Global Edition

Stocks mostly rise as traders ignore AI-fuelled sell-off on Wall St

  • Precious metals rose for a second day, after tanking on Friday and Monday as the US president's tapping of Kevin Warsh -- a former Fed governor -- sent the dollar surging.
  • Stocks mostly rose Wednesday as investors brushed off another tech-fuelled sell-off on Wall Street, while precious metals continued their recovery on dip-buying following a two-day collapse.
  • Precious metals rose for a second day, after tanking on Friday and Monday as the US president's tapping of Kevin Warsh -- a former Fed governor -- sent the dollar surging.
Stocks mostly rose Wednesday as investors brushed off another tech-fuelled sell-off on Wall Street, while precious metals continued their recovery on dip-buying following a two-day collapse.
Oil prices also extended gains on a fresh pick-up in US-Iran tensions after an American jet shot down an Iranian drone in the Middle East, just as the two sides prepared to hold key nuclear talks.
Assets across the board have endured a volatile start to February owing to a surge in the dollar, geopolitical tensions and the possibility of another US government shutdown.
Concerns over artificial intelligence have also kept traders on their toes amid questions over the vast sums invested in the sector and warnings of a bubble that could pop at any time.
The latest flare-up came in New York, where markets were spooked by news that AI startup Anthropic -- which created the Claude chatbot -- had revealed a tool that could be used by firms to carry out legal work.
The announcement hit firms in the software, financial services and asset management industries. Downbeat sales projections from Advanced Micro Devices compounded the darker mood.
Shares in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Wellington, Taipei and Bangkok rose but Tokyo and Manila slipped.
London, Frankfurt and Paris advanced at the open.
The mixed day pointed to a return of stability after two days of sharp swings sparked by AI concerns and Donald Trump's hawkish pick to lead the Federal Reserve, which dampened interest rate cut bets.
Precious metals rose for a second day, after tanking on Friday and Monday as the US president's tapping of Kevin Warsh -- a former Fed governor -- sent the dollar surging.
The greenback had been taking a battering for most of last week on worries Trump was happy to have a weaker currency.
Gold was sitting just above $5,070 an ounce and silver around $89 -- both well off last week's record highs of $5,595 and $121 but up from the lows of $4,597 and $71 seen in the past two days.
"Investors and traders are dipping their toes in the waters after the clear-out of a lot of the froth and leveraged speculative positions," said Saxo Markets' Neil Wilson. 
This "A) might give them confidence that perhaps the worst of the volatility is over; and B) prices had plunged so much so fast they think it's worth a go at these levels.
"A lot of people sitting on the sidelines for months feeling every day they'd missed their chance to get in will be part of this renewed wave of buying."
Oil prices rose after it emerged a US fighter jet had taken out an Iranian drone that approached an aircraft carrier Tuesday.
That was the second clash that day between the two in Middle Eastern waters, after Iranian forces attempted to detain a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
The incidents come after Washington and Tehran agreed to talks despite Trump's repeated threat of military action against Iran -- and Iran's warning that it would respond with strikes on US vessels and bases.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that US envoy Steve Witkoff is still expected "to have conversations with the Iranians late this week".
Traders were cheered by news that Trump had signed into law a congressional spending bill to fund government agencies while buying more time for lawmakers to negotiate over the administration's controversial immigration crackdown.
Negotiations had broken down following the killing of two US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, the Minnesota city which has become the flashpoint for the Republican president's policies.
However, lawmakers now have just two weeks to negotiate a full-year Department for Homeland Security bill.
In corporate news gaming giant Nintendo tanked 11 percent -- its biggest loss in 18 months -- after releasing disappointing quarterly earnings and amid concerns about its profitability due to a shortage of memory chips.

Key figures at around 0815 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 54,293.36 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 26,847.32 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 4,102.20 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,336.38
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1832 from $1.1829 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3713 from $1.3701
Dollar/yen: UP at 156.42 yen from 155.74 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.26 pence from 86.30 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $63.38 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $67.37 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 49,240.99 (close)
dan/ceg

China

What are 'rare earths' for?

BY CORENTIN DAUTREPPE

  • - Fighter jets, golf clubs - Aviation is a major consumer of rare earths, especially for military plane manufacturing.
  • President Donald Trump's administration is set Wednesday to host ministers from the European Union and other countries in a major meeting on "critical minerals".
  • - Fighter jets, golf clubs - Aviation is a major consumer of rare earths, especially for military plane manufacturing.
President Donald Trump's administration is set Wednesday to host ministers from the European Union and other countries in a major meeting on "critical minerals".
This broad category includes dozens of materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, and lithium -- as well as "rare earths," a set of 17 metallic elements that are essential to many high-tech devices and whose production is dominated by China.

Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium 

Global raw production of rare earths increased from 220,000 tonnes in 2019 to 390,000 tonnes in 2024 -- an increase of 77 percent over five years, according to a benchmark commodities report by French research group Cercle CyclOpe.
Four elements account for most of the sector's economic value: neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium.

Magnets for wind turbines

These four "magnetic" rare earths are mainly used to make permanent magnets, notably neodymium-iron-boron magnets -- about 10 times more powerful than conventional ones.
Use of the rare elements maximises magnets' performance while reducing size and weight, said Damien Ambroise, energy manager at French consultancy Bartle.
A single offshore wind turbine contains up to one tonne of such magnetic rare earths.

Fighter jets, golf clubs

Aviation is a major consumer of rare earths, especially for military plane manufacturing.
According to the US specialist newsletter Rare Earth Exchanges, US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin is the biggest American user of samarium, employed to make magnets that can withstand extremely high temperatures.
Each F-35 fighter jet requires more than 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of rare earths, according to a report by the US Congressional Research Service.
Scandium is used to make light, strong aluminium-based alloys prized in aerospace -- and also in high-end sports gear such as golf clubs, bicycles and baseball bats.

Smartphones

Rare earths are likewise found in every smartphone, enhancing screen performance and enabling the phone to vibrate.
Each handset contains about three grams of them -- more than 3,700 tonnes overall for the 1.24 billion devices sold worldwide in 2024.

Electric and fuel vehicles

Each hybrid or electric vehicle motor contains between 1.2 and 3.5 kilograms of rare earths, according to an estimate by France's Bureau of Geological and Mining Research.
They are also used in the manufacture of miniature motors, such as those that fold away a car's wing mirrors automatically when it is parked.
Combustion-engine vehicles use rare earths too, notably in catalytic converters. Lanthanum and cerium help cut fine particle emissions.

