merger

The Body Shop rescued from administration after deal

  • Soon after, The Body Shop announced it would shutter almost half of its 198 stores in Britain.
  • Growth capital firm Aurea on Saturday announced the completion of its acquisition of UK-based cosmetics group The Body Shop, renowned for ethical hair and skin products.
  • Soon after, The Body Shop announced it would shutter almost half of its 198 stores in Britain.
Growth capital firm Aurea on Saturday announced the completion of its acquisition of UK-based cosmetics group The Body Shop, renowned for ethical hair and skin products.
The 50-year-old business entered administration in February, which led to FRP Advisory being brought in to try to salvage part of the group.
Soon after, The Body Shop announced it would shutter almost half of its 198 stores in Britain. On collapsing, it employed about 1,500 staff across its UK stores, and a total 7,000 worldwide.
"This investment demonstrates Aurea's focus on backing purpose-led and differentiated brands in the Beauty, Wellness and Longevity sector and represents its largest transaction to date," Aurea said in a statement.
Remaining stores are expected to continue trading under the new deal.
German private equity firm Aurelius had bought The Body Shop in November, but the retailer ran into trouble in a tough economic climate over the key Christmas trading period.
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick and has become a staple of the British high street, but it has been under various owners since she sold it to French cosmetics giant L'Oreal in 2006.
Roddick, who died in 2007 from a brain haemorrhage, rapidly expanded the business from modest beginnings with a determination to offer products that had not been tested on animals.
She also set out to make her business environmentally friendly, with customers encouraged to return empty containers for refilling at the original shop in Brighton on England's south coast.
Mike Jatania and Charles Denton will serve as executive chairman and CEO respectively.
"With The Body Shop, we have acquired a truly iconic brand with highly engaged consumers in over 70 markets around the world," said British tycoon and Aurea co-founder Jatania.
"We plan to focus relentlessly on exceeding their expectations by investing in product innovation and seamless experiences across all of the channels where customers shop while paying homage to the brand's ethical and activist positioning."
jwp/ju/imm

HongKong

US warns of growing risks of business in Hong Kong

  • The United States has repeatedly warned that Beijing-led security regulations are putting at risk the openness that allowed Hong Kong to flourish as a trading hub.
  • The United States on Friday warned of growing risks for businesses operating in Hong Kong, saying that routine activities could run afoul of the financial hub's new national security regulations.
  • The United States has repeatedly warned that Beijing-led security regulations are putting at risk the openness that allowed Hong Kong to flourish as a trading hub.
The United States on Friday warned of growing risks for businesses operating in Hong Kong, saying that routine activities could run afoul of the financial hub's new national security regulations.
China had agreed to a "One Country, Two Systems" approach for Hong Kong before the territory was handed over from Britain in 1997.
But Beijing has clamped down since mass protests in 2019, with Hong Kong's opposition-free legislature in March passing an ordinance that carries life imprisonment for crimes including treason and insurrection.
Updating a business advisory first issued in 2021, the State Department and other US agencies warned of "new and heightened risks" for firms operating in Hong Kong.
"The vaguely defined nature of the law and previous government statements and actions raise questions about risks associated with routine activities," it said of the new Article 23 law.
Such routine activities could include research on government policies and maintaining connections with local officials, journalists and non-governmental organizations, it said.
The advisory also said differences were narrowing between Hong Kong and mainland China.
"Under similar laws to those recently enacted in Hong Kong, PRC authorities in mainland China appear to have broad discretion to deem a wide range of documents, data, statistics or materials to be state secrets and to detain and prosecute foreign nationals for alleged espionage," it said, using the acronym for China's official name.
More than 300 people have been arrested under an initial 2020 security law. According to the State Department, they include one US citizen.
Hong Kong's number two official Eric Chan said Saturday the US advisory was an attempt to suppress China's rise and that national security cases are treated fairly in court.
"The National Security Law has been enacted for a long time and we can all see that we have never groundlessly arrested any business people," Chan told reporters.
"(The US advisory) involves an element of intimidation, to scare away business people hoping to invest in Hong Kong. I don't think this ploy will succeed."
The United States has repeatedly warned that Beijing-led security regulations are putting at risk the openness that allowed Hong Kong to flourish as a trading hub.
Hong Kong leader John Lee has defended the new ordinance as a move to prevent violence following the mass demonstrations of 2019.
sct-hol/sco

NASA

Boeing's beleaguered Starliner returns home without astronauts

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • In 2014, NASA awarded both Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts to develop spacecraft to taxi astronauts to and from the ISS, after the end of the Space Shuttle program left the US space agency reliant on Russian rockets.
  • Boeing's beleaguered Starliner made its long-awaited return to Earth on Saturday without the astronauts who rode it up to the International Space Station, after NASA ruled the trip back too risky.
  • In 2014, NASA awarded both Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts to develop spacecraft to taxi astronauts to and from the ISS, after the end of the Space Shuttle program left the US space agency reliant on Russian rockets.
Boeing's beleaguered Starliner made its long-awaited return to Earth on Saturday without the astronauts who rode it up to the International Space Station, after NASA ruled the trip back too risky.
After years of delays, Starliner launched in June for what was meant to be a roughly weeklong test mission -- a final shakedown before it could be certified to rotate crew to and from the orbital laboratory.
But unexpected thruster malfunctions and helium leaks en route to the ISS derailed those plans, and NASA ultimately decided it was safer to bring crewmates Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back on a rival SpaceX Crew Dragon -- though they'll have to wait until February 2025.
The gumdrop-shaped Boeing capsule touched down softly at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 0401 GMT Saturday, its descent slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags, having departed the ISS around six hours earlier. 
As it streaked red-hot across the night sky, ground teams reported hearing sonic booms. The spacecraft endured temperatures of 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius) during atmospheric reentry.
NASA lavished praise on Boeing during a post-flight press conference where representatives from the company were conspicuously absent.
"It was a bullseye landing," said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's commercial crew program. "The entry in particular has been darn near flawless."
Still, he acknowledged that certain new issues had come to light, including the failure of a new thruster and the temporary loss of the guidance system.
He added it was too early to talk about whether Starliner's next flight, scheduled for August next year, would be crewed, instead stressing NASA needed time to analyze the data they had gathered and assess what changes were required to both the design of the ship and the way it is flown.
Ahead of the return leg, Boeing carried out extensive ground testing to address the technical hitches encountered during Starliner's ascent, then promised -- both publicly and behind closed doors -- that it could safely bring the astronauts home. In the end, NASA disagreed. 
Asked whether he stood by that decision, NASA's Stich said: "It's always hard to have that retrospective look. We made the decision to have an uncrewed flight based on what we knew at the time and based on our knowledge of the thrusters and based on the modeling that we had."

