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New world for users and brands as ads hit AI chatbots

BY DAXIA ROJAS AND THOMAS URBAIN IN NEW YORK

  • Beyond OpenAI, Microsoft has been running contextual ads and sponsored content in its Copilot AI assistant since 2023.
  • The introduction of advertisements and sponsored content in chatbots has spawned privacy concerns for AI users as brands scramble to stay relevant in a fast-changing online environment.
  • Beyond OpenAI, Microsoft has been running contextual ads and sponsored content in its Copilot AI assistant since 2023.
The introduction of advertisements and sponsored content in chatbots has spawned privacy concerns for AI users as brands scramble to stay relevant in a fast-changing online environment.
ChatGPT developer OpenAI began showing ads in chatbot conversations for free and low-cost users to start balancing its hundreds of billions in spending commitments with new revenue sources.
It swiftly came in for mockery from rival Anthropic, which has staked its reputation on safety and data security.
Anthropic's advertisement broadcast during last week's Super Bowl showed a man asking advice from a conversational AI, which then shoehorns advertising copy for a dating site into its otherwise relevant response.
OpenAI boss Sam Altman shot back that the clip was "clearly dishonest".
Beyond OpenAI, Microsoft has been running contextual ads and sponsored content in its Copilot AI assistant since 2023.
AI search engine Perplexity has been testing ads in the United States since 2024, while Google is also testing ads in the AI "overviews" its namesake search engine has been offering since last year.

Data privacy

Google has repeatedly denied wanting to run ads in its Gemini chatbot, with Demis Hassabis -- head of the search giant's DeepMind AI arm -- saying that ads "have to be handled very carefully".
"The most important thing" in AI is "trust in security and privacy, because you want to share potentially your life with that assistant," he added.
OpenAI has sought to reassure users that ChatGPT's responses will not be modified by the ads, which are shown alongside conversations rather than being integrated into them.
It has also promised not to sell user data to advertisers.
AI companies are "concerned that selling ads will scare away users," said Nate Elliott, an analyst with US data firm Emarketer.
But "when it's free, you're the product. It's a risk we're all more or less aware of already," said Jerome Malzac of AI consultancy Micropole.
"We accept it because we find value in it."
If that proves true, advertisers will be delighted to surf the AI wave as it crashes over the world's internet users.

Game changer

"It's going to be a game changer for the entire industry," said Justin Seibert, head of Direct Online Marketing.
"We're already seeing how high the conversion rates (interactions resulting in a purchase) are for people that are coming in from ChatGPT and the other LLMs (large language models)," he added.
AI assistants could account for up to two percent of the online advertising market by 2030, HSBC bank analysts suggested in a report.
Many brands are already prioritising visibility on the new channel, including US supermarket chain Target and software maker Adobe.
Beyond buying a spot on users' screens, companies are also pushing for their products to appear in chatbots' organic responses.
The practice is known as GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) -- an evolution of the Search Engine Optimisation strategy during the era of Google's dominance over the web.
"We identified 90 rules that can make sure the content you create is valued by AI and spread to the right places," said Joan Burkovic, head of French GEO startup GetMint.
The company already claims 100 clients, including fashion brand Lacoste.
Malzac highlighted techniques like including references to scientific papers, adding a "frequently asked questions" section to your website, and posting information that's structured and regularly updated, Malzac said.
"If your brand isn't referenced (by chatbots) it no longer exists" for some users, he warned.
dax-tu/tgb/ach/lb

