minerals

What does Greenland's mining industry look like?

BY LAETITIA COMMANAY

  • US mining company Critical Metals Corp holds the only active permit to exploit rare earths for a deposit in Kalaalit Nunaat, which is still years from becoming operational.
  • Greenland's natural resources, including potential vast rare earths deposits vital to the AI boom, have attracted attention since US President Donald Trump showed interest in the Danish self-governing territory.
  • US mining company Critical Metals Corp holds the only active permit to exploit rare earths for a deposit in Kalaalit Nunaat, which is still years from becoming operational.
Greenland's natural resources, including potential vast rare earths deposits vital to the AI boom, have attracted attention since US President Donald Trump showed interest in the Danish self-governing territory.
Harsh conditions and weak infrastructure make mining a difficult task, however.
Only two mines are operational.
Lumina Sustainable Materials runs an anorthosite mine (a type of rock used in building and industrial materials) backed by Canadian-Swiss investors, and Canada-listed Amaroq operates a gold mine.
As climate change melts sea ice and opens up new shipping routes around Greenland, commercial interest is rising.
Data from Greenland's Mineral Resources Authority shows 138 active mining licences (as of February 13), held by 63 companies and individuals.
An AFP review of this official data outlines the current state of Greenland's mining industry.

Limited mining

Only nine of the active permits are exploitation licences authorising production and mining. 
To obtain these 30-year licences, companies must first explore a designated area and demonstrate that sufficient resources exist for commercial exploitation.
The two firms operating Greenland's existing mines hold such permits, along with several other companies. 
US mining company Critical Metals Corp holds the only active permit to exploit rare earths for a deposit in Kalaalit Nunaat, which is still years from becoming operational.
British firm GreenRoc Mining Plc obtained a licence in December 2025 and plans to exploit a graphite deposit that is expected to produce around 80,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate per year, a company spokesperson told AFP. 
Commercial production is expected to begin in 2029. 
Other companies with recently issued exploitation permits include an anorthosite mining project backed by investors from Denmark and Luxembourg, and a molybdenum project backed by the European Union and run by Canadian company Greenland Resources.  
The remaining exploitation permits are held by companies with projects on hold or seeking to divest.
"The path from exploration to exploitation is inherently long and complex, often taking many years" a Greenland Mineral Resources Authority spokesperson told AFP. 
Projects can be discontinued "due to lack of viable resources, economic feasibility, environmental assessments or social considerations", the spokesperson added. 

Over 70 types of minerals explored

Nearly two-thirds of licences are exploration permits. 
Other types of licences include permits for sand extractions, small-scale exploration or scientific research.
They grant companies exclusive access to specified areas where they can look for "all mineral resources except hydrocarbons and radioactive elements, unless otherwise stipulated", according to the application procedure detailed online.
These active licences show the supposed breadth of Greenland's mineral assets. 
Over 70 different types of minerals and resources are explored and mined, according to an AFP analysis.
Gold is mentioned in 49 permits, copper in 36 and nickel in 24. 
Rare earth elements are mentioned in 17 licences, with more permits referencing specific rare earths such as cerium or terbium.  
Three oil exploration licences are also owned by British firm White Flame Energy and are active until late 2028. 
Greenland contains over 31 billion barrels of oil equivalent of oil and natural gas, according to estimates by the US Geological Survey. 
All mining activities take place along Greenland's coasts, where conditions are milder, particularly in the southeastern regions of Sermersooq and Kujalleq.
About 80 percent of Greenland is covered by ice, which can be up to three kilometres (two miles) thick in parts of the island's interior. 
Surveying and mining under such a thick ice sheet is impossible, according to experts, leaving large areas of the territory unexplored. 
lmc-ot/maj/jwp/gil

politics

Greenland prepares next generation for mining future

BY NIOUCHA ZAKAVATI

  • Teacher Kim Heilmann keeps a watchful eye on his students as they learn to manoeuvre the heavy equipment.
  • At the Greenland School of Minerals and Petroleum, a dozen students in hi-viz vests and helmets are out for the day learning to operate bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators and other equipment.
  • Teacher Kim Heilmann keeps a watchful eye on his students as they learn to manoeuvre the heavy equipment.
At the Greenland School of Minerals and Petroleum, a dozen students in hi-viz vests and helmets are out for the day learning to operate bulldozers, dump trucks, excavators and other equipment.
The Greenlandic government is counting on this generation to help fulfill its dream of a lucrative mining future for the vast Arctic territory coveted by US President Donald Trump.
Founded in 2008, the school, based in Sisimiut in the southwest of the island, offers students from across Greenland a three-year post-secondary vocational training.
Apart from their practical classes, the students, aged 18 to 35, also learn the basics of geology, rock mechanics, maths and English.
Teacher Kim Heilmann keeps a watchful eye on his students as they learn to manoeuvre the heavy equipment.
"I want them to know it's possible to mine in Greenland if you do it the right way," he told AFP.
"But mostly the challenge is to make them motivated about mining," he added.
The remote location of Greenland's two operational mines, and the ensuing isolation, puts many people off, the school's director Emilie Olsen Skjelsager said.
A Danish autonomous territory, Greenland gained control over its raw materials and minerals in 2009.
The local government relies heavily on Danish subsidies to complement its revenues from fishing, and is hoping that mining and tourism will bring it financial independence in the future so that it can someday cut ties with Denmark.
"The school was created because there is hope for more activities in mining, but also to have more skilled workers in Greenland for heavy machine operating and drilling and blasting, and exploration services," Olsen Skjelsager said.
By the end of their studies, some of the students -- "a small number, maybe up to five" -- will go on to work in the mines.
The rest will work on construction sites.

Lack of skills

Greenland is home to 57,000 people, and has historically relied on foreign workers to develop mining projects due to a lack of local know-how.
"We have some good people that can go out mining and blasting and drilling and all that kind of stuff," explained Deputy Minister of Minerals Resources, Jorgen T Hammeken-Holm.
"But if you have a production facility close to the mining facility, then you need some technical skills in these processing facilities," he said.
"There is a lack of educated people to do that."
Going forward, geologists, engineers and economists will be needed, especially as Greenland's traditional livelihoods of hunting and fishing are expected to gradually die out as professions.
The students' tuition is paid by the Greenland government, which also gives them a monthly stipend of around 5,000 kroner ($800).
Inside the school, a glass case displays some of the minerals that lie -- or are believed to lie -- under Greenland, including cryolite, anorthosite and eudialyte, which contains rare earth elements essential to the green and digital transitions.
"New mine sites have been searched (for) all over Greenland," said Angerla Berthelsen, a 30-year-old student who hopes to find a job in the mining sector one day.
There are "lots of possibilities" in Greenland, he said, sounding an optimistic note.

