Brussels - The European Commission said Monday it was probing concerns that the planned acquisition by Dutch airline KLM of Martinair could leave passengers wishing to travel from Amsterdam to the Caribbean islands of Curacao and Aruba with less choice.
"The commission's initial market investigation indicated that the proposed acquisition might substantially reduce competition, and so raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the (EU's) single market," the European Union executive said in a statement.
Officials in Brussels said they had decided to open an in-depth investigation after remedies proposed by KLM had failed to remove the EU's serious doubts" about the takeover.
Evian, France - European Union and Ukrainian leaders are set to shift their summit, planned for Tuesday, from the Alpine spa town of Evian to Paris after the EU's top officials took longer than expected in talks in Moscow.
"Given the delays to the visit to Russia and Georgia today, the EU-Ukraine summit, originally planned for Evian, will take place in the Elysee Palace," home of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a statement from the Elysee press service said.
The long-planned summit had been intended to deal with talks on an ongoing partnership between the two sides, with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko pushing for closer ties with the bloc.
Luanda/Johannesburg - European and African election observers gave a generally clean bill of health to last weekend's general elections in Angola - the first in 16 years, in which President Eduardo dos Santos' party was poised for a landslide win.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the elections, which the European Union's 108-member observer team described in a preliminary report as "tranquil and peaceful," showed Angola was consolidating its democracy.
Berlin - The powerful German metalworkers union IG Metall announced Monday it would seek a wage increase of between 7 and 8 per cent for 3.6 million workers in the key sector, its highest demand in 16 years.
IG Metall boss Berthold Huber told journalists in Frankfurt discussions with shop stewards were continuing and that the final demand should become clear in a fortnight.
London, Sept. 8 : British MPs have reportedly introduced a proposal to place a cap on the number of immigrants settling in the country with a view to having a more “balanced” immigration policy.
According to The Times, a YouGov poll-cum-report initiated by a new cross-party parliamentary group suggests significant cuts in immigration, a decision backed by most political parties.
The report calls for a balanced migration policy under which immigration is capped in line with the number of emigrants to maintain a stable population.
The reports authors say that ministers should reduce the number of non-EU migrants allowed to settle permanently in Britain.
Naypyitaw, Myanmar - Myanmar's police chief on Sunday claimed to know nothing about a hunger strike being staged by Nobel laureate and political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi to protest her five-plus years under house arrest.
Addressing a press conference in Naypyitaw, the military's new capital situated 350 kilometres north of Yangon, Police Chief Khin Yee said Suu Kyi had recently been visited by her lawyer and doctor and neither had told the government about her hunger strike.
Berlin - The powerful German metalworkers union IG Metall announced Monday it would seek a wage increase of between 7 and 8 per cent for 3.6 million workers in the key sector, its highest demand in 16 years.
Naypyitaw, Myanmar - Myanmar's police chief on Sunday claimed to know nothing about a hunger strike being staged by Nobel laureate and political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi to protest her five-plus years under house arrest.
