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Germany eyes reduced China stake in Hamburg port to end row

Germany's government is eyeing a compromise that would allow a Chinese firm to take a smaller-than-planned stake in a Hamburg container terminal, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected banning the sale outright.

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HSBC profits slide on bank impairment charges

Global bank giant HSBC on Tuesday announced tumbling profits for the third quarter on impairment charges linked to a weak economic outlook and its upcoming sale of French retail operations.

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Pound up 1% against dollar after Sunak installed as PM

The pound rose more than one percent against the dollar on Tuesday after Rishi Sunak took office as Britain's prime minister.

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Belhaj tells Mikati World Bank ready to give Lebanon $300-500M

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati held talks Tuesday at the Grand Serail with a World Bank delegation comprising the bank’s Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj and Jean-Christophe Carret, the bank’s Country Director for the Middle East Department (Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria).

Speaking after the meeting, Belhaj said the meeting was constructive and positive and that the World Bank is ready to offer Lebanon funding worth 300 to 500 million dollars for social aid and projects related to sustainable food and agriculture.

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EU energy ministers seek way forward for more energy unity

European Union energy ministers on Tuesday started seeking some common ground to flesh out the barest of tentative agreements that their leaders could find last week to soften the blow of an energy crisis for their citizens while maintaining a united front during Russia's war in Ukraine.

With winter approaching, home energy bills piling up and some businesses teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, there is a popular outcry for the 27-nation bloc to move much faster. But the fluctuating global energy markets and different energy mixes among member states — ranging from nuclear to natural gas and other fossil fuels — make smart, lightning-quick decisions nearly impossible.

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Qatar's residents squeezed as World Cup rental demand soars

Where to sleep? It's among the biggest questions facing fans traveling to tiny Qatar for the World Cup amid a feverish rush for rooms in Doha. Some will sleep on cruise ships. Others will camp in the desert. Others will fly in from Dubai and elsewhere.

But in the run-up to the world's biggest sporting event in the world's smallest host country, the struggle for housing is hardly limited to tourists. Qatar's real estate frenzy has sent rents skyrocketing and priced long-term residents out of their own homes, leaving many in the lurch.

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Depositor takes money by force from Sidon bank for son's surgery

Lebanese depositor Wafik Mohammed Kalo on Monday locked up himself and other people inside BLOM Bank’s branch in the southern city of Sidon, demanding that he be paid $5,000 from his account to pay for his son’s heart surgery.

The drama ended a few hours later after the bank paid Kalo LBP 280 million.

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Fears over Russian threat to Norway's energy infrastructure

Norwegian oil and gas workers normally don't see anything more threatening than North Sea waves crashing against the steel legs of their offshore platforms. But lately they have noticed a more troubling sight: unidentified drones buzzing in the skies overhead.

With Norway replacing Russia as Europe's main source of natural gas, military experts suspect the unmanned aircraft are Moscow's doings. They list espionage, sabotage and intimidation as possible motives for the drone flights.

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China's economic growth accelerates but weak amid shutdowns

China's economic growth picked up in the latest quarter but still was among the weakest in decades as the ruling Communist Party tries to reverse a slump while enforcing anti-virus controls and a crackdown on debt in its vast real estate industry.

The world's second-largest economy grew by 3.9% over a year earlier in the three months ending in September, up from the previous quarter's 0.4%, official data showed Monday.

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Credit Suisse to pay $234M to settle French tax fraud case

French prosecutors said Monday that Credit Suisse has agreed to pay 238 million euros ($234 million) to settle tax fraud allegations, the latest blow for the embattled Swiss bank.

The bank will pay 123 million euros in fines and 115 million in damages and interest to France, whose investigators will close an inquiry launched in 2016 on possible charges of aggravated tax fraud laundering and illegal soliciting, French prosecutor Jean-François Bohnert said in a statement.

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