Doubts over deposits

But questions remain about Greenland's actual resources, with the existence and size of the deposits still to be confirmed.
According to the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Greenland is home to 24 of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the EU as essential for the green and digital transitions.
"A large variety of geological terrains exists, which have been formed by many different processes. As a result, Greenland has several types of metals, minerals and gemstones," it says in a document on its website.
"However, only in a few cases have the occurrences been thoroughly quantified, which is a prerequisite for classifying them as actual deposits," it stressed.
Deputy minister Hammeken-Holm said it was "more or less a guess" for now.
"Nobody knows actually."
In addition, the island -- with its harsh Arctic climate and no roads connecting its towns -- currently doesn't have the infrastructure needed for large-scale mining.
There are currently only two operational mines on the island -- one gold mine in the south, and one for anorthosite, a rock containing titanium, on the west coast.
nzg/ef/po/phz

technology

All-in on AI: what TikTok creator ByteDance did next

BY LUNA LIN

  • "They are taking the all-in approach with AI, and they are the most aggressive player in the market," he told AFP. ByteDance, which has the biggest AI team in Chinese tech, sometimes pays salaries two or three times the market average to recruit top talent, said industry headhunter Shen Wei.
  • After soaring to global attention with its hugely popular TikTok app, Chinese tech giant ByteDance is now positioning itself as a major player in the fast-evolving AI arena.
  • "They are taking the all-in approach with AI, and they are the most aggressive player in the market," he told AFP. ByteDance, which has the biggest AI team in Chinese tech, sometimes pays salaries two or three times the market average to recruit top talent, said industry headhunter Shen Wei.
After soaring to global attention with its hugely popular TikTok app, Chinese tech giant ByteDance is now positioning itself as a major player in the fast-evolving AI arena.
While the Beijing-based company has been embroiled in a range of legal and privacy rows linked to the social media app for years, its team has been busy branching out developing new cutting-edge products.
Among them is China's most popular artificial intelligence chatbot, Doubao, which has built up more than 100 million daily users since its inception in 2023.
That makes it one of the world's largest processors of AI queries, alongside OpenAI and Google.
Meanwhile, the cinematic clips created by its latest video generator, Seedance 2.0, have further raised the company's international profile.
But like TikTok, ByteDance's AI services could face trouble in overseas markets owing to issues from data privacy to fierce competition in the sector.
Since OpenAI's ChatGPT revealed the powers of AI on its 2022 debut, ByteDance has believed the technology "would become an even more important application than web search", CEO Liang Rubo said last month.
"ByteDance's shift reflects a deliberate evolution from social media toward an AI‑native model," Charlie Dai, vice-president and principal analyst at Forrester, told AFP.
Regulatory and political pressure on ByteDance's enormously popular video-sharing app TikTok has fuelled the pivot, he said.
This month, the European Commission said TikTok's "addictive features" breached online content rules, and told it to change its design or face a fine amounting to up to six percent of ByteDance's annual global revenue.

'Evolving circumstances'

The United States had threatened TikTok with a total ban over concerns the platform could be used to harvest Americans' data or spread propaganda.
After lengthy top-level talks over a TikTok divestiture deal, a majority-American-owned joint venture was established in January to operate the app's US business, with ByteDance retaining a stake of less than 20 percent.
Rocky Lee, who uses TikTok and other sites to sell Chinese digital gadgets and pet products to buyers overseas, was relieved by the US deal.
"I can now tell other traders that 'you can go ahead and don't have to worry about it anymore'," Lee, who runs a chat group for cross-border sellers, told AFP.
Lee uses Doubao and other AI tools for various tasks including product selection, market research and sales script-writing.
"We used to have more than a dozen people in our team. Now I reckon maybe four to five people are sufficient," the veteran seller from Xi'an said.
ByteDance was US chip titan Nvidia's largest Chinese client in 2024, and it plans to spend billions of dollars on purchasing AI microchips and building AI infrastructure in 2026.
Though less prominent internationally than domestic competitors such as DeepSeek and Qwen, Doubao models process more than 50 trillion tokens, or units of text, daily.
Google said in October that it handles more than 1.3 quadrillion tokens monthly, which is roughly 43 trillion daily.
ByteDance's focus on AI is "a well-considered decision in response to the evolving circumstances", said Chen Yan, an AI industry analyst at research firm QuestMobile.
"They need to seek out the next generation of productivity," with strong growth for TikTok becoming more difficult given its already huge user base.

Big spenders

Shen Qiajin is founder of ideaFlow, an interactive content generation platform that is a heavy user of ByteDance AI models.
"They are taking the all-in approach with AI, and they are the most aggressive player in the market," he told AFP.
ByteDance, which has the biggest AI team in Chinese tech, sometimes pays salaries two or three times the market average to recruit top talent, said industry headhunter Shen Wei.
"From a headhunter's perspective, ByteDance's advantage lies in its willingness to spend big," he said.
Bytedance has not hidden its intention to replicate TikTok's international success with its AI ventures.
The Doubao team is now led by Alex Zhu, who co-founded the lip-syncing app Musical.ly that later merged with TikTok.
The app is called Dola, previously Cici, overseas. Like TikTok, ByteDance's AI services could face "concerns about data governance and geopolitical frictions", said Forrester's Dai.
While TikTok took over a niche, untapped market, Western AI giants "know local regulatory frameworks and user demands better", said QuestMobile's Chen.
Competition is also heating up at home. Tencent and Alibaba have run aggressive Lunar New Year promotions, driving their chatbots to the top of Apple's free app chart.
Like many tech companies, ByteDance is also under pressure to make running an AI chatbot app profitable.
"The real challenge for Doubao is only coming after it has surpassed 100 million daily active users," a Doubao staffer told Chinese tech media outlet the Late Post.
ll/kaf/dan

Global Edition

Stocks sluggish as AI disruption worries move to fore

  • Amid growing concerns over the massive investments by AI heavyweights, investors also worry that software, logistics and even real estate companies will see their operations upended by artificial intelligence advances.
  • World stock indexes struggled for inspiration Friday as investors remained cautious after heavy selling of companies seen vulnerable to AI deployment and concerns about tech sector valuations more broadly.
  • Amid growing concerns over the massive investments by AI heavyweights, investors also worry that software, logistics and even real estate companies will see their operations upended by artificial intelligence advances.
World stock indexes struggled for inspiration Friday as investors remained cautious after heavy selling of companies seen vulnerable to AI deployment and concerns about tech sector valuations more broadly.
A lower-than-expected US consumer inflation reading meanwhile modestly improved the outlook for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts "as investors increasingly envision a trio of rate cuts by year-end," said a note from Interactive Brokers economist Jose Torres.
"But it's been a bumpy ride for equities today, as bulls and bears wrestle with the tailwinds of monetary policy accommodation prospects against the backdrop of a crumbling AI narrative," Torres added. 
The broad-based S&P 500 eked out a 0.1 percent gain following a choppy session.
US equities struggled for momentum a day after major indices lost more than one percent.
Most of the large companies in the so-called "Magnificent Seven" fell Friday, with Apple and Nvidia both shedding more than two percent.
In Europe, Paris dropped 0.4 percent at the close, with L'Oreal shares falling four percent after the cosmetics giant posted sales below analyst expectations, fueling fears of weakness for its luxury brands and performance in the key Chinese market.
London's FTSE 100 ended up 0.4 percent and the DAX advanced 0.25 percent in Frankfurt.
Amid growing concerns over the massive investments by AI heavyweights, investors also worry that software, logistics and even real estate companies will see their operations upended by artificial intelligence advances.
"The concerns that have revolved around AI disruption in the software segment have spread," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
A sense of calm had descended on trading floors early in the week after recent asset-wide volatility, helped by forecast-busting US jobs figures.
However, growing concern about the hundreds of billions spent on AI infrastructure -- and the bundles more announced in the past few days -- have fanned speculation about when, if ever, companies will see a return.
The release of new tools this month that can perform crucial tasks in a range of fields, including legal, sales and marketing, has meanwhile compounded those jitters -- hammering companies worried about competition.
"The AI scare trade has shocked investors in 2026 and has brought a significant amount of market dislocation," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

