US brokers prospective flights between Serbia, Kosovo

BERLIN — U.S. diplomats on Monday oversaw the signing of an agreement between Serbia, Kosovo and German airline Lufthansa on the resumption of commercial flights intended to help improve economic ties between the Balkan nations.

Serbia and Kosovo have remained uneasy neighbours ever since their 1998-99 war that claimed more than 10,000 lives and left over 1 million people homeless.

Serbia continues to consider Kosovo part of its territory, although its independence has been recognized by about 100 countries, including the United States.

U.S. National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien said the ‘letter of intent’ signed in Berlin between representatives of the two countries marked a “historic deal,” calling commercial air links the “lifeblood of a modern economy.”

O’Brien said there have been no commercial flights between Kosovo and Serbia in 21 years. Currently, it takes over five hours to travel from Belgrade to Pristina overland.

The agreement was inked

BBC chief Tony Hall to step down amid mounting challenges

LONDON — BBC Director-General Tony Hall announced Monday that he will step down from the helm of the U.K. broadcaster in six months after seven years in the job.

Hall said he was quitting so that a new leader can oversee a mid-term review of the BBC’s funding in 2022, and a renewal of its governing charter, due in 2027.

The announcement comes as the publicly funded BBC is facing intense political and public pressure amid a fast-changing media landscape and viewing habits. It has been criticized by both sides of the Brexit debate over its coverage of the U.K.’s impending departure from the European Union, and some in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government have suggested changing the BBC’s funding model.

The broadcaster currently is funded largely through a 154 pound a year ($200 a year) fee paid by every household with a television. It is not state-controlled, though

James Dean revival spurs debate on raising the digital dead

LOS ANGELES — The men bringing James Dean back to life for a forthcoming film are aiming not just to give his digital likeness a role, but a whole new career.

Dean’s planned appearance in the Vietnam War movie “Finding Jack,” and the possibility of future parts, comes as digital de-aging and duplication of real actors has tipped from cinematic trick into common practice. And it’s giving new life to old arguments about the immortality and dignity of the dead.

“Our intentions are to create the virtual being of James Dean. That’s not only for one movie, but going to be used for many movies and also gaming and virtual reality,” said Travis Cloyd, CEO of Worldwide XR, who is leading the design on the Dean project. “Our focus is on building the ultimate James Dean so he can live across any medium.”

Legally, they have every right to do

France’s Macron tells global CEOs: we’re open for business

PARIS — France’s president is taking on the role of salesman in chief for his strike-battered country.

Emmanuel Macron used the splendor of the Palace of Versailles to woo international business leaders on Monday, insisting that his reforms are attracting investors despite six weeks of crippling protests and walkouts over his plan to overhaul the retirement system.

Driving home the message that the eurozone’s second-largest economy remains open for business, Macron’s government announced a 2 billion-euro ($2.2 billion) contract for the French shipyard of Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast. It will build two cruise ships for the company MSC, representing some 2,400 jobs over three years. MSC confirmed plans to build other ships in France for another 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion).

“Good news doesn’t arrive out of nowhere. It comes because we are implementing reforms, because our country is moving, mobilizing,” Macron said. “I know that our heads are

Bosnian protesters hold anti-pollution protest in Sarajevo

SARAJEVO, Bosnia — Dozens of people on Monday gathered for a protest in Sarajevo because of dangerously high levels of air pollution in the past few weeks in the Bosnian capital.

Some of the participants wore face masks at the rally Monday held outside the building hosting Sarajevo’s government.

Organizers say they want to encourage people into action and draw public attention to the decades-old problem typical for the city that is squeezed in a deep valley among the mountains.

Air pollution measurements in the past weeks have shown that levels of damaging airborne particles have exceeded European Union’s safety norms by several times.

Local authorities had introduced emergency measures for days last week, urging citizens not to use coal and wood for heating and banning diesel cars.

Local head of government Edin Forto told the protesters that the situation can’t change in a few months, but will take much

Materials sector helps lift stocks in Toronto, loonie edges up against U.S.

TORONTO — The materials sector helped Canada’s main stock index march higher into record territory in late-morning trading.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 39.42 points at 17,598.44

U.S. stock markets are closed due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The Canadian dollar traded for 76.58 cents US compared with an average of 76.56 cents US on Friday.

The March crude contract was up six cents at US$58.64 per barrel and the February natural gas contract was down 9.1 cents at US$1.91 per mmBTU.

The February gold contract was up 60 cents at US$1,560.90 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 0.3 of a cent at US$2.84 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)

 

The Canadian Press

EU to revamp anti-smuggler mission for UN Libya arms embargo

BRUSSELS — European Union countries have agreed to “refocus” the mission of the bloc’s anti-migrant smuggler naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea so that it concentrates on upholding the U.N. arms embargo against Libya, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.

After chairing talks between EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Borrell said that the bloc will also examine ways to help monitor a cease-fire in the conflict-torn country once one actually comes into force and replaces the shaky truce currently in place.

He told reporters that EU ambassadors and experts have been tasked with presenting “concrete proposals on how to implement this cease-fire and enforcing the U.N. arms embargo, by the time the ministers next meet in Brussels on Feb. 17.

“In the meantime, we have to pass from truce to a real cease-fire,” Borrell said. “We are in a truce, which is unstable. A truce can be violated

Climate not considered a top 10 risk by CEOs – survey

DAVOS, Switzerland — Climate issues are set to be one of the main talking points at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos this week, but a survey of CEOs released Monday shows that they are not even ranked among the top ten threats to business growth.

In its annual report ahead of the gathering in Davos, financial services group PwC said climate change and environmental issues are ranked as the 11th biggest threat to their companies’ growth prospects. Though up one spot from the same survey a year ago, climate-related issues lag way behind other concerns such as over-regulation, which ranks as the number 1 worry. Other concerns in the top 10 include trade conflicts, lack of skills among workers and populism in politics.

According to the survey, 24% of CEOs are “extremely concerned” about climate-related issues, compared to 38% for over-regulation.

As they gather

Oil and gas industry needs to do more to address climate change, IEA report says

CALGARY — The oil and gas industry needs to increase efforts to address climate change or risk becoming socially unacceptable and unprofitable, according to a new International Energy Agency report.

“No energy company will be unaffected by clean energy transitions,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, in a statement Monday.

The world is demanding energy services and emissions reductions at the same time, the report said. Social pressures on the industry are rising, it noted, highlighting growing opposition to new infrastructure projects in certain areas and fracking bans.

“Every part of the industry needs to consider how to respond. Doing nothing is simply not an option.”

Some companies have taken steps to address climate change, but the report said the industry as a whole could do more.

The diverse industry requires a variety of approaches dependant on individual company’s circumstances, according to the report, which was produced in co-operation

Tax revolt? Unpaid taxes from energy companies to Alberta towns more than double

Alberta’s rural municipalities say the amount of unpaid property taxes they’re owed by oil and gas companies has more than doubled over the past year.

The association says they are owed a total of $173 million — a 114 per cent increase over last spring.

Years of low oil prices have left many small producers in dire straits.

But rural officials say recent court decisions have left them powerless to collect tax money owed them by financially troubled companies.

As well, they say the provincial government recently ended a program which refunded them money they lost by reducing taxes for certain kinds of wells.

Reeve Paul McLauchlin of Ponoka County, where unpaid taxes amount to about 10 per cent of overall revenues, suggests the non-payment amounts to a tax revolt by an industry looking to cut costs wherever it can.

He says some of those taxes are owed by companies

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