GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

MERKEL IN TALKS

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday started last-ditch talks with Germany’s second biggest party to form a government, in what is also a battle to rescue her political career. September’s inconclusive elections left the veteran leader without a majority and struggling to find partners to govern Europe’s biggest economy.

PM’S GOLF BRAG

TOKYO: Japan’s golf-mad Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed the “national secret” of his best score – in a good-natured brag to his country’s Miss Universe representative – revealing his best is 79 “a long time ago”.

CRYPTO RAIDS

SEOUL: Police have raided South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and tax agencies for alleged tax evasion. Coinone, a major cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, confirmed the raids took place. Bithumb, the second-largest virtual currency operator in South Korea, was also raided by the government authorities.

ASSANGE DENIED

LONDON: The UK Foreign Office has turned down a request from the Ecuadorean Government to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange diplomatic status. The 46-year-old Australian has been living in the London embassy of the South American country for 5½ years after being granted political asylum as he fought sex-related claims in Sweden.

ARTWORKS FAKED

ROME: Consumer advocates in Italy are demanding refunds after an expert ruled that almost all the paintings featured in a Genoa art exhibition devoted to Amedeo Modigliani were fakes. The expert concluded that at least 20 of 21 paintings displayed during the 2017 Ducal Palace exhibit were forged.