politics

China's premier vows to expand global 'trade pie': state media

  • The Chinese premier added that Beijing would work with other countries to "join forces to make the global economic and trade pie larger for everyone".
  • China's number two leader Li Qiang said Sunday that his country was willing to help expand the global "trade pie" by further opening up, state media reported, while he slammed unilateralism from certain countries.
  • The Chinese premier added that Beijing would work with other countries to "join forces to make the global economic and trade pie larger for everyone".
China's number two leader Li Qiang said Sunday that his country was willing to help expand the global "trade pie" by further opening up, state media reported, while he slammed unilateralism from certain countries.
Many of China's key trading partners have increasingly called on Beijing to reduce its soaring trade surplus owing to its impact on local competition.
Its trade surged by a fifth in the first two months of the year, official data showed earlier this month, significantly outpacing forecasts.
China "will steadfastly advance high-level opening up, import more high-quality foreign goods, and work alongside all parties to promote the optimised and balanced development of trade", Premier Li Qiang told business executives in Beijing on Sunday, according to Xinhua.
Li was speaking at the opening of the annual China Development Forum, attended this year by prominent business leaders including Apple CEO Tim Cook.
The Chinese premier added that Beijing would work with other countries to "join forces to make the global economic and trade pie larger for everyone".
He slammed growing unilateralism and protectionism, which he said was "no panacea for resolving problems".
Beijing has been seeking to steer a shaky economy onto a more stable path since the end of the pandemic, particularly by boosting consumption.
It had been locked in a blistering trade war last year with Washington after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on countries including China. 
The recent trade boost is a lifeline for China, the world's second-largest economy, as domestic consumer activity has slumped, and adds to the record surplus achieved last year.
The China Development Forum convenes as the Middle East war, triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran, rages on.
Tehran has retaliated with strikes across the region and beyond in a conflict that has threatened global energy security as well as China's oil supplies.
Li told the Chinese officials and global business executives the international rules-based order was suffering "severe disruption" with power politics "running rampant".
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met with senior representatives of multinational companies including HSBC, UBS, Schneider Electric and Standard Chartered on Saturday, Xinhua reported.
isk/fox

US

Sri Lanka raises fuel prices by 25 percent as war bites

  • Last week, the government ordered an eight percent increase in retail fuel prices and introduced rationing to limit consumption.
  • Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by 25 percent on Sunday, the second increase in two weeks, as the country prepared for more impact from the war in the Middle East.
  • Last week, the government ordered an eight percent increase in retail fuel prices and introduced rationing to limit consumption.
Sri Lanka raised fuel prices by 25 percent on Sunday, the second increase in two weeks, as the country prepared for more impact from the war in the Middle East.
Regular petrol was increased to 398 rupees ($1.30) per litre, up from 317 rupees, while diesel, the fuel commonly used for public transport, rose by 79 rupees to 382.
Last week, the government ordered an eight percent increase in retail fuel prices and introduced rationing to limit consumption.
"We hope to achieve a 15 to 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption with the latest increase," an official at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said.
He said President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told them last week that the country must prepare for a prolonged conflict in the Middle East that could affect the island’s energy supplies.
The president ordered a four-day working week from last Wednesday and asked employers to reintroduce work-from-home arrangements where possible.
The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which some 20 percent of global oil exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against it, now entering its fourth week.
Sri Lanka imports all of its oil and also buys coal for electricity generation.
Sri Lanka buys refined petroleum products from Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea, while crude oil for its Iran-built refinery is sourced from the Middle East.
The government has warned that the fighting in the Middle East, and a prolonged war, could seriously undermine its efforts to emerge from the economic meltdown of 2022.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in 2022 after the country ran out of foreign exchange. Since then, Colombo has secured a $2.9 billion IMF bailout.
aj/pzb/fox

trade

US-China 'Board of Trade' may help ties but experts flag market worries

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • "That's not a good sign," he told AFP. "Where are the market forces?"
  • As Washington and Beijing mull a new mechanism to adjust trade between the world's two largest economies, some analysts warn that it could interfere with market forces, while others consider it a path to smoother coexistence.
  • "That's not a good sign," he told AFP. "Where are the market forces?"
As Washington and Beijing mull a new mechanism to adjust trade between the world's two largest economies, some analysts warn that it could interfere with market forces, while others consider it a path to smoother coexistence.
What is the managed approach to trade that Donald Trump's administration is seeking with China, as both sides work towards the US president's potential meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the coming weeks?

What is a 'Board of Trade'?

After top US economic officials held talks with their Chinese counterparts in Paris last weekend, US trade envoy Jamieson Greer said both sides discussed creating a "US-China Board of Trade."
The mechanism would help to formalize and identify what kinds of goods the United States should be exporting to and importing from China, he said.
The board could look into opportunities for expanding trade in non-sensitive products, or discuss mutual tariff reduction in non-strategic sectors, said Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy Institute.
For now, officials appear to have made progress towards Chinese purchase commitments for agriculture, energy and planes from the United States, added Cutler, a former US trade official.

Is this new to US-China ties?

The talks come as Washington looks towards "managed trade," which Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics said focuses on outcomes rather than policies.
This could mean import commitments or voluntary export restraints, as in the case of Japan in the 1980s to manage the flow of autos into the United States, he said.
A more recent example is the "Phase One" deal that Washington signed with Beijing during Trump's first presidency, marking a truce in their trade war, Bown added.
The agreement saw China agree to import an added $200 billion in US products over two years -- although China did not meet the commitment.

Why has this sparked worry?

"Instead of taking regulations out, tariffs down, and making it easier for customers and companies to decide what they sell at what prices, it (would be) more mechanized," said Joerg Wuttke, a partner at advisory firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group.
"That's not a good sign," he told AFP. "Where are the market forces?"
Such an approach is also not good for competitiveness, and could fuel concern among other trading partners, Wuttke warned.
A US-based business leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that managing trade raises concerns over how Washington will decide which industries to prioritize, and which sectors will benefit.

Does it help the relationship?

Bown of PIIE believes a managed trade agreement between the United States and China could be more successful than previous attempts to solve economic conflicts. 
The question is whether this leads to "a more sustainable, longer-term relationship" that is better than a "constant back and forth of conflict," he said.
"It's clear the old system didn't work. Could we try a new system that might work?"
But any trade agreement would have to be realistic and acceptable to both parties.
"You'd have to have a sincere commitment by both sides to make this work," he added. "Even then, it's going to be really, really hard."
bys/aha/acb

China

Kenya, Uganda double down on rail extension burdened by Chinese debt

  • Kenya now spends roughly $1 billion a year servicing Chinese debt, most of it borrowed to build the railway.
  • The presidents of Kenya and Uganda met near their shared border Saturday to mark the multi-billion-dollar, long-delayed extension of a Chinese-built railway that has left Kenya heavily in debt.
  • Kenya now spends roughly $1 billion a year servicing Chinese debt, most of it borrowed to build the railway.
The presidents of Kenya and Uganda met near their shared border Saturday to mark the multi-billion-dollar, long-delayed extension of a Chinese-built railway that has left Kenya heavily in debt.
The Standard Gauge Railway, built from 2013 to 2019, connects the Kenyan port of Mombasa to its capital Nairobi, and on to the lake town of Naivasha, but China refused further lending before it could be extended to Uganda as planned.
Kenya now spends roughly $1 billion a year servicing Chinese debt, most of it borrowed to build the railway.
That is far more than the line generates in revenue -- around $165 million last year -- even if passenger and cargo numbers have been growing strongly over the past year.
A report by Kenya's auditor general last year found more than $260 million had been wasted just on penalties and interest from late debt payments.
Yet despite the controversy over the cost, Kenya has been keen to finish the line.
Kenyan President William Ruto said the rail link will "define generations", speaking at a ceremony in grand pomp and circumstance with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Kisumu, near the Kenya-Uganda border.
Ruto argued the line would slash logistics costs that "undermine competitiveness" in east Africa.
If the ambitious building schedule is to be believed, the line is due to reach Kisumu by June 2027. The next phase will then take the line to Malaba, a town on the border.
"Cargo takes an average of 80 hours to move from Mombasa to Malaba and more than 100 hours to reach Kampala," the Ugandan capital, Ruto said.
"We cannot build prosperity on inefficiency."

