Headlines

Garuda Indonesia posted a net loss of $2.4 billion in 2020, with its auditor raising concerns over the continuity of the Southeast Asian country's flagship airline, Nikkei Asia reported. The net loss is Garuda's biggest since at least 2005, the oldest available data on Quick-Factset, and marks a staggering increase from the $38.9 million loss it reported the previous year. The figures, posted to the Indonesian Stock Exchange late Friday, further highlight the dire situation the company faces.

The new airline being created to replace the long financially ailing Alitalia will take off on Oct. 15 with its first flights, the Italian Economy Ministry announced on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. In a statement, the ministry said the new company, ITA, will be fully operating on that date, following the positive outcome of discussions with the European Union’s executive commission. Alitalia’s last flights apparently will operate on Oct. 14.

Mexico’s new Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O pledged to maintain the country’s austerity, making a better use of its resources instead of increasing the debt burden, according to a statement, Bloomberg reported. Ramirez, a longtime ally and third Finance Minister of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, begins what in Mexico is considered the most influential cabinet role with the goal of obtaining a level of independence his predecessors didn’t attain.

The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in South China's Guangdong Province on Monday granted a personal application for bankruptcy protection, the first such case since relevant laws went into effect in March, the Global Times reported. The application was filed by Liang Wenjin, a local entrepreneur in the Bluetooth earphone industry whose company went bankrupt due to unstable sales and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Measured by the number of fatalities, the current floods in Germany constitute the worst flooding catastrophe since the storm flood along the North Sea coast in 1962, the World Socialist Web Site reported. Officially, more than 180 people have died so far, with at least 156 in Germany and 31 in Belgium. Thousands of people remain unaccounted for. People around the world are horrified by the devastation wrought by the floods. Drone video and before-and-after pictures reveal the extent of the destruction. The high waters had an especially horrific impact in the Eifel region.