Key figures at around 2115 GMT

New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 49,500.93 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 6,836.17 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.2 percent at 22,546.67 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,449.91 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,311.74 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 24,914.88 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 56,941.97 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7 percent at 26,567.12 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.3 percent at 4,082.07 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1876 from $1.1871 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3654 from $1.3622
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.71 yen from 152.74 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.96 pence from 87.14 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $67.75 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $62.89 per barrel
bur-jmb/des

tariff

US consumer inflation eases more than expected to lowest since May

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • Although overall inflation has cooled, underlying price pressures, coupled with a jobs market that has proven more resilient than expected, could allow the Fed to continue holding interest rates steady for a while.
  • Consumer inflation in the United States cooled slightly more than expected in January, government data showed Friday, as energy prices dipped.
  • Although overall inflation has cooled, underlying price pressures, coupled with a jobs market that has proven more resilient than expected, could allow the Fed to continue holding interest rates steady for a while.
Consumer inflation in the United States cooled slightly more than expected in January, government data showed Friday, as energy prices dipped.
Analysts say the figure allows the US central bank to cut interest rates again later this year, but warn that policymakers need to see sustained improvement in order to do so -- despite President Donald Trump's insistence that there is virtually no inflation.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.4 percent year-on-year, the Department of Labor said, down from December's 2.7 percent and slightly below analysts' median forecast.
This was the lowest level since May 2025.
Trump lauded the report, telling reporters that inflation was "way down, and we have it back on track."
Yet, affordability worries have come to the fore in recent months as price increases in areas like food weighed on households, and as Trump's tariffs flowed through the world's biggest economy.
Although tariffs have not triggered a broad inflation surge, firms have reported higher business costs. Many companies have tried to soften the blow by stocking up on inventory ahead of planned levy hikes and avoided passing on additional costs in full to consumers.
Late last year, Trump also broadened a slate of tariff exemptions, particularly on agriculture imports, as he came under pressure from voters grappling with soaring costs of living.

'Encouraging news'

For now, CPI was up 0.2 percent on a month-on-month basis in January, inching down from December's 0.3 percent rise.
This was helped by a 1.5 percent month-on-month slide in overall energy costs, in part due to gasoline.
But food costs remained 0.2 percent higher than in December, and were up 2.9 percent from a year ago.
Still, "this is encouraging news for many American families that have been struggling," said Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long in a note.
US consumers in lower income groups have shown reluctance to spend on non-essentials, the Federal Reserve noted last month.
"The tariffs have had a clear impact on products such as furniture and appliances, but the key items in many family budgets are cooling off," Long said.
"Gas prices, used cars and medical care all declined in January," she added.
But Diane Swonk of KPMG warned that disruptions from a recent government shutdown are likely suppressing year-over-year inflation measures.
"What's important is that goods prices still increased," she told AFP.
Excluding the volatile food and energy sectors, core inflation was 2.5 percent, a touch below December's level.
"Even though consumers have seen, on average, the wages outpace inflation in recent years, it takes a long time to regain ground lost from those compounding price levels," Swonk said.

'More bumps'

Swonk noted that despite various tariff threats since the beginning of the year, the Trump administration's actions have been "going in the other direction to try to mitigate those effects."
These should bear fruit towards the back half of the year.
"We've still got some more bumps in inflation to endure, which is why the Fed will welcome this news, but they're not likely to cut on it," she said of Friday's data. "They need to see more sustained improvement in inflation to feel comfortable about where we're going."
Although overall inflation has cooled, underlying price pressures, coupled with a jobs market that has proven more resilient than expected, could allow the Fed to continue holding interest rates steady for a while.
The US central bank made three rate cuts last year but has been holding off further action, seeking to bring inflation back down to officials' two-percent target.
bys/dw

China

WTO chief urges China to shift on trade surplus

  • "And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable.
  • The head of the World Trade Organization on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.
  • "And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable.
The head of the World Trade Organization on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.
Beijing says it wants to support the multilateral trading system, "because it has benefited quite a bit from it", WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the Munich Security Conference.
However, "the export-led growth model that drove China's growth for the past 40 years cannot drive China's growth for the next 40," said Okonjo-Iweala.
"And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable. Because the rest of the world cannot absorb it," she added.
"And if China does not act, we will see more barriers."
China's trade surplus hit a record $1.2 trillion last year. This was despite a sharp decline in its trade with the United States, as a fierce trade war between the world's two largest economies revived after President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Other trade partners more than filled the gap, increasing Chinese exports overall by 5.5 percent in 2025, while imports stayed flat in dollar terms.
China's economy expanded five percent in 2025, Beijing said Monday, one of its slowest rates of growth in decades as the world's second-biggest economy struggled with persistently low consumer spending and a debt crisis in its property sector.
In October, Trump reached a truce with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. But in January, he announced that he would impose tariffs on countries trading with Iran. China, which is at the forefront of these countries, has warned that it will defend its interests.
Other major markets for Chinese products, such as the European Union, are alarmed by the imbalance in their trade balance with China.
Europeans, concerned that their markets will serve as an outlet for Chinese production surpluses, are urging China to stimulate its domestic consumption, which has been sluggish for years.
The WTO is holding its ministerial conference, its biennial main gathering, in late March in Cameroon.
apo/rjm/jj

games

Ubisoft targets new decade of 'Rainbow 6' with China expansion

BY TOM BARFIELD

  • A team first-person shooter in the vein of genre classics like "Counter-Strike", "Rainbow Six Siege" is one of Ubisoft's biggest titles, rewarding coordinated tactical play and deft use of destructible environments.
  • Troubled French games giant Ubisoft will strive to project confidence this weekend with a massive esports event for its shooter "Rainbow Six Siege", while hoping a reorganisation and expansion to China can keep the money rolling in.
  • A team first-person shooter in the vein of genre classics like "Counter-Strike", "Rainbow Six Siege" is one of Ubisoft's biggest titles, rewarding coordinated tactical play and deft use of destructible environments.
Troubled French games giant Ubisoft will strive to project confidence this weekend with a massive esports event for its shooter "Rainbow Six Siege", while hoping a reorganisation and expansion to China can keep the money rolling in.
"We're stepping things up a lot for 2026 with China coming aboard," said Francois-Xavier Deniele, head of marketing and esports for the franchise.
"The balance is going to change, we know that when they arrive in a game, they're extremely competitive".
Chinese internet giant TenCent has climbed aboard as an investor in "Rainbow Six" and Ubisoft's other top-selling titles "Assassin's Creed" and "Far Cry".
The mega-franchises are stabled together in one of a string of new "creative houses", supposed to offer the group's development teams more financial and creative freedom after several years of financial woes, job cuts and a tumbling share price.
China is "a very, very mature market, a lot more mature even than (the West) for this kind of game," Deniele said.
But TenCent's billion-euro investment in exchange for a 26-percent stake in Vantage, finalised last November, suggests it believes in Ubisoft titles' ability to hold their own.
With a $3-million prize pool, this weekend's Ubisoft-organised invitational event in Paris for top teams is "a heck of a signal" that "shows we're capable of packing the Adidas Arena," Deniele said. 
The Paris venue's 8,000 seats are more often filled by basketball or music fans.
In China, "it's totally natural for the new generation to watch esports matches and play with their friends in PC bangs (cybercafes)... very similar to Korea," Deniele said.
This year's busy esports season for "Siege" follows on from last year's revamp of its systems and graphics, which "laid the foundations for the 10 years ahead," he added.
A team first-person shooter in the vein of genre classics like "Counter-Strike", "Rainbow Six Siege" is one of Ubisoft's biggest titles, rewarding coordinated tactical play and deft use of destructible environments.

