Latest News
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British Service - Dec 24
The following are the top stories on business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not validated these stories and does not attest their precision. The Times - British insurance company Aviva has reached an agreement to buy smaller sized rival Direct Line in a 3.7 billion pound ($ 4.64 billion) cash-and-stock offer that is anticipated to result in about 2,000 task cuts as the group transfers to record 125 million pounds of expense savings. - Frasers Group means to put forward a brand-new candidate for Boohoo's board after shareholders rejected the visit of founder Mike Ashley. The Guardian - Grocery store chain Morrisons is providing commitment card holders a 10% discount on an entire store after a glitch hit the marketing scheme and affordable prices on some items for all consumers. The Telegraph - Royal Mail supervisors have actually been accused of faking deliveries in order to preserve their annual bonus offers. - The new government of Mauritius is refusing to accept the Chagos offer unless it receives more cash, its deputy prime minister Paul Berenger has hinted, telling constituents that settlements with the UK were being held up over the amount of cash involved. Sky News - Chocolate maker Cadbury is among the brand names that have actually had their warrants withdrawn under King Charles and says it is dissatisfied after losing its royal warrant after 170 years. - The British economy is headed for the worst of all worlds as organizations expect activity to fall at the start of next year, according to the Confederation of British Industry ( CBI). The Independent - Peter Mandelson is said to be ready to work with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to assist him win over President-elect Donald Trump in his new role as UK ambassador to the U.S. and convince him not to target Britain with tariffs.
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What is the Panama Canal and why has Trump threatened to take it over?
Latin American leaders on Monday rallied to Panama's defense after U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump threatened to reimpose U.S. control over the Panama Canal, a crucial worldwide shipping route situated in the Central American nation. WHAT IS THE PANAMA CANAL? The Panama Canal is an 82-km (51-mile) artificial waterway that links the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through Panama, conserving ships countless miles and weeks of travel around the stormy, icy southern idea of South America. The journey for ships taking a trip from Los Angeles to New York is close to 8,000 miles (around 22 days) shorter by means of the canal compared to taking a trip through the Strait of Magellan off Tierra del Fuego, an island chain that embraces southern Chile and Argentina. The canal carries ships through the Gatun Lake, some 26 meters (85 feet) above water level, through a series of interconnecting locks. Each ship's transit requires some 200 million liters (53. million gallons) of fresh water. STRUCTURE THE CANAL Spanish colonizers started studying the construction of an. inter-oceanic canal cutting through the isthmus at its narrowest. point, in southern Central America, as early as the 1530s. However. it was not till 1878 that Colombia - which then counted Panama. as a province - signed a concession with French engineers. The French effort was ultimately a failure, declaring bankruptcy. in 1899. Around 22,000 employees lost their lives on the task,. many from illness and mishaps. In 1903 the U.S. looked for a long-term concession for a canal. from Colombia, which declined the proposal. In response, the. U.S. supported Panama's independence, which was stated on Nov. 3. Three days later, Panama's ambassador to Washington signed a. treaty approving the U.S. rights to develop and forever. administer the canal. The U.S. paid Panama $10 million and later on. a $250,000 annuity for the rights. Many Panamanians condemned. the treaty as an infringement on their newfound sovereignty. The U.S. building was mostly carried out by. Afro-Panamanian and Caribbean employees, over 5,000 of whom died. before the canal lastly opened in 1914. THE HANDOVER Throughout the 20th century, U.S.-Panama stress aggravated and. there were growing protests against U.S. control of the canal,. especially after the Suez Canal crisis in 1956, when British and. French strategies to get into Egypt after it nationalized the Suez. Canal were halted after U.S. pressure. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty with. Panamanian military leader Omar Torrijos that given Panama. totally free control over the canal and ensured the waterway's. permanent neutrality. This worked on Dec. 31, 1999. The canal has because been. administered by the Panamanian federal government's Panama Canal. Authority, and stays an essential income source for the nation. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS Climate change has added to increasing droughts that. have actually affected water levels in the lakes feeding the canal,. forcing the canal authority to limit transits as it stabilizes. Panamanians' water requirements. On Sunday, Trump threatened to reimpose U.S. control, mentioning. what he stated were excessive fees to use the canal and a danger of. Chinese influence. A subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. Holdings has actually long handled two ports near canal. entrances. It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it. has provisions, Trump said of the canal. If the concepts, both ethical and legal, of this. magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will. need that the Panama Canal be gone back to us, completely, rapidly. and without concern. PANAMA'S ACTION Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino rejected Trump's. hazard. He said the canal's tariffs were carefully and. transparently evaluated, which these maintain the canal and. helped broaden it in 2016, improving traffic and international trade. Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its surrounding. location comes from Panama and will continue to do so, he stated in a. statement on Sunday. Our country's sovereignty and independence. are not negotiable. The canal is not under any direct or indirect control from. China, the European community, the United States, or any other. power, Mulino added.
