HONG KONG Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing said it conducted a successful final test of systems before the start of a stock link with Shanghai today. The Shanghai exchange also conducted a trial this weekend, Hong Kong’s bourse said in a statement on its website Saturday. The debut of the link will give global investors unprecedented access to mainland shares, with a daily limit of a net 23.5b yuan (USD3.8 billion) of cross-border purchases.
AUSTRALIA Eyeing Chinese assertiveness, President Barack Obama and the prime ministers of Japan and Australia committed yesterday to deepen their military cooperation and work together on strengthening maritime security in the Asia Pacific.
AFGHANISTAN A suicide bomber tried to assassinate a prominent female member of Afghanistan’s parliament yesterday, killing three people and wounding the lawmaker, a senior official said. Shukria Barakzai was slightly wounded in the attack on her vehicle as she was heading to parliament, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.
MALI For many months, Mali had been spared the Ebola outbreak despite the fact the country shared a porous border with Guinea. Now there are least three deaths in Mali believed linked to one cluster, and a fourth victim may stem from another chain of infection.
TUNISIA Campaign posters and banners for upcoming presidential elections are sprouting on the walls of Tunisia’s cities and towns, covering over the flaking posters from the parliamentary elections two weeks ago. The presidential campaign, featuring 27 competitors, kicked off last weekend. It’s the first time since Tunisians overthrew dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 that they will choose their head of state through universal suffrage.
USA A surgeon who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone has arrived in the United States for treatment. Dr. Martin Salia landed at Eppley Airfield in Omaha on Saturday afternoon and will be transported to the city’s Nebraska Medical Center.
GERMANY The pioneering lander Philae completed its primary mission of exploring the comet’s surface and returned plenty of data before depleted batteries forced it to go silent, the European Space Agency said Saturday. The lander has performed a series of scientific tests and sent reams of data, including photos, back to Earth. Philae was lifted on Friday by about 4 cm and rotated about 35 degrees in an effort to pull it out of a shadow so that solar panels could recharge the depleted batteries, ESA’s blog said.
BRAZIL A jury in northeastern Brazil delivers sentences of 20-23 years in prison for three people convicted of killing two women, eating parts of their bodies and using some of their flesh to make and sell stuffed pastries, a court official says. Authorities said the trio used the victims’ flesh to make thick “empada” pastries, which were eaten by them and a child who lived with them. The pastries were also sold to some neighbors.
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