Oil, glass, lasers

In the chemical industry, cerium is widely used in oil refining and glass polishing -- as well as in flints for cigarette lighters.
Erbium is used in various medical fields, including dentistry, dermatology and ophthalmology.
Erbium and neodymium are also important in making lasers for industrial engraving and cutting.
Adding different rare earths alters the wavelength of the laser, and thus its use and colour, Ambroise said. "It makes for pretty colours in sound-and-light shows."
cda/soe/rlp/rl/kjm/ia/sbk

trade

On rare earth supply, Trump for once seeks allies

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • Trump since returning to office has vowed to use US might to secure wealth only for itself, even flirting with invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
  • In his year since returning to office, President Donald Trump has shown disdain for longstanding alliances, vowing "America First" even if US friends lose out.
  • Trump since returning to office has vowed to use US might to secure wealth only for itself, even flirting with invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
In his year since returning to office, President Donald Trump has shown disdain for longstanding alliances, vowing "America First" even if US friends lose out.
But on Wednesday, his administration will attempt the closest it has come to traditional alliance diplomacy, leading a meeting of more than 50 countries on ensuring a stable supply of critical minerals.
The trigger is simple -- China. The Asian power, seen by the United States as its long-term rival, has secured a dominant role over critical minerals, including rare earths vital to modern technologies from smartphones to electric cars to fighter jets.
China, flexing muscle in a trade war launched by Trump, last year tightened its supply chain for rare earths, sending shivers through the global economy.
China -- which mines some 60 percent of the world's rare earths and processes around 90 percent -- offered the United States a one-year reprieve in a deal with Trump in October.
The United States has aggressively reached agreements on critical minerals with allies including Japan -- which this week said it found potential in the first deep-sea search for rare earths -- as well as Australia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said that another 11 countries will join Wednesday and that another 20 are interested in participating in what he called a "global coalition," a phrase rarely uttered by the Trump administration.
"The concept there is that we would have tariff-free trade and exchanges amongst those countries around these critical and rare-earth minerals," Burgum said Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Burgum said that the emerging bloc could go against free-market principles that the United States has historically espoused by regulating a minimum price for certain key minerals.
"If you have someone who's dominant who can flood a market with a particular material, they have the ability to essentially destroy the economic value of a company or a country's production," he said, in a veiled reference to China.

Go it alone, usually

Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the one-day ministerial meeting at the State Department.
Among senior officials in attendance will be the top diplomat of India -- which is especially concerned about Chinese industrial dominance, and moved recently to patch up with Trump after a rift -- as well as the foreign ministers of Italy, a go-to European partner for Trump, and Israel, which is eager for any US-led initiatives that would integrate it further in its region.
Trump since returning to office has vowed to use US might to secure wealth only for itself, even flirting with invading Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
Trump will still seek US dominance on minerals.
On Monday he unveiled "Project Vault," which aims to stockpile critical minerals and effectively anything else needed by US industry.
"We're not just doing certain minerals and rare earths. We're doing everything," Trump said of the project, mentioning also magnets vital to car manufacturing.
The project will be driven by a $10 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and $1.7 billion in private capital, a White House official said.
The European Union, which has seen persistent friction with Trump, hopes to seek a formal agreement on rare earths with the United States.
"We have to make sure that we're not bidding each other up for the same supplies," an EU official said.
US-led cooperation on critical minerals is not new.
Former president Joe Biden's administration in 2022 launched the Minerals Security Partnership, which expanded to two dozen countries including key US allies.
The initiative looked at collaborative funding, with the Export-Import Bank under Biden proposing a $500 million loan for a rare-earths mine and processing plant in Australia.
sct/ksb/jfx

diplomacy

WTO must 'reform or die': talks facilitator

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • A full 72 percent of global trade still operates under WTO rules.
  • Successfully reforming the WTO is a matter of life and death for the organisation, warns the facilitator of talks on revamping the global trade body.
  • A full 72 percent of global trade still operates under WTO rules.
Successfully reforming the WTO is a matter of life and death for the organisation, warns the facilitator of talks on revamping the global trade body.
The World Trade Organization regulates large swathes of global trade but is handicapped by a rule requiring full consensus among members, and a dispute settlement system crippled by the United States.
Reform will be at the heart of the WTO's ministerial meeting in Cameroon next month.
The Geneva-based organisation faced structural and geopolitical obstacles long before US President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, dramatically ratcheting up global trade tensions.
"We need to reform," Norway's ambassador to the WTO Petter Olberg told AFP in a recent interview.
"Reform or die."
Olberg said he was preparing a "reform work plan, which we will ask (trade ministers) to endorse" in Yaounde during the March 26-29 meeting.
Many of the WTO's 166 members agree with Olberg on the importance of significantly overhauling the organisation.
"The WTO is at a critical and, in fact, an existential juncture," he warned at the end of January.
The WTO was created in 1995 but is based on a trading system established shortly after the end of World War II.
The need for a revamp has been discussed for years, and was formally recognised by the organisation's 2022 ministerial conference.

'Sense of urgency'

But the discussions have intensified significantly since Trump returned to power, snubbing agreed trade rules and wielding giant tariffs against foes and friends alike.
"Everyone realises there's a sense of urgency that wasn't there before," Olberg said.
"This time... we have to do it."
The tariff issue, he stressed, "is not the whole story, but it certainly contributes to this sense of urgency". 
"Many, if not all countries are affected by this, small or big."
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that the trade agreements announced by the Trump administration have not been notified to the WTO, as required to ensure they conform with the organisation's rules.
This has raised concern that the deals could potentially violate the WTO's so-called "most-favoured nation" (MFN) principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all others, in a bid to avoid discrimination.
The United States itself indicated to the WTO last December that it considers the principle "unsuitable for this era", particularly given "some countries' unwillingness to pursue and uphold fair, market-oriented competition" and "insistence on maintaining economic systems that are fundamentally incompatible with WTO principles".

'Game-changer'

Olberg believes the US position on MFN is "a game-changer". 
"I think the US is fed up, and quite a few others are also quite fed up," he said.
"We cannot go on like this."
Olberg stressed that the goal in Yaounde was not to finalise reforms, but to establish a work programme, with objectives and deadlines.
"Right now, I think the prospects that we actually will get this plan are quite good," he said.
He highlighted that most agreements within the WTO system function well and bring huge benefits to members, including the United States.
Things like customs valuation procedures and intellectual property agreements may not be "super sexy", he said, but they are "very important to doing business".
A full 72 percent of global trade still operates under WTO rules. But Olberg acknowledged that the organisation's effectiveness was increasingly being questioned.
One major issue is the WTO's requirement for any agreement to have full consensus among members.
"We're not able to adopt new rules, and we're not able to change the old rules," Olberg said.
The consensus rule has, for instance, allowed the United States to block the appointment of new judges, paralysing the WTO dispute mechanism's appellate body since 2019.
And it has permitted India especially to repeatedly block the adoption of plurilateral trade agreements into the WTO framework.
"There's a huge frustration building," Olberg said.
"Now more than ever, people are understanding that we have to change, we have to reform, otherwise we become irrelevant," he said.
"The alternative is not status quo."
apo/nl/rjm/sbk/ane

trade

CK Hutchison begins arbitration against Panama over annulled canal contract

  • Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who had called the CK Hutchison contract "extortionate," last week said the canal will continue operating "without disruption."
  • Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison said in a statement Tuesday it has initiated international arbitration against Panama, after a ruling by the country's top court annulled a concession allowing it to operate ports at the Panama Canal. 
  • Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who had called the CK Hutchison contract "extortionate," last week said the canal will continue operating "without disruption."
Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison said in a statement Tuesday it has initiated international arbitration against Panama, after a ruling by the country's top court annulled a concession allowing it to operate ports at the Panama Canal. 
Panama's Supreme Court last week invalidated Hutchison's contract following repeated threats from President Donald Trump that the United States would seek to reclaim the waterway he said was effectively being controlled by China.
The court's ruling declared the contract "unconstitutional" and found it had "a disproportionate bias in favor of the company" without "any justification" and to the "detriment of the State's treasury."
The company's subsidiary Panama Ports Company (PPC) said in a press release it has begun arbitration "after a campaign by the Panamanian state specifically against PPC and its concession contract, throughout a year marked by a series of abrupt actions by the Panamanian state, culminating in serious damages."
The statement did not specify the amount of money being sought through arbitration.
Since 1997, Hutchison had managed the ports of Cristobal on the interoceanic canal's Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side. 
The concession was extended for 25 years in 2021.
After the ruling, the Panamanian government tapped Danish company Maersk to temporarily take over management of the port terminals until a new concession is awarded.