'Irrational and wasteful'

Museveni said the line would reduce the inefficiencies in his own country's infrastructure.
"The railway is part of the rationalisation of our transport system, especially on the Uganda side, which is irrational and wasteful," the veteran leader told the ceremony.
Later, he posted on X that "by shifting bulk cargo from roads to rail and pipelines, we reduce transport costs, protect infrastructure and improve efficiency".
Ruto broke ground on the next phase in Narok County on Thursday, arguing that it will create jobs and reduce road congestion.
"We have thought through this project (and)... its finance," he insisted.
Treasury estimates say the overall cost will be more than 500 billion shillings ($3.9 billion), according to Kenya's Business Daily.
Kenya is not taking more cash from Chinese banks this time -- instead borrowing against future cargo taxes -- though it is partnering with Chinese transport firms to build the new phase.
China lent Kenya $9.7 billion between 2000 and 2019, according to the Chinese Loans to Africa Database by Boston University, with around half of that going to the railway.
It stopped lending from 2020 to 2023 as Kenya struggled to make repayments, at a time when China revised its broader lending strategy in Africa.
Kenya considers the railway extension crucial for strengthening trade through east and central Africa, hoping to reach landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.
er-jcp/sbk/jhb/gv/rmb

music

K-pop kings BTS stun Seoul in '2.0' comeback concert

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
  • South Korean megastars BTS performed their first show in nearly four years on Saturday in front of enormous crowds in Seoul for a K-pop extravaganza livestreamed to millions more worldwide.
  • Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
South Korean megastars BTS performed their first show in nearly four years on Saturday in front of enormous crowds in Seoul for a K-pop extravaganza livestreamed to millions more worldwide.
Widely lauded as the biggest boy band in the world, BTS went on hiatus in 2022 so the seven members could serve compulsory military service, some near the heavily fortified border with North Korea.
The comeback concert had as its backdrop the historic Gyeongbokgung royal palace -- fitting for the "Kings of K-pop" -- with thousands of fans from South Korea and abroad singing along.
"It's been a long journey but now we are finally here!" said BTS's leader RM -- whose injured ankle meant he had to perch on a stool at times -- as the group performed songs from their new album, as well as old hits "Dynamite" and "Mikrokosmos".
"We are finally here and seeing you again... all seven of us standing on the stage together makes me so happy," said fellow member Jimin to cheers.
"BTS 2.0 is just getting started," said J-Hope.
Fans -- 260,000 were predicted earlier -- descended on Seoul from morning onwards in colourful costumes, taking selfies with their tickets and clutching BTS "ARMY" glowsticks.
Before they came on stage the crowd chanted "BTS! BTS!" with the main boulevard leading up to Gwanghwamun Square ram-packed with people as far as the eye could see.
Gwanghwamun Gate was lit in rainbow colours before the show started, as a massive stage installation featuring three circular features -- symbolising BTS's new album "Arirang" -- glowed beneath towering lighting rigs.
The megastars admitted to some nerves, with member J-Hope telling fans "there were moments when we wondered whether we might be somewhat forgotten, or whether you would remember us".
Jimin said: "We are not such special people. We are afraid every time, but we believed that if we showed you our sincerity, it would reach you."
Fans responded with a sea of glowsticks, singing along the songs while holding their phones high up to film their stars.
"It's great that the show was held in Gwanghwamun, but it would have been just as good anywhere -- even in a much smaller venue," Park Young-mi, 34, a South Korean fan, told AFP.
"Fans have been waiting unwaveringly, and I hope they felt that today."
"Seeing them on stage just felt as if I was being welcomed into a family... it felt very expressive and beautiful and you could just see it from the people who were here too," gushed Gabriel Miranda, 34, from the United States.
"It's a bit different from BTS's usual flavour, but seeing this new side of them at this historic place is deeply moving," said Jo Jung-hee, 60, her phone featuring a photo of BTS member V.
Millions more people across the world were able to watch the show broadcast live on Netflix.
The latest album, "ARIRANG", which was released on Friday, is billed as a reflection of the maturing boy band's Korean identity.
It sold almost four million copies in the first day, BTS's record label said.
Spotify said five million fans pre-saved it, the highest ever for a K-pop act, and that it was the most-streamed album in a single day so far this year.
"ARIRANG" takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
Featuring collaborations with multiple Western artists and producers, the 14 tracks on the album mix rap, heavy beats and experimentation.
"Compared to their earlier work, there's a wider range of genres, which gives it a more mature and expansive feel," Lee Ji-young, a university professor, told AFP.

Taylor who?

Saturday's show preceded a world tour set to be a major money-spinner for BTS, potentially outdoing Taylor Swift's recent Eras Tour.
South Korea too -- whose music, films, books, food and cosmetics are all the rage -- will benefit thanks to tourism and sales of merchandise from BTS dolls to toothbrushes and cans of tuna.
Starting in Goyang, South Korea on April 9 and ending in Manila 11 months later, BTS's tour encompasses 82 shows in 34 cities in 23 countries.
Security was heavy for Saturday's concert, with some 15,000 police and security guards, barricades lining the roads and local venues shut.
Wedding guests had to be transported by police.
BTS -- short for Bulletproof Boy Scouts in Korean -- have championed UNICEF campaigns, the Black Lives Matter movement and efforts to combat anti-Asian racism.
Members have also spoken candidly about the pressures of the music industry.
"Honestly, I became a fan simply because I love their music," Seo Ra-jung, 40, told AFP after the concert.
"I first became a fan during a really difficult period in my life, and their lyrics gave me a lot of strength."
str-cdl/stu/abs

trial

US jury finds Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • The civil complaint in California accused Musk of driving down Twitter's stock price to gain leverage to renegotiate the purchase price or get out of the deal completely, causing people who sold shares to lose money.
  • A federal jury in California found Friday that tech tycoon Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders, driving down the company's share price as he was poised to buy it in a $44 billion deal.
  • The civil complaint in California accused Musk of driving down Twitter's stock price to gain leverage to renegotiate the purchase price or get out of the deal completely, causing people who sold shares to lose money.
A federal jury in California found Friday that tech tycoon Elon Musk misled Twitter shareholders, driving down the company's share price as he was poised to buy it in a $44 billion deal.
The verdict in the class action securities lawsuit means the world's richest person could be ordered to pay billions of dollars, according to damages calculated by jurors.
Minutes after the judgment was announced, the entrepreneur's lawyers informed AFP that their client will appeal the decision, characterizing it as a "setback."
After a three-week trial in a San Francisco federal court -- which included in-person testimony from Musk -- the jury found that two tweets posted in May 2022 by the Tesla and SpaceX CEO contained false statements responsible for a plunge in Twitter's share price.
Investor Giuseppe Pampena had filed the suit on behalf of people who sold Twitter shares between mid-May and early October 2022.
Musk acquired the social media platform in late October 2022 and later renamed it X.
Jurors agreed that Musk violated a securities rule that bars false and misleading statements that sink a stock price, in this case that of Twitter, the verdict form showed.
An attorney for the plaintiffs estimated the damages at about $2.6 billion.
Musk, who has a near-constant presence on X, did not immediately react to the verdict.

Teflon tycoon?

