Dalian Wanda $9.3bn deal in 'crazy' restructuring

One of China's biggest ever property deals is being restructured, less than a week after it was announced.

Dalian Wanda had said it was selling 13 tourism projects - including three theme parks - and 77 hotels to developer Sunac for $9.3bn (£7.1bn).

But now the deal is being split, with another firm, Guangzhou R&F Properties, taking on the hotels.

One analyst described the restructuring of the deal as "very unusual" and "kind of crazy".

Raised eyebrows

Neither side has commented on why the deal was reworked but it is believed to follow bank scrutiny.

R&F, which said it would now be the world's largest hotel owner, saw its share price jump sharply.

Sunac's stocks also rallied, as investors cheered that the firm was taking on less debt risk.

Under the previous terms, Wanda had been due to lend Sunac more than half the money needed to do the deal, which raised eyebrows among some observers.

The restructuring of the deal was "kind of crazy" said Ben Cavender, senior analyst with China Market Research.

"It is very concerning, and it's very unusual at this late stage to have a $9bn deal, and then to have another deal with another company in place."

He added Chinese firms were running into trouble because they did not have the due diligence or vetting in place for large mergers and acquisitions.

"They put out a lot of press, then the regulators realise there's some issues that need to be addressed. I suspect that's what happened here."

The initial transaction had been a surprise - not least because it represented a U-turn from Dalian Wanda's ambitions to expand in the tourism sector.

The three Chinese theme parks had only opened in the past year, and were intended to compete with US giant Disney's ventures in the country.

While it emerged as a property giant in China, Dalian Wanda has come to prominence abroad after its heavy investment in the film and cinema industries.

It controls the AMC cinema chain, as well as Legendary Entertainment, co-producer of hit films including Godzilla and The Dark Knight Rises.

But it is one of several major Chinese firms whose transactions have come under scrutiny from Beijing, and it has been widely reported that Chinese banks have been told to stop providing funding to Dalian Wanda and others to make overseas acquisitions.

'Bit of a mess'

The effects of the clampdown were first seen earlier this year when Wanda pulled out of a $1bn bid for the owner of the Golden Globe TV and film awards.

That pressure is widely seen as a blow to the ambitions of Wanda's billionaire chief executive Wang Jianlin.

"I'm a little bit sympathetic to Wanda," said Christopher Balding, professor of politics and economics at Peking University.

"What they were doing 12 months ago was being heavily encouraged by Chinese regulators. Beijing wanted to improve its soft power with entertainment assets and things like this and Wanda was very willing to help there.

"But they've clearly fallen into a bit of a mess."

Justine Damond's death 'should not have happened'

The fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer "should not have happened", the city's police chief has said.

Justine Damond, originally from Sydney, was shot when she approached a police car after reporting a suspected rape.

A lawyer for Ms Damond's family has called it "ludicrous" to suggest the two officers inside feared an ambush.

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau said the killing was the "the actions and judgement of one individual".

Officer Mohamed Noor, who shot Ms Damond in the abdomen in an upmarket neighbourhood of the city, has refused to be interviewed by investigators, as is his legal right.

"The actions in question go against who we are as a department, how we train and the expectations we have for our officers," Chief Harteau told reporters in Minneapolis.

"I want to assure Justine's family our community and those in Australia that I will do everything in my power to ensure due process is followed and justice is served."

Cameras 'should be active'

Body cameras, which are worn by all Minneapolis police, had not been turned onat the time of the shooting and the squad car dashboard camera also failed to capture the incident.

Chief Harteau said the cameras worn by Officers Noor and Matthew Harrity "should have been activated".

"An officer should have them on and that is what we are trying to identify," Chief Harteau said.

"We want to do everything we can in training and in our policy to ensure that they are put on before an officer arrives at the scene."

Fred Bruno, the lawyer for Officer Harrity has said: "It is reasonable to assume an officer in that situation would be concerned about a possible ambush."

However Robert Bennett, who represents Ms Damond's family, said the yoga instructor was in her pyjamas when she approached the police and "was not a threat to anyone".

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Mr Bennett told CBS News: "I think that [the ambush fear] is ludicrous. It's disinformation. It doesn't have any basis in fact."

He added: "She obviously wasn't armed, was not a threat to anyone, and nor could she have reasonably been perceived to be."

On Thursday, a statement from Ms Damond's family said: "All we want to do is bring Justine home to Australia to farewell her in her hometown among family and friends.

"We are still trying to come to terms with this tragedy and we are struggling to understand how and why this could happen."

911 calls

On Wednesday, police released the transcript of two separate 911 calls Ms Damond made after hearing screams nearby.