History of setbacks

Even without crew aboard, the stakes were high for Boeing, a century-old aerospace giant. 
With its reputation already battered by safety concerns surrounding its commercial jets, its long-term prospects for crewed space missions hung in the balance. 
Shortly after undocking, Starliner executed a powerful "breakout burn" to swiftly clear it from the station and prevent any risk of collision -- a maneuver that would have been unnecessary if crew were aboard to take manual control if needed.
Mission teams then conducted thorough checks of the thrusters required for the critical "deorbit burn" that guided the capsule onto its reentry path around 40 minutes before touchdown.
Though it was widely expected that Starliner would stick the landing, as it had on two previous uncrewed tests, Boeing's program continues to languish behind schedule.
In 2014, NASA awarded both Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts to develop spacecraft to taxi astronauts to and from the ISS, after the end of the Space Shuttle program left the US space agency reliant on Russian rockets.
Although initially considered the underdog, Elon Musk's SpaceX surged ahead of Boeing, and has successfully flown dozens of astronauts since 2020.
The Starliner program, meanwhile, has faced numerous setbacks -- from a software glitch that prevented the capsule from rendezvousing with the ISS during its first uncrewed test flight in 2019, to the discovery of flammable tape in the cabin after its second test in 2022, to the current troubles.
With the ISS scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030, the longer Starliner takes to become fully operational, the less time it will have to prove its worth.
ia/sco

bitcoin

How a taxi driver in El Salvador got rich with Bitcoin

BY CARLOS MARIO MARQUEZ

  • Osorio credited the US founder of the NGO My First Bitcoin, John Dennehy, with encouraging him to accept payment in the cryptocurrency.
  • Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador.
  • Osorio credited the US founder of the NGO My First Bitcoin, John Dennehy, with encouraging him to accept payment in the cryptocurrency.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador.
He credits President Nayib Bukele's decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life.
"Before I was unemployed... and now I have my own business," said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company.
Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin into legal circulation in a bid to revitalize El Salvador's dollarized, remittance-reliant economy.
He invested hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money in the cryptocurrency, despite warnings about volatility risks from global institutions.
Osorio credited the US founder of the NGO My First Bitcoin, John Dennehy, with encouraging him to accept payment in the cryptocurrency.
He now has 21 drivers working for his Bit-Driver brand and has made enough profit from the currency's rise to be able to buy four rental vehicles.
A divorced father of two teenagers, he also no longer struggles to pay for their education.
Launching bitcoin as legal tender on September 7, 2021, Bukele said he wanted to bring the 70 percent of Salvadorans who do not use banks into the financial system and promptly began plowing public money in cryptocurrencies.
To spur Salvadorans to use bitcoin he created the Chivo Wallet app for sending and receiving bitcoin free of charge and gave $30 to each new user.
His grand ambitions for bitcoin fell foul of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which hesitated to grant El Salvador a $1.3 billion loan because of its official use of the cryptocurrency.
In August, however, the IMF announced a preliminary loan agreement with El Salvador, while saying it needed to mitigate "potential risks."

Offered as 'option'

While Osorio has grown relatively wealthy with bitcoin, a study by the University Institute for Public Opinion showed that 88 percent of Salvadorans had yet to use it.
"From the beginning... it was clear that it was clearly an ill-advised measure that the population rejected," the director of the institute, Laura Andrade, told AFP.
One-quarter of Salvadoran GDP comes from remittances sent home by family members, mostly from the United States.
But in 2023 only one percent of the transfers were made in cryptocurrencies.
In an interview with Time magazine in August, Bukele acknowledged that while "you can go to a McDonald's, a supermarket, or a hotel and pay with Bitcoin" it had "not had the widespread adoption we hoped for."
He added that "the positive aspect is that it is voluntary; we have never forced anyone to adopt it. We offered it as an option, and those who chose to use it have benefited from the rise in Bitcoin."
He also confirmed that he had around $400 million in bitcoin that is kept in a public "cold storage wallet" -- a way of storing bitcoin offline.
Bitcoin's fortunes have been mixed.
This week it was trading at around $52,000, down from a peak of $73,616 on March 13. In November 2022 it fell as low as $16,189.
Independent economist Cesar Villalona told AFP that Bukele himself had hobbled bitcoin's take-up by stripping it of the usual functions of a currency.
"Bukele... said: there will be no salary in bitcoin, there will be no pensions in bitcoin, there will be no savings in bitcoin and there will be no price in bitcoin, and in so doing took away the three functions of money," Villalona said.
Luis Contreras, an instructor at My First Bitcoin, told AFP many Salvadorans were simply afraid of making the switch.
The organization has taken cryptocurrencies into public schools, teaching around 35,000 students to use bitcoin so far.
Contreras says the hardest thing about training people on bitcoin "is their fear of new things, which creates a fear of technology" as well as "the fear of moving from a classic currency in the current economy to one that is totally digital and decentralized."
cmm/cb/bfm/sco

fashion

New York Fashion Week opens with call to vote from Jill Biden

  • That year, New York Fashion week took a much more pointed tone against the Republican billionaire, with several shows decrying his immigration policies and defending abortion and women's healthcare.
  • First Lady Jill Biden called for the protection of "freedoms" Friday during a "get out the vote" demonstration that opened New York Fashion Week with a decidedly political tone two months ahead of the US presidential election.
  • That year, New York Fashion week took a much more pointed tone against the Republican billionaire, with several shows decrying his immigration policies and defending abortion and women's healthcare.
First Lady Jill Biden called for the protection of "freedoms" Friday during a "get out the vote" demonstration that opened New York Fashion Week with a decidedly political tone two months ahead of the US presidential election.
Biden was joined by a number of high-profile US fashion designers, including Thom Browne, Michael Kors and Tory Burch, in front of a crowd of roughly one thousand industry insiders.
The "Fashion for our Future" march was organized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for the first day of the weeklong event showcasing looks for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2025 season.
Held in front of the windows of the flagship Macy's department store in the heart of Manhattan, the march was intended to be nonpartisan.
However, several of the participating designers have created accessories for the campaign of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.  And the presence of the Democratic first lady -- whose appearance had not been announced -- sent a clear message.

'Freedoms'

"I know that you care about the freedom to make your own choices, be who you are, love who you love... your freedom of creative expression," Biden said to applause from the crowd.
"These freedoms are at risk because of court decisions, book bans, shrugs of apathy when people forget the power of the vote," she said.
The US presidential election, set for November 5, pits Vice President Harris against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Jill Biden's husband, US President Joe Biden, had been set to be the Democratic nominee until he dropped out of the race on July 21 and threw his support behind his vice president.
"So let's remember this: the next president, your next president, will likely appoint new Supreme Court justices," the first lady said. 
"Your next senators will confirm them and our children and our grandchildren will have to live with those consequences."
Prior to the march, Jill Biden attended the Ralph Lauren fashion show on Thursday evening and paid tribute to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and high priestess of the US fashion industry.
Wintour featured Jill Biden on the cover of the magazine's August issue and has organized several fundraisers for the Democratic Party.

