June, 2016

• 12 June

  Air France says 80% of flights maintained

  

    Paris / Bloomberg Air France, hobbled by a strike involving more than a quarter of its pilots, said about 80 percent of its flights would operate on Saturday and Sunday. Air France-KLM Group’s French arm will maintain more than 80 percent of scheduled long-haul flights and about 70 percent of European services on Sunday, it said in a statement, ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Harps Food buys three former Wal-Mart stores

  

    New York / Tribune News Service Anne Hatfield, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, didn’t immediately respond to a Globe phone call and email messages. The Express stores that were closed were much smaller than what Wal-Mart calls a supercenter. The Express stores were 12,000-15,000 square feet compared with 180,000 square feet sported by the big stores. Noel Mayor John Lafley ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Pioneering solar pilots ‘make sci-fi a reality’

  

    New York / AFP The Swiss pilot readying to cross the Atlantic in a solar-powered plane on the next leg of a record-breaking, round-the-world mission says he is making science fiction reality. Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist and balloonist, will next command Solar Impulse 2 when meteorologists determine the best five-to-six day window for the ocean crossing from New York ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Amazon to discuss music service with labels

  

    Washington / Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. is discussing plans for a stand-alone music service, separate from its Prime subscription, with record labels, according to a person familiar with the matter. The technology giant hasn’t reached any deals yet, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The $9.99-a-month service may be introduced in the coming months, ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Bahrain braces to become textile hub

  

    Tribune News Service Bahrain is going to be the hub of a new $200 million textile business spread across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. MRS Fashions, which has been putting Bahrain on the global fashion map for the past 16 years through its manufacturing unit in the kingdom, is now setting up its new regional head ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  B’desh embassy plea on Manama hiring rules

  

    Manama / Tribune News Service A foreign embassy has appealed to Bahraini authorities to relax recruitment procedures for its citizens, which it claimed led to exploitation and were so time-consuming that diplomats had no time for anything else. It has emerged that unscrupulous agents are conning Bangladeshi labourers out of almost a month’s salary to complete the procedures, which ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Egypt to end local wheat buying on Wednesday

    CAIRO / Reuters Egypt will end local wheat buying on Wednesday, earlier than usual, due to exceeding its target of 4 million tonnes, the supplies ministry said on Saturday. “Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafi pointed out that the door for receiving local wheat from farmers will close at the end of Wednesday due to lowering local procurement rates,” the ministry ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Brexit outcome too close to call with undecideds seen as key

  

    Bloomberg   British public opinion is too close to call on whether the country should stay in the European Union, with many voters still undecided as interest groups and political leaders make their cases, according to two polls released this weekend. An online survey by Opinium for the Observer newspaper showed 44 percent support Britain remaining in the 28-nation ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  ‘Please don’t go,’ Germany’s leading magazine urges Britons

  

    Bloomberg Germany’s biggest news magazine Der Spiegel threw its hat into the Brexit ring with a special edition, thicker and cheaper than usual, adorned with an image of the Union Jack and the German plea “Bitte geht nicht!” or “Please don’t go!” The issue that hit newsstands on Saturday costs 2 pounds, rather than the usual 5.20, in Britain ...

  Read More »
• 12 June

  Greek TV stations face sign-off in licensing row

  

    AFP Greece is in the grip of a row over television, with the government under attack for plans to slash the number of private channels in a sector that was hit hard by the financial crisis. Authorities say they want to clean up an industry known for its workforce exploitation and rumoured under-the-table deals between media moguls, bankers and ...

  Read More »