Author: Press Room

The value of Gautam Adani’s business empire has crashed by more than $50 billion this week since Hindenburg Research, a US firm that makes money from short selling, published a blistering report accusing it of fraud. India’s Adani Group has denounced Hindenburg’s allegations as “baseless” and “malicious,” and it is considering legal action. But the sharp sell-off in shares, which began Wednesday, accelerated Friday after US hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman said he found the short seller’s report credible. Hindenburg Research published an investigation on Adani’s conglomerate late on Tuesday, accusing it of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme…

Myanmar’s ruling junta on Friday (Jan 27) announced tough requirements for parties to contest an election this year, including a huge increase in their membership, a move that could sideline the military’s opponents and cement its grip on politics. Myanmar’s top generals led a coup in February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a quasi-civilian political system that was created by the military, which led to a decade of unprecedented reform. The country has been in chaos since the putsch, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw…

Normally, prices at the gas pump drift lower during the dead of winter as lousy weather keeps Americans off the roads. But something unusual is happening this year: Gas prices are rocketing higher. The national average for regular gas jumped to $3.51 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. Although that’s a far cry from the record of $5.02 a gallon last June, gas prices have increased by 12 cents in the past week and 41 cents in the past month. All told, the national average has climbed by more than 9% since the end of last year – the…

Australian Aboriginal Leader Warren Mundine has questioned “where are the feminists” to come out and support the Aboriginal women who are suffering from record high numbers in domestic abuse.“These women are living in poverty and in violence,” Mr Mundine told Sky News host Rita Panahi.“Senator Price, when she went to the parliament to do her maiden speech, she took an Aunty down there who had scars all over her body from the beatings they were getting in their community.”“But no one cares.“Every media outlet who is ignoring this is a disgrace.“I’m getting angrier by the day.” Source: Sky News

TOKYO: Japan’s government will drop its recommendation to wear masks indoors and downgrade its medical classification for COVID-19, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday (Jan 27). The changes, effective from early May, will classify the disease on the same level as the flu, down from its current status on par with tuberculosis and SARS. “As for masking, regardless of indoors and outdoors, the decision will be left up to individuals,” Kishida told a televised government meeting. “We will take further steps towards ‘life with corona’ and make steady progress on returning to normality in homes, schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods and…

A public health warning has been issued over a missing radioactive capsule in Western Australia.The capsule was lost on a 1000km stretch of road somewhere between Perth and a mine site in the Pilbara region.It went missing from the truck it was being transported on sometime after January 10.Stream your news live & on demand with Flash for $8/month and no lock in contracts. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023It is believed to be located somewhere on the Great Northern Highway, which traverses through the state’s vast desert.However, it could also have become lodged…

We try to avoid politics around here (except when it’s an excuse to, say, estimate the market price of a politician’s dignity). But occasionally it veers into areas closer to FT Alphaville’s spleen and we just can’t help ourselves.Here is the text of an actual bill that Ted Cruz — the Princeton and Harvard-educated one-time presidential contender and current Texas senator — introduced earlier this week (H/T Molly White):SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1—REQUIRING THE ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL, THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE, AND THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO CONTRACT WITH FOOD SERVICE CONTRACTORS AND VENDING…

AHMEDABAD, India: Police in India on Friday (Jan 27) charged 10 people with homicide in connection with the collapse of a colonial-era footbridge last year that killed at least 135 people, a top official told Reuters. The 145-year-old suspension bridge in the town of Morbi was packed with sightseers when it collapsed on Oct 30, plunging hundreds into the Machchhu river below. It had reopened after repairs just days before. Most of the victims were women and children who drowned. Police in the western state of Gujarat have issued an arrest warrant for the boss of the company that managed…

The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. “Given the domestic compulsions … in China and their economic interests in the region, the PLA would continue to build up its military infrastructure and skirmishes would also get frequent which may or may not follow a pattern,” the paper said, referring to China’s People’s Liberation Army. “If we analyse the pattern of skirmishes and tensions, the intensity has increased since 2013 to 2014 with an interval of every 2 to 3 years,” it said. “With the massive infrastructure build up by PLA on Chinese side both the…

Germany’s plans to legalise cannabis consumption in 2024 are looking increasingly unlikely as it has yet to submit its proposals to the European Commission, the health ministry confirmed to Euronews.The ministry said in an email on Thursday that its draft law for the legalisation of cannabis is “currently being drafted” within the federal government.“A large number of legal and operational questions concerning implementation need to be answered and coordinated between the ministries in charge” before it can be submitted to the European Commission, it added.Berlin unveiled its bold project to legalise cannabis in October 2022. Under the plan, German consumers…