The judgment marks a rare legal defeat for Musk, often dubbed "Teflon Elon" for his ability to emerge unscathed from lawsuits he is expected to lose.
His lawyers, in fact, reminded AFP of this track record, noting that a Texas court cleared him just that same day in a separate defamation case.
In 2023, a jury in the same San Francisco federal court cleared him within hours of similar charges brought by Tesla shareholders, following his 2018 tweets claiming he had the funding to take the automaker private.
The civil complaint in California accused Musk of driving down Twitter's stock price to gain leverage to renegotiate the purchase price or get out of the deal completely, causing people who sold shares to lose money.
Musk tweeted at one point during the process that the acquisition deal was temporarily on hold until Twitter executives could prove the percentage of "bots" -- fake accounts run by software instead of real users -- was as low as the social media platform claimed.
The plaintiffs contended that these statements were part of a scheme designed to pressure the board of directors into accepting a price lower than his initial offer -- at a time when Tesla's share price was falling, meaning Musk would have to sell more of his shares to finance the deal.
Musk abandoned his effort to get out of buying Twitter in late 2022 after the company took him to court to uphold the contract.
Musk has since merged the social media platform with his artificial intelligence startup xAI and his private space exploration firm SpaceX.
Forbes magazine early this month estimated Elon Musk's net worth at $839 billion, a figure based primarily on his stakes in his portfolio of companies including Tesla and SpaceX.
gc-cl/des/lga/jfx

US

Middle East war: global economic fallout

  • - Iran oil sanctions eased - The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington's latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.
  • Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - Iran's Hormuz offer to Japan - Iran is willing to help Japanese ships sail the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global fuel supplies, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Kyodo News in an interview published on Saturday.
  • - Iran oil sanctions eased - The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington's latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

Iran's Hormuz offer to Japan

Iran is willing to help Japanese ships sail the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global fuel supplies, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Kyodo News in an interview published on Saturday.
In the telephone interview conducted on Friday, Araghchi denied closing the passageway, saying instead that countries attacking Iran face restrictions while others were being offered assistance.
He added that Iran was prepared to ensure safe passage for Japan.
Iran's de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil and gas normally flows, and the numerous attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East have sent crude oil prices soaring.

United trims flights as jet fuel costs spike

United Airlines announced Friday that it was scaling back its flight capacities because of soaring jet fuel costs, which the US airline anticipates will keep rising as the war in the Middle East continues.
United chief Scott Kirby said "our plans assume oil goes to $175 a barrel and doesn't get back down to $100 a barrel until the end of 2027."
Earlier, the head of the IATA airline trade association Willie Walsh said an increase in ticket prices is "inevitable" as airlines respond to soaring prices of jet fuel.

Iran oil sanctions eased

The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington's latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.
The move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control follows a similar lifting of sanctions on Russian oil at sea.
Iranian oil ministry spokesman Saman Ghoddoosi earlier wrote on X that "Iran basically has no surplus crude oil left on the water".

US threatens Kharg oil facility

The White House said the US military could "take out" Kharg Island whenever it wanted, as US media reported that up to 2,500 additional Marines are being deployed to the Middle East.
Kharg, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) off the Iranian mainland, handles almost all of Iran's crude exports.

Damage to Qatar's Ras Laffan could have high cost

An Iranian attack on Qatar's huge Ras Laffan natural gas complex caused "extensive damage" that Qatar's state energy company said could cost $20 billion a year in lost revenue and take five years to repair.

Kuwait refinery ablaze

Drone attacks hit Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Friday, causing several fires but no casualties, state media said.
Several refinery units were shut down, the official Kuwait News Agency reported. The Kuwaiti army later said that the fire was brought under control.
Iranian authorities had vowed to retaliate after an Israeli strike on Wednesday damaged its South Pars gas field, which draws on the world's biggest known gas reserve and is vital for domestic supplies.

Vietnam fuel prices soar

The cost of petrol rose more than 20 percent in Vietnam after the government announced an overnight hike amid fears of oil and gas shortages caused by the war.
Southeast Asian countries have borne the brunt of surging diesel prices following strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states.
The increase has seen the price of regular petrol and diesel rise more than 50 and 70 percent respectively since the conflict began.

Spain chops fuel taxes, freezes rents

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a five billion euro ($5.8 billion) package aimed at offsetting the economic impact of the Middle East conflict, including a "drastic reduction" in energy taxes.
The package's 80 measures include cuts to the value-added tax on gas and fuel, which could lower prices at the pump by up to 30 cents per litre.
Sanchez also said the government would cap the maximum price of butane and propane, and slash electricity taxes by 60 percent.
burs-aha/js/jgc/ceg/ami

politics

After Cuba beckons, Miami entrepreneurs are mostly reluctant to invest in the island

BY GERARD MARTINEZ

  • This opening by Havana, a serious breach in the island's anti-capitalist system, comes as the Cuban economy teeters on the brink of collapse.
  • Havana announced this week that it would allow Cuban emigrants to invest to address the communist island's severe economic and energy crises.
  • This opening by Havana, a serious breach in the island's anti-capitalist system, comes as the Cuban economy teeters on the brink of collapse.
Havana announced this week that it would allow Cuban emigrants to invest to address the communist island's severe economic and energy crises. But in Miami, the epicenter of the diaspora, entrepreneurs are generally reluctant.
"I don't think a single businessman, not a single Cuban in exile, will invest in this island where there is no legal security," said Ivan Herrera, director of the Univista insurance company, calling the initiative "a huge scam."
The entrepreneur, whose grandfather was a political prisoner for 12 years before fleeing to Miami, refuses to invest under what he calls the "criminal" government.
This opening by Havana, a serious breach in the island's anti-capitalist system, comes as the Cuban economy teeters on the brink of collapse. The shortage of essential goods is worsening daily, and power outages have multiplied since President Donald Trump's administration cut off Venezuelan oil supplies.
Carlos Saladrigas, president of the human resources company Regis HR Group and the think tank Cuba Study Group, viewed the move as a step in the right direction, but said that Cuban authorities needed to resolve many unanswered questions to attract investment.
"Reintegrating the diaspora into the country's economic life is essential for Cuba's future," he said.
"But behind their words lies an entire legal framework that needs to be reformed," Saladrigas said.
"The government has to say: 'We are going to discard traditional socialism and a centrally planned economy and adopt market-based measures.'"

 ‘Extremely risky’

Hugo Cancio, owner of the digital media outlet OnCuba and Katapulk, an online supermarket that allows the purchase and delivery of products in Cuba, was more enthusiastic.
"Of course I would invest in Cuba, and I would do so with great pleasure," he said. "Do you know why? Because it's not just an investment; I would be helping to rebuild my country."
But Pedro Freyre, a Cuban-American lawyer specializing in the island's regulatory framework, considers Cuba an "extremely risky" investment destination.
He justified this view by citing a dysfunctional banking system, a highly unstable currency, the absence of the rule of law guaranteeing private property, the failure of the centrally planned economy, and "completely dilapidated" infrastructure.
"It’s very difficult to say to yourself, 'I'm going to take the money I've saved my whole life to open a McDonald's on the Malecon (Havana's famous seaside promenade) when I don’t know if there's electricity, water, or if the Malecon is going to collapse into the sea,'" he said.
Adding to these obstacles is the fact that, under the American embargo imposed since the 1960s, Washington must allow its residents to conduct business on the island.
Herrera hoped to be able to invest "when there is a free Cuba," to support his compatriots who lack housing, infrastructure, sanitation, and electricity.
"Here in Miami, people and very large companies built the city while we arrived with nothing," he said. "In the same way, we can build and rebuild Cuba."
gma/mjf/sms

