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FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – German train drivers will hold a six-day strike this week, the GDL union said, the longest walkout yet in an escalating row with Deutsche Bahn over pay and working hours. The strike is due to start at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday and last until 1700 GMT on Monday. For freight services, the stoppage is due to begin at 1700 GMT on Tuesday, GDL said in a […]
BANGKOK, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Thailand has backtracked on an announcement that it found millions of tonnes of lithium deposits last week, with the government downgrading the scope of its discovery. On Friday, Bangkok announced it had found nearly 15 tonnes of lithium deposits at two sites in the southern province of Phang Nga, which would have ranked its reserves third in the world. But officials had instead discovered 14.8 million tonnes of mineral […]
By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, Jan 18, 2024 (AFP) – The US Congress green-lit temporary funding Thursday to thwart a partial government shutdown that threatened the functions of multiple key federal agencies and could have seen thousands of employees sent home without pay. With large sections of the government due to close at the end of Friday, the House of Representatives voted to keep the lights for at least another six weeks, approving a measure that […]
VIENNA, Jan 19, 2024 (AFP) – The Swiss watch that got Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger in trouble with German custom officials has been sold for 270,000 euros ($290,000), the actor’s charity said Friday. The action hero-turned-environmental campaigner was held at Munich airport Wednesday for failing to declare the bespoke Audemars Piguet timepiece that was being auctioned for his climate charity. Schwarzenegger called his brush with the law a “wild experience” at the charity dinner Thursday […]
By Deborah COLE BERLIN, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – Severe winter weather in northern Europe prompted the cancellation of hundreds of flights Wednesday at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest, while heavy snow in Scandinavia shut down air travel in Oslo for several hours. A Frankfurt airport spokeswoman said 570 of 1,047 flights had been axed by late morning as Germany’s business capital prepared for dramatic weather conditions. By early afternoon, all remaining departures were temporarily struck […]
TOKYO, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – Japan Airlines on Wednesday named former cabin attendant Mitsuko Tottori as its new president, becoming the first woman to head the carrier and a rare female leader at a major Japanese firm. Tottori, a senior managing executive officer who joined the airline in 1985, will take the helm from April 1, joining a tiny group of women leaders at Japan Inc. In a survey taken a year ago, only […]
By Roland JACKSON LONDON, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – British annual inflation unexpectedly picked up in December, data showed Wednesday, dashing hopes of an early cut to UK interest rates and prolonging a cost-of-living squeeze before an election. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) accelerated slightly to 4.0 percent from 3.9 percent in November, the Office for National Statistics said, confounding expectations for a modest slowdown. The news dented hopes the Bank of England would cut […]
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17, 2024 (AFP) – The World Trade Organization’s chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said she was “less optimistic” about world trade in 2024, pointing to tensions in the Red Sea. The head of the international trade body said weaker global economic growth, “worsening geopolitical tensions, the new disruptions we see in the Red Sea, on the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal” meant “we are less optimistic”. She was speaking to journalists at […]
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 16, 2024 (AFP) – Apple’s iPhone for the first time became the world’s biggest selling smartphone after rival Samsung’s 12-year run as leader, data showed. According to data from the International Data Corporation released on Monday, the iPhone stole Samsung’s crown in 2023 with 234.6 million units sold, compared to the South Korean firm’s 226.6 million units. The US tech giant commanded a 20.1 percent market share ahead of Samsung’s 19.4 percent, […]
Japan plans to double a fund used for disaster relief and other contingencies to $6.8 billion after a devastating New Year’s Day earthquake, the government said Tuesday, as snow worsened conditions for survivors. The 7.5-magnitude quake and powerful aftershocks killed at least 222 people in central Japan, laying waste to houses and infrastructure. In the Ishikawa region on the Sea of Japan coast, about 16,700 people were still stuck in limbo in shelters, many without […]
BRUSSELS, Jan 12, 2024 (AFP) – EU countries will next week discuss a plan to set up a naval mission to help protect Red Sea shipping following attacks from Yemen’s Huthi rebels, diplomats said Friday. The proposal — in the pipeline in Brussels for several weeks — was mooted before US and British forces struck rebel-held Yemen. Any EU effort would seek to complement a US-led coalition, which includes numerous countries from the bloc, already […]
LONDON, Jan 12, 2024 (AFP) – Oil prices surged four percent on Friday after US and UK forces launched strikes against Iran-backed Huthi rebels following their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, fuelling worries about a wider conflict in the crude-rich region. Tokyo and European stock markets ended the week with strong gains as traders brushed off data showing US inflation rose more than expected in December. Wall Street had ended flat on Thursday, […]
