While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Sept 10
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A memorandum of understanding on a multinational rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia was signed by the EU, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US and other G-20 partners.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US, India, Saudi, EU unveil rail, ports deal on G-20 sidelines
Global leaders announced a multinational rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia on Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi.
The pact comes at a critical time as US President Joe Biden seeks to counter China’s Belt and Road push on global infrastructure by pitching Washington as an alternative partner and investor for developing countries at the G-20 grouping.
Mr Biden said it was a “real big deal” that would bridge ports across two continents and lead to a “more stable, more prosperous and integrated Middle East.”
He said at an event announcing the pact that it would unlock “endless opportunities” for clean energy, clean electricity, and laying cable to connect communities.
Race to find survivors as quake deaths top 2,000
AFP
Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in decades has killed more than 2,000 people, authorities said on Saturday, as troops and emergency services scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where casualties are still feared trapped.
Authorities declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage.
The 6.8-magnitude quake struck late on Friday in a mountainous area 72 kilometres south-west of the tourist city of Marrakesh, the US Geological Survey reported.
UK Parliament researcher arrested for China spying
EPA-EFE
UK police said on Saturday they had arrested a man in his twenties for spying, with the Sunday Times reporting he was a researcher in Britain’s Parliament suspected of working for China.
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service arrested two men on 13 March on suspicion of offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act, 1911,” said the force.
“A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh.”
Gauff fights back to beat Sabalenka and win US Open
American teenager Coco Gauff mounted a fierce comeback to beat Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the US Open women’s final on Saturday and claim her first Grand Slam title in front of the adoring home fans.
With the win, sixth seed Gauff became the first American to win a US Open singles title since Sloane Stephens in 2017.
Gauff, 19, fed off the noisy local support as she mounted a terrific second set fight back and kept the momentum going until the end of the battle before falling to the court on Arthur Ashe Stadium after clinching the title with a backhand winner.
Wild comedy Poor Things wins top Venice prize
AFP
Poor Things, a gothic, sex-charged comedy directed by Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos, won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, the British-made film wowed festival-goers with its zany story of a woman reanimated after suicide by a mad doctor who replaces her brain with that of her unborn baby.
Childlike but with an adult’s body, Stone’s character Bella Baxter grows increasingly independent and excited by her sexual experimentations as she undertakes a voyage of self-discovery through a surreal version of 19th century Europe.