"I'm not sure if she's having sex or being raped," she told the police operator, before giving her address.

"I think she just yelled out 'help', but it's difficult, the sound has been going on for a while," she continued.

Ms Damond called back eight minutes later to ensure police had the correct address.

Chief Harteau said she understood why the incident could make some people more reluctant to call 911.

"Although disheartening, I understand the fear and why it exists. This has had a negative impact on the community trust we have built," she said.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has said he will decide whether to charge the police officer.

Strong earthquake kills two on Greek island of Kos

A strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea has killed at least two people on the Greek island of Kos, officials say.

The 6.7-magnitude quake hit 12km (seven miles) north-east of Kos, near the Turkish coast, with a depth of 10km, the US Geological Survey said.

Several others were injured on Kos, mayor George Kyritsis said.

A small tsunami was reported on the Turkish coast. Pictures on social media showed people walking with water lapping their ankles.

Justine Damond: Minneapolis police 'heard loud sound' before shooting

A Minneapolis police officer whose partner shot an Australian woman was "startled by a loud sound" just before the incident, investigators say.

Justine Damond, originally from Sydney, was gunned down after calling police to report a possible crime.

On a police radio recording, an officer mentions fireworks being let off near where the shooting happened.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he wants answers from the US over the killing.

"It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family," he told Australian TV.

The shooting occurred as 40-year-old Ms Damond, dressed in her pyjamas, approached the driver's side door to talk to the officer at the wheel after police arrived.

Officer Mohamed Noor, who was sitting in the passenger seat, fired his weapon across his partner and through the driver's side window, striking Ms Damond, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said.

Officer Noor has refused to speak to investigators and US authorities say they cannot compel him to give a statement.

But the BCA said that Officer Matthew Harrity, who was driving the car, had told investigators that Ms Damond had come towards the car immediately after he heard a loud sound.

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After the shooting, the officers are heard on the police radio recording telling dispatchers they are performing CPR and that "no suspects are at large".

State investigators say the officers failed to activate their body or dashboard cameras and both officers have been placed on administrative leave.

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Why weren't the cameras on?

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman have both raised this question.

Minneapolis police are required to switch on their body cameras only during certain encounters, unlike in Los Angeles or Washington DC, where cameras must be switched on for any response to a call for service.

Instead, there are more than a dozen situations in which cameras should be used, according to the police manual, which adds that failure to use the camera could result in job termination.

"If a BWC [body-worn camera] is not activated prior to a use of force, it shall be activated as soon as it is safe to do so," reads the manual.

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Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau has described Ms Damond's death as "tragic" and called for a quick investigation to provide "transparency".

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman has said he will personally decide whether to charge Officer Mohamed Noor, rather than put the question to a grand jury.

Officer Noor, who has been described by local media as a Somali-American, has been with the police force for two years.

A statement from his lawyer said he had arrived in the US "at a young age" and described him as "a caring person with a family he loves and he empathised with the loss others are experiencing".

Ms Damond, born Justine Ruszczyk, studied to be a veterinarian before relocating from Sydney to the US, where she is believed to have been for at least the last three years.

According to her website, she was a "qualified yoga instructor, a personal health and life coach and meditation teacher".

Speaking in Sydney, her father John Ruszczyk said: "Justine was a beacon to all of us, we only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death."

Ms Damond's death comes a year after Officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile, a black man, during a traffic stop in St Paul - the twin city of Minneapolis - in an incident live-streamed on Facebook by his girlfriend.

Mr Castile had told the officer that he was licensed to carry a concealed weapon and was reaching for his wallet to get his driving licence out when he was shot, his girlfriend said on the video.

Officer Yanez was found not guilty of manslaughter last month - a verdict that Mr Castile's mother said showed the system "continued to fail black people".

• The view from Philando Castile's empty seat on the porch

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On Wednesday morning, hundreds of people gathered for a dawn vigil at a Sydney beach to honour Ms Damond.

In silence, attendees including her family and friends lit candles and released pink flowers into the ocean.

"We are here to come together as a community around our beautiful Justine, to honour her life, share our love and mourn her death," Ms Damond's family said in a statement ahead of the vigil.

Israeli steals Auschwitz items for student art project

An Israeli student whose grandparents survived the Holocaust has admitted stealing items from the Auschwitz death camp for her art project.

Rotem Bides visited the former Nazi German camp in Poland several times and removed items, including a sign forbidding people from taking anything.

She told an Israeli newspaper she had acted out of concern that the Holocaust would over time "turn into a myth".

The Auschwitz-Birkenau museum has demanded the objects' return.

