October, 2016

• 4 October

  Myanmar scraps law used by junta to silence dissent

  

    Yangon / AFP Myanmar on Tuesday scrapped a law used by the former military government to silence political activists, which threatened jail for anyone who endangered public morality or execution for damaging telephone lines. The Emergency Provisions Act, passed in 1950 after Myanmar won independence from Britain, became the military’s weapon of choice to silence dissent during its half ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  10 countries host half of world’s refugees

  

    London / AFP Ten countries accounting for 2.5 percent of world GDP are hosting more than half the world’s refugees, Amnesty International said on Tuesday as it slammed what it called the selfishness of wealthy nations. In a report on the plight faced by the world’s 21 million refugees, the London-based human rights body lamented that countries immediately neighbouring crisis ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  EU parliament backs Paris climate deal

  

    Strasbourg / AFP The European Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed the ratification of the Paris climate deal, in a vote attended by UN chief Ban Ki-moon that paves the way for the landmark pact to come into force globally. The vote of 610 for, 38 against and 31 abstentions puts the European Union on track to hand over its ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  Airlines pin low-carbon future on fuels

  

    Bloomberg The airline industry’s plan to ease its impact on global warming hinges on fuels made from vegetable oil, corn and household garbage. The hitch: nobody has ever been able to produce the stuff in the volumes needed. JetBlue Airways Corp., United Continental Holdings Inc. and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group Ltd. have begun blending eco-friendly substitutes into traditional jet ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  Comair gains after sealing Etihad codeshare pact

  

    Bloomberg Comair Ltd. rose to a 14-month high after the South African airline’s budget unit signed a codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways for routes between Johannesburg and coastal cities including Cape Town and Durban. Comair gained as much as 8.8 percent to 4.20 rand, the highest since July 2015, and traded 6.2 percent higher in Johannesburg. About 75,000 shares ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  Southwest pilot accord in jeopardy after new Delta agreement

  

    Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co.’s tentative labour agreement with its pilots, reached after more than four years of negotiations, may be in danger now that Delta Air Lines has a pending deal that would pay its aviators more. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association is seeking to reopen some sections of an accord reached Aug. 29 and has requested a meeting ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  Russian Airline owner to challenge Musk, Bezos in space

  

    Bloomberg A Russian airline entrepreneur wants to join the space race, challenging Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin LLC with a plan to launch commercial rockets. S7 Group, the owner of Russia’s S7 Airlines, agreed to buy the floating rocket platform Sea Launch from a group of investors and aims to restore its operations ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  RBA keeps interest rates on hold at 1.5%

  

    AFP Australia’s central bank kept interest rates at a record low on Tuesday in the first meeting for newly-minted chief Philip Lowe, amid solid domestic growth and signs that commodity prices have passed their trough. Australian growth has remained robust despite the economy’s uneven transition away from mining-driven expansion, but a recent run of sluggish inflation figures drove the ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  RBI cuts key lending rate to 6.25%

  

    AFP India’s central bank cut interest rates to a six-year low on Tuesday, as the International Monetary Fund predicted the Asian giant would maintain its position as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The rate decision was expected to please Narendra Modi’s government who had become frustrated at the pace with which recently-departed Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Rajan ...

  Read More »
• 4 October

  Laurentian to merge branches in restructuring

  

    Bloomberg Laurentian Bank of Canada, claiming traditional banking is becoming “obsolete,” will merge 50 branches and eliminate about 300 positions in the next 18 months as part of a restructuring. Laurentian must evolve to meet the changing needs of customers, who have reduced branch visits, the Montreal-based lender said Wednesday in a statement. Increased economic and regulatory hurdles, along ...

  Read More »