Fitch Warns Of Downgrades For China, Japan

The U. K. House of Commons will vote Tuesday on the “Tobacco and Vapes Bill” that would make it illegal for anyone born in 2009 or beyond to buy tobacco and add restrictions to vaping. Its passage would amount to an effective lifetime ban on smoking for those under the age of 15.

A quarter of the way into the most consequential election year in living memory, tech companies are failing their biggest test. Such is the charge that has been leveled by at least 160 rights groups across 55 countries, which are collectively calling on tech platforms to urgently adopt greater measures to safeguard people and elections amid rampant online disinformation and hate speech. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “Despite our and many others’ engagement, tech companies have failed to implement adequate measures to protect people and democratic processes from tech harms that include disinformation, hate speech, and influence operations that ruin lives and undermine democratic integrity,” reads the organizations’ joint letter, shared exclusively with TIME by the Global Coalition for Tech Justice, a consortium of civil society groups, activists, and experts.

The pandemic, rather than crashing housing markets as initially feared, triggered a home price surge unlike any the country has seen, creating an unprecedented amount of wealth. Four years after the arrival of COVID-19, mountain resort communities continue to record the highest rates of home price appreciation in Colorado. At the same time, gains in some central Denver neighborhoods have failed to keep pace with inflation, according to a Denver Post analysis of home price changes in 401 Colorado ZIP codes provided by Zillow. Home price gains range from a nearly 107% gain in Edwards, an unincorporated area of Eagle County, to a 10.3% gain in downtown Denver.

A blaze has broken out in Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange in Denmark’s capital on Tuesday, as its spire was engulfed by flames and collapsed. The fire began in the morning, starting in the copper roof of the Old Stock Exchange. The 17th century Børsen—one of the Danish capital’s oldest buildings—is now used as a headquarters for the Danish Chamber of Commerce.

It was a dramatic, film-worthy display of sportsmanship—or cheating, depending on how you see it. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In the last stretch of a half-marathon in Beijing on April 14, two runners from Kenya, one from Ethiopia, and one from China were in the lead—reportedly pacing with each other since the beginning.