politics

World copper rush promises new riches for Zambia

BY HILLARY ORINDE

  • - 'Dramatic new chapter' - "We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
  • Five years after becoming Africa's first Covid-era debt defaulter, Zambia is seeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as major powers vie for access to its vast reserves of copper.
  • - 'Dramatic new chapter' - "We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
Five years after becoming Africa's first Covid-era debt defaulter, Zambia is seeing a dramatic turnaround in fortunes as major powers vie for access to its vast reserves of copper.
Surging demand from the artificial intelligence, green energy and defence sectors has exponentially boosted demand for the workhorse metal that underpins power grids, data centres and electric vehicles.
The scramble for copper exposes geopolitical rivalries as industrial heavyweights -- including China, the United States, Canada, Europe, India and Gulf states -- compete to secure supplies.
"We have the investors back," President Hakainde Hichilema told delegates at the African Mining Indaba conference on Monday, saying that more than $12  billion had flowed into the sector since 2022.
The politically stable country is Africa's second-largest copper producer, after the conflict-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo, and the world's eighth, according to the US Geological Survey.
The metal, needed for solar panels and wind turbines, generates about 15 percent of Zambia's GDP and more than 70 percent of export earnings.
Output rose eight percent last year to more than 890,000 metric tons and the government aims to triple production within a decade. 
Mining is driving growth that is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to reach 5.2 percent in 2025 and 5.8 percent this year, which places Zambia among the continent's faster-growing economies.
"The seeds are sprouting and the harvest is coming," Hichilema said, touting a planned nationwide geological survey to map untapped deposits. 
But the rapid expansion of the heavily polluting industry has also led to warnings about risks to local communities and concerns of "pit-to-port" extraction, in which raw copper is shipped directly abroad with little domestic refining.

'Dramatic new chapter'

"We need to be aware of the potential for history to repeat itself," said Daniel Litvin, founder of the Resource Resolutions group that promotes sustainable development, referring to the colonial-era scramble for Africa's resources. 
There is a risk that elites will be enriched at the expense of the broader population, while "narratives of partnership" offered by major powers can mask underlying self-interest, he said.
Chinese firms have long dominated the sector in Zambia and control major stakes in key mines and smelters, cementing Beijing's early-mover advantage.
Another major player is Canada's First Quantum Minerals, Zambia's largest corporate taxpayer.
Investors from India and the Gulf are expanding their footprint, and the United States is returning to the market after largely pulling out decades ago. 
Washington, which has been stockpiling copper, this month launched a $12 billion "Project Vault" public-private initiative to secure critical minerals, part of an effort to reduce reliance on China. 
In September, the US Trade and Development Agency announced a $1.4 million grant to a Metalex Commodities subsidiary, Metalex Africa, to expand operations in Zambia. 
"We are at the beginning of what is going to unfold to be a dramatic new chapter in the way that the free world sources and trades in critical minerals," US energy secretary adviser Mike Kopp said at Mining Indaba.
Sweeping US tariffs introduced last year helped send copper prices soaring to record highs, as companies rushed to buy both semi-finished and refined stocks.

Cost of rush

"The risk is that this great power competition becomes a race to secure supply on terms that serve markets and not the people in producer countries," said Deprose Muchena, a programme director at the Open Society Foundation.
Despite its mineral wealth, more than 70 percent of Zambia's 21 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
"The world is waking up to Zambia's copper. But Zambia has been living with copper and its consequences for a century," Muchena told AFP.
Environmental damage caused by mining has long plagued Zambia's copper belt.
In February 2025, a burst tailings dam at a Chinese-owned mine near Kitwe, about 285 kilometres (180 miles) north of Lusaka, spilled millions of litres of acidic waste. 
Toxins entered a tributary feeding the Kafue, Zambia's longest river and a major source of drinking water. Zambian farmers have filed an $80 billion lawsuit.
"Whether this boom is different depends on whether governance, rights, and community agency are at the centre, not just supply chain security," Muchena said. 
ho/br/js/lb

technology

India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale

BY BHUVAN BAGGA

  • - 'Whole nine yards' - Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
  • As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new "data city" to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
  • - 'Whole nine yards' - Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new "data city" to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
"The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it," said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India's AI push.
"And as a nation... we have taken a stand that we've got to embrace it," he told AFP ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi.
Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15 billion investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States.
And a joint venture between India's Reliance Industries, Canada's Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11 billion to develop an AI data centre in the same city.
Visakhapatnam -- home to around two million people and popularly known as "Vizag" -- is better known for its cricket ground that hosts international matches than cutting-edge technology.
But the southeastern port city is now being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.
"The data city is going to come in one ecosystem... with a 100 kilometre (60 mile) radius," Lokesh said. For comparison, Taiwan is roughly 100 kilometres wide.

