SHENZHEN (China): World number one Ashleigh Barty overcame the hitting power of Karolina Pliskova to set up a mouth-watering WTA Finals decider against defending champion Elina Svitolina although the courts being used for the $14 million showpiece were blasted as “terrible”. French Open champion Barty prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in
LONDON: British Airways owner IAG agreed yesterday to buy Spain’s Air Europa for 1.0 billion euros to expand routes to Latin America and the Caribbean, boosting Madrid as a key hub. The London-listed company said in a statement that it has signed a transaction agreement with Air Europa owner Globalia
LONDON: Irish no-frills airline Ryanair said yesterday that first-half net profit flattened on lower ticket prices, weak British demand, fierce competition elsewhere in Europe and a soaring fuel bill. The Dublin-based carrier, famed for promoting knock-down ticket prices, said in a results statement that profit after taxation was unchanged at
MANILA: The Philippines’ largest budget airline Cebu Air Inc has ordered 16 Airbus planes worth $4.8 billion, the company said yesterday, as it aims to expand carrying capacity with larger, more fuel-efficient jets. Cebu Air, commonly referred to as Cebu Pacific, said it sees the long-range A330neo jetliner as key
SYDNEY: Australia’s Westpac Group yesterday announced full-year profits had fallen 16 percent to just under A$6.8 billion ($4.7 billion), as the impact of a major banking industry scandal continues to bite. The Sydney-based bank, one of Australia’s four largest financial institutions, said a program to reimburse overcharged customers and an
A packed bus approaches Checkpoint Charlie, the Cold War’s most famous border crossing, as grim-faced East German guards whisper among themselves about whether to hold you for questioning. After a few heart-stopping minutes, you and your fellow passengers are free to pass into the smog, soot and shadowy intrigue of 1980s
In the space of 10 years, Karura has gone from a dangerous no man’s land to one of Nairobi’s safest and most popular destinations, a verdant refuge in a city that has long carried the unfortunate moniker “Nairobbery”. Karura then was the stuff of urban legend, a fearsome place invoked
TRIPOLI (Lebanon): Thousands of Lebanese flocked together in Tripoli Saturday, an AFP reporter said, to keep a protest movement alive in a northern city dubbed “the bride of the revolution”. Despite its reputation for conservatism, impoverished Tripoli has emerged as a festive nerve centre of anti-graft demonstrations across Lebanon since
SEOUL: South Korean rescuers retrieved two bodies believed to be among the seven that went missing after their chopper crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from islets disputed with Japan, officials said yesterday. The helicopter had just picked up an injured fisherman from Dokdo, which is known as
BANGKOK: The UN chief yesterday urged Myanmar to ensure the “safe” return of Rohingya refugees driven out by army operations, a plea made in front of Aung San Suu Kyi more than two years since her country cracked down on the Muslim minority. Speaking at a summit of Southeast Asian