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[ad_1] London CNN  —  The British pound crashed to a record low last fall as investors rebelled against budget plans by former Prime Minister Liz Truss. Now, it’s enjoying a comeback. Sterling hit its highest level against the US dollar in 10 months on Tuesday, topping $1.25 for the first time since June 2022. The pound, which has advanced about 3.3% versus the greenback since the start of 2023, is the best-performing currency among developed economies this year. The UK currency has been boosted by indications the country’s economy is holding up better than expected. Activity is now thought to have expanded 0.1% in the final three months of last year, up from a previous estimate of no growth at all. Gross domestic product growth in January has been estimated at 0.3% after dropping 0.5% in December. This resilience is bolstering expectations the Bank of England will maintain ag

[ad_1] CNN  —  One of Cambodia’s last remaining independent media outlets has been shut down by Prime Minister Hun Sen ahead of national elections in July, in a move condemned by rights groups as a blow to press freedom. Based in the capital Phnom Penh, Voice of Democracy (VOD), a local outlet run by the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, published radio and online reports about labor and rights issues , environmental crime and political corruption . It reported last week that Hun Manet, son of the prime minister, allegedly signed an agreement to donate aid to Turkey, which was struck by a catastrophic earthquake last week. The report alluded to an apparent overstep of his authority. Hun Sen refuted the report and issued statements on Facebook accusing the outlet of attacking his son and hurting the “dignity and reputation” of the Cambodian government. H

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: This is excerpted from a story that originally ran on March 22, 2023. New York CNN  —  Banking has been top of mind for many people in the wake of some surprise bank failures and moves by US regulators to boost confidence in the financial system. But the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to increase its key interest rate for the ninth time since March last year brought welcome news for savers seeking higher yields on their money. “Returns on savings accounts and CDs are the best in 15 years,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com. Higher rates mean your most liquid savings — those set aside for emergency expenses or short-term goals like a vacation fund or even a down payment that you’ll need in the next 12 months — can finally earn some money for you after years of earning practically nothing. Unless, that is, yo

[ad_1] Hong Kong CNN  —  China will fully reopen borders with its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao next week, in what is expected to be a major boost for the economies of the two cities. From Monday, travelers entering mainland China from Hong Kong or Macao will no longer need to provide proof of negative Covid tests, as long as they have not traveled abroad in the previous week, the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a Friday statement . Daily quotas on the number of travelers will also be scrapped. The resumption of normal travel is expected to provide much support to the battered economies of the two cities. Hong Kong is a major international financial center, and, before the pandemic, Macao was the world’s casino capital. Hong Kong’s economy contracted last year, according to preliminary government data , shrinking by 3.5% com

[ad_1] Washington, DC CNN  —  Even as rents are cooling in some parts of the country, it has never cost more to rent a Manhattan apartment as it did in March. Typically, rental activity builds from the spring to a peak in late summer, but median rent last month was the highest on record, according to a report from Douglas Elliman, a brokerage, and Miller Samuel, an appraisal and consultant firm. The median cost of renting an apartment in Manhattan was $4,175 in March. That’s up 12.8% from a year ago and up 2% from February, and marks the highest since last July, when rent was $4,150. A one bedroom apartment had a median rent of $4,150, up 9.6% from last year, while a two bedroom apartment had a median rent of $5,680, up 18.3% from a year ago. A studio apartment rents for a median price of $3,190, up 16% from last year. While the median rent for all sizes of apartme

[ad_1] CNN  —  Russian investigators have formally charged Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich with espionage, Russian state media reported Friday, adding he denied the accusations.  “The FSB investigation charged Gershkovich with espionage in the interests of his country. He categorically denied all accusations and stated that he was engaged in journalistic activities in Russia,” an agency representative said, according to state news agency TASS.  The representative declined to comment further, as the journalist’s case was marked “top secret,” according to TASS.  Gershkovich was detained by Russian authorities last week, who accused him of spying, signaling a significant ratcheting of both Moscow’s tensions with the United States and its campaign against foreign news media. A Moscow court on April 18 will hear an appeal filed by Gershkovich’s lawyers a

[ad_1] CNN  —  Clothes aren’t just items to keep you warm or cool – they also indicate status, showcase defiance, and even alleviate anxieties. For tennis legend Billie Jean King , clothes allow female tennis players to express their individuality through colors and prints – a right she and the embryonic Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) fought for in the 1970s when white was ubiquitous as the sport’s color. Wimbledon still employs this rigid all-white dress code – first implemented to camouflage sweat stains. These days it also helps the SW19 grand slam retain a sense of uniqueness in relation to the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open, but arguably it also curtails players’ individuality. More pressingly, for players menstruating it creates anxieties as to whether blood is visible on white clothes. “My generation, we always worried because we wore all

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments. CNN  —  Have you ever dreamed of giving it all up, leaving it all behind and hitting the road to escape all your responsibilities? It sounds good, doesn’t it? But it also sounds expensive. Or at least, it did sound expensive until now – because now a cruise company is launching a three-year, 130,000-mile, escape-your-daily-life cruise for a relatively affordable $30,000 per person per year. Life at Sea Cruises has opened bookings for its three-year voyage on the MV Gemini, which sets sail from Istanbul on November 1. Yes, November 1, 2023 – so you have eight months to get your passport, vaccinations and remote working abi

[ad_1] CNN  —  Authorities in Hong Kong have raided a shop suspected of selling dog and cat meat as food – more than 70 years after the trade was outlawed. Officers seized “suspected samples of dog or cat flesh” at a shop in the Yau Ma Tei district during a “joint blitz operation” by the city’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Thursday evening. The AFCD said it had carried out the raid after receiving reports that the meats were on sale in Yau Ma Tei – a densely populated commercial and residential district in the Kowloon area – and that it had arranged testing of the seized samples. It said it was also investigating whether the shop was trading fresh meat without a license. “Prosecution will be instituted should it be proven,” the AFCD said in a statement. Eating dog and cat meat