New Delhi / Tribune News Service The Indian government has proposed a slew of amendments to the civil aviation rules, including reducing cancellation charges, increasing compensation if a passenger is prevented from boarding, and streamlining the process of refunds. The proposed amendments, which have been discussed with airlines, were uploaded on the website of the Directorate General of Civil ...

  Paris / Bloomberg Air France, hobbled by a strike involving more than a quarter of its pilots, said about 80 percent of its flights would operate on Saturday and Sunday. Air France-KLM Group’s French arm will maintain more than 80 percent of scheduled long-haul flights and about 70 percent of European services on Sunday, it said in a statement, ...

  New York / Tribune News Service Anne Hatfield, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, didn’t immediately respond to a Globe phone call and email messages. The Express stores that were closed were much smaller than what Wal-Mart calls a supercenter. The Express stores were 12,000-15,000 square feet compared with 180,000 square feet sported by the big stores. Noel Mayor John Lafley ...

  New York / AFP The Swiss pilot readying to cross the Atlantic in a solar-powered plane on the next leg of a record-breaking, round-the-world mission says he is making science fiction reality. Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist and balloonist, will next command Solar Impulse 2 when meteorologists determine the best five-to-six day window for the ocean crossing from New York ...

  Washington / Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is discussing plans for a stand-alone music service, separate from its Prime subscription, with record labels, according to a person familiar with the matter. The technology giant hasn’t reached any deals yet, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The $9.99-a-month service may be introduced in the coming months, ...

  Tribune News Service Bahrain is going to be the hub of a new $200 million textile business spread across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. MRS Fashions, which has been putting Bahrain on the global fashion map for the past 16 years through its manufacturing unit in the kingdom, is now setting up its new regional head ...

  Manama / Tribune News Service A foreign embassy has appealed to Bahraini authorities to relax recruitment procedures for its citizens, which it claimed led to exploitation and were so time-consuming that diplomats had no time for anything else. It has emerged that unscrupulous agents are conning Bangladeshi labourers out of almost a month’s salary to complete the procedures, which ...

  CAIRO / Reuters Egypt will end local wheat buying on Wednesday, earlier than usual, due to exceeding its target of 4 million tonnes, the supplies ministry said on Saturday. “Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafi pointed out that the door for receiving local wheat from farmers will close at the end of Wednesday due to lowering local procurement rates,” the ministry ...

  Bloomberg   British public opinion is too close to call on whether the country should stay in the European Union, with many voters still undecided as interest groups and political leaders make their cases, according to two polls released this weekend. An online survey by Opinium for the Observer newspaper showed 44 percent support Britain remaining in the 28-nation ...

  Bloomberg Germany’s biggest news magazine Der Spiegel threw its hat into the Brexit ring with a special edition, thicker and cheaper than usual, adorned with an image of the Union Jack and the German plea “Bitte geht nicht!” or “Please don’t go!” The issue that hit newsstands on Saturday costs 2 pounds, rather than the usual 5.20, in Britain ...