Business

Photo Story: Chaos at Duesseldorf Airport

Hundreds of suitcases are left in the check-in area of the international airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, 17 July 2019. A technical malfunction in baggage handling meant numerous travellers had…

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PayPal launches international money transfer service Xoom across Europe

U.S. payments company PayPal is expanding further in Europe by launching its international money transfers service Xoom in 32 countries across the continent. Xoom allows customers to transfer money abroad…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

The EU’s powerful antitrust authority launched an in-depth investigation into Amazon on Wednesday, amid suspicions the US-based online behemoth misuses merchant data hosted on its website. France 24 / Reuters In…

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British Public Health issues advice to people travelling to Egypt

The British Public Health England (PHE) is issuing advice to people travelling to Egypt after a number of people, including children, have returned with a serious illness caused by E.…

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Microsoft Malta Supports MITA’s Student Placement Scheme

Microsoft Malta today pledged its support to this year’s MITA’s Student Placement Scheme launched at Esplora in Bighi with a special induction day during which Microsoft showcased its Virtual…

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Privacy concerns as Faceapp challenge goes viral

Everyone’s suddenly posting pictures of what they might look like when they’re old. People are posting results on Twitter, and it’s provided a few good laughs in our work chat.…

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US Air Force on alert around Area 51

The US Air Force has told people not to go near Area 51 after more than a a million people have replied to an event on Facebook, threatening to…

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Plans to increase the number of British female entrepreneurs have taken a leap forward

Plans to increase the number of British female entrepreneurs by half have taken a leap forward, with major banks and venture capital firms signalling their support. Royal Bank of Scotland,…

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Libyan oil revenue drops to 11.2%

Libya’s oil revenue dropped 11.2% to 14.3 billion dinars ($10,2 billion) in the first six months of 2019, compared with the same period last year, the Libyan central bank announced…

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Marriott Hotels joins the movement against straws

Not all single-use plastic use is equally problematic. When a ferry company banned plastic straws, there was a particularly obvious reason to celebrate—because straws on ferries are much more likely…

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Ryanair announces scaling-down of some its services and stop flying to certain airports due to Boeing 737 MAX crisis

Ryanair says delays to deliveries of the crisis-hit Boeing 737 MAX means it must scale back some of its services. The airline said it was identifying loss-making or poorly-performing bases…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

Ryanair says delays to deliveries of the crisis-hit Boeing 737 MAX means it must scale back some of its services. CD A total of 1,575,472 passengers travelled between Malta…

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Acting IMF chief backs monetary easing by central banks in view of slow growth and global risks

David Lipton, the acting IMF chief, has backed new monetary stimulus by the world’s top central banks to sustain the flagging global economy — in a thinly veiled nod to…

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Huawei announce investment of $3.1 billion in Italy

Huawei Technologies announced it would invest $3.1 billion in Italy over the next three years, as the Chinese telecoms giant called on Rome to ensure the “transparent, efficient and fair”…

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Photo Story: Preview of Bank of England’s new 50 GBP note

An undated handout photo made available by the British Bank of England on 15 July 2019 showing the new concept image design of the Bank of England's 50 GBP note…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

Inbound tourist trips in Malta, for the first five months of 2019 amounted to 929,979, an increase of 2.8 per cent over the same period in 2018. Total tourism expenditure…

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Bitcoin drops more than 10% as scrutiny of cryptocurrencies grows

Bitcoin slumped more than 10% over the weekend to a two-week low as fears of a crackdown of cryptocurrencies grew on mounting scrutiny of Facebook’s planned Libra digital coin. Bitcoin…

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Zurich Airport’s hub status is “at risk”

Zurich Airport risks losing its hub status if flight time restrictions are rolled out, warns the CEO of Lufthansa, the German parent company of Swiss International Air Lines. Carsten Spohr…

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Campbell Soup to Sell Danish Snacks Manufacturer Kelsen To Ferrero

Campbell Soup has announced it will sell its Danish baked snacks manufacturer Kelsen Group to CTH Invest, a Belgian holding company affiliated with the Nutella maker Ferrero, for $300 million.…

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China’s economy slows down

China's economy grew at its slowest pace since the early 1990s in the second quarter, official figures showed. In the three months to June, the economy grew 6.2% from a…

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Huawei planning extensive layoffs in the United States

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is planning extensive layoffs in the United States as the Chinese telecoms equipment company grapples with its U.S. blacklisting, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing…

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Fresh crackdown in the UK in fight against dirty money

The British government is giving new impetus to the fight against money laundering. Through the Economic Crime Plan the British Government intends to draw together actions to overhaul the approach…

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Media Freedom Coalition launched to address attacks on journalists

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the launch of the new Media Freedom Coalition. Following their landmark Global Conference for Media Freedom, Foreign Secretary Jeremy…

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Kuwait moves to protect its ports

Kuwait’s navy and ports authority will prepare security plans to protect the key OPEC exporter’s ports, state news agency KUNA reported, amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West. A joint cooperation protocol was…

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Fitch Revises Malta’s Outlook from Stable to Positive; Affirms at ‘A+’

Credit Agency Fitch expects high economic growth in Malta to be sustained in the medium term, and estimates potential growth at around 4%. In its statement, Fitch said that with…

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Nike’s ‘Moon Shoes’ expected to fetch over US$160,000 in auction

A rare pair of Nike “Moon Shoes” could fetch as much as $160,000 in an auction held by Sotheby’s. The New York auction house is allowing collectors to bid on…

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Italy’s Tria hopes Atlantia will buy a stake in Alitalia

Italy’s Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said he hoped infrastructure group Atlantia would buy a stake in Alitalia, the troubled airline company the government is struggling to rescue. After meeting on…

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Second Chinese cybersecurity centre opens in Brussels

