These are tough times for Theresa May on the road to Brexit. The prime minister is facing a rebellion from lawmakers in her own Conservative Party over her secrecy about strategy, while her lawyers had a difficult first day as the Supreme Court began considering if she or Parliament has the right to start the exit talks. A Labour ...
Read More »Why are China’s fish disappearing?
It sounds like something out of a dystopian novel: The fresh fish in many of Beijing’s biggest supermarkets simply disappeared last week, as if summoned to another realm. Social media buzzed with alarm and paranoia. The Beijing News placed a photo of an empty aquarium and an underemployed fishmonger on its front page. The truth turned out to be ...
Read More »Amazon Go: Where the checkout lines go away
Have you watched that new video of Amazon Go, the store in test mode in Seattle where you just pick up stuff (prepared food and drinks, mostly) and walk out? I have, again and again. It’s pretty hypnotic, especially with the sound off. The gist of it, in case you don’t feel like watching right now, is that you ...
Read More »Indonesia’s elephant patrols
Lampung / AFP It was the middle of the night when the villagers sounded the alarm: a huge Sumatran elephant was raiding their rice fields, and they needed urgent help to drive it back to the forest. Dodot — a veteran Indonesian elephant keeper trained to handle such emergencies — rushed to the scene, fearing villagers would take matters ...
Read More »Saffron, the crisis-beating spice of rural Spain
Minaya / AFP On the arid, wind-swept plateau of central Spain, saffron producers are reaping the benefits of a return to favour of the precious spice introduced by Arabs in the Middle Ages. After a lull in production due to the high cost of growing saffron in Spain, farmers are now back in business as customers have started seeking ...
Read More »Jet Airways seeks $300mn fund for expansion on int’l routes
Bloomberg Jet Airways India Ltd., the carrier part-owned by Etihad Airways PJSC, is seeking to raise about $300 million to fund expansion on international routes, people with knowledge of the matter said. Jet Airways, India’s second-largest airline by passengers, has started talks on a potential equity fundraising from investors other than Etihad, the people said, asking not to be ...
Read More »China needs 5,550 new pilots a year as travel soars
Bloomberg Airlines in China need to hire 5,550 pilots a year for the next two decades as new plane orders and demand for air travel surges, according to Boeing Co. With the nation on course to eclipse North America as the world’s largest travel market, China will need 111,000 new aviators through 2035, Boeing said in a forecast released ...
Read More »Airbus must deliver 16 A350s to reach target
Bloomberg Airbus Group SE may deliver 16 A350 wide-body planes in December, or four times the monthly average so far this quarter, if the European planemaker is to meet its goal of 50 handovers for 2016 after bottlenecks at key suppliers disrupted production. Airbus dispatched four A350s in November, the same as in October, with Qatar Airways Ltd., Cathay ...
Read More »Buffett’s Wal-Mart ‘stake’ signals Amazon holiday threat
Bloomberg When Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Vice Chairman Charles Munger lamented the mistakes made in the company’s first 50 years under Warren Buffett, he cited the failure to buy Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stock early enough in the retailer’s history. Judging by recent events, Buffett doesn’t think Wal-Mart is such a great idea for his company’s next half-century. Berkshire said last ...
Read More »Denmark heads towards an economic ‘boom’
Bloomberg After half a decade of negative interest rates, Denmark’s economy is headed for an economic “boom†and risks running out of the labor resources needed to support sustainable growth, the central bank said on Wednesday. “The Danish economy is in a solid upswing, and as the signs of labor shortage are becoming still clearer, the structural government budget should ...
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