Pressure on Myanmar over Rakhine abuses

  Yangon / AFP Allegations that Myanmar soldiers are killing, raping and torturing villagers in Rakhine, a restive region that is home to the persecuted Muslim Rohingya, must be independently investigated, rights groups said. Northern Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since an attack on border guards three weeks ago left nine policeman dead. The government has blamed the ...

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Thousands queue to pay respects to late Thai king

  Bangkok / AFP Thousands of Thais streamed into the gates of Bangkok’s Grand Palace on Saturday as the public was granted its first chance to enter the throne hall where the body of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is lying in state. Bhumibol, who died aged 88 two weeks ago, was adored by many of his subjects and seen as an ...

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Pakistan sacks minister over ‘rift with army’

  Islamabad / AFP Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday removed a key minister from his cabinet over a media leak that sparked a rift between his government and the powerful army, his office said. Pervez Rasheed, the information minister, was asked to step down over his alleged role as a source for the report, which said civilian officials ...

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British Airways seeks US boost to help counter Brexit woes

  Bloomberg British Airways is betting on a trans-Atlantic boost from the weaker pound to help offset the negative impacts of the U.K.’s Brexit vote. BA’s dollar bookings will be worth more following sterling’s near 20 percent decline against the US currency, while there’s scope for higher fares as US carriers rein in capacity, Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of ...

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Kenya’s biggest retailer plans stake sale after debt rise

  Bloomberg Nakumatt Holdings Ltd., Kenya’s biggest retail chain, is in talks to sell as much as 25 percent of the business to reduce debt that more than tripled over the past five years as it expanded. The company, based in the capital, Nairobi, is in discussions with foreign and domestic investors that are expected to be concluded within weeks, ...

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China’s big three airlines see Q3 profits surge

  Shanghai / AFP China’s three biggest airlines all reported surging net profits in the third quarter, statements showed, as the country’s economy stablises. Net profit for China Southern, Asia’s biggest airline by fleet size, leaped to 3.31 billion yuan ($425.1 million) in the three months to September, nearly three times the 1.18 billion yuan made in the same period ...

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UPS drops after $5.3bn plane purchase

  Bloomberg United Parcel Service Inc.’s shares dropped after the package giant agreed to purchase freighter jets valued at $5.3 billion to continue its international expansion. Delivery of the 14 Boeing Co. 747-8 jumbos will begin next year, the Atlanta-based courier said in a statement. The planes will be used in international markets and allow the courier to bring smaller ...

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Southwest tumbles on bleak outlook for airfare pricing power

  Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. fell the most in three months and pulled down other carriers after reporting that a key revenue measure may tumble this quarter, raising doubts about a possible recovery in pricing power. Revenue from each seat flown a mile will decline as much as 5 percent in the last three months of the year after dropping ...

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Interjet may sell stake to United, American

  Bloomberg Interjet, Mexico’s third-biggest carrier, is in talks to sell an equity stake to American Airlines Group Inc. or United Continental Holdings Inc., said Chairman Miguel Aleman Velasco. Aleman Velasco declined to say how large a stake is for sale or what price it might fetch. No agreement has been reached, he told reporters Thursday in Mexico City. “We’re ...

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China’s ICBC suffers unexpected profit plunge

  Bloomberg Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s biggest lender by assets, let its bad-loan buffer sink further below a regulatory minimum to avoid reporting a bigger decline in third-quarter profit. ICBC’s bad-loan coverage ratio slumped to 136 percent, compared with a minimum of 150 percent, the bank told Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Net income fell 0.2 ...

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