China’s ZTE is opening a cybersecurity centre in Brussels, four months after a similar move by Huawei. ZTE said in a press release that its “lab” will be installed…

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Dutch Justice Minister wants to reduce open air festivals to curb drug use

Dutch Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus has said that the government needs to ‘think critically’ about whether the Netherlands should continue to hold 1100 festivals a year, in order to…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

Donald Trump has launched a stinging attack on cryptocurrencies, including Facebook’s proposed Libra coin, and warned that the social media network might be subject to full banking regulation if it…

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France approves tech companies tax act

The French Senate endorsed the so-called GAFA act which would target Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and other major tech companies with a 3% percent tax. It's the first time a…

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Over a Coffee . . . with Dr Konrad Xuereb, Architect & Structural Engineer

“Pedestrian bridges do not only connect people to places but also with each other, causing the bridge to become a destination for human interactions. I like calling this an exercise…

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BOE believes British banks can cope with no-deal Brexit

British banks hold enough capital to cope with a simultaneous disorderly no-deal Brexit and global trade war, the Bank of England said on Thursday as part of its half-yearly assessment…

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Microsoft opens first retail store in Europe

Microsoft’s Flagship Store in London opened today, with crowds expected to flock to Oxford Circus to get their hands on the company’s latest technology and experiences. This is Microsoft’s…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

Good afternoon These are some of the main stories from the corporate and financial world. Maltese financial services sector registered a 9.5% growth - Business Today Oil prices hit a six-week…

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Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer to step down

Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew is to step down at the end of the year, chief executive Michael O’Leary said in a memo to staff on Thursday seen by…

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Norwegian Air CEO steps down

Norwegian Air’s CEO Bjoern Kjos stepped down on Thursday as chief executive of the airline he co-founded and turned into Europe’s third-biggest budget carrier by passenger numbers. He will have…

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Ryanair sees risk if Boeing 737 MAX grounded beyond November

In an interview with Reuters, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary warned on the impact of the prolonged grounding of Boeing Co's 737 MAX on the airline's growth plans may start…

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Malaysia looks to revamp its gambling laws

As concern grows in Malaysia due to illegal gambling, authorities are taking action to stop the activity before it gets worse. In order to do so, lawmakers are going to…

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US launches investigation into France’s plan to tax tech companies

US President Donald Trump has ordered an investigation into France's planned tax on tech giants - a move that could result in retaliatory tariffs. The US inquiry could pave the…

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EU’s 2018 bank stress test considered too mild

Last year’s European Union bank stress test did not appropriately reflect systemic risks, EU auditors said on Wednesday, a shortfall that may have produced misleading results for some lenders,…

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All top UK accountants fail audit quality test

All of Britain’s leading accounting firms have failed to hit quality targets set by their regulator for auditing company books for the second year in a row, with Grant Thornton…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

During the ﬁrst quarter of 2019, the Property Price Index (PPI) in Malta, increased by 6.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the NSO…

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Malta’s airport connectivity doubled in 10 years

Malta International Airport (MIA) has announced that three new routes are to be introduced this October. In a press release, Minister for Transport Ian Borg stated that three new routes…

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Denmark plans regulation of influencers

Denmark announced it is to regulate popular influencers after an Instagram star posted a suicide note online. The influencer, Fie Laursen, posted the note on Instagram, where she has more…

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Video footage released showing moment of deadly mid-air crash above the Alps

Italian police have released two videos of a crash between a helicopter and a light aircraft above the Alps in January that killed seven people, confirming their initial reconstruction. The…

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Mexican finance minister resigns

Mexico's finance minister has quit over differences with the country's president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. In a letter, Finance Secretary Carlos Manuel Urzúa Macías said there were many economic "discrepancies".…

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Sicily suffers from eurozone’s highest rate of youth economic inactivity

The Financial Times gives a detailed look at youth unemployment in Italy with emphasis to the situation in Sicily. One in four Italians aged 15 to 34 is not in…

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RT and Sputnik denied press passes for inaugural UK global media freedom conference

Russian state-funded news outlets RT and Sputnik have been denied press passes for the inaugural global media freedom conference to be held in London this week. The Foreign Office, which…

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South Korean chipmakers Samsung and Hynix might be spared Japan’s planned restrictions on Seoul

South Korean chipmakers may be spared the worst damage from Tokyo’s new trade restrictions on Seoul with Japanese officials saying the country plans to still grant export licences for all…

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Gold prices might reach $2000 by end of year

Gold prices can continue to climb even after they hit a multi-year high last week, a global investment strategist said Monday. In fact, prices are set to “reach $2,000 by…

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Midday Dispatch – Corporate and Financial News

The euro dropped to a three-week low against a broadly stronger dollar on Tuesday as investors re-assessed their expectations of how much the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates this…

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Malta – €687,795 raised for Dar tal-Providenza

€687,795 were raised during the 11th edition of the Volleyball Marathon in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza that took place between Friday 5th and Sunday 7th July in the parking lot…

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Midday Dispatch – Financial and Corporate News

Deutsche Bank laid off staff from Sydney to London on Monday as it began 18,000 job cuts in a 7.4 billion euro “reinvention” which Germany’s largest lender said would mean…

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£183 million fine for British Airways

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the U.K. data regulator, has fined British Airways 183 million pounds over a breach that compromised information on half a million customers. The airline, owned…

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Deutsche Bank axes whole teams in Asia-Pacific

Whole teams in Deutsche Bank’s Asian operations were told their positions were gone on Monday, as the lender began axing 18,000 jobs globally in one of the biggest overhauls to…

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African leaders launch landmark 55-nation trade zone

After four years of negotiations, African countries agreed to a free-trade deal that will unite 1.3 billion people, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new…

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