Business

Massive diamond mine opens in Canada’s far north

YELLOWKNIFE, United States (AFP) — De Beers officially opened one of the world’s largest diamond mines on Tuesday near the Arctic Circle in Canada’s remote far north. The Gahcho Kue mine is situated in the outback some 280 kilometers (174 miles) northeast of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. “It’s the largest diamond mine brought into production in the last 13 years and it’s the biggest outside South Africa,” De Beers chief executive Bruce […]

GoPro hopes to propel profits with Karma drone

  by Glenn Chapman SQUAW Valley, United States (AFP) — GoPro took to the sky Monday with a much-awaited drone called Karma in the hope of lifting profits which have been battered by competition from all sides.  The launch of the Karma drone, tailored for its first-person-action mini-cameras, and of improved Hero5 cameras comes on the cusp of the important year-end holiday shopping season which last year was a huge disappointment.  In the fourth quarter of 2015, […]

German central bank chief warns City of London on ‘hard Brexit’

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – British banks risk losing their automatic right to trade in EU states as the country leaves the European Union, Germany’s central bank chief said in an interview out Monday. Jens Weidmann suggested that if Britain left the European Economic Area (EEA) — a group of 31 European Union and other European states which allows them to be part of the single market — it could mean financial services companies moving […]

Exploding phone battery: Samsung begins S.Korea exchange

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – Samsung rolled out replacements for Galaxy Note 7s plagued by exploding batteries in South Korea on Monday, but only a handful of customers appeared to have taken the opportunity to swap their handsets. The world’s largest maker of mobile phones recalled 2.5-million units of its top-of-the-range model more than two weeks ago, after batteries began catching fire while charging. But users snubbed the South Korean electronics giant’s offer of a […]

European firms call for ASEAN FTA

European businesses are planning to expand their investment and operations in the ASEAN region but want to see more trade deals between the two regions according to a recent survey that polled 200 executives from European countries in the region. The latest annual EU-ASEAN business sentiment survey, finds that 74% of European businesses project a rise in ASEAN profits for 2016 and expect the region’s importance to global revenues to increase over the next five […]

Australia’s Port of Melbourne sold for $7.3 bln

  SYDNEY, Australia  (AFP) — An Australian-led consortium with Chinese investment won a 50-year-lease Monday on the nation’s biggest container and cargo port for Aus$9.7 billion (US$7.3 billion), the latest maritime asset to be privatised. The Port of Melbourne, which deals with more than 3,000 ships annually, was snapped up by a consortium including Australia’s second-largest wholesale funds manager the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) and multinational firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The Australian newspaper reported that GIP […]

iPhone launch generates excitement, frustration

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – by Glenn CHAPMAN with Rob Lever in Washington Apple delivered its new iPhones on Friday in a global launch marked by long queues at its retail stores but also frustration over the sellout of some models. The scenes in Apple stores around the world were reminiscent of earlier launches, generating both anticipation and disappointment, but it was unclear if the shortages were the result of strong demand or limited […]

Apple’s iPhone 7 launches; sold-out models leave some disappointed

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Apple’s iPhone 7 launch generated trademark queues and brisk sales Friday that defied gloomy expectations, with some enthusiasts left empty-handed after lining up for hours as the company announced some models had sold out. The new phone comes with an improved camera, no headphone jack, and a water resistant body as the US tech giant seeks to reverse declines in sales amid increased competition. There has been much chatter among Apple […]

Most Asian markets sink again, led by Tokyo

HONG KONG, China  (AFP) — Most Asian markets fell again Thursday, led by a more than one percent loss in Tokyo, ahead of key policy meetings in the United States and Japan next week. Traders worldwide are focusing on the central bank gatherings, hoping they will clear up some uncertainty about monetary policy in two of the world’s biggest economies. Equity markets have been hit by volatility the past week after two Federal Reserve officials suggested US […]

Juncker vows Brexit won’t kill off EU

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) – by Clément ZAMPA with Danny KEMP in Brussels European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday issued a rallying cry for unity after Brexit, saying the EU is not in danger of splitting up but must fight “galloping populism”. In his annual State of the Union speech, Juncker unveiled plans including a European Union defence headquarters in a bid to find common ground after a year of crisis and division in the bloc. […]

Samsung to limit recharging of faulty Note 7 batteries

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung said Wednesday it would limit recharging of the batteries of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to lower the risk of explosions in a measure apparently intended to jolt users into returning their devices following a recall. The South Korean electronics giant on September 2 suspended sales of its latest flagship smartphone and announced a recall of 2.5 million units already sold, after faulty batteries caused some handsets to explode […]

Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos unveils new rocket design

MIAMI, United States (AFP) – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos unveiled plans Monday for a massive rocket called New Glenn designed to launch people to space and propel satellites into orbit, raising the ante in the US commercial space industry. Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, said the rocket has been in the works for the past four years, and will be launched by decade’s end. At 270 feet (82 meters) high for the two-stage […]