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Donald Tusk has said European institutions are there to there to serve not lecture voters.Photo: Donald Tusk Twitter account 

Market turmoil over Italian crisis

Global stock market jitters at the prospect of a financial crisis in Italy have seen the Dow Jones fall 1.58% on Tuesday and the Nikkei in Tokyo down 1.3% at one point on Wednesday morning, The Guardian reports. The euro also dropped to its lowest level against the US dollar for 10 months at €1.154. The Italian bond spread rose to its highest level in four years as the Bank of Italy chairman, Ignazio Visco, said the country was at risk of losing the “asset of trust” with investors.

Tusk and Juncker call for respect on Italy

European council Donald Tusk has tweeted that EU institutions needed to “respect the voters” in Italy. “We are there to serve them, not to lecture them,” Tusk said in reference to German budget commissioner Günther Oettinger’s previous tweet that “markets will teach Italy to vote for the right thing" (for which he later apologized).  The European Commission meanwhile issued a statement putting on record Jean-Claude Juncker’s “conviction that Italy's fate does not lie in the hands of the financial markets.” The commission is “ready to work with Italy with responsibility and mutual respect,” the statement said.

Soros calls for new Brexit vote

Billionaire George Soros is to back a campaign by Best for Britain to hold a second referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. Soros believes that the turmoil created by the negotiations over the terms of Brexit could convince voters that remaining in the EU is the better option. “But the British public must express its support by a convincing margin in order to be taken seriously by Europe,” he said in a speech in Paris on Tuesday.

Mattis defends South China Sea policy

US defence secretary Jim Mattis has said the United States would continue to “confront what we believe is out of step with international law” after China voiced “strong dissatisfaction” on a manoeuvre that saw two US warships sail by an island in the disputed Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea. “It’s international waters and a lot of nations want to see freedom of navigation, so we will continue that,” Mattis told reporters.

“Roseanne” cancelled after racist tweet

ABC has pulled its hit revival of sitcom “Roseanne” off the air after its controversial star Roseanne Barr tweeted racist remarks aimed at former Obama White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,” the network said in a statement. The Guardian reports that Barr had claimed Jarret had connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and compared her to an ape. The revival of the popular 90s show had been a success, pulling in almost 18 million viewers per episode.