More than a million people, mostly Jews, were killed at Auschwitz during World War Two.

The objects from Auschwitz, which also include shards of glass, small bowls, a metal screw and soil, formed part of the 27-year-old's final project in Jerusalem, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

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Ms Bides told the newspaper she felt it was "something I had to do".

"Millions of people were murdered based on the moral laws of a certain country, under a certain regime," she told the newspaper.

"And if these are the laws, I can go there and act according to my own laws.

"I'm not saying I'm allowed to do it because my grandfather was in Auschwitz. I'm simply asking the questions. I'm concerned that after all the survivors are gone, the Holocaust will turn into a myth, something that cannot be perceived."

Ms Vides's supervisor at Beit Berl College, the Israeli artist Michal Na'aman, told the newspaper she "did not see anything wrong with it".

"The way I see it, she succeeds in creating a unique encounter between art and an event that has passed and has been wrapped in a lot of words, symbols and representations," Ms Na'aman said.

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The Auschwitz-Birkenau museum has described the objects' removal as "painful and outrageous" and demanded that the Israeli authorities ensure their return.

"It's hard to imagine theft being justified in any way, even through art, which can be seen as an attempt to gain publicity," it said in a statement.

Items have been stolen from Auschwitz in the past. In 2011 an Israeli local government official picked up several items that were lying on the ground next to a display cabinet but they were discovered by officials at Krakow airport.

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Moti Posloshani, the son of Holocaust survivors, later told Yedioth Ahronoth that he had wanted to "safeguard" the objects and perhaps hand them to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem.

And in 2009 the infamous "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free" in German) sign over the entrance to Auschwitz was stolen by thieves but recovered shortly afterwards.

Uruguay pharmacies start selling recreational marijuana

Uruguay has become the first country in the world to legally sell marijuana for recreational use.

Sixteen pharmacies started dispensing marijuana on Wednesday,

Almost 5,000 people have signed up to a national registry to be able to buy marijuana legally. They will be able to buy up to 10g (0.35oz) a week and no more than 40g a month.

The move comes four years after a law was passed which fully legalised the cannabis trade.

Supporters of the law argue that it will help stop the illegal trade in marijuana and put drug dealers out of business.

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Customers will be able to choose from two varieties of marijuana dubbed Alpha 1 and Beta 1.

Both contain 2% Tetrahidrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana.

The price for five grams has been set at 187 Uruguayan pesos ($6.50; £5.00).

The marijuana sold at the pharmacies comes from state-supervised fields.

The law also allows users to grow their own at home or join co-operative clubs that farm it.

Officials said about 70% of people who had registered to buy marijuana from pharmacies where men, most of them aged between 30 and 44.

In order to avoid "marijuana tourism", only Uruguayan citizens and permanent residents are allowed to register.

Saudi-led bloc modifies demands to end Qatar crisis

The four Arab nations leading a boycott of Qatar are no longer insisting it comply with a list of 13 specific demands they tabled last month.

Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt told reporters at the UN they now wanted it to accept six broad principles.

These include commitments to combat terrorism and extremism and to end acts of provocation and incitement.

There was no immediate comment from Qatar, which denies aiding terrorists.

It has refused to agree to any measures that threaten its sovereignty or violate international law, and denounced the "siege" imposed by its neighbours.

The restrictions put in place six weeks ago have forced the gas-rich emirate to import food by sea and air to meet the basic needs of its population of 2.7 million.

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At a briefing for a group of UN correspondents in New York on Tuesday, diplomats from the four countries said they wanted to resolve the crisis amicably.

Saudi permanent representative Abdullah al-Mouallimi said their foreign ministers had agreed the six principles at a meeting in Cairo on 5 July and that they "should be easy for the Qataris to accept".

They were combating terrorism and extremism, denying financing and safe havens to terrorist groups, stopping incitement to hatred and violence, and refraining from interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, according to the New York Times.

Mr Mouallimi stressed that there would be "no compromise" on the principles, but added that both sides would be able to discuss how to implement them.

The list of 13 demands handed to Qatar on 22 June included shutting down the Al Jazeera news network, closing a Turkish military base, cutting ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and downgrading relations with Iran.

Mr Mouallimi said closing Al Jazeera might not be necessary but stopping incitement to violence and hate speech was essential.

US President Donald Trump was quick to claim credit for the pressure being placed on Qatar, saying it might mark the "beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism".

But his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, questioned the list of demands, acknowledging that some elements would "be very difficult for Qatar to meet".

Mr Tillerson conducted several days of shuttle diplomacy in the region last week and signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar on countering terrorism financing that Ms Hashimi called "an excellent step".