Fierce competition

"Siege" has not escaped wobbles of its own in recent months.
Hackers gained access in December to systems that allowed them to ban or restore large numbers of accounts and manipulate the game's cosmetic item marketplace -- a key source of revenue.
In such cases "the community needs to be reassured very quickly", Deniele said, crediting the "ultra-fast" reaction of the development team for the fact that "people came back to the game and were happy with what we were able to do".
Developers must also ensure a steady pipeline of fresh content for today's long-lived online games, with "Rainbow Six" facing competition from incumbents such as "Call of Duty", "Valorant" or "Overwatch".
New challengers are also constantly emerging onto the unforgiving field.
Wildlight Entertainment, developers of fantasy shooter title "Highguard", which launched in January to great fanfare, on Wednesday announced layoffs from its small development team -- leaving only a "core group" to maintain the game.
At this weekend's "Rainbow Six" event "we'll be announcing a quicker release schedule for content, because people want more and more", Deniele said.
"It's a game people play every day, so we have to get faster."
tgb/adp/jj

fireworks

China's fireworks heartland faces fizzling Lunar New Year sales

BY MARY YANG

  • Liuyang, where the pyrotechnics trade dates back more than 1,000 years, produces around 60 percent of the fireworks sold in China and 70 percent of those exported.
  • A fiery crack of red and gold explodes above a village in China's pyrotechnics hub of Liuyang, where residents are accustomed to ear-splitting fireworks tests year-round.
  • Liuyang, where the pyrotechnics trade dates back more than 1,000 years, produces around 60 percent of the fireworks sold in China and 70 percent of those exported.
A fiery crack of red and gold explodes above a village in China's pyrotechnics hub of Liuyang, where residents are accustomed to ear-splitting fireworks tests year-round.
But factories and businesses in the mountainous district say the age-old tradition is struggling against weak consumerism, with even the approaching Lunar New Year failing to boost sales.
Liuyang, where the pyrotechnics trade dates back more than 1,000 years, produces around 60 percent of the fireworks sold in China and 70 percent of those exported.
"The fireworks industry has been passed down from generation to generation," said Li Shijie, a fifth-generation manager of Zhongzhou Fireworks in the southern city.
"It's a cultural heritage I cherish very much."
Fireworks feature at every major milestone, including birthdays, weddings and funerals, said Zhu Ting, a quality manager at a Zhongzhou warehouse.
Outside of major cities, rural communities still light sparklers and screeching "missile" fireworks to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which falls next week.
Working in the local industry brings "a lot of pride", Zhu told AFP.
But despite relaxed restrictions on fireworks nationwide in a bid to encourage domestic spending, sales have softened since a post-pandemic boom.
Shop owners at a Liuyang trading centre told AFP business has slowed. Dozens of stores selling fireworks resembling flamethrowers and packaged in garish boxes saw little foot traffic on a weekday morning.
The last year was "a relatively 'cold' year for China", said Melissa Cai, the US sales manager for Pyroshine, an export-focused company in Liuyang.
"Domestic orders have decreased significantly in the past two years."

Turning abroad

In the mountains surrounding the city, more than 400 firework manufacturers occupy strictly regulated factories, where workshops are topped with lightning rods.
Flashy billboards advertising dozens of brands hang above the highway linking Liuyang to its nearest airport.
The noisy blasts that pepper towns across China in the weeks surrounding the Lunar New Year holiday were stymied after provinces began imposing strict bans on fireworks in the 2010s over safety and pollution concerns.
But looking to revitalise weak spending, China discouraged "one-size-fits-all" bans in 2024, contributing to a resurgence of the ancient fireworks trade.
"Of course the loosening of this policy is good for industry," said Li.
Liuyang's fireworks industry saw a huge boom in 2023 after pandemic restrictions were lifted, with total output value jumping more than 60 percent year-on-year to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.3 billion).
The city's fireworks industry recorded 50.2 billion yuan in output value in 2024 and 50.6 billion yuan a year later.
"Folks were happy, so sales performed very well both domestically and outside China," said Pyroshine's Cai.
While around 10 percent of the company's clients were domestic during the post-lockdown boom, now all are based overseas.
Unlike in China, sales abroad have remained comparatively stable, Cai said, despite steep US tariffs imposed last year, which forced the company to haul back truckloads of orders from ports.

'Keep up with the pace'

Workers at the Pyroshine factory were now busy pasting wolf-themed packaging onto boxes to be shipped to the United States.
But domestically, factories and shopkeepers have to contend with a concoction of issues, including persistently weak consumer spending and tighter safety regulations.
Cold snaps in the area of Liuyang can also halt production lines, and fatal accidents remain a risk.
Last year, an explosion at a fireworks factory in Hunan province killed nine people, and in 2023, three people were killed after blasts struck residential buildings in the northern city of Tianjin.
The fireworks business "is indeed an older industry", Li, the fifth-generation manager, told AFP.
People's aesthetic preferences inevitably evolve, requiring upgrades in technology and branding, he said.
In a showroom targeting the US market, images of cowboy hats, military tanks and whiskey adorned display shelves.
An area for Chinese customers was a sea of red, which symbolises good fortune.
"What traditional industries need is to keep up with the pace," said Li, whose company has started to experiment with integrating drones into fireworks shows.
But, he added, modernising the industry is not only a financial concern.
"It is a totem of celebration for Chinese people and people around the world," he said.
mya/dhw/ami

earnings

L'Oreal shares sink as sales miss forecasts

  • For 2026, he said the company had to be "cautious and humble", although he expected "the beauty market to continue its acceleration" unless there was "a new surprise".
  • L'Oreal shares fell heavily on the Paris stock market on Friday after the cosmetics giant posted sales that fell short of analyst expectations, stoking fears of weakness for its luxury brands and in the key Chinese market.
  • For 2026, he said the company had to be "cautious and humble", although he expected "the beauty market to continue its acceleration" unless there was "a new surprise".
L'Oreal shares fell heavily on the Paris stock market on Friday after the cosmetics giant posted sales that fell short of analyst expectations, stoking fears of weakness for its luxury brands and in the key Chinese market.
While revenues rose seven percent in the fourth quarter in Europe -- still the company's biggest market -- they edged up just 0.7 percent in North America and fell five percent in North Asia, which includes China.
Overall, sales were up 1.5 percent to 11.2 billion euros ($13.3 billion) in the final quarter of 2025 -- usually when the company benefits from strong holiday-fuelled buying. 
This was a marked slowdown from the 4.5-percent growth seen the previous year.
On a like-for-like comparison that excludes the impact of currency fluctuations, sales rose six percent, whereas the consensus forecast was around eight percent, analysts said.
The luxury division (Luxe) in particular, which includes high-end perfumes and make-up and is L'Oreal's biggest by revenue, saw a 0.5-percent sales slide in the fourth quarter, to 4.2 billion euros.
"We think the miss, led by North Asia and Luxe, will be a concern amid a vague outlook," said David Hayes, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies.
L'Oreal's stock was down 3.2 percent in morning trading, partly recovering from a drop of more than six percent at the open.
Net profit for the full year was down 4.4 percent to 6.1 billion euros. 
Chief executive Nicolas Hieronimus said when he presented the results on Thursday that L'Oreal had achieved a "solid" performance "despite a context that was at the very least volatile and unfavourable".
For 2026, he said the company had to be "cautious and humble", although he expected "the beauty market to continue its acceleration" unless there was "a new surprise".
"We're going to have to intensify our efforts in terms of innovation to energise the market and win over customers," he added.
mgi-kap/js/gil