'Legitimate and lawful'

Washington welcomed the court's decision, but Beijing said it would take measures to "protect the legitimate and lawful rights" of Chinese companies.
The canal, which handles about 40 percent of US container traffic and five percent of world trade, was built by the United States, which operated it for a century before ceding control to Panama in 1999.
The annulment of the PPC contract was requested last year by the office of the comptroller -- an autonomous body that examines how government money is spent.
It argued the concession was "unconstitutional" and said Hutchison had failed to pay the Panamanian state $1.2 billion due.
The PPC argues it is the only port operator in which the Panamanian state is a shareholder and says it has paid the government $59 million over the past three years.
Panama has always denied Chinese control over the 50-mile waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and is used mainly by the United States and China.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who had called the CK Hutchison contract "extortionate," last week said the canal will continue operating "without disruption."
The ruling came amid Hutchison's stalled effort to sell the ports, which it announced in March, to transfer its stake in the Panamanian terminals to a group of companies led by the US firm BlackRock, as part of a package valued at $22.8 billion.
That deal was initially seen as favorable in Washington, but interests cooled after China warned the agreement could harm its global interests and urged parties to proceed with "caution" or face legal consequences.
jjr/arm/jfx/sla

UBS

UBS grilled on Capitol Hill over Nazi-era probe

  • Neil Barofsky, an ombudsman tasked with investigating funds stolen from Holocaust victims, told the panel that 150 or more key documents are being withheld by the Swiss banking giant, which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023. 
  • A Senate panel grilled UBS officials Tuesday over withholding documents sought in a probe of Holocaust-era assets stolen by Nazis and held at Credit Suisse.
  • Neil Barofsky, an ombudsman tasked with investigating funds stolen from Holocaust victims, told the panel that 150 or more key documents are being withheld by the Swiss banking giant, which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023. 
A Senate panel grilled UBS officials Tuesday over withholding documents sought in a probe of Holocaust-era assets stolen by Nazis and held at Credit Suisse.
Neil Barofsky, an ombudsman tasked with investigating funds stolen from Holocaust victims, told the panel that 150 or more key documents are being withheld by the Swiss banking giant, which acquired Credit Suisse in 2023. 
"What we're talking about are documents that are relevant to the question of whether a Nazi had an account or didn't have an account at Credit Suisse," said Barofsky.
The former prosecutor has documented numerous previously unknown Credit Suisse accounts linked to Nazi officials and unearthed the financial trajectory of many Nazis who fled to Argentina.
The clash over documents represents the latest hurdle in the probe after Barofsky was ousted by Credit Suisse in 2022, before being reinstated by UBS in 2023.
Barofsky said the dispute began in November. "Up until that point UBS cooperation has been picture perfect," he said.
He suspects the contested papers include information listing German clients, info on looted art and valuables, and other matters that are "very very core to the heart of our investigation."
UBS General Counsel Barbara Levi told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bank was committed to openness over past actions, but said it faced an "active threat" of litigation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and other NGOs.
"We believe that bringing to light this information is extremely important," Levi said. "But at the same time, if the same organization threatens us of litigation, we are put in a very difficult situation."
Both UBS and Credit Suisse were part of a longstanding $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half-million plaintiffs over looted assets from the Holocaust.
Levi described the accord as providing "final closure to the parties," covering both known and future claims.
"It cannot be that for every piece of information that comes to light, we get under the threat of litigation," Levi said. 
"Where is the incentive then for any financial institution or any other institution to look into the past and bring this information to light?"
UBS on January 28 asked US District Judge Edward Korman for an order "clarifying the scope of the settlement."
Korman -- who approved the $1.25 billion Swiss bank settlement in 2000 -- set a hearing for March 12.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, said the dispute "seems like an unnecessary quarrel that is tainting both Mr. Barofsky's ability to proceed and the reputation of the bank, which I think wants to be seen as cooperative and in good faith."
Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who chaired the hearing, called UBS's conduct an "historic shame that'll outlive today's hearing."
jmb/ksb

children

Spain to seek social media ban for under-16s

  • Sánchez had broached a social media ban for under-16s in November but fleshed out his idea on Tuesday in a package of five measures to be approved "starting next week."
  • Spain will seek to ban social media for under-16s to protect them from harmful content such as pornography and violence, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday, drawing a furious response from X owner Elon Musk.
  • Sánchez had broached a social media ban for under-16s in November but fleshed out his idea on Tuesday in a package of five measures to be approved "starting next week."
Spain will seek to ban social media for under-16s to protect them from harmful content such as pornography and violence, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday, drawing a furious response from X owner Elon Musk.
"Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems—not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work," Sánchez told a summit in Dubai.
"Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone: a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation, violence. We will no longer accept that."
The Socialist leader also pledged to change Spanish law to make the chief executives of tech platforms "face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal or hateful content."
Musk, in a post on X, called out the premier as "Dirty Sanchez," who was a "tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain," adding a poop emoji.
In another post, Musk called Sánchez "the true fascist totalitarian."
The posts were part of a series that also lashed out French authorities that carried out police raids on the social media giant's Paris offices over alleged political interference and sexual deepfakes.
Sánchez had broached a social media ban for under-16s in November but fleshed out his idea on Tuesday in a package of five measures to be approved "starting next week."
However, his coalition government lacks a parliamentary majority and often struggles to pass legislation.
Australia established a world first in December when it banned young teenagers from some of the world's most popular platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
France and Portugal have also sought to follow suit. Spain has joined Denmark, Greece and France in leading a push for similar action across the European Union.
bur-arp/sla

