to fry

A winner in Sacramento on Wednesday, Atlanta fell short of chaining a second straight hit in California on Friday in the NBA.

Still without Clint Capela, the Hawks lost 130-114 on the floor of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Superstar LeBron James had 25 points and 10 assists in that game, the Lakers fourth straight. ‘King James’, who had been suffering from a cold for a few days, had already shone against the Hawks on December 30 – his 38th birthday – scoring 47 points in Atlanta.

For the Hawks it is already the 21st defeat of the season (in 39 games), the sixth in the last eight games. Clint Capela, who is still treating his right calf, has played in just one of his side’s last ten games.

/ATS

Driven by the global cost-of-living crisis, New York is, for the first time, at the top of the ranking of the most expensive cities in the world, tied with Singapore, according to the weekly The Economist. First last year, Tel Aviv moved into third place.

“Prices rose 8.1 percent on average year-on-year (in local currency) in 172 major cities around the world, the biggest increase in at least 20 years,” according to the 2022 Cost of Living report, released Thursday from the British magazine .

These increases particularly reflect the impact of the “war in Ukraine and the persistent pandemic-related restrictions (which) disrupt supply chains” and particularly affect “energy and food”.

New York and Singapore – the city-state topping the rankings for the eighth time in ten years – dethroned Tel Aviv, the cultural and economic heart of Israel, which topped the rankings last year.

Strength of the dollar

The strength of the dollar in recent months, a safe haven in times of crisis, has pushed US cities to the top of the rankings, because this happens after converting prices in US currency: its rise is therefore automatically reflected in lower prices outside outside the United States. Los Angeles thus rises to fourth place and San Francisco to eighth.

Moscow and St. Petersburg have seen their prices soar and soar in the rankings – the Russian capital climbs 88 places to 37th – under the effect of Western sanctions and a buoyant energy market supporting the ruble, notes The Economist.

But most other European cities are falling apart, as the energy crisis and weakening economies have weighed on the euro and local currencies. Paris thus loses four places, to ninth place, while Lyon drops by 34 places, to 90th.

/ATS