively high for China’s zero-tolerance approach.

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‘I have a voice’: African activists struggle to attend UN climate talks in Egypt

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Young campaigners from the continent most affected by the climate crisis face financial and accreditation difficulties for Cop27

African climate activists from some of the countries most affected by global heating say they are struggling to get access to the UN climate talks in Egypt in November.

Cop27, which has been termed “the African Cop”, threatens to take place without African activists advocating for communities devastated by drought, floods and fossil fuel projects in the negotiations when life-or-death decisions about climate finance will be made.

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Ukraine president urges world not to give in to Russia’s ‘nuclear blackmail’ during Australian address

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy calls on leaders to back next week’s UN vote condemning Russia’s purported annexation of four regions

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has urged world leaders not to give in to Russia’s “nuclear blackmail” and has appealed to Australia for help in a critical UN vote next week.

Addressing the Sydney-based Lowy Institute by video link on Thursday evening, Zelenskiy revealed Australia was offering heavy arms to Ukraine in its next package of military support to defend against Russia’s invasion.

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Mexico mayor among 18 killed in town hall massacre

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Attack in southern state of Guerrero was followed by fatal shooting of lawmaker in neighbouring state of Morelos

Attackers gunned down a mayor, his father and 16 other people in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero on Wednesday, authorities have said.

The state’s attorney general, Sandra Luz Valdovinos, told Milenio television late on Wednesday that 18 people were killed and two were wounded in the town of San Miguel Totolapan. Among the dead were the mayor, Conrado Mendoza, and his father, a former mayor of the town, she said. Two additional people were wounded.

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What’s behind the sudden increase in missile tests from North Korea?

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With six launches in 12 days, North Korea is flexing its muscles and taking advantage of geopolitical turmoil across the world

Millions of residents of northern Japan will have felt a sense of deja vu on Tuesday morning when they were alerted to a North Korean missile flying overhead. Five years earlier, they had twice been shaken from their slumber by Japanese government warnings to seek shelter after missile launches by Pyongyang.

The intermediate-range missile involved in this week’s test was far from buzzing the rooftops of Hokkaido farmhouses – it flew at an altitude of 1,000km as it made its way to the Pacific Ocean, where it splashed down, without incident, more than 3,000km east of Japan.

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TV producer Eric Weinberg charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual battery

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Scrubs and Californication producer accused of using ‘his Hollywood credentials’ to sexually assault women during photo shoots

Eric Weinberg, a veteran television producer and writer who worked on shows including Scrubs and Californication, has been arrested and charged with 18 counts including rape, sexual battery and false imprisonment by violence.

The 61-year-old was initially arrested at his Los Angeles home in July and released on $3.2m bond. On Tuesday, he was arrested again and later released on $5m bond.

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Warning over cough syrups after 66 children die in the Gambia

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WHO says the contaminated medications may have been distributed outside of the West African country, with global exposure ‘possible’

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an alert over four cough and cold syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals in India, warning they could be linked to the deaths of 66 children in the Gambia.

The UN health agency also cautioned the contaminated medications may have been distributed outside the West African country, with global exposure “possible”.

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Nationalist fervour ratcheted up in lead up to China’s communist party congress

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Senior Communist Party officials present a united front, quashing internet rumours of a coup

Chinese authorities are ratcheting up nationalistic sentiment in the run up to a key meeting of the country’s ruling party where party leader Xi Jinping is expected to gain an unprecedented third term.

In recent weeks, state media has amplified the patriotic themes of “struggle” and “red heritage” while warning of internal and external threats ahead of the Chinese Communist party’s most important political meeting.

On Monday Xi was quoted in a front page article by the People’s Daily newspaper as saying, “we must continue our ‘red blood heritage,’ inspire the fighting spirit and lead the way with the party’s history of struggle and great achievements.”

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Pakistani PM says he should not have to beg for help after catastrophic floods

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Shehbaz Sharif says he wants ‘climate justice’ from rich polluting countries after monsoons put a third of his country under water

Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister, has said Pakistan should not be forced to go out with a “begging bowl” to rich polluting nations after the floods that have devastated the country and said he would be seeking “climate justice” from the international community.

Speaking from his home in Lahore, Sharif warned that Pakistan is facing an unprecedented crisis of health, food security and internal displacement after the “apocalyptic” monsoons which put a third of Pakistan’s regions under water. Some areas were hit by 1.7m of rainfall, the highest on record.

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Biden administration angered by Opec+ oil output cut

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Senior figures see decision as a slight on the US and a sign that the oil producers club is aligning with Russia

The Biden administration and its supporters have reacted angrily to the Opec+ decision to cut oil production, seeing it as a rebuff to the US president’s efforts to improve relations with Saudi Arabia.

The White House made clear that it viewed the decision by the oil production cartel, in which the plus sign represents the inclusion of Russia, to reduce daily production by 2m barrels, as a geopolitical move, and a slight to Biden who is seeking to cut Russian revenues and keep the petrol price down before November’s congressional elections.

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Children of mothers who eat junk food more likely to be overweight – study

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Higher obesity risk linked to maternal diet of ultra-processed food is not affected by other lifestyle factors, US researchers say

Children of mothers who consume ultra-processed foods such as ready meals, sugary cereals and biscuits are more likely to grow up overweight or obese, a study suggests.

The link between a mother’s diet and her child’s obesity risk is independent of other lifestyle risk factors, including the child’s own consumption of ultra-processed food, according to the research. The findings are published in the BMJ.

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North Korea has fired another ballistic missile, South says

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Launch was the sixth in 12 days and the first since an intermediate-range missile was fired over Japan on Tuesday

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missile toward its east coast in the direction of Japan, after joint South Korean and US missile drills and the return of a US aircraft carrier to the region in response to the North’s recent missile tests.

The missile launch was the sixth in 12 days and the first since North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday.

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Benjamin Netanyahu hospitalised with chest pains during Yom Kippur

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Israel’s former PM kept for overnight observation after feeling unwell during synagogue services

Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been taken to hospital after feeling unwell during the Jewish fasting day of Yom Kippur.

Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, said Netanyahu, 72, was taken to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek hospital after feeling chest pains while attending synagogue services. Local media quoted the hospital as saying he underwent a series of tests that came out normal, but was being kept under observation overnight.

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Iran to investigate death of schoolgirl in early days of protests

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Authorities respond to growing outrage over death of Nika Shakrami, but continue violent crackdown

Iranian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the death of a teenage girl during the early days of protests in Tehran, who has become an icon for the anti-government movement.

The popular uprising against Iran’s theocratic rulers was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd detained for allegedly violating the country’s laws on clothing, and has largely been led by women.

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Scuffles at trial of men accused of causing 2013 train crash in Spain

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Defendant punched as hearings get under way into Santiago de Compostela derailment that killed 80 people

The trial of two men charged with causing the deaths of 80 people in Spain’s deadliest train crash in decades has begun, with one of the defendants being punched as tensions boiled over outside the courtroom.

Francisco José Garzón, who was driving the high-speed train when it crashed near the north-west Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela on 24 July 2013, faces four years in prison if convicted, as does Andrés Cortabitarte, a former safety director at Spain’s state-owned rail infrastructure company, Adif.

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Thousands of salmon found dead as Canada drought dries out river

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A lack of rain on the western coasts saw 65,000 dead salmon wash up on the creek

Tens of thousands of dead wild salmon scattered along a creek bed are the latest casualty of a drought that has gripped the province of British Columbia for more than a month and left communities bracing for more devastation.

In a video clip posted to social media, the carcasses of pink and chum salmon are seen piled near the community of Bella Bella.

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