Global Edition

Stocks drop, oil jumps as Mideast war persists

  • Early Friday, drone attacks caused fire at Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery.
  • Stocks tumbled while oil prices pushed higher Friday at the end of a turbulent week in which attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure rattled global markets and sparked fears of a global economic slowdown.
  • Early Friday, drone attacks caused fire at Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery.
Stocks tumbled while oil prices pushed higher Friday at the end of a turbulent week in which attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure rattled global markets and sparked fears of a global economic slowdown.
Crude prices jumped further on Friday,  with the international benchmark, Brent crude, rising 3.3 percent on Friday to nearly $112.19 per barrel. The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, rose 2.3 percent to over $98 per barrel.
Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones, said this week's assaults on energy infrastructure deepened the market's concerns.
"What really matters more is not how high prices are now, but how long prices may stay high, and I think it's that uncertainty that is triggering the volatility," he said.
Coming into this week, investors were anxious over the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas flow.
Early Friday, drone attacks caused fire at Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery.
Energy analysts and consumers are also scrambling to count the cost of Iranian missiles hitting Qatar's huge Ras Laffan natural gas complex on Thursday. 
The attack caused "extensive damage" that Qatar's state energy company said could cost $20 billion a year in lost revenue and take five years to repair.
"Heading into a weekend, investors are unsurprisingly a bit nervous about what may happen, of course nobody knows how it's going to play out," said Kourkafas, who pointed to the rise in government bond yields as a sign markets are more worried about inflation.
All three major US indices finished lower Friday, with the broad-based S&P 500 losing 1.5 percent.
US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday expressed concern about inflation in light of the war.
Waller, who has since last year backed interest rate cuts over labor market concerns, said he changed his mind in the last two weeks on the pace of easing due to inflation risks.
"Since that time the Strait of Hormuz was closed, this is looking like it's going to be a much more protracted conflict, and oil prices are going to stay high for a longer time," he told US broadcaster CNBC on Friday.
"So that suggested inflation was more of a concern than I was putting it."
Earlier, European markets ended the day lower, with London's FTSE 100 sliding below the 10,000 level for the first time since early January as bond concerns mounted.
On Thursday, US markets had been buoyed by comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the war could end sooner than expected.
But Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei remained defiant on Friday, saying that Iranians had dealt a "dizzying blow" to the country's enemies.
Also Friday, US President Donald Trump ruled out reaching a ceasefire agreement with Iran, saying Washington has the upper hand in the three-week-old war.
"I don't want to do a ceasefire. You know you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side," Trump told journalists at the White House.

Key figures at around 2015 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.3 percent at $112.19 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.3 percent at $98.32 per barrel
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.0 percent at 45,577.47 (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.5 percent at 6,506.48 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 21,647.61 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.4 percent at 9,918.33 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.8 percent at 7,665.62 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 2.0 percent at 22,380.19 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 25,277.32 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,957.05 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1550 from $1.1589 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3323 from $1.3257
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 159.30 yen from 159.86 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.68 pence from 86.38 pence
burs-jmb/sms

US

Souped-up VPNs play 'cat and mouse' game with Iran censors

BY TOM BARFIELD

  • Iran uses all of those, and it is generally much more aggressive than other countries in targeting the entire IP ranges of service providers that VPNs typically use.
  • Iranians are managing to get online during the current war with the US and Israel despite drastic censorship and frequent blackouts, throwing the spotlight on to providers of tools such as VPNs (virtual private networks).
  • Iran uses all of those, and it is generally much more aggressive than other countries in targeting the entire IP ranges of service providers that VPNs typically use.
Iranians are managing to get online during the current war with the US and Israel despite drastic censorship and frequent blackouts, throwing the spotlight on to providers of tools such as VPNs (virtual private networks).
AFP asked Adam Fisk, head of US-based nonprofit Lantern, which offers an advanced VPN, how his technology and similar apps can get around such heavy-handed blocking.
Question: How does Iran's internet blocking work?
Answer: In general, censoring countries block traffic using DNS (Domain Name System, which translates between human- and machine-readable names for websites and other resources), SNI (server name identification), IP-based blocking (of specific internet addresses) and other forms of Deep Packet Inspection (probing the content of data sent over the internet).
Iran uses all of those, and it is generally much more aggressive than other countries in targeting the entire IP ranges of service providers that VPNs typically use.
Iran is also uniquely aggressive in shutting down all international connectivity in times of crisis. In those cases, traffic is primarily limited to the domestic internet, or NIN (National Information Network).
Q: How do tools like Lantern get around the blocking?
A: Lantern and Psiphon (a similar tool made by a Canadian company) share the same general approaches but use different protocols and codebases.
A powerful approach is hiding in common forms of traffic, such as TLS (Transport Layer Security, used to protect applications like web browsing, email, instant messaging and voice calls) or DNS.
The additional traffic from Lantern or other tools becomes a subset of a much larger whole. If done carefully, it can be hard to distinguish from ordinary web traffic.
There is definitely a cat-and-mouse element to the relationship. Lantern and other tools are constantly discovering new approaches or vulnerabilities, while censors such as Iran discover new ways to shut them down.
Q: How do people inside countries like Iran get software to circumvent blocking?
A: When there is international internet connectivity, people get Lantern from sites that censors are unwilling to block due to the economic consequences such as (software development platform) GitHub.
During internet shutdowns, however, people rely on their existing copies of Lantern and other tools, or they can get new updates through services like (satellite broadcast system) Toosheh or other users who have Starlink, for example.
Iran is generally a very tech-savvy country, and many people constantly have multiple circumvention apps on their phones.
Q: Could Iran's hackers glean data about users from your systems?
A: We don't store any personally identifiable information about users at all, and Lantern undergoes regular security audits. 
We are also generally strong security engineers and take care to secure our backend infrastructure in a variety of ways.
Q: Where do Lantern's resources come from and can ordinary people help out?
A: Lantern is a US-based nonprofit that earns revenue from Lantern Pro users worldwide who pay for a better version. Historically, we have received funding from the Open Technology Fund (a US government-funded NGO that campaigns for internet freedom), the US State Department and private philanthropists.
We also have Unbounded, where anyone can become a proxy (a "bridge" between people in censored countries and Lantern's network) with the click of a button.
This will use your bandwidth to some degree but won't have a significant impact on the performance of your machine. People can run it for however long they want.
Q: Where else is Lantern widely used and is demand growing?
A: In general, we have seen censorship growing around the world for many years, with Lantern usage growing accordingly to around two million globally.
We have a significant number of users in Russia, Myanmar and the UAE.
From Iran at the moment, there's very little traffic getting through, very little traffic in general apart from what's on the NIN.
tgb/jxb

US

What cargo ships are passing Hormuz strait?

  • - Indian, Pakistani ships - "There are indications that some ships are transiting under Iranian 'approval', with some vessels following a route through the Strait closer to the Iranian coastline than normal," including Indian and Pakistani vessels, marine consultancy Clarksons said in a note.
  • Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers -- most of them Iranian -- have made it through the Strait of Hormuz since Iranian forces blocked the crucial trade route in the Middle East war.
  • - Indian, Pakistani ships - "There are indications that some ships are transiting under Iranian 'approval', with some vessels following a route through the Strait closer to the Iranian coastline than normal," including Indian and Pakistani vessels, marine consultancy Clarksons said in a note.
Just a trickle of cargo ships and tankers -- most of them Iranian -- have made it through the Strait of Hormuz since Iranian forces blocked the crucial trade route in the Middle East war.
Here are facts and figures about vessels that have passed through the 167-kilometre (104-mile) long strait since the war broke out with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

95% shipping drop

From March 1 to 19, commodities carriers made just 116 crossings, according to analytics firm Kpler -- a decrease of 95 percent from peacetime.
Of these, 71 crossings were by oil tankers and more than half were loaded, Kpler data showed, with most travelling east out of the strait.
Traffic "is being led mostly by bulk carriers, tankers and container ships," said Richard Meade, editor of leading shipping intelligence journal Lloyd's List, in a briefing on Thursday.
"But we have seen a bit of an uptick in gas carriers moving over the last week."

Iranian, Greek, Chinese ships

Most of the ships passing the strait are owned or flagged in Iran, said Bridget Diakun, an analyst at data company Lloyd's List Intelligence.
After that, Greek ships accounted for 18 percent of crossings and Chinese ones 10 percent in recent days, she said on Thursday.
"Although Iran is continuing to control the Strait and exit its own oil, everything else is largely still at a standstill," said Meade.