cybercrime

X hits back after France summons Musk, raids offices in deepfake probe

BY PHILIPPE GRELARD AND CLARA WRIGHT WITH ALEXANDRA BACON IN LONDON

  • French authorities conducted a search on Tuesday at X's French premises as part of an investigation, which began in January 2025, over allegations that X's algorithm was used to interfere in French politics.
  • French prosecutors on Tuesday searched the Paris offices of Elon Musk's X as part of an investigation into alleged political interference and sexual deepfakes and summoned Musk in what the social media giant slammed as "politicized" raids.
  • French authorities conducted a search on Tuesday at X's French premises as part of an investigation, which began in January 2025, over allegations that X's algorithm was used to interfere in French politics.
French prosecutors on Tuesday searched the Paris offices of Elon Musk's X as part of an investigation into alleged political interference and sexual deepfakes and summoned Musk in what the social media giant slammed as "politicized" raids.
The search came as both Britain and the European Union have opened investigations into the creation of sexualised deepfakes of women and children by Musk's AI chatbot Grok.
A proposal by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to become the latest country to ban social media for under 16s enraged Musk who on Tuesday called Sanchez "a tyrant and traitor" to Spain's people. 
French authorities conducted a search on Tuesday at X's French premises as part of an investigation, which began in January 2025, over allegations that X's algorithm was used to interfere in French politics. It now also includes a probe into the Grok AI tool's dissemination of Holocaust denials and sexual deepfakes.
EU police agency Europol said it provided an analyst to give on-the-ground support in the search.
"The Paris Public Prosecutor's office widely publicized the raid -- making clear that today's action was an abusive act of law enforcement theater designed to achieve illegitimate political objectives rather than advance legitimate law enforcement goals," X's Global Government Affairs team posted on the platform. 
"The allegations underlying today's raid are baseless and X categorically denies any wrongdoing."
The Paris prosecutor's office said that "summons for voluntary interviews on April 20, 2026, in Paris have been sent to Mr Elon Musk and Ms Linda Yaccarino, in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of the X platform at the time of the events" being investigated.
Yaccarino resigned as CEO of X in July last year after two years at the helm of the company.
The French probe focuses on alleged offences including complicity in possessing child sexual abuse material and denial of crimes against humanity.
X employees have also been summoned to appear between April 20 and 24 "to be heard as witnesses", said Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau, whose office announced in a final message on X it would be leaving the platform.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov -- who is under investigation in France over illegal content on his messaging app -- also blasted the raid.
"France is the only country in the world that is criminally persecuting all social networks that give people some degree of freedom," the Russian-born entrepreneur wrote on X, naming Telegram, TikTok, and X.
Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, has been accused of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse and other illegal content. He denies the allegations.

'Serious concerns'

There has been a broader international backlash against Grok after it emerged that users could sexualise images of women and children using simple text prompts such as "put her in a bikini" or "remove her clothes".
Britain's data regulator on Tuesday launched investigations into Musk's X and xAI to see whether the companies complied with personal data laws in Grok's generation of sexualised deepfakes.
"The reported creation and circulation of such content raises serious concerns under UK data protection law and presents a risk of significant potential harm to the public," the Information Commissioner's Office said in a statement. 
In January, the European Union also hit X with an investigation over Grok's generation of sexualised deepfake images of women and minors.

'Politically motivated'

Paris cybercrime prosecutors called for the police probe in July 2025 to investigate suspected crimes -- including manipulating and extracting data from automated systems "as part of a criminal gang" -- after receiving two complaints in January 2025.
One complaint was made by Eric Bothorel, a lawmaker from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party, who alleged "reduced diversity of voices and options" and "personal interventions" by Musk in the platform's management since he took it over in 2022.
Musk has faced criticism for backing right wing parties in Europe, including vocal backing for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
On top of X's condemnation of the investigation and Tuesday's raid, the US administration said in July it would defend the free speech of Americans against "acts of foreign censorship".
bur-pgr/ekf/gv/sbk/tw

economy

Russia's economic growth slowed to 1% in 2025: Putin

  • "Russia's GDP grew by one percent last year.
  • Russia's economy grew by one percent in 2025, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, marking a much slower expansion compared to the 2024 figure as it stutters under the burden of the Ukraine war.
  • "Russia's GDP grew by one percent last year.
Russia's economy grew by one percent in 2025, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, marking a much slower expansion compared to the 2024 figure as it stutters under the burden of the Ukraine war.
Huge spending on its army fighting in Ukraine has initially spurred growth and helped Moscow buck predictions of economic collapse after it launched its offensive in 2022.
But the ramped-up spending pushed up inflation, weighing on real growth, while businesses have railed against high borrowing costs introduced to rein in the rise in prices.
"Russia's GDP grew by one percent last year. This is lower than the dynamics observed earlier, as we are well aware: in 2023 and 2024, growth was 4.1 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively," Putin told a government meeting.
"But we also know that this slowdown was not simply expected, one could even say it was man-made: it was connected with targeted measures to reduce inflation," Putin added.
He said the inflation "had been reduced to 5.6 percent" last year, compared to 9.5 percent a year prior. 
In December, Russia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 16 percent as inflation showed signs of slowing down.
But state statistics agency Rosstat said last year it expected annual inflation to ease to the four-percent target only in 2027.
"The task is clear: we need to restore the growth rate of the domestic economy, improve the business climate, and increase investment activity with a focus on increasing labour productivity," Putin said on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Moscow published budget information indicating that its oil and gas revenues -- crucial for its state coffers -- dropped to a five-year low.
The country's oil and gas sectors and many of its businesses have been subject to numerous European and US sanctions since Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine in 2022.
bur/rmb

investigation

Air India inspects Boeing 787 fuel switches after grounding

  • News of the inspection followed Air India's grounding Monday of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet after one of its pilots reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch.
  • Air India has begun inspecting fuel control switches on its 33 Boeing 787 aircraft after grounding a flight over a possible defect, according to a company note seen by AFP on Tuesday.
  • News of the inspection followed Air India's grounding Monday of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet after one of its pilots reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch.
Air India has begun inspecting fuel control switches on its 33 Boeing 787 aircraft after grounding a flight over a possible defect, according to a company note seen by AFP on Tuesday.
The checks came as Indian authorities were probing the crash last year of a 787 Dreamliner that killed 260 people shortly after takeoff. 
News of the inspection followed Air India's grounding Monday of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet after one of its pilots reported a possible defect in the fuel control switch.
"Following the reported defect... Engineering has escalated the matter to Boeing for priority evaluation," the internal company note said.
India's aviation regulator said incorrect handling of the fuel switch had caused the issue in Monday's flight, and not a mechanical fault.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that twice the fuel control switch, which regulates fuel into the plane's engines, did not "remain positively latched in the run position when light vertical pressure was applied".
It was stable the third time and the flight was "completed without incident", the regulator said in a statement.
It advised the airline to reinforce crew training on Boeing's recommended procedures.
In a statement to AFP, Boeing said: "We are in contact with Air India and are supporting their review of this matter."
Air India, owned by the Tata Group conglomerate, said it had launched a precautionary fleet-wide re-inspection of the switch latch.
A source close to the company told AFP that fresh inspection of several planes had been completed, with no adverse findings yet.
A London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad in June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground.
An inspection of the locking feature on the fuel control switches of the aircraft after the crash found no issues.
A preliminary report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said fuel supply to the jet's engines was cut off moments before impact, raising questions about possible pilot error.
According to the AAIB, one pilot was heard asking the other why fuel had been cut off, to which the second pilot replied that he had not done so.
Two major Indian commercial pilots' associations, as well as the father of one of the dead pilots, have rejected suggestions that human error caused the crash.
Indian authorities have yet to release a final report into the crash.
sai-ash/abh/ami

