Other News

Who is India’s Adani and why is his company tanking?

The business empire of Gautam Adani has shed tens of billions of dollars in value on the back of a report alleging accounting fraud that the Indian tycoon’s firm has strenuously rejected. Who is Gautam Adani? Adani, 60, is a publicity-shy school dropout of humble origins who rose to become the world’s third-richest man with a fortune — until last week — of around $130 billion. Moving to Mumbai in his teens to work sorting […]

Large investors pull Adani’s $2.5 bn share sale through after stock rout

  Adani Group’s ambitious share sale exceeded its subscription targets Tuesday in a relief for the Indian conglomerate, which is reeling from allegations of “brazen” corporate fraud that wiped more than $65 billion off its value. The success of India’s biggest follow-on public offer (FPO) is the first reprieve in a horror week for the sprawling business empire of Gautam Adani — still Asia’s richest man despite a bruising $36 billion hit to his personal […]

Russia claims capture of village north of Bakhmut

  The Russian military on Tuesday claimed to have captured the village of Blagodatne north of the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut that has been the epicentre of heavy fighting. The defence ministry said that “as a result of successful offensive actions” its forces “liberated the settlement of Blagodatne of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” using Moscow’s term for the eastern Donetsk region. Blagodatne lies near Soledar, a salt-mining town that Russian forces have recently captured, […]

Rio Tinto ‘sorry’ for losing radioactive capsule in Western Australia

Mining giant Rio Tinto apologised Monday for losing a tiny but dangerously radioactive capsule that fell off a truck along a 1,400-kilometre-long stretch of road in Western Australia. The solid, silver-coloured cylinder is smaller than a human fingernail — just 8mm by 6mm — but the authorities say it contains enough Caesium-137 to cause acute radiation sickness. It disappeared this month from a truck that drove to the suburbs of Perth from a remote mine […]

Japan and NATO pledge ‘firm’ response to China, Russia threats

  Japan and NATO must “remain united and firm” in the face of security threats posed by China, North Korea and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday in Tokyo. Stoltenberg, secretary general of the European and North American military alliance, warned that Beijing was keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine and “learning lessons that may influence its future decisions”. He spoke alongside Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after the pair held […]

German woman ‘killed lookalike to fake her own death’

A German-Iraqi woman murdered a lookalike she found on social media to fake her own death, police have said as new details emerge of the bizarre case that first came to light last year. The body of a 23-year-old woman was found in a car in August at the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt with multiple stab wounds. Police initially said they believed the victim owned the car, but the next day identified her as someone […]

Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian appointed as DSWD chief

(Eagle News) — President Bongbong Marcos has appointed Valenzuela Rep. Rex Gatchalian as the new Social Welfare secretary. The Presidential Communications Office said Gatchalian took his oath today, Jan. 31. The President administered his oath-taking, the PCO said. In a Tweet, Gatchalian thanked the President for the opportunity to serve the country “in a much larger capacity.” Gatchalian has also served as mayor of Valenzuela City.

One pilot dead after Vietnamese military fighter jet crash

A pilot was killed after a military fighter jet crashed in northern Vietnam during a training session on Tuesday, state media reported. The plane –- a Russian-made Sukhoi SU-22 belonging to the People’s Army of Vietnam air force — joined the training session around midday before crashing at a military airport in mountainous Yen Bai province, according to Vietnam News Agency. “The pilot was ordered to parachute out of the jet but he tried to […]

Eurozone dodges recession with weak fourth-quarter growth

  The eurozone economy will avoid a recession this winter after recording weak-but-positive growth of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, official data showed Tuesday. The figure is lower than the 0.3 percent growth recorded in the third quarter of 2022, but better than forecasts of a contraction by economists. The data will be welcome after fears of a deep recession following Russia’s war in Ukraine, which unleashed sky-high energy prices and stoked […]

US, South Korean defence chiefs vow more drills to counter North

  US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his counterpart in Seoul on Tuesday, pledging to beef up joint drills and security cooperation as South Korea seeks nuclear reassurances in the face of growing North Korean threats. Seoul is eager to convince its increasingly nervous public of America’s so-called extended deterrence commitments, after a year in which North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and conducted a banned weapons test almost every month. Austin and […]

China angered by new Czech president’s Taiwan call

China criticised Czech president-elect Petr Pavel on Tuesday for holding a telephone call with Taiwan’s president and foreign minister the day before. Beijing is trying to keep Taiwan isolated on the world stage and opposes countries having official exchanges with Taipei. It claims self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be seized one day, by force if necessary. “Pavel… trampled on China’s red line,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. “This severely […]

Norway’s wealth fund posts record loss of $164 bn

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said Tuesday it recorded a loss of 1.637 trillion Norwegian kroner ($164 billion) in 2022, the largest since its creation, citing volatile markets. “2022 was a truly dramatic year in the world. It affected financial markets and hence it also affects our global fund,” deputy chief executive Trond Grande of Norges Bank Investment Management which manages the fund told a press conference. “We had multiple different emergencies and […]