Asian markets slump amid fears over Italy

‘Just as everyone was beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel’:

HONG KONG: Asian stock markets slumped yesterday after Wall Street suffered a pummelling, with a surge in Italy’s borrowing costs fuelling global anxiety about the future of the euro. The common European currency dipped, Hong Kong stocks slumped more than four percent and in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended down more than two percent.

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Who will buy $15 m ‘Sun-Drop’ diamond?

“When we show it around the world, people say, ‘oh, my god’ ”:

SWITZERLAND: For anyone with $15 million (11 million euros) to spare, a dazzling 110-carat pear-shaped jewel known as the Sun-Drop Diamond will go to auction next week.

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South Korean woman activist ends 309-day crane protest

Her supporters sent food and water up by rope:

SOUTH KOREA: A South Korean woman on Thursday ended a 309-day protest atop a giant shipyard crane after management and unionists finally reached a deal over layoffs, a witness said.

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