Southern Financial News

Foxconn, a major supplier of Apple's iPhones, dropped as much as 3% on Monday after a report that the company is the subject of tax audits and land use probes in China. China's state-backed the Global Times said some of Foxconn's key subsidiaries in China were the subject of tax audits and that China's natural resources department had also conducted on-site investigations on the land use of Foxconn enterprises in Henan and Hubei provinces and elsewhere. Foxconn said in a statement on Sunday that legal compliance was a «fundamental principle» of its operations everywhere, and that it would «actively cooperate with the relevant units on the related work and operations». It declined further comment on Monday. Foxconn makes most iPhones at the Zhengzhou plant in Henan province where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and southern China. The Global Times did not give details of the tax or land use probes, which have not been officially announced by any Chinese government department. The report comes less than three months before Taiwan votes in presidential and parliamentary elections.

(Reuters) — Russian forces aiming to contain a four-month-old Ukrainian counteroffensive maintained unrelenting pressure on Sunday on the shattered town of Avdiivka in the east and intensified shelling in the southern area of Kherson.

British rice millers such as Tilda and Veetee Rice have thrived for decades by importing low-tariff unmilled brown rice from the likes of India and Pakistan and «polishing» the grains into the white product loved by UK consumers. But with India pressing for tariffs on white rice to be slashed, and little feedback from British trade officials, concerns are mounting for an industry that employs more than 3,000 people at 16 mills and processing plants scattered from Kent in southern England to Yorkshire in the north. «It is crucial that existing tariffs on milled (white) rice are maintained,» Alex Waugh, outgoing director of The Rice Association, said at a private event in the House of Commons last month attended by rice industry leaders and government officials.

Hezbollah risks dragging Lebanon into a wider regional war after another night of intense cross-border fire with the Iran-backed militant group. As Israel’s military battles Gaza-based Hamas, following the group’s deadly attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, it has also been facing the threat to the north posed by Hezbollah, which last fought a war with its neighbour in 2006. Israel reported that anti-tank missiles were fired again from Lebanon Sunday and that it had intercepted a drone.

Southern Cross Austereoexecutives are aiming to drum up wider interest to counter a takeover bid from radio rival ARN Media and private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners lobbed last week.

Hezbollah announced the deaths of five more militants as clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified and the Israeli prime minister warned Lebanon on Sunday not to let itself get dragged into a new war. The tiny Mediterranean country is home to Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political party with an armed wing of the same name. Israeli soldiers and militants have traded fire across the border since Israel's war with the Palestinian group Hamas began, but the launches so far have targeted limited areas.

PTI. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea till October 25 as the conditions will remain rough and those who were in the deep sea were advised to return to the coast.

Israel's war with Hamas, two top US officials said Sunday, hours after the Pentagon moved to step up military readiness in the region. «We are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies escalating their attacks against our own personnel, our own people,» Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CBS News. «We expect there is a likelihood of escalation.» «No one should take advantage of this moment to escalate to further attacks on Israel or, for that matter, attacks on us on our personnel.» Blinken said the United States, which has sent two carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean, was «taking every measure to make sure that we can defend them.

Hamas, several Merkava tanks and troops have been positioned by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) near the Gaza border in South Israel. The visuals showed a significant presence of troops, armoured vehicles, and tanks near the Gaza border. Notably, the Israeli government has announced its intention to launch a ground operation against Hamas in the near future. The Merkava, a series of main battle tanks utilized by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serves as the cornerstone of the IDF's armoured corps. Its development commenced in 1970, with the inaugural version, the Merkava Mark 1, officially commissioned in 1979. Over time, four primary iterations have been put into service.

war mushrooming into a wider Middle East conflict rose on Sunday with the U.S. sending more military assets to the region as Israel pummelled Gaza anew and deadly clashes along its border with Lebanon intensified. Gaza's Health Ministry said 266 Palestinians, including 117 children, had been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours in the enclave, to which Israel laid «total siege» after a deadly mass infiltration into Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7. In neighbouring Syria — where Hamas's main regional backer Iran has a military presence — Israeli missiles hit Damascus and Aleppo international airports early on Sunday, putting both out of service and killing two workers, Syrian state media said. Along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has clashed with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the deadliest escalation of frontier violence since an Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006. Hezbollah said four fighters were killed in heavy exchanges of fire on Sunday and another died of wounds sustained earlier, raising to 24 the number of its members killed since Oct. 7.

Hezbollah will make «the mistake of its life» if it starts a war with Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, as tensions continue to surge on the Israel-Lebanon border. Netanyahu visited troops on the Lebanese border in northern Israel where mounting artillery exchanges have heightened fears of a new war front opening as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza. The Israeli defence ministry on Sunday ordered 14 additional communities to join dozens that have already been evacuated from the border area. In the event of scaled up hostilities, Netanyahu said Hezbollah «will make the mistake of its life. We will strike it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the significance for it and the state of Lebanon will be devastating.» Hezbollah is allied with Hamas, which touched off the latest violence with an October 7 rampage that killed at least 1,400 people in Israel, according to authorities. Israel has retaliated with relentless strikes on Hamas in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 4,650 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry. It has in parallel exchanged fire with Hezbollah across its northern border. Since October 7, the exchanges have killed at least 33 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally — mostly combatants but at least four civilians, including a Reuters news agency journalist. Another four people have been killed in Israel — three soldiers and one civilian.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

Norma pummeled the coastal region of Los Cabos at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, while Hurricane Tammy set its sights on the picturesque Caribbean island of Barbuda. Both storms arrived with Category 1 hurricane force, intensifying concerns across these regions. Norma, once a menacing Category 4 hurricane, made its presence felt with winds gusting at 80 mph (130 kph) as it came ashore near el Pozo de Cota, situated to the west-northwest of Cabo San Lucas, as confirmed by the U.S.

Track the latest updates on Israel-Hamas war The development comes at a time when the US has sent USS Gerald R Ford, its most advanced carrier, along with a battle group to the West Asia region. Washington is also assisting Israel with A-10 Warthog and F-15E attack planes, along with the latest munitions as the Benjamin Netanyahu-led regime continues its offensive on Gaza. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 19 reiterated Beijing's long-held view that supports the creation of a sovereign state of Palestine.

The Rugby World Cup semi-finals were meant to be blowouts, with New Zealand and South Africa cruising into the final. And while those heavy favourites did ultimately make it, these were two dramatically different matches that could have big implications for next weekend’s title clash.

Hamas-Israel war. The remarks came while addressing a program to mark 350 years of the coronation of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “In this country, there is a religion, and culture that respects all sects and faiths.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Aidan Lewis

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel on Saturday described as «propaganda» a claim by Hamas that the militant group had wanted to release two more hostages on humanitarian grounds but that Israel declined to receive them.

(Reuters) -Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen said on Saturday a Jewish organization in New York City canceled a reading he was due to give on Friday without explanation, a day after he said he signed an open letter condemning Israel's «indiscriminate violence» against Palestinians in Gaza.

Hezbollah vowed that Israel will pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said on Saturday that his militant group based in Lebanon already is «in the heart of the battle». The comments by Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, came as Israel shelled and made drone strikes in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah fired rockets and missiles toward Israel.