February, 2021

• 1 February

  Ryanair seeks to shoot down Lufthansa’s rescue at EU court

  

  Bloomberg Ryanair Holdings Plc sought to shoot down Germany’s multibillion euro bailout for Deutsche Lufthansa AG, asking a European Union court to cancel EU approval. Germany’s 6 billion-euro ($7.3 billion) recapitalisation and a state guarantee for a 3 billion-euro loan “discriminates unlawfully between EU airlines,” Ryanair said in an emailed statement. The carrier filed its challenge at the EU’s General ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Trudeau cancels flights to curb virus in Canada

  

  Bloomberg Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is introducing sweeping new restrictions on international travel in a bid to stem the spread of new variants of Covid-19 into the country. The country’s largest airlines have agreed to suspend flights to the Caribbean and Mexico for three months, Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa. Travellers coming into Canada will now ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  US airlines renew job warnings as United Air sees 14,000 at risk

  

  Bloomberg United Airlines Holdings notified 14,000 employees that their jobs will be at risk in April after the second round of federal payroll support expires, saying the coronavirus pandemic still weighs heavily on the travel outlook. The new notices cover every work group except pilots, United said. Last month, US airlines recalled furloughed workers after Congress renewed federal aid for ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Covid:19: Cuba to force travellers to quarantine

  Bloomberg Cuba will make travellers quarantine under a new set of restrictions announced after coronavirus cases surged this month in the Caribbean’s largest island. Tourists, businesspeople and foreign diplomats are among those who will be forced to isolate at their own expense in government-approved hotels upon arriving, according to a statement on the health ministry’s website. Starting from February 6, ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Dr Martens jumps in London debut on boots’ appeal

  

  Bloomberg British bootmaker Dr Martens Plc soared in London trading after owner Permira Holdings and other shareholders raised 1.3 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) in an initial public offering, cashing in on the lasting popularity of its cult footwear. The stock surged 22% to close at 450 pence after pricing its IPO at 370 pence, the top end of an initial ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Toys ‘R’ Us shuts its only two US stores

  Bloomberg Toys “R” Us has once again disappeared from America’s retail landscape. The former industry titan recently closed its only two US stores, including a location in New Jersey, according to a spokeswoman. The outlets were opened in late 2019 by Tru Kids Inc, an entity that acquired the brand’s intellectual property during the retail giant’s 2018 liquidation. The new ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Fresh protests against Putin as Navalny prison sentence looms

  

  Bloomberg Supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny are staging the second wave of national protests in a week as a Russian court prepares to hand President Vladimir Putin’s chief critic a possible 3 1/2 year prison term. Navalny, who defied threats of arrest to return in mid-January from Germany after a nerve-agent attack he said was an attempt by ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Vietnam stays on same policy path with party chief’s re-election

  

  Bloomberg Vietnam’s Communist Party re-elected Nguyen Phu Trong to a rare third term as general secretary, signalling no major shifts in the nation’s economic or geopolitical direction. The party’s newly elected central committee also elected 18 members of the Politburo, which in turn will nominate individual candidates to be prime minister, president and chair of the National Assembly. The parliament ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  ANC’s labour ally says party failing to act on S Africa graft

  Bloomberg A leader of South Africa’s biggest labour movement accused the ruling African National Congress (ANC) of failing to act on corruption, highlighting the fragility of a political alliance that’s been in place since the end of apartheid. “What is most concerning is the ANC’s refusal to engage on extending the ban on public servants and the executive from doing business ...

  Read More »
• 1 February

  Biden’s dash for post-Trump reset hits harsh reality

  

  Bloomberg Joe Biden’s presidency began at a choreographed sprint, with a series of executive actions to erase Donald Trump’s legacy and reset the nation’s course. But as his first full week in office came to a close, the new president was discovering the limits of his power. His administration’s efforts to bolster vaccine production ran into the same hurdles that ...

  Read More »