45 sanctioned ships

Overall since the war started, more than a third of the ships transiting the strait were under US, EU or UK sanctions, according to an AFP analysis of passage data.
Of the oil and gas tankers, more than half were under sanctions.
Since March 16 "anything heading westbound has been shadow fleet, gas carriers or tankers... they absolutely dominate the traffic going through," Diakun told the Lloyds briefing.

Oil to China 

Commodities analysts at JPMorgan bank said in a report released Monday that most of the oil passing through the strait was headed for Asia, principally China.
Cichen Shen, Asia Pacific editor at Lloyd's List, said there were indications online that Chinese authorities were working on "some sort of exit plan" for their big tankers stuck in the region.

1.3 mn barrels of Iran oil 

The JPMorgan analysts said overall 98 percent of the observable oil traffic through the strait was Iranian, averaging 1.3 million barrels a day "in early March".
A fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passes through the strait in peacetime.

Indian, Pakistani ships

"There are indications that some ships are transiting under Iranian 'approval', with some vessels following a route through the Strait closer to the Iranian coastline than normal," including Indian and Pakistani vessels, marine consultancy Clarksons said in a note.
Meade of Lloyds List added: "Several governments, including China, but (also) India, Pakistan, Iraq, Malaysia, they're all in direct talks with Tehran, coordinating vessel transits" with Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Lloyd's List said at least nine ships had passed through an apparently Iranian-approved "corridor" close to Larak Island near Iran's coastline for vetting by its authorities.
rlp/rl

US

Far from war, global fuel frustrations mount

  • Benchmark oil prices are hovering around $100, a surge of around 40 to 50 percent since the war against Iran began to disrupt oil supplies.
  • Far from the Middle East war, fallout from oil disruptions is reverberating across the world, unsettling lives from Lagos to Manila as people adjust to fuel price hikes and gas shortages. 
  • Benchmark oil prices are hovering around $100, a surge of around 40 to 50 percent since the war against Iran began to disrupt oil supplies.
Far from the Middle East war, fallout from oil disruptions is reverberating across the world, unsettling lives from Lagos to Manila as people adjust to fuel price hikes and gas shortages. 
Benchmark oil prices are hovering around $100, a surge of around 40 to 50 percent since the war against Iran began to disrupt oil supplies.
Weeks before war broke out, Adeola Sanni, a 36-year-old Nigerian entrepreneur making corporate uniforms in Lagos, had planned to hire an additional worker.
Now those plans are on hold as her budget is eaten up buying petrol to power up generators to run her sewing machines after fuel prices jumped about 20 percent in Africa's most populous country.
Nigeria's electricity supply is unstable at the best of times, but has worsened in recent weeks due to gas supply shortages, forcing businesses and households to spend more on private power generators.
"I am currently spending more than 33 percent more on fuel than I used to," Sanni, told AFP.
In Nigeria, petrol prices rose recently from 830 naira a litre in Lagos to 1,250 naira ($0.59 to $0.90) -- a record high in a country where the pump price was just 195 naira at the beginning of 2023 -- before easing to 1,130.
Public transport fares have jumped by as much as a third adding to the misery of passengers still reeling from a cost of living crisis caused by reforms that slashed fuel subsidies.

Plans in disarray

Indians like housewife Kriti Prasad have been found themselves desperately hunting for cooking gas as supplies dwindle. People have been queuing up across the country outside gas cylinder agencies.   
Electric induction stovetops have also been selling out in India as households rush to find alternatives. Those needs can be especially acute during religious festivals like Eid for Muslims and the approaching Hindu festival of Chhath.
"I have been trying to book a gas cylinder for days now but I have had no luck so far. This has thrown all our plans in disarray," Prasad, 43, told AFP.
"The government is saying there is no need to panic but the ground reality is different."
Small and medium-sized Indian restaurants have also been forced to alter menus as authorities prioritize household supplies of gas. With black market gas prices nearly double, some are looking to cook on wood stoves or use less energy-consuming methods.

'No one wins in war'

In the Philippines, some tricycle taxi drivers have seen fuel price hikes slash their daily earnings in half.
Romeo Cipriano has been driving a tricycle in Manila for four decades and says fuel prices are now the highest he has seen.
He recently joined hundreds of drivers lining up for cash handouts of 5,000 pesos ($84) that the government hopes will provide temporary relief.
Patiently awaiting his subsidy at the Manila community centre, Cipriano said he could only pray for a quick end to the war.
"We're not the only ones affected," he said. "No one wins in war."
Authorities have also increased fares on some local transport to offset fuel costs.

'Critical' diesel costs

French fisherman David Le Quintrec said diesel prices for vessels had seen an "enormous" increase, forcing them to sail shorter distances to save on fuel.
"Diesel has reached a price that's quite critical for us," said Le Quintrec, unloading sole and sea bass caught recently overnight at the port of Lorient. 
The fisherman, who also heads the French Union of Artisanal Fishermen (UFPA), has seen fuel prices skyrocket in just 10 days, from 60 cents a liter to nearly 90 cents. 
Not far away, fishing operations mananger Jerome Nicol, sees little hope. If diesel reaches one euro per liter, his fleet's five trawlers will remain in port because it will no longer be profitable to send them out. 
"For boats consuming more than a tonne of fuel per day, that's several hundred euros more," he said.

Iranian veggies, cigarettes

Just over the border from Iran, in the Turkmenistan capital Ashgabat, pensioner Shemshat Kurbanova is used to buying Iranian juices and fruits. But now most of the products have shot up in price.
Iran has banned all goods and agricultural exports, triggering economic pressure on Turkmenistan and the wider Central Asia region, where Tehran has had a growing economic influence.
"I used to appreciate their low prices. But now everything has doubled," Kurbanova said.
Government worker Kerim Ballyev has curbed his heavy consumption of Iranian cigarettes.
"It's too expensive for me," he said. "I won't be buying a whole pack, I'll buy them individually."

No fuel, no job

In Thailand, from the capital Bangkok to the northern Chiang Rai, drivers and riders are lining up for fuel as they face worsening shortages worsened and rising prices.
Grab food delivery rider Oracha, 48, said she was losing money because she has to switch off her app to search for fuel for an hour.
"I lose my income for that hour," she said, adding she normally makes 30 to 50 baht ($0.92 to $1.53) an hour and has to work longer to make up for lost time.
"If there's no fuel, it feels like I don't have a job at all."
burs/rl

US

Ship crews ration food in Iran blockade: seafarers

BY LAETITIA COMMANAY

  • "Another worry is also about the food supplies, the water supplies and everything else that needs to be supplied to the crew."
  • Seafarers stuck in the Gulf say they are rationing food and water and anxiously hoping supplies will get through Iran's blockade in the war that has stranded them for three weeks.
  • "Another worry is also about the food supplies, the water supplies and everything else that needs to be supplied to the crew."
Seafarers stuck in the Gulf say they are rationing food and water and anxiously hoping supplies will get through Iran's blockade in the war that has stranded them for three weeks.
"We don't have enough water on board right now. We got food a few days back," said one Indian seaman stuck in a small refuelling boat off Iraq, within sight of the Iranian shore.
"Till yesterday we had proper drinking water and fresh water for baths and stuff. But now since drinking water is over, we have contacted the owner for the drinking water and I hope they get it by today or tomorrow," he added.
"Till then, we are boiling the water for drinking," said the young sailor, who asked to be identified only by his last name, Pereira.

Food rationing

One ship's captain said his vessel was stuck at anchor off Qatar near the major Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas plant, which was hit by an Iranian attack on Thursday.
"If the port shuts down completely, then there is no possibility of getting the crew out. So that's one worry," said the captain, who asked not to be named so his vessel could not be identified.
"Another worry is also about the food supplies, the water supplies and everything else that needs to be supplied to the crew."
He spoke to AFP while on shore in rotation as another master commanded his vessel -- but he was in regular contact with the crew.
He said 25 crew members had left the ship, leaving 95 on board.
"That would require a provision top-up every 10-15 days," he said.
"Last week, we managed to load up with provisions and water, but will it be possible in one week from now?"
He said the team was reducing shifts and meals in case supplies get cut off.
"We are starting with food and water rationing on board, just so we can stretch out the number of days we go with available resources in case food, water and fuel are unavailable."