Democratic 'bubble'

While marketing themselves on open-mindedness, major brands typically stay away from political squabbles in the United States, out of fear of being targeted by one camp or the other.
But one notable counterexample was in February 2017, shortly after former president Trump was elected. That year, New York Fashion week took a much more pointed tone against the Republican billionaire, with several shows decrying his immigration policies and defending abortion and women's healthcare.
"We are in the bubble of the bubble of the bubble," joked Ulrich Grimm, an accessories designer and professor at the renowned Parsons School of Design, who was among the demonstrators Friday.
"We're in New York," he continued, referencing the city's status as a Democratic stronghold, "and we're in fashion." 
Beside him, designer Joy Gryson said she was worried about the freedom of "any woman, person of color, LGBTQ (people)."

Clothes 'everyone will want'

In a show full of activist symbols, designer Willy Chavarria brought his Chicano-inspired models to the former headquarters of JP Morgan bank on Wall Street.
Loose-fitting shirts with puffed sleeves tucked into chino pants, Chavarria's outfits winked to workwear -- including bandanas and trucker hats -- and were mixed with streetwear styles in a dialogue between Mexican and American cultures.
"I really do want to offer collections that everyone can relate to and everyone can enjoy, and, you know, everyone will want," Chavarria said.
His show ended with a collaboration with sports brand Adidas that paid homage to basketball legend and civil rights activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- one of Chavarria's childhood idols -- with a big "33" emblazoned on jerseys.
Nearly one hundred brands will showcase their Spring/Summer 2025 collections at New York Fashion Week, including many emerging talents and a few heavyweights like Tommy Hilfiger.
arb/nr/ube/jgc/rr/sco/smw

electrification

Heat pumps are key to home electrification -- but will Americans buy in?

BY BECCA MILFELD

  • Common in Asia and Europe, the technology has had slow uptake in the United States -- something the White House is hoping to fix as part of a multi-billion-dollar spending and subsidies plan.
  • On a hot summer day, contractors snake wiring through the basement of a townhouse in southeast Washington to install a heat pump, a key component of the United States' multi-billion dollar push towards greater home electrification.
  • Common in Asia and Europe, the technology has had slow uptake in the United States -- something the White House is hoping to fix as part of a multi-billion-dollar spending and subsidies plan.
On a hot summer day, contractors snake wiring through the basement of a townhouse in southeast Washington to install a heat pump, a key component of the United States' multi-billion dollar push towards greater home electrification.
Less sexy than an electric car, more obscure than solar panels, heat pumps are an energy-efficient system for replacing both a heater and air conditioner in one appliance. Heat pump hot water heaters also exist.
And the clunky looking machines are seen as a crucial weapon in the war to maneuver the United States into more climate-friendly habits.
Common in Asia and Europe, the technology has had slow uptake in the United States -- something the White House is hoping to fix as part of a multi-billion-dollar spending and subsidies plan.
Su Balasubramanian, who spoke as contractors drilled in her home below, told AFP she previously "didn't really know much about it," despite being environmentally minded.
In 2023, residences accounted for some 18 percent of energy-related US CO2 emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) -- a number that less gas and greater electrification can reduce.
Hoping to spur heat pump uptake, the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden's 2022 landmark climate bill, provides up to $2,000 in tax credits for those installing either type. 
Thousands more IRA dollars in rebates are additionally being rolled out for low- and middle-income households purchasing a heat pump. On top of that, individual states provide their own incentives.
Balasubramanian qualified for Washington's Affordable Home Electrification program, which provided her with total home electrification at no cost.
The 44-year-old social worker is receiving a heat pump air source, heat pump hot water heater, induction stove and a "heavy up" electrical panel amperage upgrade, worth about $27,000.
Balasubramanian said she would "definitely not" have been able to afford the project on her own.
Rather than tackling so much electrification at once, which can be financially prohibitive, advocates recommend electrifying one appliance at a time when it breaks.
Heat pumps can, in many instances, be more affordable than a gas furnace or hot water heater.
In fact, an April report published in the scientific journal Joule estimated that heat pump air systems would be cost effective without subsidies in 59 percent of US households.
"Within the early adopters, those who are very motivated by climate, I think electrification is really taking off," Rebecca Foster, CEO of the energy-focused nonprofit VEIC, told AFP.
But she added, there is still "a lot of work to do to raise awareness."
In Balasubramanian's program, for example, participants are more often "seniors on fixed incomes," Kalen Roach, marketing and communications manager for the DC Sustainable Energy Utility program, told AFP.
"I would say a decent bit of customers do need some convincing," he added.
Full adoption of heat pump air systems in the United States would reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by five to nine percent, according to the April Joule report.

'Role to play'

Heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces in the United States in 2022 and 2023, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute.
A heat pump air system, which is placed outside, uses electricity to transfer heat rather than generate it. During winter, hot air is transferred from outside into a home. During summer, hot air is transferred outdoors. 
Southeastern states have had greatest adoption, with South Carolina in the lead at 40 percent penetration as of 2020, according to EIA data.
The key for those states' high uptake is cheap electricity, low gas infrastructure, and the need for air conditioning, Panama Bartholomy, executive director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition nonprofit, told AFP.
Meanwhile some of the greatest heat pump sales are happening in new construction, he said.
Deane Coady, a retired teacher, lives in a leafy, historic district in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, a state that has only six percent heat pump penetration.
"I am horrified and petrified thinking of the future," she told AFP just before having a heat pump installed in the second unit of her two-unit home.
"I decided to electrify for climate reasons, primarily," she said, adding that the solar panels she already installed will keep the electric bill low.
Last year, more than 267,000 US tax returns were filed claiming a credit for an air system heat pump, and more than 104,000 for a heat pump hot water heater.
Also critical for uptake are informed contractors who encourage heat pumps, but Bartholomy warned there is sometimes "a lot of institutional inertia."
The IRA additionally offers states money to train contractors on electrification. 
"Everybody has their role to play," said Balasubramanian, who as a social worker said she believes progress happens when "there's impact at all levels."
bfm/sms

fashion

New York Fashion Week opens with call to vote from Jill Biden

  • Prior to the march, Jill Biden attended the Ralph Lauren fashion show on Thursday evening and paid tribute to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and high priestess of the US fashion industry.
  • US First Lady Jill Biden called for the protection of "freedoms" Friday during a "get out the vote" march that opened New York Fashion Week.
  • Prior to the march, Jill Biden attended the Ralph Lauren fashion show on Thursday evening and paid tribute to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and high priestess of the US fashion industry.
US First Lady Jill Biden called for the protection of "freedoms" Friday during a "get out the vote" march that opened New York Fashion Week.
Biden was joined by a number of high-profile US fashion designers, including Thom Browne, Michael Kors and Tory Burch.
The march was organized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for the first day of the weeklong fashion event showcasing looks for the upcoming Spring/Summer 2025 season.
Though the event was intended to be nonpartisan, the surprise presence of the Democratic first lady -- whose appearance had not been announced -- set the tone for the event, during which she gave a speech at a park in the heart of New York City.
"I know that you care about the freedom to make your own choices, be who you are, love who you love... your freedom of creative expression," Biden said to applause from the crowd of fashion industry insiders.
"These freedoms are at risk because of court decisions, book bans, shrugs of apathy when people forget the power of the vote," she continued.
The US presidential election, set for November 5, pits Democrat Kamala Harris against Republican nominee Donald Trump. Jill Biden's husband, US President Joe Biden, had been set to be the Democratic nominee until he dropped out of the race on July 21 and threw his support behind his vice president.
"So let's remember this: the next president, your next president, will likely appoint new Supreme Court justices," the first lady said. 
"Your next senators will confirm them and our children and our grandchildren will have to live with those consequences."
Prior to the march, Jill Biden attended the Ralph Lauren fashion show on Thursday evening and paid tribute to Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine and high priestess of the US fashion industry.
Wintour featured Jill Biden on the cover of the magazine's August issue and has organized several fundraisers for the Democratic Party.
arb/aem/jgc/nro

