August, 2018

• 27 August

  United loses challenge to food service union drive

  

  Bloomberg A vote on unionisation by 2,700 United Airlines in-flight catering workers can move forward over the company’s objections, the general counsel of the National Mediation Board ruled. The workers, who prepare and transport food for flights, are the only group of front-line United employees who don’t have union representation. In January, the hospitality union Unite Here filed a petition, ...

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• 27 August

  Air France unions welcome new boss with list of grievances

  

  Bloomberg Air France-KLM Group’s French unions are drawing up a list of demands to present to incoming CEO Ben Smith as they continue to bristle over the appointment of a first foreign boss and the 300 percent salary hike that lured him. The Canadian, who starts before of end of next month, will be greeted by requests including higher pay ...

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• 26 August

  RAK real estate deals up 33% to AED2.7bn

  

  RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM The total value of real estate transactions in Ras al-Khaimah rose to AED2.7 billion in the first half of 2018, an increase of 33 percent compared to the corresponding half of 2017, according to a report issued by the Lands and Properties Sector at the emirate’s municipality. The bi-annual report indicated that 2,632 real estate ...

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• 26 August

  Julphar strikes deal to supply disposable insulin pens in UAE

  RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM Julphar has signed an agreement with leading global medical technology company BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) to supply disposable insulin pens in the UAE. BD develops innovative technologies, services and solutions that help advance both the clinical process for healthcare providers and clinical therapy for patients, including a wide variety of insulin delivery devices for ...

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• 26 August

  China’s Sinopec posts record profit on oil rally

  

  Bloomberg China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. said its half-year earnings jumped to the highest level on record as refining profits climbed and a rebound in crude prices brought its oil and gas exploration unit closer to breaking even. Net income gained to 42.4 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in the first six months from 27.9 billion a year earlier, the world’s ...

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• 26 August

  Hedge funds in pain watching ‘S&P 500 rally’ they’ve missed

  

  Bloomberg US stocks are vaulting back to all-time highs. But the smart money isn’t celebrating. Instead, they’re nursing pain. Hedge funds have seen returns dwindling even as the S&P 500 Index marches forward in what has become, by some measures, the longest bull market ever. An index tracking the performance of funds focusing on equities has fallen in five of ...

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• 26 August

  Bitcoin ETFs not coming any time soon thanks to SEC

  

  Bloomberg Don’t hold your breath for a US exchange-traded fund that invests in Bitcoin. Prospects for such a fund took a nosedive when the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected requests to list nine cryptocurrency funds, citing continuing concerns about manipulation and market surveillance. Hester Peirce — one of four commissioners currently at the SEC — has since said the agency ...

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• 26 August

  Big Oil’s exit turns into revival for Norway’s aging North Sea

  

  Bloomberg Back in 2015, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc cast doubt over the future of aging oil fields offshore Norway. A crash in crude prices and high operating costs threatened to shut them early, leaving millions of barrels in the ground. Two of the fields, Draugen and Valhall, have since fallen into the hands of smaller, local companies, ...

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• 26 August

  Trinidad strikes gas deal with Venezuela for natural gas exports

  

  Bloomberg Trinidad and Tobago will continue to ship super-chilled natural gas all over the world, with a little help from Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro and Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley signed a deal where Trinidad will purchase gas from Venezuela’s prolific Dragon Field, state-run energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, said in a tweet. Under the terms of ...

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• 26 August

  CenterPoint turning to cows, landfills for gas alternative

  Bloomberg CenterPoint Energy Inc. wants to introduce a pilot programme in Minnesota offering customers access to a renewable form of natural gas recovered from dairy farms and landfills. It’s the first such programme in the Midwest, mirroring the push by utilities to offer electricity powered by wind or solar. Methane produced by everything from manure to rotting garbage is the ...

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