Switzerland’s Hoefflin skis to gold in women’s slopestyle

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Switzerland’s Sarah Hoefflin is the Olympic champion in women’s slopestyle skiing.

The 27-year-old put together an electric final run down the demanding course at Phoenix Snow Park on Saturday, posting a 91.20 to edge teammate Mathilde Gremaud for gold. Gremaud scored 88.00 on the first of her three runs in the finals but couldn’t top Hoefflin.

Hoefflin is a latecomer to freestyle skiing. She didn’t get serious about the sport until her early 20s when she couldn’t get into medical school after earning a degree in neuroscience.

Isabel Atkin of Britain took bronze with a score of 84.60 in her final run.

Defending Olympic champion Dara Howell crashed twice during qualifying and didn’t advance. American Devin Logan, a silver medalist in Sochi, reached the finals but wasn’t a factor after either crashing or having execution problems in each of her last three runs.

Unlike the women’s snowboarding slopestyle final, where wind wreaked havoc with the field, the issues this time around seemed to simply be the treacherous course. Only nine of the 36 runs in the finals were scored higher than 70, typically a benchmark for a relatively clean trip.

Hoefflin was in position for the silver when she stepped into the gate for her last trip. Rather than try to simply hold on to second, she went for the top spot. She finished with an off-axis 720 degree flip. She raised her arms after sticking the landing before skiing into the arms of her coaches.

Logan, who will compete in the halfpipe competition next week, never really got going on her 24th birthday. She was a middling sixth during qualifying and her best trip during the finals came on her second run, when she appeared to be doing well only to scrape the ground after landing her penultimate jump.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Swiss: $800M misappropriated from ex-unit of Malaysia fund

GENEVA — Swiss prosecutors investigating suspected embezzlement at a Malaysian state investment fund say that $800 million appears to have been misappropriated from investments in natural resources by a former subsidiary.

The Swiss attorney general’s office also said Wednesday that a Ponzi scheme appears to have been used to hide the embezzlement from both the 1MDB fund and its former SRC unit.

Switzerland’s attorney general opened an investigation last year of two former 1MDB officials and persons unknown on suspicion of bribery and money laundering, among other offenses.

The Swiss office said it has made a new request for legal assistance from Malaysia, aimed at obtaining further evidence to corroborate its findings as well as securing the help it initially requested in January. It said that is “still pending.” TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Pink diamond nets $28.55M in healthy stone market – Christie’s

GENEVA - A large diamond of a rare pink hue fetched 28.725 million Swiss francs ($28.55 million) on Tuesday, the star lot of Christie's semi-annual jewelry sale in Geneva, where designer eye candy drew strong prices.

A Chinese client based in Hong Kong bought the cushion-shaped pink diamond weighing 16.08 carats and graded vivid fancy pink, which is set in a platinum and gold ring surrounded by a double row of pave-set white diamonds, the auction house said. Its pre-sale estimate was $23 million to $28 million.

The seller was not identified and the buyer, who has named the pink diamond "The Sweet Josephine," wished to remain anonymous, Christie's said. The diamond's origin was not disclosed.


"It is absolutely a top price for a stone of this quality, because of its color. There are few pink-pink the way this one was," said Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's Luxury Group and its veteran jewelry expert, who conducted part of the evening auction in a packed salesroom.

"It shows we are dealing with a very healthy stone market," he told reporters. "There is lots of cash in the world right now. At the moment, works of art, diamonds and jewels are a safe haven."

In almost 250 years of auction history, only three pure vivid pink diamonds of over 10 carats have appeared for sale, according to Christie's.

A pear-shaped flawless white diamond weighing 50.48 carats fetched 7.89 million Swiss francs in heated bidding, the evening's second-highest lot, selling to a dealer in the room.


Jewels by Harry Winston, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Cartier and Bulgari soared above pre-sale estimates, including a Bulgari coral onyx and diamond bracelet-watch designed as a coiled serpent.

