Blames

Trade union criticises airline’s plan to halve passenger numbers to the city as ‘purely profit-oriented’ Ryanair is to shut its Berlin operating base and cut its winter schedule to the German capital in half, blaming its decision on soaring aviation taxes in the country.The Irish budget carrier said its relocation of seven aircraft to other centres would reduce its Berlin passenger numbers from 4.5 million to 2.2 million a year, with flights in and out of the city served from October by planes based at other airports. Continue reading...

Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned amid allegations of an affair and steering grants to politically connected figuresThe secretary of the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned this week after several controversies surrounding her brief tenure at the helm of the agency. But labor officials say even though her troubled reign is over, the US labor authority remains in a state of “constant turbulence”.Chavez-DeRemer was under investigation over claims she had an affair with a subordinate and allegedly misused travel funds, and that her aides allegedly steered grants to politically connected figures. Her husband was banned from the agency’s headquarters over allegations of sexual assault by at least two staffers. Continue reading...

Lai Ching-te abandons visit after Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar revoke overflight permission Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, has cancelled his trip to Eswatini, the democratic island’s only diplomatic ally in Africa, after his government said several countries had revoked overflight permits because of “intense pressure” from China.Lai was to leave on Wednesday for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession. Continue reading...

Cuts by Snapchat’s parent company come in response to a declining stock price and pressure from an activist investorSnapchat’s parent company plans to lay off 16% of its employees, around 1,000 people, citing “rapid advancements in artificial intelligence”, the social media company told staff on Wednesday in an internal memo. The staff reduction is part of a wave of tech industry layoffs in the past year, with many firms blaming AI for the cuts.Snap Inc’s layoffs follow demands last month from Irenic Capital Management, an activist investor whose portfolio manager wrote a letter to Snap Inc CEO, Evan Spiegel, calling on him to reduce costs and headcount while criticizing the company’s current strategy. In Spiegel’s memo to staff, he claimed that the layoffs would move Snap towards profitability and suggested that artificial intelligence could fill the lack of human labor. Continue reading...

Chris Kempczinski’s taste test was mocked online, to which he said his mother had taught him: ‘Don’t talk with your mouth full’The chief executive officer of McDonald’s recently blamed etiquette guidance from his mother for a February on-camera taste test that made him a target for ridicule – and summarily recorded another video of him eating one of the fast-food giant’s offerings in a manner potential consumers found awkward.Chris Kempczinski suggested to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) earlier in April that he was simply heeding maternal advice to never talk with his mouth full when he took the humorously small bite at the center of a viral video which depicted him discussing and sampling the new Big Arch burger from McDonald’s. Continue reading...

Afghanistan’s health ministry puts preliminary death toll at 200 as Islamabad denies targeting facility for drug addictsHeavy casualties were feared in Kabul after a hospital that treats drug users was hit by airstrikes, which Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan’s military.Pakistan dismissed the accusation, saying the strikes on Monday – which were also launched against eastern Afghanistan – did not hit any civilian sites. Continue reading...