The Spanish government said Saturday it would welcome the participation of sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in regional elections to be held in December. Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told Reuters TV in an interview that if Puigdemont wanted to continue in politics, “which is his right, I think he should prepare for next […]
Read moreEasyJet has strengthened its position in Germany by agreeing to buy part of Air Berlin’s operations at Berlin Tegel airport, ending uncertainty over the fate of the failed airline’sremaining assets. EasyJet said late Friday it would enter into leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft, acquire take-off and landing slots, and offer jobs to staff, […]
Read moreSpain has sacked the chief of Catalonia’s regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero, as the government in Madrid takes control of the autonomous region to block its push forindependence. Madrid dismissed the Catalan government, took over the administration and called a new election after the region’s parliament declared independence on Friday. There have been doubts […]
Read moreWhile economists parse through every word from the Federal Reserve in the hopes of figuring out where interest rates are headed, a more telling indicator may be found in the commodities market; and it’s likely pointing to growth ahead. The copper-gold ratio, a metric that is calculated by dividing the price of copper by the […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Extent of VW emissions cheating discussed earlier than known: Spiegel
Volkswagen engineers told top managers that diesel emissions manipulations went far beyond issues in the United States two days before the carmaker made a public announcement to that effect in 2015, Der Spiegel reported Friday. Volkswagen (VW) admitted on September 20, 2015, to installing secret software in hundreds of thousands of U.S. diesel cars to […]
Read moreMajor oil CEOs called on OPEC to extend output cuts beyond March next year on Friday, arguing “huge volatility” in the energy market meant it would be imperative for the cartel to try to put a floor under prices. OPEC members are reportedly forming a consensus around extending their production cutting deal with other crude […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
UK government: North Korea was behind the WannaCry cyber-attack that crippled health service
North Korea was behind a cyber-attack that derailed Britain’s state-owned health service’s IT systems, the U.K. government said Friday. “I think we should perhaps remember that this attack, we believe quite strongly, that this came from a foreign state,” U.K. Security Minister Ben Wallace said. Asked which foreign state he believed was involved, Wallace said: […]
Read moreThe U.S. economy unexpectedly maintained a brisk pace of growth in the third quarter as an increase in inventory investment and a smaller trade deficit offset a hurricane-related slowdown in consumer spending and a decline in construction. Gross domestic product increased at a 3.0 percent annual rate in the July-September period after expanding at a […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
Quaker and Methodist minister acquitted of BAE criminal damage after ‘greater good’ defense
Two religious men have been acquitted of criminal damage at a U.K. defense site after arguing they acted for the greater good. Reverend Daniel Woodhouse and Samuel Walton broke into a BAE Systems site in northern England in January. After being caught before reaching any hardware, they said they were trying to disable Tornado jets […]
Read moreFOR MANY people, the Hollywood blockbuster “Top Gun” captures the allure of becoming a pilot. In it, fighter-pilot trainees don aviator sunglasses and flight suits, and zipp about the skies to a soaring 1980s soundtrack. But despite such pop-culture appeal, America’s Air Force is struggling to capture the imagination of would-be recruits. This year it […]
Read more