'Whole nine yards'

Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had "received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments" to India in 2025.
"It's not just about the data centres," he explained while outlining a sweeping vision of change, with Andhra Pradesh offering land at one US cent per acre (three per hectare) for major investors.
"I'm chasing the companies that make those servers that go sit in those data centres, the companies that make the entire air conditioning, the water-cooling system -- the whole nine yards."
The 43-year-old, Stanford-educated minister is the son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who helped turn Hyderabad into a major technology hub that is dubbed "Cyberabad".
They are allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will host the AI Impact Summit from Monday.
India is now third in a global AI power ranking -- sitting above South Korea and Japan -- based on more than 40 indicators from patents to private funding calculated by Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered AI.
With more than a billion internet users, India has seen a surge of investment as generative AI players seek inroads to the world's most populous country.
Microsoft said in December it will invest $17.5 billion to help build the country's artificial intelligence infrastructure, with CEO Satya Nadella calling it the firm's "largest investment ever in Asia".
But critics say India lags in access to high-end computing power or commercial AI deployment, and remains more a consumer than creator of the cutting-edge technology.
Some question whether data centres will create meaningful employment when up and running, but Lokesh rejects that.
"Every industrial revolution has always created more jobs than it has displaced," he said. 
"But it has created those jobs in countries that have embraced the industrial revolution."

'Learned from China'

Lokesh argues that the jobs and economic benefits would more than compensate for the giveaway cost of land.
He said the state government had accounted for the vast electricity and water demands for the energy-hungry industry, and would tap "surplus water" that drains into the Bay of Bengal to cool the massive data centres.
"It's a crime that so much water during monsoons goes into our oceans," he said.
He cited China as an inspiration -- admiring how India's rival had "been able to systematically bring people out of poverty" at speed.
The state's plan to create industrial clusters was something he had "learned from China".
With a target of six gigawatts of data centre capacity -- three already signed and another three in the pipeline -- Andhra Pradesh is betting that speed and scale will give it an edge.
New Delhi last year agreed to "in-principle approval" for six 1.2 GW nuclear power plants at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.
"We are on a journey," Lokesh said. "We will execute these projects at a pace that the country has never seen".
bb/abh/pjm/kaf/dan

crypto

Crash course: Vietnam's crypto boom goes bust

BY LAM NGUYEN

  • Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
  • As a first-year computer science student in Hanoi, Hoang Le started trading crypto from his university dorm room, egged on by his gamer friends who were making a killing.
  • Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
As a first-year computer science student in Hanoi, Hoang Le started trading crypto from his university dorm room, egged on by his gamer friends who were making a killing.
At one point his digital holdings swelled to $200,000 -- around 50 times the average annual income in Vietnam.
But they crashed to zero when the bottom fell out of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent months.
Getting wiped out "hurt a lot", he told AFP, but he also learned a valuable lesson: he has come to think of the losses as "tuition fees".
"When profits were high, everyone became greedy," said Le, now 23, adding that "it was too good to be true".  
Unlike neighbouring China which has banned cryptocurrencies outright, communist Vietnam has allowed blockchain technology to develop in a legal grey area -- barring its use for payments but letting people speculate unimpeded.
As a result the young-and-upwardly mobile country of 100 million has been at the forefront of crypto adoption, with an estimated 17 million people owning digital assets.
Only India, the United States and Pakistan have seen more widespread usage, according to a 2025 ranking by the consultancy Chainalysis.
But what once looked like first-mover advantage increasingly looks like a liability as investors stare down a crypto winter.
The price of bitcoin has almost halved since hitting a record high above $126,000 in October, and other digital tokens have slid even further.
Vietnamese crypto startups hawking everything from NFTs to blockchain-based lending and trading services have been hammered, with bankruptcies and layoffs roiling the industry. 