oil

Tourists empty out of Cuba as US fuel blockade bites

BY RIGOBERTO DIAZ

  • Several Canadian and Russian airlines are sending empty flights to Cuba to retrieve thousands of otherwise stranded passengers, and others are introducing refuelling stops in the route home.
  • With rolling power cuts, hotel closures, and flight routes suspended for lack of fuel, tourists are gradually emptying out of Cuba, deepening a severe crisis on the cash-strapped island.  
  • Several Canadian and Russian airlines are sending empty flights to Cuba to retrieve thousands of otherwise stranded passengers, and others are introducing refuelling stops in the route home.
With rolling power cuts, hotel closures, and flight routes suspended for lack of fuel, tourists are gradually emptying out of Cuba, deepening a severe crisis on the cash-strapped island.  
Several nations have advised against travel to Cuba since the US tightened a decades-old embargo by choking vital oil imports.  
"I found only one taxi," said French tourist Frederic Monnet, who cut short a trip to a picturesque valley in western Cuba to head back to Havana.  
"There might be no taxis afterward," he told AFP.  
A petroleum shortage has led to regular hours-long power cuts, long queues at petrol stations, and has forced many airlines to announce that they will cancel regular services.
About 30 hotels and resorts across the island are being temporarily closed due to low occupancy and fuel rationing, according to an internal Tourism Ministry document obtained by AFP.
Since January, a flotilla of US warships have stopped Venezuelan tankers from delivering oil to Cuban ports. 
Washington has also threatened Mexico and other exporter with punitive tariffs if they continue deliveries. 
Several Canadian and Russian airlines are sending empty flights to Cuba to retrieve thousands of otherwise stranded passengers, and others are introducing refuelling stops in the route home.
American tourist Liam Burnell contacted his airline to make sure he could get a flight back. 
"There was a danger that I might not be able to return, because the airport says it doesn't have enough fuel for the planes," he said. 

'Critical, critical'

An absence of tourists is more than an inconvenience for the Cuban government. 
Tourism is traditionally Cuba's second major source of foreign currency, behind revenue from doctors sent abroad. 
The revenue is vital to pay for food, fuel, and other imports. 
And the 300,000 Cubans who make a living off the tourist industry are already feeling the pinch. 
A hop-on, hop-off bus touring Havana's sites on Thursday was virtually empty. 
Horses idled in the shade of colonial buildings, waiting for carriages to fill with visitors. 
"The situation is critical, critical, critical," said 34-year-old Juan Arteaga, who drives one of the island's many classic 1950s cars so beloved by tourists. 
"There are few cars (on the street) because there is little fuel left. Whoever had a reserve is keeping it," he said.
"When my gasoline runs out, I go home. What else can I do?" he said. 
The island of 9.6 million inhabitants has faced hard times since the US trade embargo took hold in 1962, and in recent years the severe economic crisis has also been marked by shortages of food and medicine. 
On Thursday, two Mexican navy ships arrived in Cuba with more than 800 tons of much-needed humanitarian aid -- fresh and powdered milk, meat, cookies, beans, rice and personal hygiene items, according to the Mexican foreign ministry.
Musician Victor Estevez said because tourism has been "a lifeline for all Cubans...if that is affected, then we are really going to be in trouble." 
"The well-being of my family depends on me." 
The tourism sector had already been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, experiencing a 70 percent decline in revenue between 2019 and 2025. 
Tourism expert Jose Luis Perello said the island now faces the prospect of "a disastrous year."
rd-jb/arb/sla

Global Edition

Tech shares pull back ahead of US inflation data

  • In Paris, RayBan maker EssilorLuxottica shares rose 3.8 percent as its fourth-quarter earnings beat market expectations.
  • Wall Street stocks tumbled Thursday following another pullback in tech shares as markets look ahead to a key inflation reading.
  • In Paris, RayBan maker EssilorLuxottica shares rose 3.8 percent as its fourth-quarter earnings beat market expectations.
Wall Street stocks tumbled Thursday following another pullback in tech shares as markets look ahead to a key inflation reading.
Apple, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta were among the large tech companies losing more than two percent in a session that began benignly but ended deep in the red, with the Nasdaq off more than two percent.
"We continue to have selling in tech," said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. "There are concerns over what AI might disrupt."
Markets have digested mixed US economic data this week, with poor retail sales and existing-home sales offsetting strong US employment data. Investors looking forward to Friday's release of consumer price inflation (CPI) data for January for further clues on potential rate cuts.
"Caught between payrolls and CPI, US markets have found themselves unable to maintain momentum," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading platform, referring to the jobs report and inflation data.
In Europe, Paris ended with a gain after striking a fresh record high. London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index did the same but ended the day lower, as data showed the British economy managing only tepid growth in the final quarter of last year.
"The strength seen in Europe...comes from improved earnings data from some of the big hitters," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.  
Shares in German industrial giant Siemens jumped 5.8 percent as it raised its outlook for the year after a strong first quarter boosted by spending on artificial intelligence.
In Paris, RayBan maker EssilorLuxottica shares rose 3.8 percent as its fourth-quarter earnings beat market expectations. Hermes climbed 2.8 percent after reporting 2025 sales growth despite the impact of US tariffs and a weaker dollar.
But French pharma giant Sanofi sank 4.2 percent after the surprise ouster of its chief executive Paul Hudson, suggesting growing concerns about the company's pipeline for new products. He will be replaced by Belen Garijo, currently chief of Germany's Merck KGaA.
Asian markets were subdued after the lackluster US close on Wednesday, where tech firms came in for further selling amid concerns of the scale of massive AI investments and their eventual impact on various industries.

Key figures at around 2130 GMT

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.3 percent at 49,451.98 (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.6 percent at 6,832.76 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 2.0 percent at 22,597.15 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 at 10,402.44 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 8,340.56 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 24,852.69 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 57,639.84 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 27,032.54 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 4,134.02 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1876 from $1.1872 on Wednesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3620 from $1.3628
Dollar/yen: UP at 152.75 yen from 153.26 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 87.16 pence from 87.11 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.7 percent at $67.52 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.8 percent at $62.84 per barrel
burs-jmb/sla

