Briefly

UNITED STATES

Bill signed to raise debt limit and avert default

US President Joe Biden signed into law on Thursday a bill to lift the nation's borrowing authority, averting the threat of a first-ever debt default－but only for a few weeks. On Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to pass the stopgap $480 billion hike, which advanced from the Senate on Oct 7 after weeks of heated debate. Without this increase in the debt limit, the Treasury warned that the federal government would be incapable of securing and servicing loans after Oct 18. This would have reverberated around the world as an economic catastrophe. The new arrangement merely kicks the can down the road, possibly to complicate another major funding deadline－a shutdown that would begin from Dec 3 when the government's coffers theoretically run out.

INDIA

Nation slips to 101st in Global Hunger Index

India ranks 101st in the Global Hunger Index 2021, according to a new report. The country has slipped from its last year's ranking of 94, to be placed behind its neighbors Nepal (76), Bangladesh (76), Myanmar (71) and Pakistan (92). With the new ranking, only 15 countries fared worse than India this year. The report has been prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organization Welt Hunger Hilfe. The GHI score is calculated on four indicators: Undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and the mortality rate of children under the age of 5. Child wasting refers to the share of children under the age of 5 who have low weight for their height as a result of acute undernutrition.

UNITED KINGDOM

Shredded Banksy art sells for record $25m

A work by British street artist Banksy that sensationally self-shredded just after it sold at auction three years ago fetched almost 18.6 million pounds ($25.4 million) on Thursday－a record for the artist, and close to 20 times its pre-shredded price. Love is in the Bin was offered by Sotheby's in London, with a presale estimate of 4 million to 6 million pounds. The piece consists of a half-shredded canvas in an ornate frame bearing a spray-painted image of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. When it last sold at Sotheby's in October 2018, the piece was known as Girl With Balloon.

Agencies - Xinhua