April, 2016

• 12 April

  EU renews Iran rights sanctions

  Brussels / AFP The European Union on Tuesday renewed sanctions against Iran over its human rights record, even as it relaxes damaging measures imposed on Tehran to force it to rein in its disputed nuclear programme. “The Council (of member states) decided to extend until April 13, 2017 its restrictive measures against 82 people and one entity in view of ...

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• 12 April

  Austria prepares for migrant influx at Italian border

  Vienna / AFP Austria sparked consternation in Rome on Tuesday with preliminary construction work at the Brenner pass in the Alps to prepare for a possible new influx of migrants coming north from Italy. A police spokesman in Tyrol state said that work started on Tuesday on concrete foundations for a planned control area in a layby off the northbound ...

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• 12 April

  Taiwan says Kenya guards used tear gas to force deportations

  

  TAIPEI / AP Armed Kenyan guards used tear gas to dislodge a group of Taiwanese citizens from a detention center and force them to board a flight to China, a top Taiwanese diplomat said on Tuesday, amid a complicated diplomatic tussle that threatens to cause further rifts between Taipei and Beijing. Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of West ...

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• 12 April

  Battle heats up for last votes to seal Brazil’s Rousseff impeachment fate

  

  Brasília / AFP Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s fate rested on Tuesday on the loyalties of the last 100 or so congressional deputies yet to declare how they will vote in a looming impeachment showdown. In a ruthless and complex contest, supporters and opponents of Brazil’s first female president raced to amass the magic number that will make history when the ...

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• 12 April

  Ukraine parliament weighs major government overhaul

  Kiev / AFP Ukraine’s parliament was weighing on Tuesday whether to approve the resignation of embattled Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk as furious backroom talks raged about the makeup of a new pro-EU government. The volatile political situation in the former Soviet republic took a new twist when the man tipped to replace Yatsenyuk—condemned by President Petro Poroshenko for losing the ...

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• 12 April

  ASOS on track to meet year targets as first-half profit rises

  

  LONDON / Reuters British online fashion retailer ASOS met forecasts with an 18 percent rise in first-half profit and said it was on track to achieve its sales and margin guidance for the full year. Established in 2000 for fashion-conscious twenty somethings, ASOS was an early ecommerce success story, but is seeing growing competition from the likes of Germany’s Zalando ...

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• 12 April

  FNAC urges Darty shareholders to wait as it considers deal options

  Reuters French retailer Groupe Fnac on Tuesday urged shareholders of takeover target Darty to take no action after South African retail conglomerate Steinhoff launched a rival $975 bid through its Conforama unit. “Fnac is currently considering its options and urges Darty shareholders to take no further action at this time,” Fnac said in a statement issued by Darty, noting the ...

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• 12 April

  China slowdown bedevils Prada results

  

  PARIS / AFP A slowdown in the Chinese market pushed Prada’s profits sharply lower last year, the Italian luxury company said. Net profit dropped nearly 27 percent to just under 331 million euros ($378 million) in the 12 months to end-January, Prada’s financial year. Group sales stagnated at 3.5 billion euros, while the contribution from Asia dropped because of Chinese weakness, ...

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• 12 April

  Belgian jewellery firm looks to Thai hub for Asian expansion

  

  Bangkok / DPA Belgium-based diamond-jewellery maker Roos is eyeing Asia and North America as the next potential markets for its business, after successfully reaching a high level in Europe, especially Belgium and the Netherlands. Thailand would be a hub to support and facilitate the growth of Roos’ business in Asia. “We started selling our Roos jewellery ornaments last week in ...

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• 12 April

  Airbus loses order for 840-Seat ‘Flying Sardine Can’ A380s

  

  Bloomberg Airbus Group SE lost an order for two A380 superjumbos from Indian Ocean carrier Air Austral, which had aimed to fit the planes with the highest-capacity seating layout in the history of civil aviation. The aircraft, whose planned 840-seat configuration had led them to be widely labeled by the media as “flying sardine cans,” were removed from Airbus’s order ...

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