Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd. plans to expand its international business after a three-year restructuring effort by Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce helped deliver record profits for the Australian carrier. The division, which was losing money before the turnaround, is now in a position to grow, Joyce, 50, said in an interview in Beijing with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. Joyce ...
Read More »Ryanair in talks with AlItalia, to fight Lufthansa deal
DUBLIN / Reuters Ryanair is in talks about providing connecting flights to AlItalia’s long-haul services and has raised objections with German authorities about a Lufthansa-Air Berlin tie-up, as it tries to ease its expansion in continental Europe. The Irish airline, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, is looking to add 11 million passengers in the year to March 2018 and ...
Read More »UK firm to build Iraq airport
Bloomberg Copperchase Ltd., a UK-based contractor, began the first phase of construction of an airport in central Iraq that will help ease travel for millions of religious pilgrims who visit the city of Karbala each year. The company is building a runway, terminal, control tower and other facilities at a cost of between $250 million and $500 million, Nahidh ...
Read More »American Airlines drops seat-back video screens
Bloomberg Passengers who want to watch a movie on American Airlines Group Inc.’s new 737 Max better bring a device to watch it on. The carrier said it won’t feature seat-back video screens on the Boeing Co. aircraft because almost all travelers now carry mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Satellite-based systems have improved on-board internet speed and access, which ...
Read More »Target tightens grip over chemicals
Bloomberg Target Corp. introduced a sweeping new policy governing chemicals in products, a move that will push hundreds of suppliers to list ingredients in everything from fragrances to floor cleaner. The guidelines include removing perfluorinated chemicals and flame retardants from textiles in the next five years, as well as eventually disclosing ingredients in all products. Target’s new rules come ...
Read More »Keeping ancient art live
Bursa / DPA Ercan Aksakal carefully picks up the coloured shadow puppet and examines the workmanship with an expert’s eye. It is a model for Karagoz, or “Black-Eye,” the protagonist and crowd-pleaser in Turkish shadow theatre. A coarse, crafty and forthright exemplar of the common people, Karagoz was also a favourite target of Ottoman censors in centuries past. Now ...
Read More »Smog pushes them to innovate for world!
BEIJING / AP Beijing residents concerned about breathing the capital’s thick gray air are adapting, inventing and even creating businesses to protect the health of their families and others. Some of their efforts could help people around the world. Already this year, the smog-shrouded capital has suffered particularly hazardous bouts of pollution caused mainly by coal burning and vehicle ...
Read More »Trump’s immigration actions mark sharp shift in US policy
WASHINGTON / AP President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging executive actions tightening border security— and the prospect of additional measures restricting refugee flows — mark a sharp shift away from Washington’s elusive efforts to forge comprehensive immigration legislation. “We do not need new laws,†Trump said Wednesday during remarks at the Department of Homeland Security. “We will work within the existing ...
Read More »Yemeni army captures air defence base from rebels
AL MOKHA / WAM With the support of the Arab Coalition, Yemen’s national army, has captured the air defence camp and continued its push in Al-Muhajir area, east of Al Mokha city, west of Taiz Governorate. Yemen’s official news agency quoted a military source as saying, “The army launched a major offensive on Al Houthi militia and Saleh group’s air ...
Read More »Austrian police arrest 8 over alleged IS links
VIENNA/ AP Austrian police arrested eight suspected terrorists on Thursday in a series of early-morning raids in the country’s two largest cities that mobilized heavily armed SWAT teams and hundreds of officers supporting them. A statement from the public prosecutor’s office in Graz, one of the cities involved, said those detained were suspected of involvement with the IS extremist ...
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