October, 2020

• 24 October

  Covid reinfections are real. Are you worried?

  We all suffer multiple bouts of the common cold throughout our lives and never think twice about it. We live with recurring influenza seasons despite a vaccine. But what about Covid-19? Repeat occurrences of cold and flu happen because our immune systems seem to “forget” the previous infection. Sometimes, a case isn’t serious enough for the body to develop an ...

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• 24 October

  Supreme Court doesn’t need to be reformed

  With Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court all but certain, Democrats are toying with ways to reform the court. Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to suggest a bipartisan commission to study the options. Unfortunately, the proposals all have serious flaws. Either their constitutionality is doubtful or they would undercut the tremendously valuable role that the court ...

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• 24 October

  Airbus sets plan to gear up production of A320neo jet

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE is preparing to ramp up output next year of its most important jet, the A320neo, in a sign of growing confidence on the part of the European planemaker that jetliner demand is poised to recover. While no decision has been made, suppliers have been told to be ready to support a monthly rate of 47 A320neo-family planes ...

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• 24 October

  Japan’s newest low-cost carrier hiring 100 staff

  

  Bloomberg At a time most airlines are shedding jobs, there is one that’s hiring — a new low-cost carrier called Zipair Tokyo Inc. The unit of Japan Airlines Co will take on around 100 employees from the broader JAL group as it launches passenger flights between Tokyo and cities including Bangkok and Seoul, a JAL spokesman said. The budget airline ...

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• 24 October

  Southwest Air opens middle seats, leaving Delta, Alaska as holdouts

  

  Bloomberg To block or not to block. The middle seat has become a critical issue for airlines as coronavirus-wary leisure travelers straggle back onto planes. Southwest Airlines Co said that it would begin filling middle seats on December 1. The change leaves Delta Air Lines Inc and Alaska Air Group Inc as the only two major US carriers that will ...

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• 24 October

  JC Penney lenders seek to slow property sale

  

  Bloomberg A group of creditors to JC Penney is seeking to slow the sale of the bankrupt retailer’s real estate to another group of lenders, saying that it provides the buyers an undeserved windfall and reeks “of not only greed but abhorrent bad faith.” The objecting creditors, led by Aurelius Capital Management, say they submitted a $750 million competing bid ...

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• 24 October

  Flipkart invests $204m in Birla’s retail business

  Bloomberg Walmart Inc’s Indian e-commerce operation Flipkart invested 15 billion rupees ($204 million) in Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd as it looks to bolster its presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing retail markets. Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla’s retail business will issue preference shares to Flipkart, giving it a 7.8% stake, Aditya Birla Fashion said in an exchange filing. ...

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• 24 October

  Recovery in Canadian retail sales fizzling

  Bloomberg The recovery in Canadian retail sales is fizzling Sales eked out a gain of 0.4% in August, Statistics Canada said in Ottawa. That fell short of the 1.1% median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Excluding vehicles, receipts rose 0.5%, versus a forecast gain of 0.9%. After cratering in April on mandatory lockdowns, retail sales increased for four ...

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• 24 October

  US airlines seek testing to sidestep quarantines

  Bloomberg A coalition of airline and travel industry groups is urging top US officials to develop standards for rapid testing and other measures to sidestep the growing quarantine restrictions imposed by states. Eighteen states have some type of quarantine for people arriving from Covid-19 hot spots, but “this patchwork of rules is confusing and discourages travel,” the group of 20 ...

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• 24 October

  Thailand set for more rallies as PM ignores calls to resign

  

  Bloomberg Thailand is set for a fresh wave of street protests by pro-democracy activists with PM Prayuth Chan-Ocha ignoring their deadline to quit by Saturday. Free Youth and the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, two of the main protest groups, have vowed to stage mass gatherings until all of their demands, which include a rewriting of the constitution and ...

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