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China and the Philippines traded accusations over a collision in disputed waters of the South China Sea as Chinese vessels blocked a Philippine boat supplying forces there on Sunday, the latest in a series of maritime confrontations. The two countries have had numerous run-ins in areas of the South China Sea in recent months, especially the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands. The Philippines has been sending supplies to troops stationed on a rusted World War Two-era transport ship used as an outpost on the shoal, prompting China's coast guard to repeatedly deploy vessels to block the resupply missions. In the incident on Sunday morning, China's coast guard said there had been a «slight collision» between one of its ships and the Philippine boat while the coast guard was «lawfully» blocking the boat from transporting «illegal construction materials» to the warship.

London | The world’s media magnates and billionaires are circling a rare chance to buy themselves a Fleet Street trophy, with two venerable Tory titles now officially on the sales block.

Two senior Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have called on the Biden administration to tighten export controls on advanced semiconductors to China. The lawmakers, Michael McCaul and Mike Gallagher, chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Select Committee on China respectively, expressed concerns over the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) lax enforcement of existing rules. The call for action comes amid advancements by China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and Huawei Technologies.

Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has released a circular for the revision of the framework for fund raising by issuance of debt securities by large corporates, or LCs. The large corporates include all listed entities (barring the scheduled commercial banks) which have their specified securities or debt securities or non-convertible redeemable preference shares listed on a stock exchange and have outstanding long-term borrowings of ₹1,000 crore or above.

Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata is unique in itself. Puja organisers have left no stone unturned to come up with some eye-catching themes to attract people. Jagat Mukherjee Park Puja Committee in north Kolkata is paying tribute to nude models through its theme this year.

Israel pounded the densely-populated territory where millions waited for promised aid deliveries on Saturday. The Islamist group took more than 200 people hostage when it stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burnt to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials. The fate of the hostages has been shrouded in uncertainty, so the release of mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan offered a rare «sliver of hope», said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. US President Joe Biden said he was «overjoyed» by the release, which comes days after he visited Israel to express solidarity with the wounded country and press for humanitarian aid into Gaza. Trucks carrying relief are still stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, though Biden said they could cross in the «next 24 to 48 hours.» Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, and says around 1,500 of the group's fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack on October 7. Biden said Friday he believes the attack was motivated partly by Saudi Arabia's plan to recognise Israel. Israel's military campaign has levelled entire city blocks in Gaza, killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Israeli troops are massed on the border with Gaza ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have pledged will begin «soon». But a full-blown land offensive carries many risks, including to the hostages from Israel and around the world held by Hamas.

By Andrew Chung

The leader of Canada’s main opposition political party says the government should block HSBC Holdings PLC’s sale of its local operations to Royal Bank of Canada.

Mumbai for the construction of a sixth line between Khar and Goregaon, a Western Railway official said on Friday. A WR release said 43 mail and express trains will be fully cancelled while 188 will be partially cancelled or short-terminated, railway lingo for ending a service before the designated last halt.

HONG KONG—China is strengthening restrictions on exports of graphite, a key mineral needed for the production of electric-vehicle batteries and fuel cells, the latest move in an intensifying global tussle over the building blocks of critical technologies. Citing national-security concerns, China’s Commerce Ministry said Friday that exports of several categories of natural and synthetic graphite materials would require permits under a system used to control trade in items with dual civilian and military uses starting Dec.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is doing his best to keep his focus on the field and out of the boardroom with the ownership of the club up in the air and the team struggling early in the Premier League season

coal mines auctioned under commercial mining have begun production. The auction of commercial coal mines started in 2020.

SoftBank, through its affiliate SVF Growth Singapore Pte, has sold a 1.09% stake in food delivery company Zomato through block deals on Friday. According to exchange data, the transaction was executed at 111.2 per share, which valued the deal at 1,040 crore. SoftBank holds a 2.17% stake in the company, at the end of the September 2023 quarter. Marquee funds, including Citigroup, Axis MF, Bandhan MF, ADIA, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Motilal Oswal among others bought stakes in the company through the deal. In August this year, SoftBank offloaded about 1.17% Zomato stake under a block deal, which was valued at Rs 947 crore.

The creator of the popular card game "Magic: The Gathering," Richard Garfield, is now delving into the world of blockchain gaming with a new digital card game called "Brawlers," co-designed by Garfield himself.

Crypto mixers are software tools that allow the owner of the digital currency to mask their identity. The move attempts to block usage of digital currency by organisations deemed to be ‘terrorist groups’ by the US government.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex fell 232 points or 0.35% to settle at 65,397. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 82 points or 0.42% to end at 19,542. From the Sensex pack, ITC, Tata Steel, and HUL were the top laggards, falling over 2% each.

CSB Bank on Friday reported a 10% rise in net profit at Rs 133 crore for the September quarter against Rs 121 crore in the year ago period. The bank recorded its net interest margin for the quarter 76 basis points lower at at 4.84% because of rise in cost of funds. «I think NIM has bottomed out and will be around 5% for the next few quarters. Cost of fund should sustain at current level,» managing director Pralay Mondal told ET. The bank's average cost of deposits stood at 5.22% for the quarter. «We are now taking strides in strengthening the building blocks that will help us in becoming a truly full service franchise.

Hundreds of passengers, travelling to their hometowns for the Durga Puja festivities from the state, were seen waiting in long queues at different bus stands and terminals since early morning. Association general secretary Debendra Sahu said though the Odisha government during a meeting on October 9 had assured that buses under the Location Accessible Multimodal Initiative (LAccMI) will not ply from the blocks to districts, «the promise has not been kept». Odisha Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu had appealed to the private bus owners to call off the strike in view of the Durga Puja festival, but the association remained adamant on its demand and sought a written assurance from the administration, the officials said.

Polycab India Pvt that had reported strong Q2 performance with revenues from operations at ₹4217.6 crore growing by 27% YoY and 11% sequentially, is inching closer to the targeted run rate of ₹20,000 Crore per annum revenues by FY26. Gandharv Tongia Executive Director & CFO at Polycab said that looking at the rate we have grown during Q2 and first half FY24, we should easily be able to reach our target of ₹20,000 crore of the top line by FY26. Estimates of analysts on the other hand indicate that Polycab could achieve its target of ₹20,000 crore in revenues even earlies.

SoftBank, through its affiliate SVF Growth Singapore Pte, is likely to have sold 1.09% equity in Zomato in a bulk deal worth Rs 1,040.5 crore on Friday. Shares of the new-age company were trading 1% higher at Rs 112.70 on BSE. SoftBank owned a 2.17% stake in the company at the end of the September quarter. In August this year, SoftBank had offloaded about 1.17% stake in Zomato via a block deal, which was valued at Rs 947 crore.

HUL, ITC, and HDFC Bank. The BSE Sensex was trading 241 points or 0.31% lower at 65,427.