https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaG07sTJENxyeTTfph1G *INTERNATIONAL NEWS* *18 February 2025* *NEWS HEADLINES* *Holiday Inn owner IHG buys Ruby Hotels as profits rise* *Death of South Korean actor sparks calls for change to how celebrities are treated online* *Trump ‘wants 50% cut’ of Ukraine’s mineral riches in return for peace* *NEWS IN DETAIL* *Holiday Inn owner IHG buys Ruby Hotels as profits rise* Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has snapped up another hotel brand as it reported stronger profits. The FTSE 100 firm said it has acquired Ruby Hotels for an initial 110.5 million euros (£87.6 million). The business was founded in 2013 and currently has 20 hotels, including three in the UK – in London. IHG said the business has a pipeline for 10 further planned hotels and it intends to grow the brand “substantially further”, with plans to expand into the US. It will become the group’s 20th brand after it has expanded through a series of takeover deals. This acquisition demonstrates our focus on building our presence in large, attractive industry segments and using our experience of integrating and growing brands and hotel portfolios IHG chief executive Elie Maalouf said: “This acquisition demonstrates our focus on building our presence in large, attractive industry segments and using our experience of integrating and growing brands and hotel portfolios. “The urban micro space is a franchise-friendly model with attractive owner economics and we see excellent opportunities to not only expand Ruby’s strong European base but also rapidly take this exciting brand to the Americas and across Asia, as we have successfully done with previous brand acquisitions.” It came as IHG revealed that operating profits grew by 10% to 1.12 billion US dollars (£890 million) in 2024, as it benefited from more hotel openings. IHG, which has 355 UK hotels, reported that revenues increased by 7% to 2.31 billion dollars (£1.83 billion) for the year. Meanwhile, the firm’s key sales metric, global revenue per available room, rose by 3%, with this accelerating to 4.6% in the final quarter of the year. The company said it was boosted by the opening of 371 hotels over the year, taking its estate to a total of 6,629 hotels. It added that it continues to make progress with Holiday Inn Express, its largest single brand, which has more than 3,200 hotels, with a planned pipeline of more than 600 extra sites. _LBC_ *Death of South Korean actor sparks calls for change to how celebrities are treated online* The death of South Korean actor Kim Sae-ron at 24 has sparked widespread mourning and ignited a debate about the intense public scrutiny faced by celebrities in the country, particularly online. Kim, a celebrated child actor known for her role in the 2010 film "The Man from Nowhere," was found dead in her Seoul home on Sunday by a friend. Police have ruled out foul play and confirmed that Kim left no note. Kim's death follows a period of professional difficulty after a 2022 drunk driving incident, for which she received a court fine. The incident led to a relentless wave of online negativity and media criticism, exacerbating her struggles to secure acting roles. South Korea's online environment is known for its harsh treatment of celebrities, especially women, who deviate from perceived norms. Kim was frequently targeted by news outlets that amplified public sentiment, facing criticism for socialising with friends, expressing frustration over her lack of work, and even for smiling during the filming of an independent movie last year. Her death has now prompted calls for greater sensitivity and a reassessment of the pressures faced by public figures in South Korea's unforgiving media landscape. Following Kim’s death, several of the country’s major newspapers on Tuesday published editorials and opinion pieces lambasting the toxic online comments about the actor. Some invoked the 2019 deaths of K-Pop singers Seol-li and Goo Hara and the 2023 death of “Squid Games” actor Lee Sun-kyun while calling for a change in the “harsh, zero-tolerance” culture toward celebrities. The Hankook Ilbo newspaper said the country's media outlets were part of the problem, lamenting that some outlets continued to exploit Kim for clicks even after her death, using provocative headlines that highlighted her past struggles. The watchdog Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media on Tuesday criticised news organisations for blaming social media without considering their own “sensational and provocative reporting." Born in 2000, Kim began her acting career at age 9, with the 2009 film “A Brand New Life,” portraying a girl’s struggles to adjust to a new life after being left at an orphanage by her father. She rose to stardom with “The Man from Nowhere,” which was one of the biggest hits in the South Korean movie scene that year and won her a domestic acting award. She starred in various movies and TV shows before the 2022 drunk driving incident. Gold Medalist, Kim's former management agency, did not immediately answer calls for comment. _independent.co.uk_ *Trump ‘wants 50% cut’ of Ukraine’s mineral riches in return for peace* US president Donald Trump wants half the revenue from Ukraine’s minerals and veto rights over licencing in return for providing security guarantees in the event of a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, according to a report of leaked documents. Trump previously said he wants Ukraine to pay for financial and military support by affording Washington access to the country’s vast but untapped rare earth minerals. However, new documents show a deal between the two countries could expand US access to Ukraine’s ports, infrastructure, oil and gas. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is ready to do a deal with Trump that includes US involvement in developing Ukraine's huge deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals. The Kremlin jumped on the comments, saying it demonstrated the US is no longer willing to provide free aid to Kyiv, before adding, that it was against Trump giving any help to Ukraine whatsoever. However, a new pre-decisional contract, obtained by The Telegraph, reportedly states that the US and Ukraine should form a joint investment fund to ensure that “hostile parties to the conflict do not benefit from the reconstruction of Ukraine”. The “Privileged & Confidential” contract, dated 7 February, also reportedly covers the “economic value associated with resources of Ukraine”, including “mineral resources, oil and gas resources, ports, other infrastructure (as agreed)”. The proposed agreement means the US will take 50 per cent of recurring revenues received by Ukraine from extraction of resources and 50 per cent of the financial value of “all new licences issued to third parties” for the future monetisation of resources, according to The Telegraph. The contract, supposedly written by private lawyers rather than the US departments of state or commerce, further states: “For all future licences, the US will have a right of first refusal for the purchase of exportable minerals”. The joint investment fund, according to documents seen by The Telegraph, “shall have the exclusive right to establish the method, selection criteria, terms, and conditions” of all future licences and projects. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems, and other electronics. There are no viable substitutes. The US Geological Survey considers 50 minerals to be critical, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium. Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Economy Ministry data. This includes industrial and construction materials, ferroalloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements. Mr Zelensky recently said that Russia had occupied about half of Ukraine's rare earth deposits. Ukraine also has significant reserves of coal. However, most of these are also now under the control of Russia in occupied territory. Ukraine is also a key potential supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel, according to the World Economic Forum. The war has caused widespread damage across Ukraine and Russia now controls around a fifth of its territory. The bulk of Ukraine’s coal deposits, which powered its steel industry before the war, are concentrated in the east and have been lost. About 40 per cent of Ukraine's metal resources are now under Russian occupation, according to estimates by Ukrainian think tanks We Build Ukraine and the National Institute of Strategic Studies, citing data up to the first half of 2024. Details of any deal will likely develop in meetings between US and Ukrainian officials. _independent.co.zw_