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Google's proposed search results page changes get thumbs up from EU airlines
Alphabet's. Google's proposed changes to its search results to adhere to. EU tech legislation has actually gotten the thumbs up from lobbying. group Airline companies for Europe whose members include Air France KLM. and Lufthansa. Google has actually revealed a series of modifications in search results page. formats in recent months following contrasting demands from. price-comparison sites, hotels, airline companies and little sellers,. with the latest tweaks announced last month. It is trying to abide by the Digital Markets Act (DMA),. which forbids it from favouring its own products and services. on its platform or risk fines as much as 10% of its international. yearly turnover. In the spirit of finding a DMA-compliant option in a. prompt fashion, the airline company industry has actually shown it wants to. compromise, Airlines for Europe said in a letter to the. European Commission dated Dec. 20 and seen . The airline group expressed assistance for the horizontal. layout for very same sized boxes for airline companies and comparison sites in. search engine result as well as the colour blue to distinguish them. from other components. But it stated costs displayed in search engine result should be the. same in the graphic as those in the boxes. It also expressed. issues about Google's proposal for a purely a sign date. rather than specific dates for consumers aiming to book. flights. Attributes such as dates are an integral part of the. general search process of customers looking for air travel and. the switch to a simply indicative date will downgrade their. experience considerably, the group. Google has stated it might return to an old format of 10 blue. links in search results page that it used years ago if its competitors -. such as airlines and cost comparison websites - can not agree on. its propositions to comply with the DMA and not promote its own. items.
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Greek legal representatives require further investigation into 2023 lethal shipwreck
Greek lawyers representing the survivors and victims of a lethal 2023 shipwreck stated on Monday a naval court needed to take a look at more evidence after a. initial investigation failed to clarify the case. Hundreds passed away on June 14, 2023, when an overcrowded fishing. trawler, kept track of by the Greek coastguard for several hours,. capsized and sank in global waters off the southwestern. Greek seaside town of Pylos. A local marine court, which opened a criminal examination. in 2015, has concluded an initial investigation and. referred the case to a primary district attorney, the legal representatives stated on. Monday, adding they had evaluated the proof analyzed by the. court up until now. The case file consists of severe gaps and omissions, they. stated in a declaration, including that the captain and the team of the. coastguard vessel keeping track of the migrant ship had actually been summoned. by the court, but not the coastguard authorities supervising them. Evidence, consisting of the record of interactions between the. authorities involved in the operation, was not consisted of in the. case file, they included. The lack of any examination into the duties. of the skilled search and rescue bodies and the leadership of. the Greek coastguard is deafening, they said. The primary district attorney will decide if and how the probe will. development. Under Greek law, district attorneys are not allowed to talk about. continuous investigations. The vessel, which had actually set off from Libya, was bring up to. 700 Pakistani, Syrian and Egyptian migrants bound for Italy. Just 104 individuals were rescued and 82 bodies found. Greece's coastguard has actually rejected any role in the sinking,. which was among the most dangerous boat disasters in the. Mediterranean Sea.