labour

Germany has highest share of older workers in EU

  • In 2024, Italy had the second-highest proportion of workers in the 55 to 64-year-old age bracket in the EU after Germany, at 23 percent, according to Destatis, citing European data.
  • Germany has the highest proportion of older workers of any European Union country, official data showed Tuesday, with almost a quarter of those in employment aged between 55 and 64. 
  • In 2024, Italy had the second-highest proportion of workers in the 55 to 64-year-old age bracket in the EU after Germany, at 23 percent, according to Destatis, citing European data.
Germany has the highest proportion of older workers of any European Union country, official data showed Tuesday, with almost a quarter of those in employment aged between 55 and 64. 
Roughly 9.8 million people -- around 24 percent -- of the 40.9 million people in work in Europe's biggest economy were in this age bracket in 2024, according to statistics agency Destatis. 
This compared to an EU average of around one fifth.
"A key reason for the high proportion of older workers in Germany is that the population is increasingly ageing," said Destatis in a statement. 
The agency also noted that people were retiring later in Germany, which has a population of almost 84 million, as the statutory retirement age rises gradually to 67 by 2029.
The average retirement age for women and men was 64.7 years in 2024, compared to 63 for women and 63.1 for men in 2004, it said. 
Experts believe it is crucial for Germans to work longer as the population ages, which is putting a huge strain on the pension system.
Bagso, an umbrella group for associations that promote the rights of older Germans, said however there was still too little being done to encourage older people to take up work.
"The fact that older employees in particular perceive themselves as especially disadvantaged among all population groups because of their age is certainly not an invitation to voluntarily continue working after retirement age," the group's chairwoman Regina Goerner told AFP. 
"For decades, companies have been investing too little in the further training of this group."
In 2024, Italy had the second-highest proportion of workers in the 55 to 64-year-old age bracket in the EU after Germany, at 23 percent, according to Destatis, citing European data.
Malta by contrast had the lowest proportion of older workers in the workforce, at around 11 percent, it said.
sr/fz

earnings

Pfizer shares drop on quarterly loss

  • "Current financial guidance does not anticipate any share repurchases in 2026," said Pfizer, which anticipates research and development expenses of between $10.5 and $11.5 billion in 2026.
  • Pfizer reported a quarterly loss Tuesday following a large write-down, denting shares as it confirmed 2026 financial targets with lower revenues.
  • "Current financial guidance does not anticipate any share repurchases in 2026," said Pfizer, which anticipates research and development expenses of between $10.5 and $11.5 billion in 2026.
Pfizer reported a quarterly loss Tuesday following a large write-down, denting shares as it confirmed 2026 financial targets with lower revenues.
The big US drugmaker pointed to another drop in quarterly revenues tied to Covid-19 products, as well as $4.4 billion in asset impairments that were needed "due to changes in development plans and updated long-range commercial forecasts," Pfizer said in its press release.
Pfizer pointed to 20 planned trials in 2026 for pharmaceuticals under development and said it achieved sales growth in several leading products, including blood-thinner Eliquis in spite of competition from generics in some markets.
But investors punished the stock following the earnings announcement, which signaled that the company again plans no share repurchases in 2026 as it works to limit its debt while funding a research and development plan intended to offset the hit from lost patent advantages.
The negative market reaction also suggested investors may have been hoping for a quicker return on Pfizer's R&D program than the one implied by the results.
Pfizer reported a loss of $1.6 billion compared with profits of $410 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Revenues fell two percent to $62.6 billion.
Chief Executive Albert Bourla said Pfizer's 2025 "solid" performance provides a "foundation for future growth."
Bourla said 2026 "will be an important year rich in key catalysts, including our expectation for approximately 20 key pivotal study starts, and continued strategic investment to maximize our opportunities for industry-leading growth at the end of the decade."
In the fourth quarter, the drugmaker experienced a 35 percent drop in revenues from Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty and a 75 percent decline in sales tied to therapeutic Paxlovid.
Since the pandemic, Pfizer has completed acquisitions of oncology drug specialist Seagen and Metsera, which is known for weight loss products.
Pfizer said half of the 20 trials in 2026 are for "ultra-long-acting obesity assets" acquired from Metsera.
In prepared remarks released with the results, Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Chris Boshoff called a range of clinical results to date on anti-obesity products "encouraging," but said the company was targeting the first of government approvals only in 2028.
While Pfizer continued to pay a dividend in 2025, it did not undertake any share repurchases, in line with its plan to pay off debt "in a prudent manner," the company said.
"Current financial guidance does not anticipate any share repurchases in 2026," said Pfizer, which anticipates research and development expenses of between $10.5 and $11.5 billion in 2026.
Pfizer spent $10.4 billion on R&D in 2025.
Pfizer projected 2026 revenues of $59.5 to $62.5 billion, a bit below the $62.6 billion last year. The company's overall outlook for 2026 was in line with Pfizer's December projections.
This outlook includes around a $1.5 billion revenue hit from anticipated generic products coming on line in 2026.
Shares dropped 3.2 percent in morning trading.
jmb/md

streaming

Disney names theme parks chief Josh D'Amaro as next CEO

  • In a concurrent move, Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, was named president and chief creative officer -- a new role in which she will report directly to D'Amaro and oversee creative output across the company.
  • The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks division, will replace Bob Iger as chief executive when the entertainment titan steps down in March.
  • In a concurrent move, Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, was named president and chief creative officer -- a new role in which she will report directly to D'Amaro and oversee creative output across the company.
The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday that Josh D'Amaro, head of its theme parks division, will replace Bob Iger as chief executive when the entertainment titan steps down in March.
D'Amaro, 54, will take the helm on March 18 following a unanimous board vote, the company said. He will succeed Iger, who has led Disney for nearly two decades across two separate stints.
"Josh D'Amaro possesses that rare combination of inspiring leadership and innovation, a keen eye for strategic growth opportunities, and a deep passion for the Disney brand," said board chairman James Gorman.
The 28-year Disney veteran oversees the company's largest business segment, which generated $36 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025 and employs 185,000 people worldwide across 12 theme parks and 57 resort hotels.
D'Amaro has led major expansions including "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge" and plans for a new park in Abu Dhabi, as well as Disney's partnership with Epic Games on Fortnite integration.
He also spearheaded plans to expand Disney's fleet of cruise ships from 7 to 13.
Iger praised D'Amaro's "instinctive appreciation of the Disney brand and a deep understanding of what resonates with our audiences."
In a concurrent move, Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, was named president and chief creative officer -- a new role in which she will report directly to D'Amaro and oversee creative output across the company.
Iger will serve as senior advisor through December 2026 before retiring from the company he has led to "unprecedented creative and business success," the statement said.
Under Iger's leadership, Disney acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox. It also opened its first theme park in China -- the Shanghai Disney Resort -- and launched the Disney+ and ESPN+ streaming services.
Iger previously resigned as Disney CEO in February 2020 after 15 years, handing control to Bob Chapek.
But their clashes during the Covid-19 pandemic led to Chapek's ouster in November 2022 and Iger's return as CEO.
During his return, Iger cut costs, laid off thousands of employees, and restructured divisions amid streaming losses and a post-Chapek "mess" he publicly criticized. 
The handover comes amid intensifying pressures in the traditional media and video streaming businesses, with Disney+ taking years to reach profitability after its launch to compete with Netflix in 2019.
The company is dabbling in generative AI with a three-year licensing deal signed with OpenAI in December that will allow fans to create short videos featuring Disney characters through artificial intelligence.
Amid doubts about the future, Disney's share price has stagnated over the past three years.
"Strategically, there's nothing wrong with this company. There are things we can do better," Gorman, the board chairman, told CNBC.
arp/md