Airbus

Malaysia Airlines finds 'potential issue' on A350-900 engine

  • Malaysia Airlines' fleet of A350-900 planes "recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified," the carrier said in a statement.
  • Malaysia Airlines said on Friday it had found a "potential issue" with the engine of an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in its fleet but added that it had been resolved.
  • Malaysia Airlines' fleet of A350-900 planes "recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified," the carrier said in a statement.
Malaysia Airlines said on Friday it had found a "potential issue" with the engine of an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in its fleet but added that it had been resolved.
The issue comes after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued an emergency directive to airlines ordering mandated inspections on A350-1000s which are powered by XWB-97 engines made by Rolls-Royce. 
The checks were prompted by an "in-flight engine fire" on one of Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific's Zurich-bound flights. 
Malaysia Airlines' fleet of A350-900 planes "recently underwent a precautionary inspection, during which a potential issue with high-pressure fuel hoses on one aircraft was identified," the carrier said in a statement.
"This finding was swiftly resolved, and the aircraft has been fully cleared for service in accordance with stringent maintenance protocols," it added.
On Friday, following the incident, EASA said extending its compulsory engine inspections to include the XWB-84 engines found on the Malaysia Airlines Airbus A350-900 is "not warranted at this stage".
The Cathay incident prompted other airlines in the region to carry out similar checks on their A350-900 and A350-1000 models, which are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 and XWB-97 engines, respectively.
The EASA said Thursday that Cathay's A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high-pressure fuel hose failing. 
It added that there was an "in-flight engine fire shortly after take-off", which was "promptly detected and extinguished".
The EASA said the XWB-84 engines "are similar but differ in design and service history" to the XWB-97.
Airbus on Friday said the EASA directive "clearly limits these (checks) to the Trent XWB-97 engine and says inspections on the Trent XWB-84 are not warranted based on current available information". 
Contacted by AFP, the European regulator said there was no justification "at this stage" for extending the inspections to the A350-900, which accounts for the vast majority of A350s in service: 530, according to Airbus figures published on Friday.
The Airbus issues come as its US rival Boeing has strived to overcome concerns about safety and quality control problems in recent years. 

'Precautionary inspection'

A spokesperson for Malaysia Airlines told AFP that the carrier has seven A350-900s with Trent XWB-84 engines, all of which have been inspected.
"Safety and reliability are central to our operations, and we remain unwavering in our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of care for our passengers and crew," the airline said in its statement.
Rolls-Royce said Thursday it was launching "a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme" which may apply "to a portion of the A350 fleet".
The first A350 was delivered to Qatar Airways at the end of 2014. 
Since the end of the production of the jumbo A380, the A350 is Airbus's largest aircraft. 
A total of 87 A350-1000 aircraft are currently in service worldwide.
A competitor to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 1,330 A350s have been ordered, of which 617 have been delivered, according to data from the end of August.
The largest version, the 1000, can carry nearly 500 passengers and travel more than 16,000 kilometres (nearly 10,000 miles) in one hop.
That will be pushed to nearly 18,000 km in the "Sunrise" version ordered by Australian airline Qantas to fly directly between Sydney and London. 
mba-ssy/aha/md

employment

US job gains miss expectations in August as labor market cools

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • The August number came in below economists' expectations of 165,000, according to a Briefing.com consensus forecast.
  • US hiring bounced back in August but missed expectations while the jobless rate crept down, government data showed Friday, paving the way towards central bank rate cuts in the coming weeks.
  • The August number came in below economists' expectations of 165,000, according to a Briefing.com consensus forecast.
US hiring bounced back in August but missed expectations while the jobless rate crept down, government data showed Friday, paving the way towards central bank rate cuts in the coming weeks.
The world's biggest economy added an estimated 142,000 jobs last month, an increase from July's figure which was revised notably lower to 89,000, said the Department of Labor.
June jobs gains were also revised significantly down.
The August number came in below economists' expectations of 165,000, according to a Briefing.com consensus forecast.
The unemployment rate meanwhile declined slightly from 4.3 percent to 4.2 percent, a shift that should assuage some policymakers' fears.
Overall, the figures reaffirm perceptions of a cooling labor market, adding to analysts' anticipation that the Federal Reserve will begin to lower rates from decades-high levels this month.
With a solid payrolls increase, lower jobless rate and rise in earnings, analysts see a higher chance that the Fed opts for a smaller cut of 25 basis point rather than 50.
"With inflation back down close to normal levels, it is important to focus on sustaining the historic gains we have made for American workers,"  President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Brendan Boyle, top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, added that the US economy has "made significant progress on inflation, and now the Fed must secure this progress by lowering interest rates" at this month's policy meeting.

'Losing steam'

Analysts have been eying the jobs market as high interest rates bite while inflation cools, with some arguing the Fed has waited too long to lower the benchmark lending rate.
On Friday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called the jobs numbers "terrible" while the Republican National Committee took aim at the downward revisions on job growth.
How well the market holds up could affect the size of Fed rate cuts following its September 17-18 gathering.
"The large downward revision to payroll gains in the prior two months and the continued narrow concentration in payroll advances underscore that the labor market is losing steam rather quickly," said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.
While she does not expect a large reduction this month, current trends leave open the possibility of larger 50 basis points rate cuts in November and December, she said.
Fed governor Christopher Waller said in a speech that the time has come to lower rates, adding that he is "open-minded" about the size and pace of cuts -- with decisions being dependent on incoming data.
Average hourly earnings rose more than expected in August, by 0.4 percent to $35.21, said the Labor Department.
From a year ago, wage growth was 3.8 percent up –- an acceleration from before also.
"A lot of the macroeconomic indicators lately have been sending mixed messages about the overall economy, but consistently weak messages about the labor market," ZipRecruiter chief economist Julia Pollak told AFP.
"The labor market has slowed and slackened over the past three months, with job growth in the private sector outside of healthcare and social assistance falling to an unusually slow pace," she added.
Economist Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics also noted the "sharp decline in manufacturing jobs" was a surprise relative to her forecast.
But although the unemployment rate has been a point of concern, she flagged that "it has not been accompanied by a sharp rise in workers who have permanently lost their jobs."
bys/md