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Indian EV maker Greaves Electric Movement submits IPO papers
Indian electricvehicle maker Greaves Electric Mobility prepares to raise 10 billion rupees ($ 117.5. million) through a going public, according to the. draft papers it filed on Monday. Greaves Electric is known for its 'Ampere' brand of. e-scooters and also makes three-wheelers under a. different brand. The company's leading investor-- publicly noted Greaves. Cotton-- and investment group Abdul Latif Jameel Green. Mobility Solutions will sell around 189.4 million shares through. the IPO. Greaves Electric joins larger rival Ather Energy. in hopping onto India's primary problem bandwagon, with profits. more than doubling year-on-year to $17.5 billion by mid-December. this year, according to data compiled by LSEG. Ola Electric Mobility's IPO, the first by a. pure-play Indian EV maker, saw investors bid for 4.3 times the. shares available. Greaves Electric plans to invest the IPO proceeds into. product research study and development and construct battery assembly. capabilities, with a smaller part allocated to increase. producing capability. Prior to the concern, Greaves Cotton owned a 62.5% stake in. Greaves Electric, with Abdul Latif Jameel Green Movement. Solutions owning the rest.
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Black Sea oil spill volunteers in Russia ask Putin to send immediate aid
Volunteers helping to clean up a significant oil spill along Russia's Black Sea coast appealed in a video released on Monday for President Vladimir Putin to urgently send out federal aid, stating that they and local authorities were overwhelmed. The contamination, which has coated sandy beaches at and around Anapa, a popular summer season resort, has actually triggered serious issues for seabirds and everything from dolphins to cetaceans. The oil is from two ageing tankers hit by a storm on Dec. 15. Among the vessels split in half, while the other ran aground. On Thursday, Putin called the incident an ecological catastrophe and authorities from Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry say over 10,000 individuals are now involved in the clean-up. However a group of around 30 regional volunteers, who recorded their appeal on a beach strewn with sacks full of polluted sand, told Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that they thought the scale of the disaster was too huge for local authorities to cope and demanded Moscow send urgent aid. The regional authorities do not have the expert resources and technical methods to neutralise the consequences of such a large-scale catastrophe and have been required to compensate for the absence of manpower by utilizing volunteers with shovels, a. spokesperson for the group said, reading out a list of demands. He said professional clean-up workers required to be sent in. in addition to scientists specialising in contamination and. veterinarians to deal with seabirds. Russia, he stated, should also. attract other nations for assist with equipment. This is a cry from the soul. Such a catastrophe can not be. defeated with shovels, a female volunteer added in the same. video appeal. Alexander Kozlov, the minister for natural deposits and. ecology, checked out Anapa on Monday to oversee the clean-up and. stated that 366 products of equipment were being used in the. operation. State television said 40 km (25 miles) of coastline had already been. cleaned, but Kozlov stated the weather were hard. which oil was still washing up on beaches in spite of the. erection of barriers at sea to try to keep it from the coast. Scuba divers were due to examine among the tankers that entered into. problem on Dec. 15 to see if it was still leaking oil. State TV stated six dead dolphins had washed up on the coast. in the last 24 hr which an over night storm had actually ripped open. sacks loaded with polluted sand gathered by volunteers.
