Business

8 July 2019; DW: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Benin's President Patrice Talon on Sunday signed a landmark trade agreement ahead of the accord's official launch at the African Union (AU) summit in Niger.

AU commission chairman Moussa Faki dubbed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal a "historic" moment. Fifty-four out of 55 AU member states agreed to the deal in March, with only Eritrea holding out.

New Delhi, Jul 7; GANASHAKTI - Stating that the Union Budget has revealed the intention of the government to go ahead "aggressively" towards corporatisation and privatisation of railways, the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) has said its affiliates are going to launch massive protests across the country against the move.

Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Friday proposed that railways should use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for faster development, rolling stock manufacturing and the delivery of freight.  

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The latest on U.S.-Iran tensions (all times local):

8 a.m.

Japan is expressing serious concern over Iran’s decision to increase uranium enrichment above the limit set by the 2015 nuclear agreement, urging Tehran to return to its earlier commitment.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasutoshi Nishimura said Monday that Japan is “seriously concerned and closely watching” the development on the nuclear deal and increased tension in the Middle East.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran increased its uranium enrichment Sunday beyond the limit allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, inching its program closer toward weapons-grade levels while calling for a diplomatic solution to a crisis heightening tensions with the U.S.

Iran’s move, coupled with earlier abandoning the deal’s limit on its low-enriched uranium stockpile, intensifies pressure on Europe to find any effective way around U.S. sanctions that block Tehran’s oil sales abroad.

7 July 2019; MEMO: South African MP and the grandson of Nelson Mandela, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, addressed a sold out crowd at the Palestine Expo in London yesterday, saying “We have a moral duty to support the BDS and to support the Palestinian struggle”.

7 July 2019; MEMO: An Iranian tanker captured by British Royal Marines in Gibraltar was not headed to Syria, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday in a press conference broadcast live on state TV, reports Reuters.

Royal Marines seized the Iraninan supertanker Grace 1 on Thursday for trying to take oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions, a dramatic intervention described as “maritime robbery” by Araqchi.

7 July 2019; DW: In light of the recent record-breaking heat wave in Europe, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has said it will press for workplaces in Germany to offer employees a "siesta"-style midday break, as is common in Mediterranean countries.

"Southern countries already do it — during heat waves, we also need a siesta in Germany," said DGB spokeswoman Annelie Buntenbach on Saturday.

7 July 2019; DW: The Iranian government on Sunday said it would once again breach the 2015 nuclear deal by raising its enrichment of uranium beyond limits agreed with several world powers.

Government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference that "today we will pass" the permitted enrichment level of 3.67%, without giving further details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the move was a countermeasure to "US economic terrorism."

Kolkata, Jul 6; GANASHAKTI: Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen has said the land reform measures were carried out "extremely well" by the previous Left Front government in West Bengal, but the destruction of industry was its flip side.

Delivering a public lecture at Jadavpur University here on Friday evening, Sen said West Bengal had fallen behind Bangladesh in terms of projecting a combined Bengali identity.

"Land reforms were carried out extremely well and the Left must get its credit. But the destruction of the industry was on the flip side," he said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran announced Sunday it will raise its enrichment of uranium, breaking another limit of its faltering 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and further heightening tensions between Tehran and the U.S.

Iran made the decision a year after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal. Iran has repeatedly warned Europe in recent weeks that it would begin walking away from an accord neutered by a maximalist American campaign of sanctions that blocked Tehran’s oil sales abroad and targeted its top officials.