DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
EU fines major banks 1 billion euros over currency cartels The European Commission on Thursday fined five major banks €1.07 billion ($1.2 billion) for collusion in the foreign currency market. The fines would normally have been 10% higher, but was reduced after the banks admitted their involvement. What was revealed EU anit-trust authorities uncovered two separate cartels: Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and JPMorgan were find €811 million for trading within the "Forex — Three Way Banana Split" cartel.Barclays, RBS and MUFG Bank were fined €257 million over the "Forex-Essex Express" cartel.The cartels involved 11 currencies, including the US dollar, the British pound sterling, the euro and the Japanese yen.Activities started in 2007 and 2009 respectively and ended in 2012 and 2013 resepectively.Swiss bank UBS does not have to pay a fine as it informed the authorities of the cartels.
Several killed after roof collapse in Shanghai MercedesBenz dealership A building collapse in Shanghai claimed several lives after around 20 people were trapped under the rubble. Over 150 rescue workers raced to pull the survivors to safety from the former Mercedes dealership. At least five people lost their lives in downtown Shanghai after the roof of a large building caved in on Thursday. Another 14 were rescued in a massive rescue effort which involved over 150 emergency responders and 24 vehicles. The low-rise building in the residential Changning district had been used as a Mercedes-Benz dealership. The building was undergoing renovation when it collapsed at around 11:30 a.m. local time. Chinese officials did not say what the cause of the collapse was. A local resident said she was asleep when her bed suddenly started to shake. She then heard a loud bang. "I thought it was an explosion at first," the woman told the AFP news agency.
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Boris Johnson confirms bid for leadership of Conservative Party Heʼs the third to confirm a bid to succeed Theresa May
At a business conference in Manchester, former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that he would be standing for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Britainʼs former foreign minister, Boris Johnson, an influential campaigner to leave the European Union, said on Thursday that he planned to stand as a candidate to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative leader. May has said she will step down before the next phase of Brexit negotiations although she has not yet put a date on her departure. News Boris Johnson confirms bid for leadership of Conservative Party At a business conference in Manchester, former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said that he would be standing for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Heʼs the third to confirm a bid to succeed Theresa May. Britainʼs former foreign minister, Boris Johnson, an influential campaigner to leave the European Union, said on Thursday that he planned to stand as a candidate to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative leader. May has said she will step down before the next phase of Brexit negotiations although she has not yet put a date on her departure. Boris Johnson seeks to replace Theresa May as Prime
Minister "Of course Iʼm going to go for it," Johnson said in response to questions from BBC journalist Huw Edwards at a meeting of The British Insurance Brokersʼ Association. Johnson resigned from the cabinetin July in protest at how May has handled the Brexit negotiations. As one of the more visible faces of the 2016 Brexit campaign, Johnson put forth his proposal to the membership in a speech at the partyʼs annual conference in October where some members queued for hours to get a seat. The deal Prime Minister May struck with the EU has been rejected three times by the House of Commons, leading to the EU twice granting the UK an extension. The delay has also postponed Mayʼs departure. She announced this week that she would bring it back for a fourth and likely final time in the week beginning on June 3, hoping MPs feel extra pressure to break the deadlock after the two main parties take a drubbing in European Parliament elections. May promised at the third attempt in March to step aside once a Brexit agreement passed through parliament.
Belgian former king ordered to take DNA test over alleged love child A Belgian court on Thursday ordered the countryʼs former king to pay €5,000 ($5,600) a day until he takes a DNA test to resolve whether he is the biological father of a woman who claims to be his daughter. The appeals court in Brussels ruled that King Albert II, 84, conduct the test in the presence of a justice official. The judges said Albert must start paying Delphine Boel the €5,000-per-day fine if he fails to attend the appointment. The former king said he would appeal the verdict at Belgiumʼs highest court. Boel began legal proceedings to be recognized as Albertʼs child in 2013. Her claim first gained publicity afterAlbertʼs wife, Queen Paola,claimed in a 1999 biography that he had a child with another woman while they were married. DNA tests have already shown that Boel is not the biological daughter of Jacques Boel, a member of one of Belgiumʼs richest families.
Bob Hawke: Longserving Australian prime minister dies at 89 Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke died on Thursday at the age of 89. TheLabor partylawmaker gained a reputation as a transformative and charismatic lawmaker during his time in office. "The Australian people loved Bob Hawke because they knew Bob loved them, this was true to the very end," Labor leader Bill Shorten said in a statement. His second wife said the late politician "died peacefully at home." She described Hawke as a "great Australian — many would say the greatest Australian of the postwar era."
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