$100 billion market

"Many companies have shut down because of this crisis," said Tran Xuan Tien, head of Ho Chi Minh City's blockchain association. 
He added that others are "downsizing and conserving capital to extend their runway".
Nguyen The Vinh, co-founder of blockchain firm Ninety Eight, told AFP his company has laid off nearly one-third of its staff since last year.
There was more "restructuring" to come, he added, given the gloomy outlook. 
"The market will likely remain difficult for years, not just months, so we need backup plans."
Until recently, Vietnam's crypto scene was a wild west, with highly speculative ventures and outright Ponzi schemes flourishing alongside startups offering legitimate products. 
The government warned about the dangers of crypto and broke up several huge scam operations, including one that allegedly swindled nearly $400 million from thousands of investors. 
But it did not move to crush the industry as Beijing did, instead opening "a window for domestic businesses to experiment", according to Tien.
Under top leader To Lam, who has pursued sweeping growth-oriented reforms, Vietnam has formally embraced the blockchain industry and is gradually asserting control over the estimated $100 billion market.
Last year it passed a law recognising digital currencies, bringing them under a regulatory framework for the first time. 
It came into effect last month but investors have questions about how it will be implemented.
Hanoi has also announced a five-year crypto trading pilot programme, which will allow Vietnamese firms to issue digital assets.
But lingering regulatory ambiguity has kept many firms based in the country from formally registering there, opting instead to file paperwork in places such as Singapore and Dubai. 

'Downhill badly'

Vinh says some firms are folding and others downsizing or pivoting because of both the "prolonged downturn and an unclear legal framework".
And new entities are struggling to gain traction as investor sentiment sours.
Huu, 24, said fundraising for his crypto-product startup has suddenly become much harder, and asked that only his first name be used for fear of hurting his business.
Foreign investors were once enticed by promises of 400 and 500 percent returns, he said, but were now discovering they "might lose everything".
"Over the past few months, things have gone downhill badly."
Founders including Huu and Vinh said the current downturn is part of a natural business cycle, and stronger firms would eventually emerge offering better products. 
But that is cold comfort for the nearly 55 percent of individual Vietnamese crypto investors who according to one market analysis reported losses last year.
"In Vietnam, a lot of people trade crypto," Huu said.
"When prices fall, people complain about losses and the overall mood becomes very gloomy."  
lam/tym/sco/slb/dan

food

US cattle farmers caught between high costs and weary consumers

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
  • In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond.
  • Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
In rural Virginia, dozens of young cows belonging to Chris Stem graze by a frozen pond. He is living his childhood dream of being a farmer -- but reality is starting to bite.
Despite soaring beef prices as the US cattle population hit a 75-year low, farmers like Stem are feeling the squeeze from steeper business costs, budget-conscious consumers and President Donald Trump's trade policy.
"The cost of doing business is almost outpricing (our ability) to continue to raise cattle," Stem told AFP.
"From cutting hay to feeding the cattle to maintaining equipment, maintaining staff, feed, everything has gone up," he said. "When does that stabilize and stop?"
Trump's latest move to boost Argentine beef imports is adding to concerns, vexing a key support base of the Republican president as midterm elections approach.
Stem, 40, has a herd of around 250 cattle in Ashland, Virginia.
Most are sold at larger markets where they are purchased and fed to slaughter weight, while around 15 percent is processed nearby and sold at Stem's butcher shop.
For him, higher beef prices have been a double-edged sword.
His revenue from selling cattle has risen, but so have operational costs.
And there are limits to how much he can hike consumer prices at his shop to make up the margins.
"They will only spend but so much on a cut of beef, especially when you have imported meats that you can purchase for 50 percent to 60 percent less at a larger store," Stem said.
Already, ribeye that sold for $14.99 a pound in 2019 now sells for $32.99, he said. His customer sales have dropped by 30 percent.
To afford the property, he has diversified operations at Oakdale into winemaking and hosting events like weddings.

