April, 2016

• 23 April

  TransCanada agrees to Quebec environmental review for pipeline

  

    Calgary, Alberta / Reuters TransCanada Corp agreed to submit to a Quebec environmental review of its Energy East pipeline, avoiding a potential legal battle with the province by putting the controversial project through an extra round of scrutiny. The resolution removes a potential hurdle but also introduces another approval process for the nearly 4,600 km cross-Canadian pipeline, which will ...

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• 23 April

  Merkel visits refugee camp in Turkey to assess migrant pact

  

    Turkey / AFP German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border on Saturday, kicking off a high-stakes visit aimed at boosting a month-old migrant deal plagued by moral and legal concerns. Merkel, who was accompanied by European Council head Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice President FransTimmermans, headed to the Nizip 2 camp near Gaziantep ...

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• 23 April

  Egypt court postpones Morsi espionage verdict

    Cairo / AFP An Egyptian court postponed on Saturday its verdict and sentence in the trial of ousted president Mohamed Morsi, who is charged with spying for Qatar. The head judge of the criminal court said the verdict was postponed to “May 7 to continue consultations,” in brief remarks aired on television. If he is convicted it would be ...

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• 23 April

  Turkey detains 6 IS militants for suspected attacks plan

    ANKARA / AP A Turkish official says authorities have detained six suspected IS militants who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks in the central Turkish city of Konya. Gov. Muammer Erol said on Saturday that the six — all foreign nationals — were detained in Konya late Friday. He said the group was “in pursuit of attacks” against ...

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• 23 April

  Syria regime bombardment kills 27 civilians

  

    Aleppo / AFP At least 27 civilians were killed on Saturday in regime bombardment on rebel-held areas across Syria, a monitor and local sources said, in the latest deadly violence despite a ceasefire deal. Twelve civilians were killed in Aleppo, according to a local civil defence official, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 13 others died in ...

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• 23 April

  Yemen launches offensive against Qaeda militants

  

  Aden / AP Yemeni forces backed by air power from the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched an operation on Saturday to drive Al-Qaeda fighters out of a southern provincial capital, military officials said. Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Abyan province advanced towards Zinjibar and the neighbouring town of Jaar, the sources said. Soldiers reached Al-Kud, five kilometres (three ...

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• 23 April

  Hamas boosts Gaza border force to ease rift

  

  Gaza City / AP As peace offerings go, prefabricated metal huts on a sand dune may seem unimpressive, but they are what the Palestinian movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has chosen. Hamas has set up dozens of new border posts and military checkpoints along the enclave’s border with Egypt in an attempt to improve relations with Cairo after ...

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• 23 April

  Libya unity government seeks EU accord on ‘migrant issues’

    Rome / AP Libya’s Vice President Ahmed Maetig has expressed hope that the European Union will enter into an agreement with his country similar to that between the EU and Turkey restricting the flow of migrants to Europe. Maetig made the appeal while in Rome meeting with Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. “The vice president has asked that we ...

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• 23 April

  A competition deficit?

  

  The Obama administration has a new economic worry: competition or, allegedly, the lack of it. America’s businesses, the indictment goes, merge too often, innovate too little and bilk consumers too much. The open question is whether this argument is shrewd politics, shrewd economics — or both. No doubt, the politics are enticing. In this election season, criticizing big, impersonal firms ...

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• 23 April

  Emission scandals need a global response

    Revelations of global auto-emissions cheating demonstrate how difficult it would be to rein in global warming. Embarrassingly, the cheating reports continued to stream in, while the world leaders were gathering in New York on Friday to sign the landmark Paris Climate Accord. It is but a paradox that such scandals come from major auto companies in the developed countries ...

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