Evacuation route urged

Jacqueline Smith, maritime coordinator at the International Transport Workers' Federation, said numerous seafarers had been raising the alarm over supplies in recent days.
"We have been receiving text messages from seafarers saying we're running low on provisions, we're running low on fuel, we're running low on water, we're running low on food," she told AFP.
"This wasn't the case in the beginning, and that is going to just be increasing if there's no end in sight to the conflict."
She said the ITF called on countries where the ships are flagged, such as Panama and Liberia, to issue guidance to shipowners and seafarers to organise their repatriation.
"I hope ... that governments will start coordinating their approach to it when it comes to the welfare of the seafarers," she said.
"Employers did say that they have not had any issues ordering provisions, so the seafarers that have contacted us must be on vessels with unserious employers."
The UN's maritime body (IMO) called on Thursday for the creation of a safe shipping "corridor" in the Gulf to evacuate stranded vessels and seafarers.

'Panic' at attacks

Around 20,000 seafarers remained stranded on some 3,200 vessels west of the Strait of Hormuz, according to the IMO.
It says at least eight seafarers or dock workers have died in incidents in the region since the conflict began on February 28.
"Since the attacks started, there's a lot of panic. And even our families have been panicking," said Pereira.
Five of his eight fellow crew members were Iraqis who departed for home, leaving him and the other sailors on board.
He entered Iraqi waters in November on a vessel refuelling oil tankers -- his first trip as a seafarer.
He has been trying to get evacuated by Indian diplomats "since the war started" on February 28.
"We just want to leave and go home. I won't be coming to sea again after what I've seen now. This first trip has been really horrible."
lmc-rlp/jkb/cw

automobile

German auto exports to China plunged a third in 2025: study

  • German auto sector exports were down around four percent overall last year, the study showed.
  • German auto industry exports to China plunged by a third last year as the country's manufacturers face fierce local competition, a study showed Friday, underscoring the sector's deepening crisis.
  • German auto sector exports were down around four percent overall last year, the study showed.
German auto industry exports to China plunged by a third last year as the country's manufacturers face fierce local competition, a study showed Friday, underscoring the sector's deepening crisis.
As well as problems in key market China, German carmakers such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes are battling weak demand in Europe and a troubled transition to electric vehicles.
According to the study by consultancy EY, exports to China dropped by 33 percent in 2025 to a value of 13.6 billion euros ($15.7 billion) compared to the previous year.
This meant China fell from second spot down to sixth in the ranking of the German auto industry's biggest export markets, it showed.
The United States remained the top market, with exports worth 28.5 billion euros -- but the figure was down 18 percent from 2024 amid President Donald Trump's tariff blitz. 
The fall in exports to both China and the United States "is causing massive overcapacity across the entire German automotive industry," said EY auto industry expert Constantin M. Gall. 
"The automotive sector is under more pressure than ever before."
German auto sector exports were down around four percent overall last year, the study showed.
Long a reliable market for German cars, China has become much more challenging due to the emergence of homegrown rivals, particularly for sales of EVs, such as BYD. 
Demand has also been weaker in China due to a prolonged slowdown in the world's number two economy.
China's new generation of carmakers are also increasingly making inroads into Europe. 
In 2025, the value of cars and auto parts imported from China into the European Union exceeded the value of auto sector exports from the EU to China, according to the EU study. 
This is despite the EU's decision to slap hefty tariffs on imports of Chinese-made EVs in a bid to protect its domestic manufacturers.
The study also showed that the German auto industry as a whole shed nearly 50,000 jobs last year, with the total number of workers reaching its lowest level in 14 years.
Bankruptcies filings in the sector also hit a 14-year high.
sr/fz/cw

copyright

Mistral chief calls for European AI levy to pay creatives

  • Operators of AI models in Europe should pay "a revenue-based levy... reflecting their use of content publicly available online," Mensch wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times (FT) shared with AFP. "Proceeds would flow into a central European fund dedicated to investing in new content creation, and supporting Europe's cultural sectors," he added.
  • Companies selling artificial intelligence models in Europe should pay a "levy" to support cultural industries, the head of French developer Mistral said Friday.
  • Operators of AI models in Europe should pay "a revenue-based levy... reflecting their use of content publicly available online," Mensch wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times (FT) shared with AFP. "Proceeds would flow into a central European fund dedicated to investing in new content creation, and supporting Europe's cultural sectors," he added.
Companies selling artificial intelligence models in Europe should pay a "levy" to support cultural industries, the head of French developer Mistral said Friday.
AI models are trained on vast swathes of human-generated data including text, audio and video, which has prompted complaints and legal challenges to their developers from both creators and copyright-owning companies in America and Europe.
Operators of AI models in Europe should pay "a revenue-based levy... reflecting their use of content publicly available online," Mensch wrote in an op-ed for the Financial Times (FT) shared with AFP.
"Proceeds would flow into a central European fund dedicated to investing in new content creation, and supporting Europe's cultural sectors," he added.
Mistral's external affairs chief Audrey Herblin-Stoop told AFP that the company was suggesting a levy of between 1.0 and 1.5 percent of revenues.
With most major AI developers based in the US, Mensch insisted that "this levy would apply equally to providers based abroad, creating a level playing field within the European market and ensuring that foreign AI companies also contribute when they operate here".
Brussels' AI regulation, adopted in 2024, requires systems to respect the EU's copyright rules.
But the question of how to apply the law to generative AI systems remains undecided.
In exchange for paying the levy, AI developers "would gain what they urgently need: legal certainty," Mensch wrote.
"The mechanism would shield AI providers from liability for training on materials accessible on the web," he added -- without replacing direct agreements between data owners and AI firms.
Valued at 11.7 billion euros ($13.5 billion), Mistral has staked a place as Europe's challenger to the AI behemoths that have emerged in the US with valuations in the hundreds of billions.
Those dominant players enjoy "extremely permissive regulatory contexts on copyright," Herblin-Stoop said.
American AI giant Anthropic nevertheless agreed in September to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit by authors.
Mistral was itself accused last month of using copyrighted works including "Harry Potter" and "The Little Prince" to train its AI model, in an investigation by French media Mediapart.
The company told AFP at the time that it "respects the opt-out mechanisms and deploys safeguards" against including copyrighted material.
Nevertheless, some of the works involved are "especially popular and duplicated many times online", making it difficult to exclude them completely from training data.
kf/tgb/rl

Global Edition

Stocks dip, oil calmer as Mideast war persists

  • "Some calm has descended on markets after a brutal week, but fears remain elevated about how economies will respond to an inflation shock sparked by rampant energy prices," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. 
  • Stocks dipped and oil prices steadied Friday, at the end of a turbulent week in which attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure rattled global markets and sparked fears of an energy shock.
  • "Some calm has descended on markets after a brutal week, but fears remain elevated about how economies will respond to an inflation shock sparked by rampant energy prices," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. 
Stocks dipped and oil prices steadied Friday, at the end of a turbulent week in which attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure rattled global markets and sparked fears of an energy shock.
US President Donald Trump said Israeli forces would not target any more of Tehran's energy infrastructure, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated the end of the fighting could be close.
"Some calm has descended on markets after a brutal week, but fears remain elevated about how economies will respond to an inflation shock sparked by rampant energy prices," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. 
European stock markets dipped around midday Friday, after heavy losses Thursday. 
Wall Street ended lower Thursday despite a late rally, while Asian stock markets ended the week lower.
The dollar firmed against main rivals on Friday.
Disruption to energy supplies persisted as Kuwait reported a fire at its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, a day after a direct hit on Qatar's vital Ras Laffan facility.
Brent crude had soared to as high as $119 a barrel on Thursday after Tehran struck a number of energy sites around the Gulf in retaliation for Israel's attack on its South Pars field. 
As the conflict drags on, equities remain sensitive to fears over global energy markets, with oil still holding around $100 a barrel amid the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The European Central Bank on Thursday warned that the energy shock caused by the war would sharply push up inflation and hit eurozone growth. 
Amid concerns over economic impacts of the war, the ECB, Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve all held interest rates steady this week, as did the Bank of Japan.
After the BoE flagged inflation risks, UK 10-year bond yields surged to the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis. 
Russia's central bank on Friday cut its key interest rate to 15 percent from 15.5 percent as the country's economy slows under pressure from Moscow's protracted and expensive war in Ukraine and Western sanctions.
At the same time, Russia's economic fortunes have been buoyed by surging oil prices triggered by the war in the Middle East.
Disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) flows, remains a key driver of energy prices.