'State of crisis'

Steeper beef prices have become a symbol of high living costs in the world's biggest economy, which has fueled voter frustration. Last fall, Trump demanded that ranchers slash their prices.
Trump has since exempted Brazilian beef from sharp tariffs, and moved this month to expand imports of trimmings from Argentina to cool ground beef prices.
Yet, officials predict costs will keep creeping up.
Beef and veal prices were up 15 percent year-on-year in January while ground beef prices, which hit a new high in December, have continued climbing.
Costs will likely stay elevated as consumer demand remains robust, while it takes years to rebuild American herds depleted by drought and import restrictions over a parasite.
Meanwhile, American farmers and ranchers fear Trump's policies will undercut their production and profits.
"We do need to feed the people of the United States," said Stem. "But we're opening a door that's going to, I think, significantly harm farmers."
"I'm a supporter of the Republican administration," he added. "I'm not a supporter of the of the unknowns that we get right now."
The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America warned recently: "Our industry is in a state of crisis and needs protection against price-depressing imports."
Iowa farmer Lance Lillibridge told AFP that cattle producers have been "living off very skinny margins" for years.
"People are getting tired of working this hard for nothing," he added. "Right now, our cattle prices are exactly where they should be."

'Cut back'

But households are feeling the pinch.
Endawnson Nungo, 56, a South Carolinian in the railroad industry, told AFP "we've cut back a lot" due to beef prices.
At a butcher shop in Washington, scientist Caleb Svezia, 28, said he started noticing higher meat prices around six months ago.
He has cut back on snacks when grocery shopping, to save up for better quality meats.
Jamie Stachowski, who runs Stachowski's Market, said customers have pulled back. Like Stem, he has had to raise prices, lifting them by 30 percent over the past year.
In turn, his sales dropped by 15 percent.
Some consumers also pivoted from prime cuts to secondary ones -- or buy other meats altogether.
"The beef industry is billions and billions of dollars," he said. "Yet everybody just makes pennies on the pound."
bys/dw 

affordability

New York creatives squeezed out by high cost of living

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • - 'Lack of work' - Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
  • After 20 years as a makeup artist for TV and cinema, Noel Jacoboni sees few other options than to leave New York City, where she has been "priced out" by the soaring cost of living. 
  • - 'Lack of work' - Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
After 20 years as a makeup artist for TV and cinema, Noel Jacoboni sees few other options than to leave New York City, where she has been "priced out" by the soaring cost of living. 
Affordability issues, which Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a core part of his election campaign, are increasingly driving those in the creative arts like Jacoboni to bid farewell to one of the world's cultural capitals. 
Since 2019, the number of New Yorkers working in creative fields ranging from design to fashion has fallen by 6.1 percent, according to a December report by the Center for an Urban Future. 
Eli Dvorkin, an author of the paper, said that artists were "hit harder during the (Covid-19) pandemic than nearly any other workforce in the city."
Since then, "costs have risen far faster than incomes, and artists are really feeling the squeeze," he told AFP. 
About 326,000 people are employed in the cultural and creative sector in New York, but many are being drawn to other cities like Miami, Dallas and Nashville. 
A key factor, the report noted, is that creatives in New York make around 23 percent less than the national average when accounting for the cost of living. That number was 15 percent less a decade ago. 
That has come as inflation across the United States has remained stubbornly high post-pandemic, and New York in particular has seen rents rise on high demand, supply shortages and other factors.
Salaries for those in the arts have just not kept up.
According to the report, median household rent in New York rose 42 percent in the last decade, with creative salaries rising just 25 percent -- well below the citywide average gain of 44 percent.

 'Lack of work'

Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."
"We're losing talented individuals in our city," she said. 
Since 2020, the number of cinema and TV workers has declined by 19.1 percent, according to the Center for an Urban Future report. 
A similar trend was seen in advertising, down 15.7 percent, and design, which dropped 14.3 percent. 
New York has seen more than 50 theaters, music clubs, museums and galleries close since 2020, the report said, citing the rising cost of rent, salaries and insurance.
Even major players in New York's cultural scene are impacted.
Just four Broadway musicals launched in the past six years have turned a profit, while key institutions like the Met Opera and the Guggenheim Museum have announced layoffs in recent months. 