electricity

Germany acquires power grid stake from Dutch operator

  • Berlin is helping to ensure that requirements for new capital will be secured in the coming years, Reiche said, adding: "This investment in tomorrow's infrastructure strengthens Germany."
  • The German government said Tuesday that it had acquired a stake in the local subsidiary of Dutch power grid operator TenneT, a strategic investment by Berlin in critical energy infrastructure. 
  • Berlin is helping to ensure that requirements for new capital will be secured in the coming years, Reiche said, adding: "This investment in tomorrow's infrastructure strengthens Germany."
The German government said Tuesday that it had acquired a stake in the local subsidiary of Dutch power grid operator TenneT, a strategic investment by Berlin in critical energy infrastructure. 
The 3.3 billion euro ($3.9 billion) acquisition of a 25.1 percent stake in the publicly owned Dutch group will help secure extra financing for much-needed upgrades of the grid in Europe's biggest economy.
TenneT is a major network operator in Germany, with 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) of high-voltage lines stretching between the southern state of Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein in the north.
Public lender KfW, acting for the German state, signed the deal with TenneT.
"Achieving our goals in energy policy depends on an expansion of the electricity grid according to demand," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in a statement. 
Berlin is helping to ensure that requirements for new capital will be secured in the coming years, Reiche said, adding: "This investment in tomorrow's infrastructure strengthens Germany."
TenneT CEO Manon van Beek said the acquisition represented an "important milestone".
"We are operating in a world where geopolitics, economics and also energy security are increasingly intertwined," she told a press conference. 
Like much of Germany's infrastructure, the power grids are in dire need of upgrading, and Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to ramp up public spending to fix the problems. 
TenneT had already announced in September that an international consortium was acquiring 46 percent of the shares in its German business. 
The Dutch group will keep a 28.9 percent stake. 
The acquisitions by Germany and the consortium provide certainty for "much-needed grid reinforcements", van Beek said. 
They "also contribute to a very robust, very resilient electricity system in Europe", she said. 
kas-sr/fz/js

transport

Finland building icebreakers for US amid Arctic tensions

BY ANNA KORKMAN

  • But Trump's desire to acquire strategically-located Greenland has now raised "more and more" suspicions about the deal, Sanna Kopra, an Arctic geopolitics and security professor at the University of Lapland, told AFP. Trump's long-standing territorial designs on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have triggered the most serious crisis in the history of US-led military alliance NATO. The US president last week backed off threats of using force to seize Greenland and began talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.
  • Finland is building a new fleet of icebreakers for the US but President Donald Trump's plans for Greenland, which he covets, and tense US-EU ties have raised concerns over the deal.
  • But Trump's desire to acquire strategically-located Greenland has now raised "more and more" suspicions about the deal, Sanna Kopra, an Arctic geopolitics and security professor at the University of Lapland, told AFP. Trump's long-standing territorial designs on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have triggered the most serious crisis in the history of US-led military alliance NATO. The US president last week backed off threats of using force to seize Greenland and began talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Finland is building a new fleet of icebreakers for the US but President Donald Trump's plans for Greenland, which he covets, and tense US-EU ties have raised concerns over the deal.
Sixty percent of the world's icebreakers are Finnish-made and 80 percent are designed by Finnish companies, according to Arctia, the state-owned firm which manages the country's icebreaker fleet.
Jukka Viitanen, Sustainability and Communications Director of Arctia, told AFP that Finland's expertise was born from necessity.
It is the only country in the world where all ports can freeze in winter, Viitanen said.
"We need to export and import stuff to be able to maintain people living in this country. That is why we need icebreaking," he said.
Nations such as China, Russia and the United States are scrambling to secure a foothold in the Arctic for strategic reasons and to access huge reserves of natural resources.
Many are now looking to enhance their icebreaker fleet.
In October, Trump and Helsinki announced that the United States coast guard will procure 11 icebreakers.
The US coast guard currently operates three ageing vessels.
Four vessels will be built in Finnish shipyards, and the remaining seven in the United States.
"It is not possible to sail through the Arctic Sea without icebreakers and many big nations have interests in the Arctic right now," Viitanen said.

US threats  

The US order -- estimated at $6.1 billion according to media reports -- is a welcome boost for Finland, where unemployment is at a record high and the economy is in the doldrums.
But Trump's desire to acquire strategically-located Greenland has now raised "more and more" suspicions about the deal, Sanna Kopra, an Arctic geopolitics and security professor at the University of Lapland, told AFP.
Trump's long-standing territorial designs on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, have triggered the most serious crisis in the history of US-led military alliance NATO.
The US president last week backed off threats of using force to seize Greenland and began talks with Copenhagen and Nuuk.
"But if Trump changes his mind about taking control over Greenland and the politics of the United States turns increasingly imperialistic, of course it raises questions about how wise it is to proceed," Kopra said.
If Trump again starts talking about seizing Greenland, "the question of cancelling these deals could become a very important political issue," Kopra noted.
Charly Salonius-Pasternak, an expert in geopolitics and the CEO of Finnish think-tank Nordic West Office, meanwhile doubted Trump's threats would endanger the deal.  
"There are voices," against it, he said,  adding: "Are these people influential in the matter? No."

'Greenland saga not over'

But Salonius-Pasternak conceded "the Greenland saga" was not over.
"Trump said at the end of October 2025 that there were no plans to use military force in Venezuela," he noted -- but US forces seized its president in a raid there on January 3.
In December, Finland's Rauma shipyard confirmed a contract from the US coast guard to build two icebreakers, to be completed in 2028.
The Helsinki shipyard, owned by Canadian company Davie, is also expecting an order.
Managing director Kim Salmi told AFP they expected to sign a contract with the US coast guard for two icebreakers shortly.
"I'm preparing to start building those icebreakers as soon as possible," Salmi said.
"When the ink drops on the paper, the first US icebreaker will be delivered 26 months from that," he said with a smile.
ank/jll/ach/rlp

space

Musk merges xAI into SpaceX in bid to build space data centers

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • More prosaically, "Musk announced during last week's Tesla results that he would be pivoting the business away from electric vehicles to automation and artificial intelligence, and this will be true of his space travel ambitions too," said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.
  • Elon Musk has announced that his rocket company SpaceX will take over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, as he seeks to raise billions of dollars for his science fiction-worthy outer space projects.
  • More prosaically, "Musk announced during last week's Tesla results that he would be pivoting the business away from electric vehicles to automation and artificial intelligence, and this will be true of his space travel ambitions too," said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Elon Musk has announced that his rocket company SpaceX will take over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, as he seeks to raise billions of dollars for his science fiction-worthy outer space projects.
Musk wrote on the SpaceX website Monday that the merger further entwining his business interests would create "the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth".
He cited capabilities in "AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world's foremost real-time information and free speech platform".
SpaceX has set the pace in the space launch market, offering reusable rockets that vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit and itself owning the largest satellite constellation, Starlink.
The company is set for a stock market listing this year widely expected to be the biggest in history, with The Financial Times reporting the initial public offering (IPO) could come in June and aim to bring in $50 billion.
Musk called SpaceX's absorption of xAI "not just the next chapter, but the next book" in what he said was the companies' "mission" to "make a sentient sun".

