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Riyadh / AFP A subsidiary of state-owned Irish airport operator daa has won the bid to operate Saudi Arabia’s first privately run terminal, official media in the kingdom and the company said. Colm Moran, CEO of daa International, signed the deal to manage and operate Riyadh’s Terminal 5 with Sulaiman al-Hamdan, president of regulator the General Authority of Civil Aviation ...

Washington / AP A UN panel approved a temporary ban on cargo shipments of rechargeable lithium batteries on passenger planes because they can create intense fires capable of destroying an aircraft. The decision by the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organisation’s top-level governing council isn’t binding, but most countries follow the agency’s standards. The ban is effective on April 1. “This ...

Sydney / AFP Australian carrier Qantas on Tuesday said first-half net profit soared 234 percent on the back of belt-tightening and lower oil prices, as it announced a Aus$500 million stock buyback to share the spoils with investors. The Aus$688 million (US$497 million) result comes on the heels of a ruthless cost-cutting drive that has seen thousands of jobs axed ...

New York / AFP US corporate major Honeywell has held talks to acquire United Technologies in a deal that would merge the two US industrial heavyweights with major aerospace operations, CNBC reported. Honeywell initiated the talks within the last two weeks, offering United Technologies a premium in stock and cash, the report said, adding that a deal could fall through in ...

NEW YORK / Bloomberg Sysco said that it will pay about $800 million to buy rival European food distributer Brakes Group, a deal which will help the company expand in the region. The companies valued the deal at $3.1 billion, when $2.3 billion of debt is included. Houston-based Sysco is purchasing Brakes Group from its private equity owner, Bain Capital. ...

OSLO / Relaxnews The Norway-based budget airline will start flying a nonstop Paris-New York route with introductory fares starting at $US175/€179 from July 29. Norwegian is also opening Paris-US routes connecting the French capital with Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. Low-cost airlines have now officially brought their price-crunching battle to long-haul routes. Already known for budget fares between several European ...

AFP Africa’s tropical forests are threatened by a palm oil bonanza that has already razed millions of old-growth hectares in Southeast Asia, Greenpeace France warned. The NGO called on European palm and rubber plantation giant Socfin, which controls vast tracts of tropical land in more than half-a-dozen African nations, to join other multinationals in adopted so-called “zero deforestation” policies. Dozens ...

AFP An artisanal pasta-maker in northeastern France is struggling to meet demand after adding a crunchy, protein-rich ingredient to the noodles: insects. “The name of the ingredient may be a turnoff, but it’s really delicious, especially with game meat,” smiles Alain Limon as he spreads cricket-flavoured fusilli on a drying rack. Limon, 52, is the only employee at the Atelier ...

Our Correspondent / EMIRATES BUSINESS Pasquale Natuzzi, Chairman, CEO and Chief Stylist of the Natuzzi Group – was very young when he started his career. The son of a cabinet-maker, at just 19 years of age he opened a workshop in Taranto with three collaborators, producing sofas and armchairs for the local market. Pasquale Natuzzi talking about his vision behind ...

our Correspondent / Emirates Business Smartphones are becoming central to our lives not only for communication and gaming but also for shopping, entertainment and managing utility needs. Over 80% of UAE residents use a Smartphone and spend a significant amount of time with it. In lieu of the upswing, UAE based startup Digital Concepts launched a new mobile app called ...