June, 2020

• 15 June

  The real reason to pull down Churchill’s statue

  Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics briefly united the world in Anglophilia. The Britain celebrated there seemed amused, multicultural, cool — the Britain of the Beatles, the National Health Service, Shakespeare and Mr Bean. There was, however, one strong dissonant note: the moment when, as a camera follows the Queen’s supposed helicopter from Buckingham Palace to the ...

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• 15 June

  UK reopening lags Europe due to quarantine: EasyJet

  

  Bloomberg EasyJet Plc said a travel restart in the UK is lagging behind the rest of Europe because a 14-day quarantine for people arriving in Britain puts off would-be travellers from flying. The Luton, England-based carrier is seeing strong demand away from its home market, Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Monday. EasyJet, which ...

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• 15 June

  Germany’s Condor to cut up to 1,000 jobs

  

  Bloomberg German airline Condor will cut about 15% to 25% of its staff in an attempt to slash operating costs amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, CEO Ralf Teckentrup told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The carrier formerly owned by failed travel firm Thomas Cook Group Plc plans to shed “between 650 and 1,000 jobs,” a move Teckentrup said was in line with ...

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• 15 June

  Lawmakers say British Airways job cuts a ‘national disgrace’

  

  Bloomberg UK lawmakers lashed out at British Airways over plans for 12,000 job cuts, saying the carrier had sought to exploit the coronavirus crisis to slash headcount and weaken employment terms for remaining staff. The House of Commons transport committee said in a report on the pandemic’s impact on aviation that while some workforce reductions were inevitable, BA had made ...

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• 15 June

  Uniqlo rolls out reusable mask line as retailers adapt to virus

  

  Bloomberg Asia’s largest retailer is betting that it has the right product at the right time: a Uniqlo face mask. Fast Retailing Co, operator of the clothing stores, will begin selling reusable face masks in Japan this week. The masks, which will sold in sets of three and retail for 990 yen ($9), aim for both performance and comfort, the ...

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• 15 June

  China Eastern announces plan to create new carrier

  Bloomberg China Eastern Airlines intends to establish a new airline in Hainan along with a group of other investors to take advantage of planned free-trade area and tourism growth, it says in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Shanghai-based carrier would be the majority shareholder in Sanya International Airlines. Other backers include the governments of Hainan province and ...

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• 15 June

  Portugal wants more power over TAP

  Bloomberg The Portuguese government wants more control over the stricken airline TAP SGPS SA in exchange for a rescue loan of as much as 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion), Expresso reported. The government, which already controls 50% of TAP, is in talks with private shareholders about the loan and should get a response early next week, the weekly newspaper said, ...

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• 15 June

  Johnson returns to Brexit with aim of firing up faltering talks

  

  Bloomberg British PM Boris Johnson was expected to step back into the Brexit fray on Monday as he held talks with the European Union’s top officials, with both sides looking to reset negotiations that have drifted into stalemate. In Johnson’s first direct intervention in the discussions since the UK left the bloc at the end of January, each side is ...

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• 15 June

  Russia sentences former US marine to 16 years for spying

  

  Bloomberg A Moscow court found former US Marine Paul Whelan guilty of spying and sentenced him to 16 years in prison Monday, according to a statement from his family. Prosecutors had asked for 18 years for Whelan, who says that he is innocent and that he was set up by a Russian Federal Security Service major who owed him 100,000 ...

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• 15 June

  Europeans tell Israel that annexation could cost it EU funding

  

  Bloomberg European officials have warned Israel that unilateral annexation of West Bank land may cost it lucrative European Union science research grants, according to Minister of Science and Technology Izhar Shay. Annexation, scheduled to begin next month, could endanger Israel’s continued participation in the EU’s Horizon grants program if the bloc retaliates by denying Israeli scientists access, Shay said in ...

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