climate

US lawmaker moves to shield oil companies from climate cases

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • Hageman also targeted so-called climate "superfund" laws, enacted in New York and Vermont and under consideration in other states, which require fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate-related damages tied to the destabilization of the global climate system.
  • A US lawmaker is drafting legislation to block a wave of state and local climate-damage lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, advancing a top priority of the oil and gas industry.
  • Hageman also targeted so-called climate "superfund" laws, enacted in New York and Vermont and under consideration in other states, which require fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate-related damages tied to the destabilization of the global climate system.
A US lawmaker is drafting legislation to block a wave of state and local climate-damage lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, advancing a top priority of the oil and gas industry.
Republican Representative Harriet Hageman announced the effort during a hearing on Wednesday, following a letter last year from a group of attorneys general from conservative-led states urging the creation of a federal "liability shield" similar to the one Congress granted gunmakers in 2005.
Hageman also targeted so-called climate "superfund" laws, enacted in New York and Vermont and under consideration in other states, which require fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate-related damages tied to the destabilization of the global climate system.
"Clearly, this is an area in which Congress has a role to play," Hageman, of the oil-rich western state of Wyoming, told Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"To that end, I'm working with my colleagues in both the House and Senate to craft legislation tackling both these state laws and the lawsuits that could destroy energy affordability for consumers."
Dozens of cases modeled on successful actions against the tobacco industry in the 1990s are playing out in state and local courts -- including claims of injuries, failure-to-warn, and even racketeering, meaning acting like a criminal enterprise.
Michigan last month sued oil majors in federal court, alleging they had acted as a cartel in an unlawful conspiracy by preventing meaningful competition from renewable energy.
Environmental advocates see such lawsuits as crucial means for climate accountability as President Donald Trump's second term has seen the United States go all-in to boost fossil fuels and block renewables.
Some cases have been dismissed, and none have yet gone to trial -- though crucially, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to intervene and block them.
Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry's largest trade group, spoke out against the cases in a keynote address last month.
Material on API's website confirms the group wishes to "Protect US energy producers and consumers from abusive state climate lawsuits and the expansion of climate 'superfund' policies that bypass Congress and threaten affordability."
Richard Wiles, president of the nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement the announcement was proof "the fossil fuel industry is panicking and pleading with Congress for a get-out-of-jail-free card."
Any legislation however could face an uphill battle since Republicans only enjoy a slim majority in the House of Representatives and bills normally require 60 votes in the Senate, where they hold 53 seats of the 100 seats. 
ia/sms

earnings

'Avatar' and 'Assassin's Creed' shore up troubled Ubisoft

  • Major contributors to sales growth included the latest instalment in the Assassin's Creed series, released last year, and the "Avatar" film tie-in game "Frontiers of Pandora" -- updated to coincide with the release of the James Cameron saga's latest episode in December.
  • Strong performances from major franchises including an "Avatar" tie-in game and juggernaut "Assassin's Creed" buttressed struggling French games giant Ubisoft's third-quarter results, the company said Thursday.
  • Major contributors to sales growth included the latest instalment in the Assassin's Creed series, released last year, and the "Avatar" film tie-in game "Frontiers of Pandora" -- updated to coincide with the release of the James Cameron saga's latest episode in December.
Strong performances from major franchises including an "Avatar" tie-in game and juggernaut "Assassin's Creed" buttressed struggling French games giant Ubisoft's third-quarter results, the company said Thursday.
Revenue at 318 million euros ($380 million) in October-December had made for a "solid" period "exceeding our expectations" chief executive Yves Guillemot said in a statement.
Ubisoft's star has fallen with investors in recent months, as it has weathered mixed reception for some new titles and announced a far-reaching restructuring and cost-cutting drive.
Shares in the group have lost almost 95 percent of their value in five years, booking their worst single-day performance in January with a 40-percent collapse.
Ubisoft reported Thursday that its preferred "net bookings" yardstick, which excludes revenue from deferred sales, climbed 12 percent year-on-year to almost 340 million euros in its third quarter.
The pace was still higher over the first nine months of the financial year, adding 17.6 percent to reach 1.1 billion euros.
Major contributors to sales growth included the latest instalment in the Assassin's Creed series, released last year, and the "Avatar" film tie-in game "Frontiers of Pandora" -- updated to coincide with the release of the James Cameron saga's latest episode in December.
The company will release two mobile games from popular franchises "Rainbow Six" and "The Division" by the end of March.
But Ubisoft also confirmed its January forecast of an operating loss of around one billion euros for the full financial year, sapped by multiple delays and cancellations announced alongside details of its restructuring.
Bosses' woes are far from over, as the company this week faced a three-day strike by several hundred of its 3,800 French employees.
Triggers for the walkout included an end to work-from-home provisions.
Ubisoft's restructuring will farm out many of its dozens of studios worldwide into an industry-first system of five "creative houses", each dedicated to developing a different genre of game.
The company is making "key leadership appointments... including external hires of experienced, respected industry veterans" to head the houses, Guillemot said Thursday.
Ubisoft had said in January that it was launching a third round of cost-cutting aimed at finding 200 million euros of savings over two years.
The company announced the same month that it would look to slash up to 200 of around 1,100 positions at its Paris headquarters.
Such cuts follow studio closures elsewhere in its global network, including San Franciso, Osaka, Stockholm, Leamington in Britain and Canada's Halifax.
France's biggest games company, Ubisoft today has around 17,000 employees worldwide after shedding more than 3,000 in recent years.
kf/tgb/rl

media

Judge sets Feb 2027 date for Trump's $10bn lawsuit against BBC

  • District Judge Roy Altman set a February 15, 2027 date for a jury trial in the case, the latest of several brought by the litigious Trump against the media. 
  • A federal judge in Florida on Thursday set a February 2027 trial date for US President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC. Trump filed the suit against the British broadcaster last year over the editing of his speech ahead of the US Capitol riot in a documentary on the flagship BBC current affairs program "Panorama."
  • District Judge Roy Altman set a February 15, 2027 date for a jury trial in the case, the latest of several brought by the litigious Trump against the media. 
A federal judge in Florida on Thursday set a February 2027 trial date for US President Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC.
Trump filed the suit against the British broadcaster last year over the editing of his speech ahead of the US Capitol riot in a documentary on the flagship BBC current affairs program "Panorama."
Trump alleges that the BBC's editing of his January 6, 2021 speech made it appear that he had explicitly urged supporters to attack the Capitol, where lawmakers were certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
District Judge Roy Altman set a February 15, 2027 date for a jury trial in the case, the latest of several brought by the litigious Trump against the media. 
The Republican president is seeking "damages in an amount not less than $5,000,000,000" for each of two counts against the BBC, for alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Unveiling the lawsuit last year, a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said the "formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election."
"The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda," the spokesperson said. 
The British Broadcasting Corporation, whose audience extends well beyond the United Kingdom, faced a period of turmoil after a media report brought renewed attention to the edited clip.
The furor led the BBC director-general and the organization's top news executive to resign.
The BBC has denied Trump's claims of legal defamation, although BBC chairman Samir Shah has sent Trump a letter of apology.
Shah also told a UK parliamentary committee that the broadcaster should have acted sooner to acknowledge its mistake after the error was disclosed in a memo, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The BBC lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal actions Trump has taken against media companies in recent years, several of which have led to multi-million-dollar settlements.
Lawyers for the British broadcaster have sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the court in Florida lacks jurisdiction.
They have also argued that Trump will not be able to prove that the documentary, which aired before the 2024 election but not in the United States, "caused him any cognizable injury."
"He won reelection on November 5, 2024, after the documentary aired. He carried Florida by a commanding 13-point margin, improving over his 2020 and 2016 performances," they said.
cl/dw