In all, some 80 percent of the 400 lots on offer sold for 110.26 million Swiss francs, Christie's said, eclipsing expectations.

Christie's, founded in 1776, is now owned by French retail magnate Francois Pinault's holding company Artemis SA.

A large blue diamond, one of the world's rarest, could fetch $35 million to $55 million at auction on Wednesday, rival Sotheby's said last week, as an industry group reported strong prices for color diamonds ahead of the holiday season.

A Modigliani nude painting was sold to an unnamed Chinese buyer at Christie's on Monday for $170.4 million, the second-highest price ever for a work of art at auction, as deep-pocketed collectors continue to pay, and pay big, for some rare masterpieces up for sale in this year's autumn auctions season.

"China has been very active yesterday in New York and tonight in Geneva," Curiel said. — Reuters

Richest 1 percent will own more than the rest by 2016 – Oxfam

LONDON - More than half the world's wealth will be owned by just one percent of the population by next year as global inequality soars, anti-poverty charity Oxfam said on Monday.

In a report released ahead of this week's annual meeting of the international elite at Davos in Switzerland, Oxfam said the top tier had seen their share of wealth increase from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014.

On current trends, it will exceed 50 percent in 2016.

The charity's executive director, Winnie Byanyima, who is co-chairing the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, said an explosion in inequality was holding back the fight against poverty.

"Do we really want to live in a world where the one percent own more than the rest of us combined?" she said on Monday.

"Business as usual for the elite isn't a cost free option. Failure to tackle inequality will set the fight against poverty back decades. The poor are hurt twice by rising inequality—they get a smaller share of the economic pie and because extreme inequality hurts growth, there is less pie to be shared around."

Oxfam said it would call for action to tackle rising inequality at the Davos meeting, which starts on Wednesday, including a crackdown on tax dodging by corporations and progress towards a global deal on climate change.

The richest 80 individuals in the world had the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the entire population, some 3.5 billion people, Oxfam said. This was an even bigger concentration at the top than a year ago, when half the world's wealth was in the hands of 85 of the ultra rich.

Members of the top 1 percent had an average wealth of $2.7 million per adult, Oxfam said.

The bulk of the world's remaining wealth was owned by the rest of the richest fifth, while the other 80 percent shared just 5.5 percent of the pot, equalling an average wealth of $3,851 per adult, it said.

Oxfam used data from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Datebook, 2013 and 2014, and the Forbes' billionaires list to compile its research. — Reuters

Standard & Poor's says Swiss rating unaffected by SNB move

ZURICH – Ratings agency Standard & Poors said on Friday the Swiss National Bank's shock decision to scrap its three-year-old cap on the franc had no immediate impact on Switzerland's credit rating.

Standard & Poors said the strong appreciation of the Swiss franc against the euro could dampen Swiss exports over the next two to three years, but expected the country's economy to whether any setbacks.

"Still, we think Switzerland's strong economy and solid public finances will resist this exchange rate shock," the ratings agency, which currently rates Switzerland as AAA, said in a statement.

The Swiss National Bank shocked financial markets on Thursday by scrapping a three-year-old cap on the franc, sending the currency soaring against the euro and stocks plunging on fears for the export-reliant Swiss economy. – Reuters

Actress Sarah Lahbati posts P10k bail for libel case

 

Following her return to the Philippines, actress and TV personality Sarah Lahbati on Friday posted P10,000 bail before the Makati City Regional Trial Court.

 

The bail was in connection with the libel suit lodged against her by GMA Films President Atty. Annette Gozon-Abrogar, over posts Lahbati allegedly made on her Twitter account.

 

Among those who accompanied Lahbati in posting bail at the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 59 were her mother and lawyer, radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported.

The report said the court set Aug. 22 as the date for Lahbati's arraignment, where she has to personally appear.

Gozon-Abrogar lodged a libel suit against Lahbati over posts on Lahbati's Twitter account linking the GMA Films president to alleged irregularities in management.

 

Earlier this year, Lahbati left the country supposedly to go on vacation in Switzerland. —KG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com