April, 2016

• 3 April

  Brussels Airport reopens with three flights, tighter security

  

  Belgium / AFP Brussels Airport reopened on Sunday with three “symbolic” flights and strict additional checks for passengers, marking a new high-security era for air travel in Belgium after attacks by IS suicide bombers. The key travel hub has been closed since two men blew themselves up in the departure hall on March 22 in coordinated blasts that also struck ...

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• 3 April

  6.9 scale earthquake hits off Vanuatu

  Sydney / aFp A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck off Vanuatu, but a tsunami threat passed with no immediate reports of major damage along the coasts of the Pacific archipelago. The quake, initially reported as 7.2 magnitude, struck at a depth of 35 kilometres (22 miles), 81 kilometres north-northwest of the town of Port Olry on Espiritu Santo island in Vanuatu ...

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• 3 April

  Erdogan takes offence of Obama’s ‘press rebuke’

  Istanbul / AP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he took offence at US President Barack Obama slamming eroding press freedoms in Turkey, expressing sadness that the comments were made behind his back. “I am saddened that these kinds of comments have been made in my absence,” Erdogan told Turkish reporters in Washington as he rounded off a ...

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• 3 April

  Tough task for Trump, Clinton as USA primaries fire up again

  

  Washington / AFP US presidential primaries spark back to life on Tuesday after an eventful 10-day break with clear frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both facing the real possibility of losing in Wisconsin. Defeat in the north-central state isn’t likely to immediately change the course of the overall nominating contest, but it could serve as an indicator of the ...

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• 3 April

  Thousands of Colombians stage anti-govt protest

  Colombia / AFP Tens of thousands of people protested in more than 20 cities across Colombia against President Juan Manuel Santos and his government’s peace process with the FARC guerrillas. The demonstrations come just days after Bogota launched peace talks with the country’s second-biggest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), setting its sights on a total end to a ...

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• 3 April

  India-backed US$16bn coal project gets Aussie go-ahead

  

  SHANGHAI / Reuters A controversial India-backed giant coal project near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef was on Sunday awarded mining leases, but developer Adani said it would not commit to a final investment decision until legal challenges against it were resolved. The Queensland state government said the Aus$21.7 billion (US$16.7 billion) project to build one of the world’s biggest mines was ...

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• 3 April

  China’s ZTE executives to step down amid US sanctions row

  

  Bejing / AFP Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE will replace three top executives, the WSJ reported, in an apparent bid to see US restrictions on its business lifted after it was accused of violating sanctions against Iran. Washington slapped restrictions on ZTE and three linked companies last month for illicitly re-exporting controlled items from the United States to sanctioned countries, including ...

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• 3 April

  Power outage grounds 78 flights in Manila

  

  Manila / AFP A rare power outage plunged a major section of the Philippine capital’s main airport into darkness overnight, forcing flight cancellations that stranded thousands on Sunday. As many as 78 flights by the country’s largest carrier Cebu Pacific were cancelled, affecting nearly 14,000 passengers, the company said in a statement. Flag carrier Philippine Airlines also said some of ...

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• 3 April

  Japan needs economic boost, says Komura

  

  Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan will need economic measures in the second half of the current fiscal year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will front-load budget spending, according to the vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Implementing this year’s budget quickly will help address Japan’s weak consumer spending, said Masahiko Komura. “Then naturally there ...

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• 3 April

  ITC halts cigarette production over health warning rules

  

  New Delhi / Reuters Indian cigarette makers including ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, suspended production over what they said was ambiguity in the government’s new health warning rules for packs, a leading industry body said. Rules that mandated 85 percent of a cigarette pack’s surface to be covered in health warnings, up from 20 percent, kicked in from ...

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