internet

Russia is cracking down on WhatsApp and Telegram. Here's what we know

  • It has since progressively slowed down WhatsApp and in November announced it would ban the platform outright unless it complied with Russian legislation.
  • Russia announced Thursday it had blocked WhatsApp over its alleged failure to comply with Russian legislation, days after restricting access to rival messaging service Telegram for similar reasons.
  • It has since progressively slowed down WhatsApp and in November announced it would ban the platform outright unless it complied with Russian legislation.
Russia announced Thursday it had blocked WhatsApp over its alleged failure to comply with Russian legislation, days after restricting access to rival messaging service Telegram for similar reasons.
Moscow has for months been trying to shift users onto Max, a domestic messaging service that lacks end-to-end encryption and which activists have called a potential surveillance tool.
Critics say the restrictions are part of a broader campaign by Russian authorities to tighten control over internet use and more easily monitor Russian citizens online.
Here's what we know about both apps and Russia's attempts to push users onto Max.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp, which has over 100 million users in Russia, is owned by US tech giant Meta.
The app was the most popular messaging service among Russians aged 25 and over in 2023, while Telegram was more popular among younger users, according to a report by Russian news outlet RBK.
Russia announced it was blocking calls on both applications last August, accusing them of facilitating crime.
It has since progressively slowed down WhatsApp and in November announced it would ban the platform outright unless it complied with Russian legislation.
Russia has asked for both messengers to provide access to data when requested by law enforcement for fraud probes and for investigating activities Russia describes as "terrorist".
Rights advocates fear that would extend Russia's surveillance state and could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin or the war in Ukraine.
WhatsApp said Wednesday that Russia had finally "attempted to fully block" the service, which the Kremlin confirmed on Thursday.
It was unclear how widespread or effective Russia's attempts were. 
VPN users in Russia still seem able to circumvent the ban.

Telegram  

Telegram, founded by Russian-born entrepeneur Pavel Durov, is the most popular messaging service in Russia, boasting more than one billion monthly active users worldwide.
Russia's internet watchdog announced it was throttling access to the app on Tuesday, accusing it of failing to follow legislation.
It was not immediately clear if Russia planned to ban the application outright.
Russian officials -- including the Kremlin -- still use it to issue statements and it is the most popular outlet for pro-government military bloggers commenting on the Ukraine war.
Some have warned that blocking the app would hobble communications around the front line and in Russian-occupied territory.
Durov, who now lives outside Russia, has called the Kremlin's restrictions "an attempt to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship".
He has clashed with the Russian authorities before.
He was forced out of the VK social media site he founded -- a Russian equivalent of Facebook -- under pressure from the authorities.
Russia spent two years trying to block Telegram, but having failed either to restrict access or to stop the growth of the service, it lifted the ban in 2020.

Max

Max, released by Russian social media giant VK last year, has been touted as a "super app" -- capable of doing everything from accessing government services to ordering a pizza, similar to China's WeChat or Alipay.
The government directed manufacturers to include it on all new phones and tablets starting last September, and it claimed 75 million users by December.
But it has been met with scepticism from some Russians, some of whom have told AFP they were forced to download it by their employers.
Unlike WhatsApp, Max appears to lack end-to-end encryption, meaning messages are not scrambled while travelling between the reader and sender and could possibly be retained by the state.
Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of digital rights NGO Roskomsvoboda, told AFP last year that shifting users onto Max could also allow authorities to limit information it does not want users to see.
Russia is moving people to a "kind of vacuum, where they do not have that undesirable information", he said.
bur/jj

inflation

Turkey's central bank lifts 2026 inflation forecasts

  • But in January the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 37 percent, citing a continued slowing of price increases. rba/ach/js/rmb
  • Turkey's central bank on Thursday increased its estimates for inflation as officials try to rein in soaring price increases that have weighed on the economy for years.
  • But in January the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 37 percent, citing a continued slowing of price increases. rba/ach/js/rmb
Turkey's central bank on Thursday increased its estimates for inflation as officials try to rein in soaring price increases that have weighed on the economy for years.
The official inflation rate is now seen falling to between 15 and 21 percent by the end of this year, up from a previous forecast of 13 to 19 percent.
"We have increased our forecast range because of better visibility on certain risks," the central bank's governor Fatih Karahan said in a statement, without further detail.
The forecast would still be a sharp decline from the annual inflation rate of 30.7 percent in January, following years of interest rate hikes in a bid to slow runaway price increases.
However, the official figures are disputed by ENAG, a group of independent economists that publishes its own data every month, with the organisation saying year-on-year inflation stood at 53.4 percent in January.
Turkey has experienced double-digit inflation since 2019, making life increasingly more expensive for millions of people, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered interest rate cuts in a bid to spur growth.
The cuts sent the lira plunging on currency markets, further fuelling inflation and leading Erdogan to reverse his unorthodox policy in 2023.
But in January the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 37 percent, citing a continued slowing of price increases.
rba/ach/js/rmb

politics

Belgian police raid EU commission in real estate probe

  • Searches were carried out at commission premises early on Thursday, a source close to the investigation told AFP, confirming a report by the Financial Times.
  • Police raided the premises of the European Commission in Brussels Thursday in a probe into a 2024 real estate deal done with the Belgian state, a source close to the investigation told AFP. A spokesman for the EU executive said it was "aware of an ongoing investigation" into the sale of 23 commission buildings, and was "confident that the process was conducted in a compliant manner".
  • Searches were carried out at commission premises early on Thursday, a source close to the investigation told AFP, confirming a report by the Financial Times.
Police raided the premises of the European Commission in Brussels Thursday in a probe into a 2024 real estate deal done with the Belgian state, a source close to the investigation told AFP.
A spokesman for the EU executive said it was "aware of an ongoing investigation" into the sale of 23 commission buildings, and was "confident that the process was conducted in a compliant manner".
Valued at 900 million euros ($965 million at the time, equivalent now to $1.1 billion), the sale came as the commission moved to shrink its office space by a quarter with more staff working from home since the Covid pandemic.
Searches were carried out at commission premises early on Thursday, a source close to the investigation told AFP, confirming a report by the Financial Times.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) confirmed only that it was "conducting evidence-collecting activities in an ongoing investigation" involving the commission.
The commission said it was "committed to transparency and accountability and will cooperate fully with EPPO and the competent Belgian authorities on this issue".
The properties in question were acquired by a Belgian sovereign wealth fund, which planned to renovate them so they are more sustainable and put them back on the market as businesses and housing.
Brussels wants to transform the European Quarter where most EU institutions are located so that it becomes more people-friendly.
For the commission, the sale went towards the aim of occupying fewer buildings, which are more energy-efficient, as its need for office space declined post-pandemic. 
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the EU, responsible for investigating crimes against the bloc's financial interests. 
mad-cjc/ec/rmb

Global Edition

UK economy struggles for growth in fresh blow to government

BY BEN PERRY

  • The ONS on Thursday added that Britain's GDP grew 1.3 percent in 2025, which compares with 1.5 percent expansion for the eurozone.
  • Britain's economy grew less than expected in the final quarter of 2025, according to official data Thursday, dealing a fresh blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government.
  • The ONS on Thursday added that Britain's GDP grew 1.3 percent in 2025, which compares with 1.5 percent expansion for the eurozone.
Britain's economy grew less than expected in the final quarter of 2025, according to official data Thursday, dealing a fresh blow to embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government.
Gross domestic product expanded 0.1 percent in the October-December period as the key services sector and construction suffered, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. 
Analyst expectations had been for overall GDP growth of 0.2 percent for the fourth quarter.
The data comes after Starmer has in recent days fought off calls to resign over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Starmer appointed Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing of his links to Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

'Right economic plan'

The prime minister's Labour party has struggled to revive Britain's sluggish economy since winning a general election in July 2024, having raised taxes in its two annual budgets to fund increased public spending.
Starmer is deeply unpopular with the public and trails Nigel Farage's hard-right Reform UK party in polls, although the next general election is likely three years away.
He faces a difficult by-election later this month and key local polls in May.
The ONS on Thursday added that Britain's GDP grew 1.3 percent in 2025, which compares with 1.5 percent expansion for the eurozone.
Reacting to the latest UK data, finance minister Rachel Reeves said "the government has the right economic plan to build a stronger and more secure economy".
Speaking Wednesday, Reeves insisted that closer integration with the European Union is the "biggest prize" for Britain's economy.
The UK has sought to bolster trade ties across the world since departing the EU at the start of the decade.
Under Starmer, the Labour government has struck long-sought trade deals, including with the United States and India, in the hopes of boosting investment and growth.
Nevertheless the UK economy was hampered last year by US President Donald Trump's tariffs blitz on the world.