justice

Telegram chief Durov announces 'new features' to combat illicit content

  • Durov said Telegram had removed the "people nearby" feature, which allowed users to locate other Telegram users but he said "was used by less than 0.1 percent of Telegram users, but had issues with bots and scammers."
  • Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov on Friday announced a range of new features aimed at combating illicit content, bots and scammers, a week after he was arrested and charged by French authorities over violations on the messaging app.
  • Durov said Telegram had removed the "people nearby" feature, which allowed users to locate other Telegram users but he said "was used by less than 0.1 percent of Telegram users, but had issues with bots and scammers."
Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov on Friday announced a range of new features aimed at combating illicit content, bots and scammers, a week after he was arrested and charged by French authorities over violations on the messaging app.
Durov had on Thursday broken his silence with his first public comments following his arrest, which he slammed as "misguided" and "surprising".
But he had also acknowledged that Telegram was "not perfect" and would take more action against illegal content which he argues comes from a tiny proportion of its 950 million users.
"While 99.999 percent of Telegram users have nothing to do with crime, the 0.001 percent involved in illicit activities create a bad image for the entire platform, putting the interests of our almost billion users at risk," he wrote in his new statement on Telegram Friday.
"That's why this year we are committed to turn moderation on Telegram from an area of criticism into one of praise," he added.
Durov said Telegram had removed the "people nearby" feature, which allowed users to locate other Telegram users but he said "was used by less than 0.1 percent of Telegram users, but had issues with bots and scammers."
In its place, Telegram is launching "businesses nearby" to showcase "legitimate, verified businesses." 
He said Telegram had also disabled new media uploads to Telegraph, its standalone blogging tool, "which seems to have been misused by anonymous actors", he said.
Following four days of detention, Durov, 39, was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on Telegram.
He had been arrested August 24 at Le Bourget airport outside Paris after arriving aboard a private jet and was questioned in the subsequent days by investigators.
Durov was granted bail of five million euros ($5.5 million) on the condition that he must report to a police station twice a week as well as remain in France.
On Thursday, he defiantly said that France was wrong to hold him accountable for "crimes committed by third parties on the platform".
An enigmatic figure who rarely speaks in public, Durov is a citizen of Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based.
Forbes magazine estimates his current fortune at $15.5 billion, though he proudly promotes the virtues of an ascetic life that includes ice baths and not drinking alcohol or coffee.
as-sjw/tgb/gv

semiconductors

Dutch match US export curbs on semiconductor machines

BY CHARLOTTE VAN OUWERKERK

  • - 'Unique' position - The Dutch government said Friday the equipment can be used to produce advanced semiconductors which "in turn play a key role in advanced military applications."
  • The Dutch government announced Friday broader restrictions on exports of semiconductor-making machines produced by sector heavyweight ASML, aligning itself with US curbs on technology at the centre of trade tensions with China.
  • - 'Unique' position - The Dutch government said Friday the equipment can be used to produce advanced semiconductors which "in turn play a key role in advanced military applications."
The Dutch government announced Friday broader restrictions on exports of semiconductor-making machines produced by sector heavyweight ASML, aligning itself with US curbs on technology at the centre of trade tensions with China.
The measure, which will take effect on Saturday means ASML will be able to apply for export licences directly with the Dutch authorities instead of the US government to export the equipment outside the European Union.
The Netherlands had previously not applied restrictions on certain equipment that was under US export controls, forcing the Dutch company to request licences from US authorities.
"I've made this decision for reasons of security," foreign trade minister Reinette Klever said in a statement on the measure.
"We see that technological advances have given rise to increased security risks associated with the export of this specific manufacturing equipment, especially in the current geopolitical context," Klever said, without directly mentioning China.
The new restrictions will apply to "more types of equipment" on top of curbs that have been in force since September 2023, the government said.
ASML said in a statement that the measure "will harmonize the approach for issuing export licenses".
"Since this is a technical change, this announcement is not expected to have any impact on our financial outlook for 2024 or for our longer-term scenarios," the company said.
Shares in ASML were down 1.5 percent in early afternoon trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange.
The Netherlands and Japan have previously joined the United States in imposing certain export restrictions on advanced chip-making equipment aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive inputs that could be used in cutting-edge weapons and tech such as AI.
Responding to the latest measures, the Chinese foreign ministry said: "China has always been opposed to this wrong practice of politicising normal economic and trade relations and abusively linking them to issues of national security."
"Trying to set up a technological blockade against China and artificially disrupt the stability of global production and supply chains will only lead to damage to its own interests," it said in a statement to AFP.
The ministry added that China would "closely follow" developments and "resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests".

'Unique' position

The Dutch government said Friday the equipment can be used to produce advanced semiconductors which "in turn play a key role in advanced military applications."
"Thus, the uncontrolled export of this type of manufacturing equipment has implications for the Netherlands' security interests," the statement said.
ASML said the updated licence requirement will apply to its TWINSCAN NXT:1970i and 1980i DUV (deep ultraviolet) immersion lithography systems, which print the tiny elements of a microchip.
Dutch export licences already existed for other types of DUV systems as well as its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are used to make more advanced semiconductors.
The government said Friday it would "assess applications on a case-by-case basis, so this is not an export ban".
The Netherlands has a unique, leading position in this area. This entails certain responsibilities, which we take seriously," Klever said.
"We have proceeded in a careful and targeted manner, so as to minimise the disruption to global trade flows and value chains," she said.
The move comes a day after the United States tightened its own restrictions on certain technology.
The US Commerce Department said Thursday it was implementing worldwide export curbs on specific types of items such as quantum computers and machines needed to make advanced semiconductor devices.
cvo-bur-ehl/lth/rl

advertising

Google 'anti-competitive' over online ad tech: UK

BY BEN PERRY

  • In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority "provisionally found that Google is using anti-competitive practices in open-display ad tech, which it believes could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers", the CMA said in a statement Friday.
  • US tech titan Google employs "anti-competitive practices" with regards to online advertising, Britain's competition watchdog concluded Friday in provisional findings of a two-year long investigation. 
  • In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority "provisionally found that Google is using anti-competitive practices in open-display ad tech, which it believes could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers", the CMA said in a statement Friday.
US tech titan Google employs "anti-competitive practices" with regards to online advertising, Britain's competition watchdog concluded Friday in provisional findings of a two-year long investigation. 
The probe has focused on so-called ad tech -- the system that decides which online adverts people see and how much they cost.
The US Department of Justice and European Commission are carrying out similar investigations into Google.
In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority "provisionally found that Google is using anti-competitive practices in open-display ad tech, which it believes could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers", the CMA said in a statement Friday.
The regulator, which launched its probe in May 2022, said it would "carefully consider representations from Google before reaching its final decision".

