July, 2020

• 12 July

  Negotiating tuition, cars etc in a pandemic

  Adversity presents opportunities, even in a pandemic. In a changed world, prices that used to be non-negotiable are suddenly open for bargaining. Financial hardship or uncertainty gives some Americans new leverage to negotiate the costs of some of their biggest expenditures. For others, an expectation of lower-quality products or diminished services opens doors to price reductions or concessions. Buyer’s markets ...

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• 12 July

  Biden’s economic plan gets many things right

  Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden has just released a major industrial policy plan for reviving US manufacturing. The proposal is the first in a four-part series called Build Back Better, which will also address economic recovery, infrastructure, clean energy, racial equity, and modernisation of healthcare, child care and elder care. Biden’s plan should immediately make one thing ...

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• 12 July

  Neeleman bucks airline slump with startup plan

  

  Bloomberg Breeze Aviation Group Inc, a startup airline planned by JetBlue founder David Neeleman, is seeking to buy a defunct carrier’s operating certificate with an aim toward starting service in October. Breeze plans to start charter flights October 15, according to a regulatory filing. If regulators approve, Breeze plans to begin scheduled service next May. It will base charter operations ...

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• 12 July

  Covid-19: Muji USA files for Chapter 11

  

  Bloomberg The US entity of Japanese retailer Muji, known for its minimalist home goods, filed for bankruptcy, adding to a growing list of industry companies reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic. Muji USA Ltd which is operated by Ryohin Keikaku Co, filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware, according to a filing. It listed assets and liabilities in the range of $50 ...

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• 12 July

  Fake pilot scandal prompts US to block Pakistan’s PIA

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s national airline has been barred from flying to the US as a result of a scandal in which almost one-third of the nation’s pilots were found to have faked certifications. The US Transportation Department notified Pakistan International Airlines Corp.’s lawyers in Washington that its authorisation to operate to U.S. destinations was being immediately suspended. The department released a ...

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• 12 July

  JetBlue spurns Long Beach to grow at LAX in West Coast shift

  

  Bloomberg JetBlue Airways Corp will make Los Angeles International its primary base in Southern California, abandoning Long Beach Airport after years of tension. Daily flights will double to 70 by 2025 as part of a five-year expansion plan at Los Angeles International, or LAX, the airline said in a statement. The carrier will add domestic and international flights as it ...

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• 12 July

  ‘Operator was trigger for Ukraine crash’

  Bloomberg An Iranian air defense unit that “forgot” to adjust its radar system triggered a chain of communication and human errors that led to the deadly downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet in January, according to a report from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO). Iran said it mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shortly after take-off, killing all ...

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• 12 July

  Hong Kong’s opposition says over 320,000 vote in primaries

  

  Bloomberg Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents defied concerns about social-distancing and a new security law to vote in two-day primaries held by pro-democracy opposition parties. More than 318,100 people voted electronically and at least 10,000 had used paper ballots as of 1 pm on Sunday, Andrew Chiu, convenor of organiser Power for Democracy, said at a press conference ...

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• 12 July

  China releases outspoken Xi critic from detention

  

  Bloomberg An outspoken critic of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party was allowed to go home after being detained by Beijing police about a week ago, the New York Times reported. Xu Zhangrun, a law professor at Tsinghua University, was released on Sunday, the newspaper cited two people familiar with him as saying. He was taken away by ...

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• 12 July

  ‘No compromise on 2016 sea victory against China’

  

  Bloomberg The Philippines will adhere without compromise to a 2016 court victory that nullified China’s claims in most of the South China Sea, its top diplomat said. “The award is non-negotiable,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin said in a statement on Sunday. He was commemorating the fourth anniversary of a Permanent Court of Arbitration’s decision which ruled China had ...

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