AFP Top News - Squid Business

Stark warning on emissions as leaders split on climate goals at COP29

Global leaders offered competing views on how to tackle climate change at UN-led talks Wednesday as a new report warned the world must reach carbon neutrality much sooner than planned.Planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from oil, gas and coal rose to a new record high this year, according to preliminary research from an international network of …

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China snuffs out memorials to victims of deadly car rampage

Officials in southern China ramped up security on Wednesday at the site of one of the country’s deadliest mass-casualty events in years, snuffing out makeshift memorials to the 35 people killed when a man drove a car into a crowd at a sports complex.On Monday, the 62-year-old man surnamed Fan ploughed a small SUV through …

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Electrician finds frescoes behind false ceiling in Rome

Rosy-cheeked cherubs surrounded by blues, reds and golds have lost none of their brilliance in 17th-century frescoes discovered behind a false ceiling at the Villa Farnesina palace in Rome.The three paintings were hidden above the vaulted ceiling of what was once the living room of Agostino Chigi, a wealthy banker and Renaissance patron who had …

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7-Eleven owner announces counter-bid to foreign buyout

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Wednesday its founding family had offered a counter-bid to a takeover attempt by Canadian convenience store rival Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT).With around 85,000 outlets, 7-Eleven is the world’s biggest convenience chain. If realised, Couche-Tard’s seven trillion yen ($45 billion) takeover would be the largest foreign buyout of a Japanese firm.Bloomberg …

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France’s bullfighters see red over bill to ban under-16s

France’s upper house of parliament will this week debate a bill to ban children under 16 from attending bullfights, inflaming tensions and enraging aficionados of the centuries-old tradition.French legislation bans cruelty to animals and bullfighting is outlawed in most of France. But bullfighting is allowed in the south in cities such as Bayonne, Nimes and Beziers …

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Top Africa orchestra began with brake cables for strings

When Armand Diangienda founded the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra — one of the most famous in Africa — in 1994, they had so few instruments that musicians had to share.They got to play them for only 15 minutes before handing them on to the next person.”When a string broke, we would replace it with bicycle (brake) …

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Airlines around Asia ground Bali flights after volcano erupts

Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore cancelled flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Wednesday, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower miles into the sky.Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a nine-kilometre (5.6-mile) tower a …

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China snuffs out memorials to victims of deadly car ramming attack

China snuffs out memorials to victims of deadly car ramming attack Read More »

China’s Xi heads to Peru for APEC meeting shrouded in Trump fears

Chinese leader Xi Jinping headed to Peru on Wednesday, bound for a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organisation leaders overshadowed by fears of renewed global trade tensions under Donald Trump.Xi will join leaders from the United States and other Asia-Pacific nations in the Peruvian capital Lima for the APEC gathering, after which he will …

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7-Eleven owner considers going private to avoid foreign buyout: reports

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven is considering going private by buying back its own shares in a bid to avoid a takeover by Canadian rival Couche-Tard, reports said on Wednesday.Seven & i Holdings is eyeing the move as a countermeasure to Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard’s seven trillion yen ($45 billion) takeover proposal, the Nikkei …

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