'Flawed interpretation'

In a statement to media on Friday, Google VP of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, said the CMA's "case rests on flawed interpretations of the ad tech sector. 
"We disagree with the CMA's view and we will respond accordingly".
He added that Google's "advertising technology tools help websites and apps fund their content, and enable businesses of all sizes to effectively reach new customers.
"Google remains committed to creating value for our publisher and advertiser partners in this highly competitive sector", Taylor said.
The CMA said it had "provisionally found that, when placing digital ads on websites, the vast majority of publishers and advertisers use Google's ad tech services in order to bid for and sell advertising space".
The watchdog "is concerned that Google is actively using its dominance in this sector to preference its own services. 
"Google disadvantages competitors and prevents them competing on a level playing field to provide publishers and advertisers with a better, more competitive service that supports growth in their business".
The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal recently ruled that a multibillion-pound claim against Google for alleged anti-competitiveness in digital advertising can proceed to trial.
The £13.6 billion ($17.9 billion) claim, brought by the Ad Tech Collective Action LLP, accuses the company of abusing its dominant position and causing significant losses to UK online publishers.
Juliette Enser, interim executive director of enforcement at the CMA, noted on Friday that "many businesses are able to keep their digital content free or cheaper by using online advertising to generate revenue. 
"Adverts on these websites and apps reach millions of people across the UK -- assisting the buying and selling of goods and services", she said in the CMA statement.
"That's why it's so important that publishers and advertisers -- who enable this free content -- can benefit from effective competition and get a fair deal when buying or selling digital advertising space".
Google-parent Alphabet recently reported that revenue from online ad searches climbed to $48.5 billion in the second quarter of this year.
bcp/ajb/rl

climate

US climate envoy says discussed plans for summit on methane at Beijing talks

  • The United States has expressed intentions to hold a summit with China on these types of gases at the upcoming United Nations COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November.
  • United States climate envoy John Podesta said on Friday that plans were moving forward for another summit with China on reducing emissions of methane and other highly polluting non-CO2 gases.
  • The United States has expressed intentions to hold a summit with China on these types of gases at the upcoming United Nations COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November.
United States climate envoy John Podesta said on Friday that plans were moving forward for another summit with China on reducing emissions of methane and other highly polluting non-CO2 gases.
China is the world's leading emitter of climate change-inducing greenhouse gases, including methane, followed by the United States.
Podesta's visit to Beijing comes as experts say China could be near or already at peak emissions -- a potentially watershed moment in international efforts to keep global temperatures below targets set by the 2016 Paris Agreement.
While acknowledging "some differences", Podesta said he had held "excellent" talks with Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin and foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
The two sides had "made plans to hold a summit on non-CO2 gas -- methane, N2O, hydrofluorocarbons", he said.
"They get less attention but they're fully half of what's causing global warming," he said.
Wang said on Friday the talks in Beijing had gone "smoothly", hailing "pragmatic results in cooperation".
"Both sides engaged in further dialogue and clarified the direction of our joint efforts," Wang said.
This sends "a positive signal to the outside world that as two major powers, China and the United States not only need to cooperate but can indeed work together", he said.

Methane matters

Climate talks often revolve around reducing the most dangerous greenhouse gas, CO2. 
But methane -- which is particularly potent but relatively short-lived -- is a key target for countries wanting to slash emissions quickly and slow climate change. 
That is because large amounts of methane simply leak into the atmosphere from oil and gas projects.
Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry have risen for three consecutive years, according to the International Energy Agency, hitting near-record highs in 2023.
The United States has expressed intentions to hold a summit with China on these types of gases at the upcoming United Nations COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November.
The two sides also took part in a summit on "methane and non-CO2 greenhouse gases" at last year's COP28 in Dubai.
China has stopped short of signing a global pledge led by the United States and the European Union to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.
Previous US climate envoy John Kerry, a former secretary of state, developed a friendship with Xie Zhenhua, the veteran Chinese climate negotiator, with the two holding extended, secluded talks in California ahead of last year's COP28 in Dubai.
Their unusually close relationship helped bring consensus at that summit.
Before the Dubai meeting, China promised a broad plan to tackle methane -- an especially touchy political issue because methane comes mostly from its coal mining.
pfc-oho/pbt

economy

Eurozone second-quarter economic growth revised down

  • Eurostat also revised its figure for the 27-country European Union's economy, which expanded by 0.2 percent, slightly lower than the previous estimate of 0.3 percent.
  • The eurozone economy's growth in the second quarter this year was slightly smaller than previously estimated after the EU's statistics agency on Friday revised its data.
  • Eurostat also revised its figure for the 27-country European Union's economy, which expanded by 0.2 percent, slightly lower than the previous estimate of 0.3 percent.
The eurozone economy's growth in the second quarter this year was slightly smaller than previously estimated after the EU's statistics agency on Friday revised its data.
The 20-country single currency zone's recorded economic growth of 0.2 percent between April and June from the previous quarter, down from the 0.3 percent estimate in July. 
Eurostat also revised its figure for the 27-country European Union's economy, which expanded by 0.2 percent, slightly lower than the previous estimate of 0.3 percent.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet and Bloomberg had forecast the eurozone economy to grow by 0.2 percent before the first estimate was published in July.
The revisions will likely add to concerns about the eurozone, especially over Germany, Europe's largest economy, which is weighing on the area's performance.
Germany's output contracted by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, official data showed.
raz/del/lth

banking

App helps Mexican tortilla makers join digital economy

BY JEAN ARCE

  • The change reflects a wider embrace of financial technology in Latin America's second-largest economy.
  • Long marginalized by the banking industry, Mexico's neighborhood tortilla producers are cautiously embracing financial technology, in a country where cash is still king for many.
  • The change reflects a wider embrace of financial technology in Latin America's second-largest economy.
Long marginalized by the banking industry, Mexico's neighborhood tortilla producers are cautiously embracing financial technology, in a country where cash is still king for many.
The National Tortilla Council and technology firm Finsus have developed a mobile application that allows vendors of the staple food to charge customers using cards, QR codes or a cellphone number.
"It's revolutionizing the industry," said the organization's president, Homero Lopez Garcia, whose ambitious goal is for 90 percent of tortilla makers to use the app within three years.
The feedback from those who have tried it has been positive: "They say 'I like it, I understand it'," he said.
The hope is that the app will also enable tortilla producers to generate additional income by offering their clients cellphone top-up and bill payment services.
For many, the app is their first link to the formal financial industry.
Only around half of Mexico's 129 million inhabitants have a bank account and most tortilla shops operate informally.
Although it is still in the testing phase, the app is already making life easier for tortilla producer Abel Garcia, who has been in the business for 25 years.
The 60-year-old said that he started out using family savings after failing to get a bank loan, and now owns several stores. 
"It was difficult to get credit -- very, very difficult!" Garcia said, in the working-class district of Iztapalapa.
His success finally gave him access to banks, but with restrictions that put him off using them.
"That's why we tore up the checkbook," he said.