Exports to US down

Separate ONS data Thursday showed UK exports of goods to the United States dropped 10 percent last year to £59 billion ($81 billion).
Britain's vehicle production tumbled in 2025 owing to the tariffs uncertainty and a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover.
A US-UK trade agreement, which entered into force in June, reduced the tariff on British car exports to 10 percent from 27.5 percent, on a limit of 100,000 vehicles annually.
The British pharmaceutical industry waited until December before the US exempted it from import tariffs under a unique deal which sees the UK increase spending on American drugs by 25 percent.
Despite Trump rolling back his most aggressive tariffs threats, many British companies have held back from making major investment decisions owing to the uncertainty triggered by the president's trade policies.
The Bank of England last week cut its forecasts for UK growth this year and next.
The BoE estimates GDP growth of 0.9 percent in 2026 and 1.5 percent next year.
It had previously forecast output of 1.25 percent for 2026 and 1.6 percent for next year. 
The growth downgrades came alongside the central bank's decision to leave its benchmark interest rate at 3.75 percent as UK inflation stays above the BoE's two-percent target.
British inflation is set to cool in the coming months as easing energy bills help to offset rising water bills and other elevated costs.
UK unemployment stands at 5.1 percent, close to a five-year high.
While Thursday's growth data "will do nothing to alleviate pressure on the deeply unpopular Labour government, there may be faint light at the end of the tunnel", noted Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury.
"UK inflation is set to fall, and we have yet to see the full transmission of Bank of England interest rate cuts, which should help lower borrowing costs and boost household spending."
bur-bcp/ajb/rl

automobile

Mercedes-Benz net profit nearly halves amid China, US woes

BY LOUIS VAN BOXEL-WOOLF

  • China, the world's biggest car market, has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD and Geely.
  • German carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported Thursday its lowest annual profit since the Covid pandemic, as it counted the cost of US tariffs and cutthroat competition in China.
  • China, the world's biggest car market, has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD and Geely.
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported Thursday its lowest annual profit since the Covid pandemic, as it counted the cost of US tariffs and cutthroat competition in China.
Net profit for 2025 was 5.3 billion euros ($6.3 billion), Mercedes said, down almost 49 percent from 2024 but better than had been expected in a poll of analysts by financial data firm FactSet. 
"Amid a dynamic market environment, our financial results remained within our guidance," chief executive Ola Kaellenius said, adding that he saw hope in over 40 new model launches planned for the next three years.
"We are moving forward with a clear game plan and a very competitive product portfolio," he said.
The firm expects a similarly difficult 2026, however, with revenue projected to be around last year's level of 132.2 billion euros.
Its core profit should be "significantly above" the 2025 figure thanks to an absence of one-off restructuring charges. 
But at its core car business, Mercedes sees a profit margin this year of three to five percent -- potentially weaker than the five percent it achieved last year.
Mercedes-Benz shares opened down 4.5 percent in Frankfurt but later recovered a bit, trading down 2.6 percent at midday, making it one of the worst performers in Germany's blue-chip DAX index.

'Once-in-a-hundred years transformation'

A storied company that traces its history back to Carl Benz inventing the first motor car in 1885, Mercedes last year took a hit from US President Donald Trump putting tariffs on foreign carmakers.
Speaking on the earnings call, chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm said the duties introduced partway through last year had cost the company about 1 billion euros.
"It's really a lot of money," he said. "It's going to go up in 2026 because we'll have a full-year impact -- It's going to be a significant number."
The duties came as the company was facing a triple whammy of cratering sales in China, stagnant demand in Europe and the costs of investing into electric cars despite patchy demand.
"The auto industry and our company, we're in a once-in-a-hundred years transformation," Kaellenius said on the call.
"It's happening in an environment that is more dynamic than we have experienced in many, many years."
China, the world's biggest car market, has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD and Geely.
Mercedes-Benz's sales by volume in China plunged 19 percent last year to their lowest level since 2016, helping drag overall worldwide sales down by 10 percent.
Wilhelm said that Mercedes-Benz expected to lose further sales in China despite new launches, and that difficulties in the market could further weigh on results.
"China is always, I think, unforeseeable in terms of the intensity of the competitive environment," he said. "It could be an element which could bring us even further down."
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Hermes

Hermes sales rise despite US tariffs, currency headwinds

  • President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on European firms threatened to eat into Hermes's sales, but the company said in October that it had kept prices steady since the EU-US tariff deal in July.
  • French luxury house Hermes reported Thursday an increase in 2025 sales even though it faced steep US tariffs and a weak dollar, which made its leather handbags and other goods more pricey for customers worldwide.
  • President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on European firms threatened to eat into Hermes's sales, but the company said in October that it had kept prices steady since the EU-US tariff deal in July.
French luxury house Hermes reported Thursday an increase in 2025 sales even though it faced steep US tariffs and a weak dollar, which made its leather handbags and other goods more pricey for customers worldwide.
Revenue rose 5.5 percent to 16 billion euros ($19 billion), with all regions seeing increases, the company said in a statement.
Net profit slipped 1.7 percent to 4.5 billion, which the group attributed to a one-time tax of 330 million euros imposed by the French government on major companies as an "exceptional contribution" to help the country cut debt.
Without the levy profit was up 5.5 percent on the year, chief executive Axel Dumas said in presenting the results to journalists.
"I can't make any forecasts for 2026," he added. "We've returned to a world where every two years there's some problem somewhere, or there's a region that's stuck."
Nonetheless, he said he expected "very strong growth in the United States, and Europe to hold up".
President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on European firms threatened to eat into Hermes's sales, but the company said in October that it had kept prices steady since the EU-US tariff deal in July.
That resulted in most EU exports facing a 15 percent US levy.
The dollar's decline against the euro and other currencies also made its silk scarves and other goods more expensive, yet demand held up over the year, Dumas said.
Sales in the Americas rose 7.3 percent to 3.1 billion euros, while Europe sales gained 9.6 percent to 3.9 billion euros.
In Asia, which generates the bulk of Hermes's revenue, sales rose 2.6 percent to 8.3 billion.
The company will propose a full-year dividend of 18 euros per share at its shareholders' meeting in April, up from 16 euros last year.
But its annual bonus to its 26,500 employees worldwide will fall to 3,000 euros, down from 4,500 euros.
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