Space data centers

Behind the science fiction language is a plan to use SpaceX's rockets to launch solar powered, satellite-based data centers to develop and run future AI models.
The merger comes as funding for the AI buildout embraced by big tech companies begins to show signs of tension.
"Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions... The only logical solution therefore is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space," Musk wrote.
The announcement did not disclose financial terms of the acquisition or provide a timeline for initial satellite deployments.
But the project fits into Musk's long-term ambition to build colonies on the Moon and Mars and is "a first step towards becoming a Kardashev II-level civilization", he wrote.
Coined in the 1960s by a Soviet astronomer, the futurist term refers to a civilisation able to use all of the energy from its home system's star.
More prosaically, "Musk announced during last week's Tesla results that he would be pivoting the business away from electric vehicles to automation and artificial intelligence, and this will be true of his space travel ambitions too," said Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"There are technological synergies to be made across all his businesses" but "what will be key is the market’s view of the valuation", Wall added.

Trillion-dollar price tag

Suggested valuations for the merged SpaceX and xAI entity vary, with Bloomberg reporting $1.25 trillion and The Financial Times $1.5 trillion.
A January fundraising round valued xAI, which owns the X social network and the Grok chatbot, at $230 billion, while SpaceX was estimated at around $800 billion late last year.
The combined company could pool capital, computing resources and talent.
Musk had previously opposed an IPO for SpaceX because he had not enjoyed the required scrutiny of publicly traded carmaker Tesla.
He also argued that the market's desire for financial returns was at odds with his ultimate goal of settling Mars.
But the company's latest priorities will require significant investment.
SpaceX is currently developing the biggest rocket in history, Starship, designed to carry future manned missions into space.
Amazon founder and fellow multibillionaire Jeff Bezos is determined to compete with Musk using the New Glenn rocket built by his Blue Origin company.
The two are at odds over NASA's Artemis programme, a new generation of Moon missions, with the American space agency saying it could turn to other suppliers than SpaceX over delays.
Such concerns did not figure in Musk's statement, as he wrote that SpaceX aimed to launch one million satellites operating as data centers using its Starship rocket.
The South African-born billionaire claimed that SpaceX would soon achieve launch rates of one flight per hour carrying 200 tons of payload.
That would be a massive step up from the roughly one launch every other day the company achieved in 2025, mostly with its smaller Falcon rockets.
arp-bl/tgb/js

Egypt

Ethiopia denies Trump claim mega-dam was financed by US

  • In Davos last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump backed that claim, saying the dam "was financed by the United States and it basically blocks the Nile".
  • Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday denied claims by President Donald Trump that the country's new mega-dam was funded by the United States. 
  • In Davos last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump backed that claim, saying the dam "was financed by the United States and it basically blocks the Nile".
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday denied claims by President Donald Trump that the country's new mega-dam was funded by the United States. 
The $4-billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) straddles a tributary of the River Nile and will generate 5,150 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest dam by power capacity in Africa. 
Egypt, a close ally of the US which depends on the Nile for 97 percent of its water, considers the dam an "existential threat". 
In Davos last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Trump backed that claim, saying the dam "was financed by the United States and it basically blocks the Nile".
The Ethiopian premier pushed back in a speech to parliamentarians on Tuesday. 
"We did not receive a single birr (the Ethiopian currency) in loans or financial aid from any foreign sources for the construction of the mega-dam. We achieved this through the strong commitment of Ethiopians living in the country and in the diaspora," Abiy said. 
The GERD, whose construction began in 2011, was financed through taxes and loans from Ethiopians.  
The construction firm behind the dam says there is no reason why it would divert waters from Egypt. 
The dam "releases water to produce energy. They are not irrigation schemes that consume water," Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild, the project's prime contractor, told AFP at the inauguration in September. 
Salini also said the project was entirely financed by Ethiopia.
"Not one international lender was willing to put money in this project," he told AFP.
Trump, a longtime ally of his Egyptian counterpart, pledged to "get negotiations back on track" between Cairo and Addis Ababa. 
Egypt has said it is ready "to relaunch mediation efforts" but Ethiopian authorities have not yet responded. 
dyg/jf/er/kjm

earnings

Switch 2 sales boost Nintendo profits, but chip shortage looms

BY KATIE FORSTER

  • In April-December, net profit jumped 51.3 percent year-on-year to 358.9 billion yen ($2.3 billion), it said, and revenue nearly doubled on-year to 1.9 trillion yen.
  • The runaway success of the Switch 2 console drove up Nintendo's net profit by more than 50 percent in the nine months to December, the Japanese video game giant said Tuesday.
  • In April-December, net profit jumped 51.3 percent year-on-year to 358.9 billion yen ($2.3 billion), it said, and revenue nearly doubled on-year to 1.9 trillion yen.
The runaway success of the Switch 2 console drove up Nintendo's net profit by more than 50 percent in the nine months to December, the Japanese video game giant said Tuesday.
But a global memory chip shortage, created by massive demand for artificial intelligence hardware, threatens to push up manufacturing costs for the "Super Mario" maker.
The Switch 2 became the world's fastest-selling games console after launching to a fan frenzy last summer.
It is the successor to the original Switch, which soared in popularity during the pandemic when games such as "Animal Crossing" struck a chord during long lockdowns.
Both are hybrid devices that can be connected to a TV or used on-the-go.
"Nintendo Switch 2 got off to a good start following its launch on June 5 and unit sales continued to grow through the holiday season," Nintendo said Tuesday.
In April-December, net profit jumped 51.3 percent year-on-year to 358.9 billion yen ($2.3 billion), it said, and revenue nearly doubled on-year to 1.9 trillion yen.
It sold nearly 17.4 million Switch 2 devices during the nine-month period.
But the Kyoto-based company kept its annual unit sales target for the Switch 2 steady at 19 million, and also held its full-year net profit forecast of 350 billion yen.

Chip crunch

Soaring prices for memory microchips -- used in games consoles as well as phones, laptops and other electronics -- is set to be a headwind.
Their prices have ballooned as chipmakers focus on meeting the huge demands of fast-growing numbers of AI data centres.
"Nintendo and other console manufacturers are publicly keeping quiet about the impact of the shortage," gaming industry consultant Serkan Toto told AFP.
But "users can forget the past when consoles always became cheaper in tandem with component costs falling over time", with price hikes potentially on the cards this year, he said.
Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit and Krysta Podcast told AFP that a Switch 2 price increase "is not out of the question" but that Nintendo "would likely exhaust all other options" beforehand.
A lack of heavy-hitting first-party new games for the Switch 2 in coming months also risks hindering growth, although third-party titles such as "Resident Evil Requiem" should help fill the gap, she said.
Nintendo said Tuesday it planned to release "Mario Tennis Fever" this month and "Pokemon Pokopia" in March.
While the company is diversifying into hit movies and theme parks, consoles remain at the core of its business.
The Switch 1 has now sold 155.37 million units -- overtaking the Nintendo DS to be its best-selling hardware of all time.
Yang and Toto dismissed fears that AI-generated games could soon spell trouble for established console makers like Nintendo.
Several game-related stocks dropped Friday after Google released its Genie 3.0 AI model, which can create playable worlds with simple prompts.
But "if you dig below the surface level of what Google's new AI model can actually do, it's clear that this isn't a real 'threat' to the industry", Yang said.
"Games require so much more than simple interaction and flashy graphics," Toto added.
"At least right now, AI cannot tell meaningful stories, create strong characters, or come up with fun gameplay mechanics," he said.
kaf/dan

