Eskom’s plant shut down worsens power cuts amid nepotism concerns

Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd’s own mishandling of a repair contract led to the closure of its Camden power plant, a move that worsened power cuts by South Africa’s near-monopoly electricity provider, the company said. In its first detailed explanation of the shutdown, Eskom said the initial 635 million rand ($38 million) contract expired in 2018 amid questions about conflicts ...

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Sunrun sees Vivint deal as key to battery growth

Bloomberg Sunrun Inc, America’s largest residential-solar company, is about to become even bigger by acquiring one of its top rivals. The deal will also help redefine it as more than just an installer of rooftop panels and batteries. For Sunrun, buying Vivint Solar Inc is a way to accelerate a key objective: clustering thousands of batteries in dense areas that ...

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PG&E power lines caused California fire of 2019

Bloomberg Less than a month after emerging from bankruptcy triggered by a string of devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018, PG&E Corp has now been found responsible for California’s biggest blaze of 2019. The California energy giant’s power lines sparked the Kincade fire which burned 77,758 acres and destroyed 374 structures in Sonoma County wine country, the California Department of ...

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British Airways grounding its fleet of 747 jets for good

Bloomberg British Airways, the world’s biggest operator of Boeing Co 747-400s, is retiring its entire fleet of the jumbo jets with immediate effect because of the damage the coronavirus has done to air travel. “It is unlikely our magnificent ‘queen of the skies’ will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by ...

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Rolls-Royce gets union backing for 700 job cuts

Bloomberg Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has reached agreement with unions on up to 700 UK job cuts this year, with the rest of its planned downsizing made up by employees taking voluntary buyouts. The company announced in June it planned to eliminate 3,000 UK jobs this year. While more than that number applied for voluntary severance, the company will still make ...

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Delta seeks to cut pilot hours to avoid involuntary layoffs

Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc has proposed cutting the number of hours pilots fly each month by 15% to further reduce labour spending and help avoid involuntary layoffs as surging US coronavirus cases quash travel demand. The proposal offered to the Delta unit of the Air Line Pilots Association would remain in place for a year with hours flexing back ...

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Virgin Atlantic returns to skies bracing for 3-year slump

Bloomberg Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, fresh from getting a $1.5 billion rescue package, is anticipating a sluggish recovery in air travel that won’t see demand returning to 2019 levels for at least three years. The British carrier founded by Richard Branson is resuming passenger flights next week with trips to Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles. Widespread border restrictions ...

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CBL plans to file for bankruptcy protection

Bloomberg CBL & Associates Properties Inc, the owner of more than 100 shopping malls across the US, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The company has been negotiating with its lenders in an effort to enter Chapter 11 with a consensual restructuring agreement in place, said the people, who asked not to ...

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SAA money yet to be found, says South African minister

Bloomberg South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, said the government has yet to determine how the rescue of South African Airways (SAA) will be funded. His ministry and the National Treasury said they would mobilise the additional 10 billion rand ($599 million) the bankrupt airline’s administrators said is needed to effect the rescue. In a July 17 Twitter ...

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Asia’s world-beating stock rally has bulls betting on more gains

Bloomberg In a global market where hardly anything made sense this year, one trend seems to be supported by economic reality: Asian stocks’ outperformance versus the rest of the world driven by the region’s better containment of the coronavirus. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is set to beat the S&P 500 and the MSCI Europe Index for a second straight ...

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