London’s Boris Johnson backs Britain leaving EU
LONDON – A new battle for Britain erupted Sunday, with London Mayor Boris Johnson saying he would join the campaign to encourage Britain to leave the European Union. The move posed a direct challenge to Prime Minister David Cameron, who has launched a major push to keep his country within the 28-nation bloc.
The popular, raffish Johnson immediately becomes the most prominent Conservative Party politician to break ranks with fellow Conservative Cameron’s vision of the best course for Britain in a June 23 referendum on the country’s EU membership.
The referendum has divided Cameron’s Conservative Party – while most in his Cabinet back his wish to stay, several Cabinet members oppose his stance and are campaigning for the country to break free of EU bureaucracy – a so-called “Brexit.”
So far, no country has ever left the EU, and several European countries outside the bloc are still working to reform their economies and governance systems so they can join.
Tim Hortons faces tall order as it expands in U.S.
Tim Hortons, a cult favorite in its Canadian homeland, is making a bigger push into the U.S., betting it can win over Americans addicted to Frappuccinos and Dunkin’ Donuts.
The coffee chain – whose same-store sales jumped 5.8 percent in the U.S. last quarter – is opening new locations in areas like Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, adding to its roughly 650 current outposts. Eventually the U.S. could have “a whole lot of them,” said Daniel Schwartz, chief executive officer of parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc.
“We’ve done a good job laying the foundation for growth of Tim Hortons in the U.S.,” Schwartz said in an interview, declining to specify how many locations he will add. “The potential for the brand there is huge.”
On a same-store sales basis, the coffee chain is growing about twice as quickly as Restaurant Brands’ other major division, Burger King. That business saw North American growth of 2.8 percent last quarter by that measure.
Japanese government to back solar plant in Egypt
CAIRO – The Japanese government has decided to offer a yen loan of about 10 billion yen (about $88,829,700) to support construction of a gigantic solar power plant with a large-capacity storage battery system in Egypt.
Egypt is expected to hold a public tender open only to Japanese companies with advanced battery technology. The government hopes this will give the Japanese firms a leg up in the rapidly expanding renewable energy markets in the Middle East and North Africa.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is scheduled to make his first visit to Japan from Feb. 28 to March 2, during which a written agreement on the project is expected to be signed.
According to sources, the plan is to build a 20-megawatt solar power plant with a 30-megawatt capacity storage facility in the eastern Egyptian city of Hurghada. The plant is to be completed by 2019 and would supply electricity to about 7,000 households.
Associated Press & Washington Post