Key figures at around 1115 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $109.20 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $95.38 per barrel
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 10,055.35 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,801.39
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.3 percent at 22,771.33
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 25,277.32 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,957.05 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 46,021.43 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1567 from $1.1583 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3389 from $1.3425
Dollar/yen: UP at 158.54 yen from 157.65 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.39 pence from 86.23 pence
dan-ajb/bcp/cw

US

Mideast war exposing Europe's reliance on Gulf flights, airlines warn

  • Since breaking out on February 28, the US-Israeli war on Iran has severely disrupted air traffic above the Gulf countries, which have carved out a niche as a stopover for long-haul flights between the United States, Europe, Asia and Oceania. 
  • The war in the Middle East has exposed Europe's reliance on Gulf companies for flights to Asia, Europe's airlines said on Thursday. 
  • Since breaking out on February 28, the US-Israeli war on Iran has severely disrupted air traffic above the Gulf countries, which have carved out a niche as a stopover for long-haul flights between the United States, Europe, Asia and Oceania. 
The war in the Middle East has exposed Europe's reliance on Gulf companies for flights to Asia, Europe's airlines said on Thursday. 
Since breaking out on February 28, the US-Israeli war on Iran has severely disrupted air traffic above the Gulf countries, which have carved out a niche as a stopover for long-haul flights between the United States, Europe, Asia and Oceania. 
In the wake of Tehran's retaliatory strikes across the region, tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled, affecting millions of passengers.
Many European travellers have found themselves stranded in Asia, unable to pass through the key hubs of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. Those three airports are the respective headquarters of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, all of which have become big-hitters in the long-distance flights market. 
"With 600 aeroplanes on the ground and 100 of them that normally were going in and out of Europe, it is a bit of a wake-up call to show how dependent the European continent is on Gulf carriers," the CEO of Air France-KLM, Benjamin Smith, told a press conference of the Airlines for Europe (A4E) association on Thursday in Brussels.

Open skies closing

Since the start of the conflict, the Franco-Dutch group, its German competitor Lufthansa and Asian airlines serving long-distance routes have all announced an increase in direct Europe-Asia flights.
"This is an example of what we would like to be doing, to be able to do this year-round, irrespective of the crisis that is going on," Smith added.
Several European airline companies, including Air-France-KLM and Lufthansa, had been loudly critical of the European Union's open skies deal with Qatar, in force since 2021. 
However A4E, which besides the French and German giants counts British Airways-parent IAG, Ryanair and easyJet among its members, took no position on the deal itself. 
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr pointed to the example of Europe now being "cut off" from the Philippines as the continent's airlines had passed off the route to the now-grounded Gulf airlines. 
"We used to fly to Manila. Our friends used to fly to Manila," Spohr said, referring to Lufthansa's European rivals. 
"So I think people are realising we are losing sovereignty (by) depending on others."
tq/sbk/yad

Kpop

New BTS album drops ahead of comeback mega-gig

BY CLAIRE LEE

  • On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
  • K-pop megastars BTS released a new album Friday, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in Seoul that will go ahead despite leader RM being advised to rest his injured ankle.
  • On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
K-pop megastars BTS released a new album Friday, as buzz built ahead of their open-air comeback concert in Seoul that will go ahead despite leader RM being advised to rest his injured ankle.
The Saturday gig, expected to draw around 260,000 people, will be BTS's first after a hiatus of almost four years while all seven members served compulsory military service. It comes ahead of an 82-date world tour.
On Friday BTS's management said that medical staff recommended RM, 31, wear a cast and "minimize all physical movement" for at least two weeks after hurting his ankle the day before in rehearsals.
But "the artist himself expressed a strong desire to deliver a performance of the highest quality", Big Hit Music said.
"Consequently, we wish to inform you that RM's participation in certain performance elements, such as choreography on stage, will be restricted," a statement added.
Earlier, BTS released their fifth studio album, billed as reflecting the maturing boy band's Korean roots and identity.
Streaming giant Spotify said that fans pre-saved the album more than five million times, a record for a K-pop act.
The 14-track "ARIRANG" takes its name from a folk song about longing and separation that is often dubbed South Korea's unofficial national anthem.
"We gave deep thought to our identity -- and how best to express ourselves authentically -- across the entirety of our music and performances," said BTS member Jimin, 30.
"As an extension of that process, we also revisited the significance of our background as a group comprised entirely of Korean members," he said in a statement.
Ces-Marie Hilo, 40, a fan from the United States, said she listened to the album while waiting to purchase BTS merchandise.
"We are still listening to the album and it's amazing so far," Hilo told AFP. "I can hear titbits from their roots but the majority are new sounds from them and a mix of different genres."

'Really, really cool'

Excitement, meanwhile, grew in Seoul, with hotels long since booked out and thousands flying in from overseas, ramming home the immense popularity of a multi-award-winning act singing mostly in Korean.
BTS are the music vanguard of a Korean cultural wave, which includes Oscar-winning films like "Parasite" and "KPop Demon Hunters", hit dramas like "Squid Game", Nobel-winning author Han Kang, food and cosmetics.
Streets were festooned with purple-and-blue "Welcome BTS & ARMY" signs, referring to the group's fandom. BTS hoodies, wallets and figurines were on sale at new pop-up stores and convenience shops.
Mara Cristia Yao and Rodessa Ericka Bonon, fans from the Philippines, could not secure their tickets for the Saturday concert.
"We are just going to come to this area anyway. We are figuring out where to position ourselves tomorrow," Yao told AFP, taking pictures with each other near where the stage was being set up. 
"I am watching people from all around the world. That is like, really, really cool. Because we are gathered together for BTS. To support them, to support their comeback, to listen to their new music as well," said Araceli Cahua, 27, from Peru.

'Love letter'

After visiting the White House, releasing hugely successful English-language albums and performing at famous venues around the world, the group has chosen a historic stage at home for the landmark comeback concert.
This will be Seoul's sweeping Gwanghwamun Square, near the landmark Gyeongbokgung Palace, an area that has witnessed centuries of history, including major political protests in 2025.
As well as those present in Seoul -- amidst a gigantic security operation -- Netflix will livestream the show around the world.
"This is the biggest live musical performance Netflix has ever staged globally," Netflix executive Brandon Riegg said in Seoul on Friday. 
This new album "feels like a love letter to their home country", Jeff Benjamin, Billboard's K-pop columnist, told AFP.
"I do think they'll be remembered the way we remember the Beatles or Michael Jackson — not just as chart-topping acts but as artists whom the industry calculates time in terms of 'before' and 'after'".
cdl/stu/cms

politics

Trump's Mideast muddle could play into Xi's hands at planned summit

BY PETER CATTERALL

  • On the streets of Beijing this week, locals were circumspect about a visit from the US president.
  • China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Donald Trump when the US president finally visits Beijing after becoming entangled in his Middle East war, analysts say.
  • On the streets of Beijing this week, locals were circumspect about a visit from the US president.
China will be in a stronger position to extract concessions from Donald Trump when the US president finally visits Beijing after becoming entangled in his Middle East war, analysts say.
Trump had been due in the Chinese capital at the end of this month for talks with President Xi Jinping, but has delayed his trip by several weeks to deal with the fallout from the war.
His decision last month to join Israel in strikes on Iran has plunged the Middle East into violence, pushed energy prices to years-long highs and seeded fears of global supply shortages due to Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
With Trump struggling to define how the intervention will end and traditional allies reluctant to back him, the US leader may come to China needing a diplomatic win.
"A show of US force that was meant to intimidate Beijing has instead served to puncture the illusion of US omnipotence," said Ali Wyne, a senior adviser focusing on US-China ties at the International Crisis Group think tank.
"Unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz alone, Washington now needs its principal strategic competitor to help it manage a crisis of its own making," Wyne said.
Trump said on Tuesday he expects to travel to China in "five or six weeks".
The prospective summit would aim to formalise a truce on tariffs that Trump and Xi shook hands on at a meeting in South Korea in October.
But Trump's weakened position could help Beijing argue for deeper tariff cuts and limit Washington's ability to push for change on other trade issues like access to critical minerals.