regulation

China to ban hidden car door handles, setting new safety standards

BY PETER CATTERALL

  • Safety concerns have risen in China recently over sleek, aerodynamic car doors that reduce drag but are prone to losing operability in the event of a crash.
  • China will ban hidden door handles on cars from next year over safety concerns, phasing out the minimalist design popularised by Tesla.
  • Safety concerns have risen in China recently over sleek, aerodynamic car doors that reduce drag but are prone to losing operability in the event of a crash.
China will ban hidden door handles on cars from next year over safety concerns, phasing out the minimalist design popularised by Tesla.
The new rules could prompt carmakers globally to rethink vehicle-door designs as China increasingly positions itself as a standards-setter in the rapidly expanding international EV market, according to analysts. 
The rules, announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday will take effect from January 1, 2027, and require door handles to have both interior and exterior mechanical releases.
Chinese car models already approved for launch will have an additional two years to achieve compliance, the ministry said.
The new regulations will apply to all vehicles but will mostly impact EVs, which are commonly designed with hidden handles, and will "improve the level of automotive safety design", the ministry added.
Safety concerns have risen in China recently over sleek, aerodynamic car doors that reduce drag but are prone to losing operability in the event of a crash.
One high-profile incident occurred in October, when rescuers were shown failing to open the doors of a burning Xiaomi electric vehicle in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
The driver, reported to be under the influence of alcohol, died in the crash.
Electronic or "flush" door handles were introduced with Tesla's 2012 launch of the Model S, later becoming popular with Chinese EV brands prioritising high-tech features.
Folding into the body of the car, such door handles provide a slight boost to efficiency by reducing drag while the vehicle is in motion.
Banning the handles is part of a pattern in which "China is increasingly acting as a rule-setter rather than a rule-taker in EV and intelligent vehicle regulation," Bill Russo, founder of Shanghai-based consultancy Automobility, told AFP.
He pointed to areas including battery safety standards and remote updating as other examples of this.
Russo said he expects the new door regulations to be "echoed" abroad, particularly in Europe, "as Chinese vehicles and platforms increasingly set the baseline for global EV design".
The new rules stipulate that all doors except the tailgate "shall be equipped with a mechanical release exterior door handle".
Other rules will improve the visibility of interior handles, including by requiring permanent graphic markings, the ministry said.
China is the world's largest EV market, and its dozens of brands have growing operations abroad.
Statistics published last month showed that Chinese firm BYD last year sold more EVs than Tesla, overtaking the US industry pioneer in the annual category for the first time.
China's status as the world's largest passenger vehicle market means the country is "informally" setting global standards, Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, told AFP.
The new rules on door handles mean that "for companies like Tesla, Kia and other legacy automakers that sell their vehicles in multiple regions, they'll need to decide whether to make the change to the China product only or implement it globally," Le said.
"It's likely a pain for quite a few automakers since some of them have global designs that will need to be reconciled," he added.
pfc/dhw/ceg

society

From rations to G20's doorstep: Poland savours economic 'miracle'

BY BERNARD OSSER

  • "Poland, a nation that was once trapped behind the Iron Curtain but now ranks among the world's 20 largest economies, will be joining us to assume its rightful place in the G20," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in December.
  • Many Poles scoffed in 1980 when Lech Walesa, leader of the nascent Solidarity union, promised that Poland would become "a second Japan" -- yet the country now finds itself primed to join the G20 club of major economies.
  • "Poland, a nation that was once trapped behind the Iron Curtain but now ranks among the world's 20 largest economies, will be joining us to assume its rightful place in the G20," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in December.
Many Poles scoffed in 1980 when Lech Walesa, leader of the nascent Solidarity union, promised that Poland would become "a second Japan" -- yet the country now finds itself primed to join the G20 club of major economies.
Since the fall of communism 35 years ago, Poland has transformed itself from a command economy notorious for rationed goods and empty store shelves to one of the engines of European growth. 
With a GDP of around $1 trillion, Poland now has the 20th largest economy in the world, surpassing those of Sweden, Switzerland or Taiwan. 
When adjusted for purchasing power, its per capita GDP will exceed Japan's this year and reach 80 percent of the European average, according to the IMF and Eurostat. 
"For my generation, it's a huge achievement; for my parents' generation, it's a miracle," Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said recently.
This year the Polish economy is widely expected to surpass the government's 3.4 percent growth target, making it one of the best performers in the EU, and the jobless rate is down to just over three percent. 
That performance has gotten the attention of Washington, which has invited Warsaw to attend the G20 summit it is hosting in Miami next December, after excluding South Africa over a diplomatic spat.
"Poland, a nation that was once trapped behind the Iron Curtain but now ranks among the world's 20 largest economies, will be joining us to assume its rightful place in the G20," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in December.

More than catching up

Poland's recognition on the world stage has become a source of pride for many Poles, who entered the 1990s with a strong desire to "catch up with the West," according to Maciej Witucki, head of the country's Lewiathan business association. 
Around 67 percent of Poles report being satisfied with their material situation, a record high, according to a CBOS poll in late December.
"Today, not only are we catching up with the West, but we have surpassed it in many aspects of daily life," Witucki said, not far from gleaming skyscrapers and a new site for the Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, designed by US architect Thomas Phifer.
"In France, in thirty years, the only thing that has changed is the prices, now in euros and no longer in francs," he added. "In Warsaw, everything evolves every two or three years." 
For Bastien Loiseau, a French-Polish filmmaker who has lived in Warsaw for the past twenty years, Poland's massive transformations are a part of daily life.
The country boasts a modern highway network, efficient public transportation, widespread high-speed internet, and safety and cleanliness in public spaces. 
"Compared to France, a country that is difficult to change, Poland is changing enormously," Loiseau said. 
Jean Rossi, a French business lawyer who has long been based in Poland, said he believed that "this miracle is primarily due to the Poles themselves". 
Beyond a solid education system, he praised a widespread belief that "they cannot rely on the state at all".
The country has however relied on EU funds to help modernise the country since joining the bloc in 2004, and is set to be the largest recipient of EU funds in the bloc's 2028-34 budget, receiving 123 billion euros ($145 billion). 
"Poland has made extremely good use of European funds, both for its infrastructure and for industry," Witucki said, with small and midsize companies benefiting in particular. 

No one left to work?

The optimistic picture is not without warning signs, as economists point to increased social spending as a growing burden on public finances, and the war in neighbouring Ukraine as a deterrent to future investments.
The main challenge, however, is Poland's birth rate, which has fallen below the EU average to 1.1 children per woman, according to the country's statistics agency.
Despite generous maternal leave and social programs for families, the agency says the population could shrink to 30 million people by 2060 from around 38 million now. 
"There won't be anyone left to work," said Rossi, noting that a reluctance to let in Ukrainians due to rising anti-immigrant sentiment could be counterproductive.
Experts also point to a low level of innovation and research spending, among the lowest in the EU, and relatively low pay for scientists, contributing to a "brain drain". 
But Rossi, like many others, remains optimistic, noting high-profile projects in the works including nuclear power plants and high-speed trains, and a burgeoning space industry.
"You can't do everything at once. First, they had to build the infrastructure; now that that's done, they'll focus on research and development," he said.
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