Top News Stories –

Moving to the BEET? –
UK communications giant Telecoms group BT buys the mobile operator EE for £12.5bn, with the deal covering fixed-line phones, broadband, mobile and TV. Deutsche Telecom will hold 12% in the new combined business and have a seat on the board. Orange will receive a 4% stake, as well as about £3.4bn in cash. BT says it plans to raise £1bn through a placing of new shares to fund the deal.

Argentine President Chinese faux pas –
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has tweeted an old joke during her visit to China, making fun at how the Chinese speak. She made reference to how some Chinese struggle to pronounce the letter “r”. Tweeting in Spanish, she wondered whether those at an event about trade were there for “lice” and “petloleum” which refers to critics accusing her supporters of attending party events only so they can get a free sandwich and a soft drink.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • The United Arab Emirates suspends air strikes against the Islamic State after a video of a Jordanian air force pilot being burned alive is published online. The suspension involves concerns over a lack of coalition search and rescue capabilities in Syria to recover downed pilots. (NBC News)
  • State news agency SANA claims that insurgent group Jaysh al-Islam has conducted a rocket attack on Damascuswith at least eight people injured. (Reuters Trust)

Arts and culture

• A Paul Gauguin painting, Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?), sells to a Qatari buyer for close to $300 million.(The New York Times)

Business and economy

• American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announces plans to acquire Hospira at a cost of $17 billion. (Street Insider)
• American electronics retailer RadioShack files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Reuters via CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• A China shopping mall fire started by a nine-year-old boy at the city of Huizhou in Guangdong province kills at least 17 people. (BBC)

Law and crime

• Eddie Ray Routh goes on trial for the alleged murder of American Sniper Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in the Texastown of Stephenville. (CBC)
• The jury at Southwark Crown Court convicts British 70s glam rock star Gary Glitter on child sexual abuse charges with the prospect of life imprisonment. (The Telegraph)

Politics and elections

• Tunisia gets a unity government led by Habib Essid and consisting of ministers from the big-tent secular party Nidaa Tounes, the two liberal parties UPL and Afek Tounes, and the moderate Islamist Ennahda as well as independents; 166 of the 217 legislators in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People approves of it. (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera)

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