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Brazil airline company Gol upbeat on capacity as Boeing delivers new 737 MAXs
Brazilian airline company Gol is ending 2024 with good prospects for including capacity to its network, Chief Executive Celso Ferrer told Reuters, as planemaker Boeing delivered brand-new 737 MAX aircraft this month after long hold-ups. Gol, which is under insolvency defense in the United States, received three MAXs in December and expects to get another one in January, finally reaching the mark of 53 airplane it had actually hoped to strike a year ago. The carrier applied for Chapter 11 in early 2024, struck by a. fall in traffic due to COVID and delays in Boeing shipments. Earlier this month, it said it would submit a preliminary proposed. reorganization plan with a U.S. court. The shipment of these brand-new airplane will reinforce our. operation. Our focus now is to take advantage of the potential of. our current fleet, Ferrer stated. The new aircraft, at first slated for delivery early in the. second half of this year, represent a financial investment of around 1. billion reais ($ 163 million), the executive added. Airlines have been eager to include capability in order to satisfy. robust travel demand and restore their fleets to cut expenses, however. planemakers have actually been facing supply chain bottlenecks. and production disturbances. Boeing was specifically hit in 2024 with extra problems,. consisting of a seven-week strike, production security issues and. increased regulatory examination. The strike affected our plans, but we handled to overcome. it with short-term solutions, Ferrer stated, adding that Gol. increased capacity by 6.7% year-on-year in the third quarter. When the strike ended, Boeing managed to maintain the. shipment of 4 airplane in the short term, but there are still. unpredictabilities about the medium and long terms. The brand-new airplanes will reinforce Gol's operations in the. Brazilian high season and allow it to keep expanding its. worldwide network after adding destinations such as Bogota,. San Jose, Aruba and Cancun in 2024. We want to have more news to reveal in 2025 in our. global network, Ferrer stated, dubbing it a crucial focus for. the coming years. Gol, whose fleet is made up completely of 737s, is the largest. operator of Boeing aircraft in Latin America. The shipment. hold-ups seriously constrained the carrier's growth in 2023. Embraer and the Brazilian federal government this year. revealed the regional planemaker had held speak to potentially sell. its local airplane to Gol. Asked about the conversations, Ferrer kept in mind that Gol has. always operated only 737 aircraft which standardization has. been a vital part of the carrier's company model, but is. always examining options for other models.
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After Trump danger, Mexican president says Panama Canal belongs to Panamanians
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed support for Panama's federal government on Monday after U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal on Sunday. Undoubtedly, the Panama Canal belongs to the Panamanians, Sheinbaum stated, speaking during her routine early morning press conference. Sheinbaum's comments came one day after Trump accused Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Main American passage while speaking with a crowd of supporters in Arizona. After the event, he published an image on Reality Social of an American flag flying over a narrow body of water, with the comment: Invite. to the United States Canal! Trump's comments were an exceedingly rare example of a. U.S. leader saying he could press a sovereign country to hand. over area. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino swiftly denounced. Trump's comments. Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the. surrounding location comes from Panama and will continue belonging. ( to Panama), Mulino said in a statement released on X.
Suspect determined in fatal burning of a female on New york city City subway
A 33yearold Guatemalan person was detained on suspicion of murder and arson after a. lady was burned to death on a New York City subway train over. the weekend, authorities and federal authorities stated on Monday.
Sebastian Zapeta was detained about 6 hours after authorities. state he utilized a lighter to fire up the clothes of a woman who. appeared to be dozing on a fixed F train at the Coney. Island-Stillwell Opportunity subway station in Brooklyn.
The suspect entered the U.S. without authorization in 2018. and was deported to Guatemala a few days later on, and it was. uncertain when he unlawfully re-entered, the U.S. Department of. Homeland Security said in a declaration on Monday.
Police stated there appeared to have actually been no previous interaction. in between the foe, a Brooklyn guy, and the victim, who has. not been determined.
Zapeta remained in custody and it was not instantly clear if he. had a legal representative. He was detained on a subway train on Sunday. afternoon and had a lighter in his pocket, cops said. He was. due to appear in court to deal with charges on Monday or Tuesday.
Train workers and police officers who had been patrolling. the station utilized fire extinguishers to put out the flames that. swallowed up the female, who was stated dead at the scene.
The depravity of this horrific criminal offense is beyond. comprehension, and my workplace is devoted to bringing the. criminal to justice, Brooklyn District Lawyer Eric. Gonzalez said in a declaration on Monday. This gruesome and. ridiculous act of violence against a susceptible lady will be satisfied. with the most major effects.
The Department of Homeland Security declaration stated it would. pursue removal proceedings again whenever Zapeta was released. from New york city custody, which might consist of a prolonged prison. sentence if he is founded guilty.
(source: Reuters)