Chile cancels Apec summit, Cop 25 climate meeting amid wave of protests
Chile withdrew on Wednesday as the host of an Apec summit next month at which the United States and China had been expected to sign a deal to ease a trade war that has hurt the global economy, as raging street protests gripped the South American country.
The abrupt move - which came after weeks of riots over inequality in Chile that have left at least 18 people dead - plunged the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting into disarray, with participating countries caught off-guard and no alternative venue lined up.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, fighting for his political survival, said he had taken the "painful" decision to cancel the summit, as well as the high-profile COP25 international gathering on climate change in December, to focus on restoring law and order and pushing through a new social plan.
The Apec summit was scheduled to bring together 20 world leaders on Nov 16-17. US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had been due to sign an interim agreement to end the 15-month-old trade war.
US Justice Department reaches settlement with Jho Low over 1MDB probe
Low Taek Jho, the chief person-of-interest in the global 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) saga, has reached a tentative settlement to his legal woes with the US Department of Justice.
Sources close to the matter told The Straits Time that the settlement is wide-ranging and will resolve all outstanding civil and criminal suits against the Malaysian financier in the US relating to the cases filed in the Central Court District of California in 2016.
The settlement is expected to be finalised on Wednesday in the US.
Frenchman, 84, charged over mosque attack
An octogenarian accused of wounding two men in a shooting at a mosque in southern France has been charged and ordered held in detention, the prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.
Claude Sinke, who stood as a candidate for the far-right National Rally in 2015 regional elections, tried to set fire to a mosque in Bayonne in the south-west on Monday, and shot two men, aged 74 and 78, who came out to investigate.
On Tuesday, investigators said the 84-year-old had wanted to avenge the burning of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris in April, which he blamed on Muslims.
New York bans foie gras on animal cruelty grounds
New York can stake a claim to being the culinary capital of the world, but one famous dish is about to be taken off the menu: foie gras.
The city council voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to ban the sale of the French delicacy from 2022.
Lawmakers ruled that it is cruel to force-feed ducks and geese to fatten their livers for human consumption.
Paris Hilton criticised for calling Millie Bobby Brown 'hot'
Evan Rachel Wood has arrived to protect Millie Bobby Brown. Not from Demogorgons or Godzilla - but from Paris Hilton.
A short spat between the Westworld actress and the hotel heiress broke out on Instagram after the Stranger Things star posted photos of herself in a pink, cheetah-print dress. Hilton praised Brown's appearance in the comments, but Wood was quick to point out the actress' young age.
"That's hot," Hilton commented on the post, prompting Wood to reply, "She's 15."