Informal economy

Tortillas are consumed by millions of Mexicans every day and an estimated 110,000-135,000 businesses are involved in their production, according to official and industry figures.
Most of them operate in the informal economy, as do many Mexican workers.
Mexico City for example is home to around 18,000 tortilla shops, according to the national statistics institute INEGI.
But only around 10 percent of them are legally registered, figures from City Hall show.
Without access to the formal financial system, many of them prefer dealing in cash.
A 2021 survey by the banking regulator CNBV found that 64 percent of Mexicans preferred notes and coins over debit or credit cards.
Maria Adelaida Francisco, who works in a tortilla shop in Mexico City, had never used a financial application until her boss Jorge Ramirez suggested she try the new one.
Now the 40-year-old uses it to pay her electricity bill, she said.
Some tortilla producers avoid banks for fear of paperwork or debts.
"They're a bit scared of the tax issue or they don't know about it," said Ramirez, 35.
Several of his eight employees now use the application to collect their salaries.
The change reflects a wider embrace of financial technology in Latin America's second-largest economy.
According to a study by the Inter-American Development Bank and the venture capital company Finnovista, Mexico is home to 20 percent of the region's financial technology ventures, behind only Brazil.
The number of fintech startups in Latin America and the Caribbean increased more than four-fold between 2017 and 2023, to 3,069 across 26 countries, the report said.
Despite the advances, the financial inclusion of Mexico's tortilla makers is still "zero," Lopez Garcia, the National Tortilla Council president, said.
"The banks don't believe in the industry," he said.
jla/dr/st

trade

China pushes smaller, smarter loans to Africa to shield from risks

BY MATTHEW WALSH

  • The BRI made headlines for backing big-ticket projects in Africa with opaque funding and questionable impacts.
  • China's years of splashing cash on big-ticket infrastructure projects in Africa may be over, analysts say, with Beijing seeking to shield itself from risky, indebted partners on the continent as it grapples with a slowing economy at home.
  • The BRI made headlines for backing big-ticket projects in Africa with opaque funding and questionable impacts.
China's years of splashing cash on big-ticket infrastructure projects in Africa may be over, analysts say, with Beijing seeking to shield itself from risky, indebted partners on the continent as it grapples with a slowing economy at home.
Beijing for years dished out billions in loans for trains, roads and bridges in Africa that saddled participating governments with debts they often struggled to pay back.
But experts say it is now opting for smaller loans to fund more modest development projects.
"China has adjusted its lending strategy in Africa to take China's own domestic economic troubles and Africa's debt problems into account," Lucas Engel, a data analyst studying Chinese development finance at the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, said.
"This new prudence and risk aversion among Chinese lenders is intended to ensure that China can continue to engage with Africa in a more resilient and sustainable manner," he told AFP.
"The large infrastructure loans China was known for in the past have become rarer."
As African leaders gathered this week for Beijing's biggest summit since the pandemic, President Xi Jinping committed more than $50 billion in financing over the next three years.
More than half of that would be in credit, Xi said, while the rest would come from unspecified "various types of assistance" and $10 billion through encouraging Chinese firms to invest.
Xi gave no details on how those funds would be dished out.

Loans redirected

China has for years pumped vast sums of cash into African nations as it looks to shore up access to crucial resources, while also using its influence as a geopolitical tool amid ongoing tensions with the West.
But while Beijing lauds its largesse towards the continent, data shows China's funding has dwindled dramatically in recent years.
Chinese lenders supplied a total of $4.6 billion to eight African countries and two regional financial institutions last year, according to Boston University research.
The key shift concerns those on the receiving end: more than half of the total amount went to multilateral or nationally owned banks -- compared with just five percent between 2000 and 2022.
And although last year's loans to Africa were the highest since 2019, they were less than a quarter of what was dished out at the peak of nearly $29 billion eight years ago.
"Redirecting loans to African multilateral borrowers allows Chinese lenders to engage with entities with high credit ratings, not struggling individual sovereign borrowers," Engel said.
"These loans reach private borrowers in ailing African countries in which African multilateral banks operate."

Modest approach

China coordinates much of its overseas lending under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the massive infrastructure project that is a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand his country's clout overseas.
The BRI made headlines for backing big-ticket projects in Africa with opaque funding and questionable impacts.
But China has been shifting its approach in the past few years, analysts said.
It has increasingly funnelled money into smaller projects, from a modestly sized solar farm in Burkina Faso to a hydropower project in Madagascar and broadband infrastructure in Angola, according to Boston University's researchers.
"The increased volume of loans signals Africa's continued importance to China, but the type of loans being deployed are intended to let Africans know that China is taking African concerns into account," Engel told AFP.
This does not mean that Beijing is "permanently retrenching its investments and provision of development finance to the continent", Zainab Usman, director of the Africa Program at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said.
"Development finance flows, especially lending, (are) now starting to rebound," she said.

No 'debt traps'

African leaders have this week secured deals with China on a range of sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, mining and energy.
Western critics accuse China of using the BRI to enmesh developing nations in unsustainable debt to exert diplomatic leverage over them or even seize their assets.
A chorus of African leaders -- as well as research by leading global think tanks like London's Chatham House -- have rebuked the "debt trap" theory.
"I don't necessarily buy in the notion that when China invests, it is with an intention of... ensuring that those countries end up in a debt trap," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in Beijing on Thursday.
One analyst agreed, saying that for many Africans, China has "become synonymous" with life-changing roads, bridges and ports and the debt-trap argument ignores the "positive impact" Beijing has had on infrastructure development on the continent.
"The reality is some (African) countries have had a tough time fulfilling their debt repayment commitments due to a multiplicity of factors," Ovigwe Eguegu, a policy analyst at consultancy Development Reimagined, said.
Engel, of the Boston University research centre, said the argument mistakenly assumes that "China solely has short-term objectives in Africa".
That, he said, "vastly underestimates (its) long-term vision... to shape a system of global governance that will be favourable to its rise".
mjw/oho/je/dan

retail

7-Eleven owner rejects initial takeover bid from Canadian rival

BY TOMOHIRO OSAKI

  • The proposed purchase of Seven & i Holdings would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm, merging 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, America and Europe.
  • The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Friday it had rejected a takeover bid from Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard, saying the proposal "grossly undervalues" the company.
  • The proposed purchase of Seven & i Holdings would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm, merging 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, America and Europe.
The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Friday it had rejected a takeover bid from Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard, saying the proposal "grossly undervalues" the company.
The proposed purchase of Seven & i Holdings would be the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese firm, merging 7-Eleven, Circle K and other brands across Asia, America and Europe.
As the world's biggest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven operates more than 85,000 outlets globally.
While the brand began in the United States, it has been wholly owned by Seven & i since 2005.
A letter from the Seven & i board to Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) said it was open to "engaging in sincere discussions should you put forth a proposal that fully recognises our standalone intrinsic value".
"We do not believe, for several critical reasons, that the proposal you have put forward provides a basis for us to engage in substantive discussions regarding a potential transaction," it said.
ACT operates more than 16,700 outlets in 31 countries and territories.
The takeover bid was announced in August, and on Friday Seven & i said ACT had offered $14.86 per share in cash, roughly matching its market value of $39 billion.
The board's letter called the proposal "opportunistically timed" and said it "grossly undervalues our standalone path and the additional actionable avenues we see to realise and unlock shareholder value".
It also raised regulatory concerns.
"Your proposal does not adequately acknowledge the multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from US competition law enforcement agencies," it said.