New leverage

Top Chinese and American trade officials held what they called "constructive" talks in Paris last weekend that were seen as setting the stage for a Xi-Trump summit.
Any chances of major breakthroughs on trade "seem limited", according to Dan Wang, a director on Eurasia Group's China team, with bilateral trust low after years of disputes over trade, technology and rights.
New US trade investigations into excess industrial capacity in 60 economies including China have also drawn Beijing's ire.
The Chinese leader will benefit from more strategic leverage over Trump as the war drags on -- at least in the near term, analysts told AFP.
Beijing has so far ignored Trump's call for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil and gas shipments.
Nor has it relaxed its tight control on exports of rare earths, an industry that China dominates and provides certain critical minerals needed in US weaponry.
US military demand for certain "heavy" rare earths far exceed commercial needs, Jason Bedford, visiting senior research scholar at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute, told AFP.
They are used for equipment including drones, jet fighters, missile guidance systems and radar, said Bedford.
While the size of US military stockpiles is a "closely guarded secret", he said, "in theory, (China) could certainly disable new weapons production".
The absence of announcements on Hormuz or rare earths suggests "no concrete results were made during the trade talks" in Paris, said Wang of Eurasia Group.
Xi and Trump "have other chances to meet this year", but "the prospects of getting breakthroughs beyond lower tariffs seem limited", she told AFP.

'Not reliable'

China could also calibrate its actions to make Trump's domestic position shakier at a time when a majority of Americans already oppose military action in the Middle East.
Trump and his negotiators "want China to buy US agricultural products, which is important to the midterm elections for the Republicans", said Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University.
"If you cannot stabilise relations with China, you have to face some big challenges," Wu said.
Any Xi-Trump summit is unlikely to succeed in changing either side's broader geostrategic aims.
On Thursday, the Trump administration announced that it is considering easing certain sanctions targeting Iranian oil to curb rising prices -- a move experts say could benefit China.
China is believed to be the main buyer of sanctioned Iranian oil, making it Tehran's "main economic lifeline", Henry Tugendhat, a China expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said at a forum on Wednesday.
Beijing also has "no incentive" to stop selling weapons to Iran as long as the United States continues to provide arms to self-ruled Taiwan, Tugendhat said.
On the streets of Beijing this week, locals were circumspect about a visit from the US president.
"Trump's personality is that he changes every day," a 50-year-old IT worker surnamed Huang told AFP.
"Even if he comes, he may have reached agreements with you, but he will change his mind," he said.
"He is not reliable."
Still, Trump's willingness to come to Beijing is a positive sign for 32-year-old finance worker Yang, who said: "I think the United States still hopes to maintain a positive and friendly attitude towards China."
pfc-dhw/mjw/lga

diplomacy

Weakened WTO set for high-level meet under cloud of Mideast war

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • The stakes at the March 26-29 meeting in the Cameroonian capital will be particularly high, coming against the backdrop of the war raging in the Middle East and the WTO's forecasts of dramatically slowing global trade growth.
  • A weakened World Trade Organization will gather ministers in Yaounde next week as it seeks a road to reform, amid surging global trade tensions, US tariffs and disruptions caused by the Middle East war.
  • The stakes at the March 26-29 meeting in the Cameroonian capital will be particularly high, coming against the backdrop of the war raging in the Middle East and the WTO's forecasts of dramatically slowing global trade growth.
A weakened World Trade Organization will gather ministers in Yaounde next week as it seeks a road to reform, amid surging global trade tensions, US tariffs and disruptions caused by the Middle East war.
The WTO ministerial conference, its supreme decision-making body, is usually held every other year.
The stakes at the March 26-29 meeting in the Cameroonian capital will be particularly high, coming against the backdrop of the war raging in the Middle East and the WTO's forecasts of dramatically slowing global trade growth.
The difficult geopolitical situation should provide a "wakeup call", showing "we need to maintain the system... to improve the system", Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Thursday.
"We really need to be that island of stability."
Two years after the WTO's last ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi failed to make meaningful progress on key issues like fisheries and agriculture, the organisation's 166 members will be facing even stauncher challenges in Yaounde.
Their main task will be to develop a plan towards reforming a WTO that has proven to be powerless in the face of rising protectionism and largely incapable of negotiating new agreements.
"The situation is likely to be more tense than at previous ministerial conferences," warned Petros Mavroidis, a Columbia Law School professor focused on WTO law.
Success in Yaounde would be surprising, he said, adding that the conference would be more about "limiting the damage".
The WTO, which regulates large swathes of global trade, has been facing increasing pressure to overhaul rules considered by many as outdated and unable to keep pace with a rapidly changing world. 

'Existential juncture'

"I don't think the status quo is an option," Okonjo-Iweala recently said, insisting the Yaounde meeting should mark "a turning point".
The European Union also warned in a recent submission that the organisation was "at a critical and, in fact, an existential juncture", while Britain cautioned that "without reform, it will slide into irrelevance".
Swiss ambassador to the WTO Erwin Bollinger agreed, warning that a loss of relevance by the WTO could "lead to more fragmentation of the trading system". 
Yaounde will mark the WTO's first ministerial conference since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, unleashing a barrage of attacks on multilateralism and WTO rules with sweeping tariffs and bilateral trade deals.
"The Americans have effectively withdrawn from the WTO," Pascal Lamy, who headed the organisation from 2005 to 2013, told AFP.
"They are not respecting any of the rules they agreed to." 

Washington has 'serious concerns'

Washington has not held back in its criticism of the WTO.
"The United States has serious concerns with the trading system embodied by the WTO, given that the system has overseen and contributed to a world of severe and sustained imbalances," Washington said in a submission to the organisation.
US ambassador to the WTO Joseph Barloon said last week that his country rejects the current WTO reform proposal.
Washington is particularly critical of the WTO's "most-favoured nation" (MFN) principle, which aims to extend any trade advantage granted to one trading partner to all others, in a bid to avoid discrimination.
The United States told the WTO last December that it considers the principle "unsuitable for this era".
The EU has also said it would be appropriate to reflect "on the role of the MFN principle in today's context".
But China, like other developing countries, said it wants this rule to "remain the bedrock of the WTO".

'Tremendous pressure'

The organisation faced structural and geopolitical obstacles and calls for reform long before Trump returned to power.
It has long been handicapped by a rule requiring full consensus among members, meaning decisions are few and far between.
Its dispute settlement system has also been crippled since 2019 by the United States blocking the appointment of new judges, even as Trump's aggressive trade policy has increasingly blurred the line between trade and national security concerns.
"WTO is under tremendous pressure," a Western diplomat told AFP, asking not to be named.
"We've never seen the system being challenged as it is right now."
Hamid Mamdouh, a former high-level WTO official, agreed.
"With the Trump Administration's actions and all the uncertainties they caused to international trade, there is a much higher sense of crisis now within the international trade community and, of course, in the WTO," he told AFP.
apo/nl/cw/lga