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Out of This World: 555.55-Carat Black Diamond Lands in Dubai

Auction house Sotheby's Dubai has unveiled a diamond that's literally from out of this world.

Sotheby's calls the 555.55-carat black diamond — believed to have come from outer space — "The Enigma." The rare gem was shown off on Monday to journalists as part of a tour in Dubai and Los Angeles before it is due to be auctioned off in February in London.

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South Korean President in Saudi Arabia, Meets Crown Prince

South Korea's leader arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, where he was greeted in Riyadh by the kingdom's crown prince and an honor guard marching band.

It was the second stop on a Mideast tour by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife, who were greeted on the tarmac by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. All were masked and President Moon did not shake hands with the prince, in line with coronavirus social distancing practices.

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Credit Suisse Chairman Resigns after Internal Investigation

Credit Suisse says its chairman has resigned following an internal investigation that reportedly turned up that he had violated quarantine rules intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The resignation of Antonio Horta-Osorio, a British-Portuguese national who took the job barely eight months ago, was announced shortly after midnight Monday. It is the latest upheaval at the top-drawer Swiss bank that has faced an array of recent troubles, including bad bets on hedge funds and an internal spying scandal.

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Amazon's UK Site Backs away from Plan to Stop Taking Visa

Amazon's British website has backed away from plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards issued in the United Kingdom, saying Monday that the move has been put on hold while talks between the two sides continue.

The online retailer said the change would not be implemented as planned on Wednesday. Amazon had announced the move in November, blaming "the high fees Visa charges for processing credit card transactions."

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China Reopens Rail Freight Traffic with North Korea

China has restored railway freight traffic with North Korea that had been suspended over pandemic concerns, its foreign ministry said Monday.

Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the connection across the Yalu River between China's Dandong and Sinuiju in North Korea had been restored after "friendly consultation between the two sides."

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Turkey's Erdogan in Albania to Boost Bilateral Ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday visited Albania to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties and also inaugurate new apartments funded by Turkey for Albanians left homeless by the 2019 earthquake.

Upon landing Erdogan immediately headed to the northwestern town of Lac, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana, where Turkey has funded the building of a complex with 522 apartments at a cost of 42 million euros ($48 million).

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South Korean President Visits UAE, Showcasing Deep Ties

On a trip to the United Arab Emirates, the president of South Korea has reportedly reached a preliminary multibillion-dollar deal to sell Seoul's surface-to-air missiles to Abu Dhabi and pledged deeper cooperation with the Gulf Arab federation.

After South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Emirati Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai, the countries signed a memorandum of understanding for the UAE's purchase of a South Korean mid-range missile defense system valued at some $3.5 billion, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

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OGERO Head Threatens to Quit after Lack of Diesel Causes Beirut Outage

Imad Kreidiyeh, the head of state-run telecom provider OGERO, on Sunday threatened to resign over the authority’s “lack of capabilities,” after a diesel shortage led to an hours-long communications outage in half of Beirut.

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Tesla Inks Deal to Get Key Battery Component Outside China

Tesla is turning to Mozambique for a key component in its electric car batteries in what analysts believe is a first-of-its-kind deal designed to reduce its dependence on China for graphite.

Elon Musk's company signed an agreement last month with Australia's Syrah Resources, which operates one of the world's largest graphite mines in the southern African country. It's a unique partnership between an electric vehicle manufacturer and a producer of the mineral that is critical for lithium-ion batteries. The value of the deal hasn't been released.

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Communications Outage in Half of Beirut as OGERO Runs Out of Diesel

Nearly half of the capital Beirut was plunged as of Sunday morning into a communications outage, as state-run telecom provider OGERO ran out of diesel needed to operate its power generators.

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