Credit Panic Hits Global Markets Credit-market turmoil sent fresh shock waves around the globe today, with funds in America, Australia and France warning over losses or blocking redemptions to halt a fire-sale of assets. Eq... Read Full Article A Less Stylish Approach To RFID Metro Group, the giant German grocery and consumer goods retailer, has been a leader in applying RFID tags to shipments of goods to track their progress through its distribution chain.... Read Full Article Iraq Parliament Purges Hussein Vestiges On Flag Iraqi lawmakers adopted a modified version of the national flag Tuesday, removing three stars that symbolized Baathist ideals and Saddam Hussein’s handwritten calligraphy.... Read Full Article World Briefing | Asia: Japan: Abe Delays National Election Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delayed the critical upper house election by a week, to July 29 from July 22, by extending Parliament’s current session by 12 days, in what was seen as a desperate move to re... Read Full Article A Young Shepherd’s Ageless Trek One of several New York presentations of ?Amahl? this season was mounted at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola as part of its valuable series Sacred Music in a Sacred Space.... Read Full Article |
Alliance NewsBritish Airways discuss US tie-upBritish Airways is expected to forge an alliance with Continental Airlines after yesterday admitting it is exploring opportunities to cooperate with the US carrier as well as American Airlines, its current oneworld partner.Read Full Article NATO Accuses Russia of Stirring Tensions in Rebel Georgia AreasRelations with Russia have been strained by calls for NATO to expand by accepting Ukraine and Georgia, formerly part of the Soviet Union, into the alliance.Read Full Article Eos bankruptcy filing signals end to cheap executive travelEos, the premium airline that flew between London and New York, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last night, a move that appeared to signal the end of cut-price executive-only flights across the Atlantic. The American carrier’s flights were suspended last night, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Stan-sted and John F Kennedy airports. The grounding of Eos follows the collapse of Maxjet last December and the announcement that Silverjet, which operates from Luton, is seeking a bailout from new investors. L’Avion, which flies from Paris to New York, is also thought to be struggling. Last night it emerged that mainstream carrier Continental Airlines had withdrawn from merger talks with United Airlines amid concerns about United’s financial health in the face of high oil prices. Continental is now focused on a possible alliance with British Airways and American Airlines. All four of the pure business class airlines were launched over the past couple of years to take advantage of a boom in business-class travel between Europe and the United States. They hoped to take on the established transatlantic carriers such as British Airways and Virgin by offering services tailored to business-class travellers. However, sustained high oil prices have pushed up operating costs while the worsening economic environment has reduced demand for premium air travel and the new carriers struggled to compete with better-capitalised rivals. Eos occupied the top end of this niche market and flew only 48 passengers on its Boeing 757s, styling itself a budget-first class service. Silverjet, the last of the British all-business-class carriers, flies 100 passengers on its larger 767 aircraft and charges from £999 for a business-class return – about a third of a typical BA business-class fare. None of the three premium-only carriers that operated from Britain has ever made a profit. In regulatory filings in America, Eos said that it had lost $37 million ($£18.6 million) in the first nine months of last year on revenue of $53 million. Silverjet was losing about $£1 million a month and its share price has fallen from a peak of £2.09 last March to 14p. A spokesman for Silverjet said: “We are a different model to Eos and we remain very confident of continuing to fly.” Eos, which was founded by David Spurlock, a former British Airways executive, was the first of the low-cost business operators to launch, starting flights in October 2005, and it raised $212 million from private equity groups and individual investors. Eos had begun to edge its way into the City$’s favours and is thought to have been included on the preferred airline lists of a number of big institutions. However, it still needed additional financing and approached its original investors seeking more money this month. When that move failed, Eos approached rival airlines, including BA and Virgin, to propose a takeover. It found no interest. Jack Williams, the chief executive of Eos, said: “There are times when even though you execute your business plan, external forces prevent you from controlling your own destiny.” Rising oil prices are causing havoc in the airline industry and Eos is the seventh carrier in two weeks to seek bankruptcy protection or go bust.Read Full Article Poland’s delicate balance of risk and reward; or how to have your cake and eat itYou could say that Poland is trying to have it both ways, in wanting to exercise the clout of a big country and to claim the privileges of a developing one. But it would be hard not to be moved by the balancing act that the new reform-minded Government is trying to pull off in its foreign policy, courting allies with calculation, and yet inspired overall by an intense desire to be part of any Western alliance that’s going.Read Full Article DealBook: S.E.C. Sues Trader for False Rumors About Alliance DataRegulators said they charged a trader with spreading false rumors about the buyout of Alliance Data Systems last fall and winter, causing the credit card processor’s stock to fall.Read Full Article External News for: allianceLabour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reform - The GuardianThe GuardianLabour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reformThe GuardianLabour will suggest for the first time that it is willing to form an alliance with Tory rebels to put back the date of the planned May 2011 referendum on ...and more »Labour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reform - The GuardianThe GuardianLabour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reformThe GuardianLabour will suggest for the first time that it is willing to form an alliance with Tory rebels to put back the date of the planned May 2011 referendum on ...and more »Moldova referendum scuttled - Aljazeera.netAljazeera.netMoldova referendum scuttledAljazeera.netFilat said the failure of the referendum was not due only to the boycott called by the Communists, but also to splits within the Alliance. ...Moldovan referendum appears to flop on low turnoutReutersValidity of Moldovan poll under threat from low turnoutIrish TimesMoldovans Vote in Referendum on PresidencyVoice of AmericaCBC.ca -www.worldbulletin.netall 80 news articles »Labour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reform - The GuardianThe GuardianLabour hints at alliance with Tories to delay voting reformThe GuardianLabour will suggest for the first time that it is willing to form an alliance with Tory rebels to put back the date of the planned May 2011 referendum on ...and more »Moldova referendum scuttled - Aljazeera.netAljazeera.netMoldova referendum scuttledAljazeera.netFilat said the failure of the referendum was not due only to the boycott called by the Communists, but also to splits within the Alliance. ...Moldovan referendum appears to flop on low turnoutReutersValidity of Moldovan poll under threat from low turnoutIrish TimesMoldovans Vote in Referendum on PresidencyVoice of AmericaCBC.ca -www.worldbulletin.netall 80 news articles »Maliki's chief Shiite rivals choose candidate to vie for his job - Los Angeles TimesKansas City StarMaliki's chief Shiite rivals choose candidate to vie for his jobLos Angeles TimesBut the Iraqi National Alliance coalition names a current vice president, Adel Abdul Mehdi, as its choice. Reporting from Baghdad — After months of ...Shiite bloc names new candidate for Iraqi PMThe Associated PressIraqi National Alliance Puts Forward New Candidate for Prime MinisterAntiwar.comIraq's Future: The Kurdish PerspectiveCNN (blog)Yemen News Agency -DAWN.comall 181 news articles » |
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