Bloomberg UK oil-service provider Petrofac Ltd must pay a $95 million penalty by a London judge for failing to prevent bribery between 2011 and 2017. The penalty includes a $64 million fine and a $31 million confiscation order. The levy comes after the company pleaded guilty to seven bribery offenses, in a deal with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO). ...
Read More »A Walmart-Home Depot merger does make sense
Should Walmart Inc merge with Home Depot Inc? There may be a container ship worth of reasons for them to consider it. Walmart and Home Depot are among US retailers that have grown so frustrated with the limited space on container ships and rising cost of ocean shipping that they’ve begun chartering their own vessels to speed the journey from ...
Read More »US’ superstar cities ain’t like before
The first big data release from the 2020 Census in August contained some positive news about America’s biggest cities. The biggest of them, New York, turned out to have hundreds of thousands more people than the annual population estimates made by the Census Bureau had projected. Not one of the country’s 10 largest cities lost population between 2010 and 2020, ...
Read More »Soaring heat is killing farm workers in US
On June 26, the temperatures south of Portland, Oregon, approached 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius). That didn’t stop Sebastian Francisco Perez, a Guatemalan farm worker, from going to work moving irrigation lines at a nursery. At some point, as the scorching afternoon dragged on, he collapsed and died. When Occupational Safety and Health officials turned up to write a ...
Read More »Macron’s European goals need a new plan
In true Jupiterian style, French President Emmanuel Macron said nothing publicly when the Aukus debacle erupted, letting his ministers and European partners do the talking after Australia scrapped a $66 billion submarine deal with Paris in favour of an American-led alliance in the Indo-Pacific. Yet now that there’s a power vacuum opening up in Europe, as Germany’s Angela Merkel bows ...
Read More »Airline industry aims net-zero carbon emissions by 2050
Bloomberg The airline industry’s main lobby group adopted a target of eliminating carbon emissions on a net basis by 2050, a goal that will require balancing the fight against climate change with the need to spur demand in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Current airline targets aren’t ambitious enough, International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh said ...
Read More »Qantas kicks off 100-plane order worth more than $9b
Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd kicked off a process to buy more than 100 new planes worth in excess of $9 billion as it pushes ahead with plans to start ultra-long flights halfway around the globe. The airline will bring in the new aircraft by 2034 to renew its aging domestic fleet of Boeing Co 737-800s and smaller Boeing 717s. Qantas ...
Read More »SpiceJet plans fleet expansion as carrier nears break-even
Bloomberg SpiceJet Ltd Chairman Ajay Singh wants to expand the company’s fleet of passenger jets and cargo haulers as the Indian airline’s financial performance recovers after a punishing stretch during the pandemic. Singh said the no-frills carrier has a “reasonable chance†of reaching break-even this quarter through December thanks to a combination of cost cuts, renegotiated aircraft leases, an uptick ...
Read More »Delta yet to take decision on worker shots under US order
Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc hasn’t decided yet how it will handle a federal mandate for coronavirus vaccinations for workers at certain companies, saying there are “different ways†to make sure 100% of its employees get the shots. Delta’s delay splits from other US airlines such as American Airlines Group Inc, JetBlue Airways Corp and Alaska Air Group Inc that ...
Read More »French Connection accepts $40m offer
Bloomberg French Connection Group Plc accepted a $40 million takeover approach from a group of bidders that includes the struggling UK fashion retailer’s second-largest shareholder. Directors of the retailer unanimously recommended the 30-pence-a-share offer from a consortium, which includes Apinder Singh Ghura, Amarjit Singh Grewal and KJR Brothers Ltd. The group announced the bid on September 23. French Connection kicked ...
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