'Tremendous brand power'

A quarter of 7-Eleven stores are found in Japan where they are a beloved institution, selling everything from concert tickets to pet food and fresh rice balls.
Seven & i's other businesses include a major supermarket operator, restaurant chain Denny's, and Tower Records -- a once-popular US record store that went bankrupt.
The company has reportedly asked the Japanese government to designate parts of the company as "core", which would make a takeover more difficult.
Entities rated "core" in Japan include manufacturers in the nuclear, rare earths and chip industries, as well as cybersecurity and infrastructure operators.
The Canadian firm, however, is still confident that it can have its way.
CEO Brian Hannasch told an earnings briefing in New York on Thursday that Couche-Tard could "consider a higher leverage if needed", indicating it has the capacity to raise more funds, according to Nikkei Asia.
"We have the solid and robust balance sheet," Nikkei quoted Hannasch as saying.
Shares in Seven & i were down 1.9 percent in Tokyo on Friday.
One shareholder, US fund Artisan Partners Asset Management, last week urged Seven & i to hold swift negotiations with ACT "to achieve the best possible outcome for shareholders".
"ACT is uniquely positioned to enhance SIH's (Seven & i Holdings') corporate value," it said, referring to the Canadian company's successful expansion of Circle K, which it acquired two decades ago.
It added that "7-Eleven has tremendous brand power that could be leveraged on a global basis" and that "unlike SIH, ACT's overseas expansion track record is excellent".
tmo-kaf/dan

Cathay

EU orders Airbus A350 inspections after Cathay engine fire

BY TANGI QUEMENER

  • The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Thursday that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high pressure fuel hose failing. 
  • Europe's aviation safety agency said Thursday it will require inspection of part of the fleet of Airbus A350 wide-body jets in operation after an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight.
  • The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Thursday that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high pressure fuel hose failing. 
Europe's aviation safety agency said Thursday it will require inspection of part of the fleet of Airbus A350 wide-body jets in operation after an engine fire on a Cathay Pacific flight.
Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines on Cathay's A350s, confirmed it was launching "a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme" and was "working very closely" with the EU agency. 
Hong Kong-based Cathay, one of the largest operators of the long-haul A350 jetliner, grounded 48 planes for checks on Monday after a Zurich-bound flight had to return to the city shortly after take-off.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said Thursday that the A350-1000 aircraft suffered an engine failure due to a high pressure fuel hose failing. 
EASA said there was an "in-flight engine fire shortly after take-off", which was "promptly detected and extinguished".
The agency said the incident was the subject of a safety investigation led by the Air Accident Investigation Authority of Hong Kong (AAIA).
In its emergency directive addressed to airlines, the EASA mandated inspections on A350-1000s which are powered by XWB-97 engines.
There are 86 such planes in service worldwide, according to the EASA.
The move does not affect the A350-900 model, of which there are 526 planes in operation according to Airbus figures from July. 
The inspections, to check for damage of fuel hose connections inside engines, "need to take place over the next 3-30 days" according to an EASA statement. 
"This action is a precautionary measure," executive director Florian Guillermet said.
The agency said earlier Thursday that the directive would only apply to European airlines that fly the aircraft, with regulators in other countries fre to decide whether or not to enforce it.

Rolls-Royce engine inspections

The Cathay incident prompted other airlines in the region to carry out similar checks on their A350-900 and A350-1000 models, which are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 and XWB-97 engines, respectively.
Rolls-Royce said Thursday it was launching "a one-time precautionary engine inspection programme" which may apply "to a portion of the A350 fleet".
A source told AFP that Airbus and Rolls-Royce have told airlines that only A350-1000s powered by XWB-97 engines are concerned by the problem.
Airbus did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 
The first A350 was delivered to Qatar Airways at the end of 2014. Since the end of the production of the jumbo A380, the A350 is Airbus's largest aircraft. The largest version, the 1000, can carry nearly 500 passengers.
The A350-1000 can travel more than 16,000 kilometers (nearly 10,000 miles) in one hop. That will be pushed to nearly 18,000 km in the "Sunrise" version ordered by Australian airline Qantas to fly directly between Sydney and London. 
A competitor to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, more than 1,300 A350s have been ordered. Airbus figures from the end of July show 613 have been delivered to airlines.
Qatar Airways is the biggest operator of the 1000 version, with 24 in its fleet, followed by Cathay Pacific and British Airways, which both operate 18.
Cathay, which cancelled 90 flights after the Monday incident, said Wednesday it expects to resume full operations on Saturday after having already fixed six of the 15 airplanes it found needed to have fuel lines replaced.
Emirates airlines CEO Tim Clark expressed concern last year about the durability of the Trent XWB-97 engines, prompting Rolls-Royce to indicate it would work to boost their performance.
Shares in Airbus shed 1.2 percent in late afternoon trading while the Paris CAC 40 index was 0.6 percent lower. Rolls-Royce shares fell 1.4 percent while London's FTSE 100 index was off 0.1 percent.
tq/rl/rsc

protests

Colombian police break up road blockades against diesel price hikes

  • Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan said on X that anti-riot police had intervened with national government approval "to lift blockades" in five critical points in and around the capital of some eight million people.
  • Colombian police moved in Thursday to break up road blockades in and around the capital on the fourth day of protests against a rise in diesel prices.
  • Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan said on X that anti-riot police had intervened with national government approval "to lift blockades" in five critical points in and around the capital of some eight million people.
Colombian police moved in Thursday to break up road blockades in and around the capital on the fourth day of protests against a rise in diesel prices.
Hundreds of trucks have barred roads since Monday around Bogota and other cities in a show of anger against a 20-percent increase in the price of a gallon of diesel to $2.70.
Bogota Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan said on X that anti-riot police had intervened with national government approval "to lift blockades" in five critical points in and around the capital of some eight million people.
In its last report, the police said there had been 120 permanent blockades and 82 other associated disturbances countrywide, forcing many people to walk or cycle to work, and disrupting deliveries and businesses.
The government had made an appeal Wednesday for truckers to create safe corridors for food supplies amid warnings of looming shortages.
The main wholesale food market in Bogota had registered a 40-percent reduction in deliveries received, and the Colombian pharma association said 30 percent of all medicine deliveries have been held up.
State oil company Ecopetrol suspended activities at five oil fields as blockades interrupted operations.
Colombia's left-wing President Gustavo Petro is on a drive to phase out subsidies that have kept fuel prices frozen since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The diesel price hike, which came into effect on Saturday, affects the cost of shipping most goods in a country where 90 percent of commodities are transported by road.
The government argues that the new diesel price is still one of the cheapest in the region.
Petro, the country's first-ever leftist president, has accused "powerful" figures in the business community of being behind the protests and insisted the fuel subsidies were fiscally unsustainable.
vd/lv/arm/mlr/nro