'Creative capital'

Mayor Mamdani has signaled that he is working to address affordability issues for creatives. 
His media and entertainment head, Rafael Espinal, said in January he wants to "keep New York the creative capital of the world."
"Not just a place where great work gets made, but a place where the people who make that work can actually live in," he said. 
Espinal, who led the Freelancers Union for independent workers, said he wants to "secure and expand good-paying union jobs" and ensure training for underrepresented communities. 
Another initiative supported by Julie Menin, the speaker of the New York City Council, envisions reserving more rent-controlled housing for artists. 
The Center for an Urban Future has also proposed creating a major cultural festival across the city's five boroughs to revitalize the arts sector. 
pel/rh/bjt/aha

economy

ECB to extend euro backstop to boost currency's global role

  • "The availability of a lender of last resort for central banks worldwide boosts confidence to invest, borrow and trade in euros, knowing that access will be there during market disruptions," she said.
  • The European Central Bank said Saturday it will expand access to its euro liquidity backstop to central banks worldwide, in a move aimed at boosting the single currency's global role.
  • "The availability of a lender of last resort for central banks worldwide boosts confidence to invest, borrow and trade in euros, knowing that access will be there during market disruptions," she said.
The European Central Bank said Saturday it will expand access to its euro liquidity backstop to central banks worldwide, in a move aimed at boosting the single currency's global role.
The backstop mechanism, which provides funding at times of extreme financial stress, is currently only available to a handful of central banks.
The new facility will extend this to central banks worldwide, as long as they fulfil certain criteria.
"The ECB needs to be prepared for a more volatile environment," ECB chief Christine Lagarde said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
"As industrial policy becomes more assertive, geopolitical tensions rise and supply chains are disrupted, financial market stress is likely to become more frequent."
The ECB wants to prevent these tensions from leading to forced sales of euro-denominated securities, so it plans to guarantee central banks that euro liquidity will be available when needed, she said.
"The availability of a lender of last resort for central banks worldwide boosts confidence to invest, borrow and trade in euros, knowing that access will be there during market disruptions," she said.
With the dollar having steadily lost value since US President Donald Trump returned to office, Lagarde has previously talked up the possibility of boosting the prominence of the euro.
The new system will be introduced from the third quarter of 2026.
The facility, known as "repo lines", was introduced on a temporary basis in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.
It was used again after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to provide euro liquidity to a few central banks outside the eurozone.
jpl-sr/fz/jhb

oil

Cuba cancels cigar festival amid economic crisis

  • The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
  • Cuba on Saturday announced the cancellation of its iconic cigar festival, amid a major energy crisis sparked by US pressure on the cash-strapped island.
  • The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
Cuba on Saturday announced the cancellation of its iconic cigar festival, amid a major energy crisis sparked by US pressure on the cash-strapped island.
In a message to participants seen by AFP, organizers said they were postponing the annual event, scheduled to take place from February 24-27, but did not give a new date.
The decision was taken "with the aim of preserving the highest standards of quality, excellence and experience that characterize this international event," organizer Habanos SA said.
The "Festival del Habano" draws cigar enthusiasts, traders, and specialized journalists from around the world and features an auction of luxury cigars and humidors.  
The auction generates several million dollars annually -- last year, about $19.5 million -- that are then funneled into the country's health care system. 
International sales of Cuban cigars, the island nation's most emblematic export, bring much needed income to its struggling economy, with Europe the main market for the luxury smokes.
The United States cut off oil deliveries to Cuba from Havana's key ally Venezuela following the ouster of longtime president Nicolas Maduro in early January. 
US President Donald Trump also signed an executive order allowing his country to impose tariffs on countries selling oil to Havana. 
International airlines including Air Canada have halted Cuba flights due to a lack of fuel on the island, and several governments have urged citizens to reconsider travel there, warning they could be stranded.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has accused Trump of wanting to "suffocate" the island's economy, which has been under American embargo since 1962.
jb/ksb/sst

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