tariff

Trump says hiking tariffs on South Korean goods to 25%

BY BEIYI SEOW WITH KANG JIN-KYU IN SEOUL

  • Under the pact, Washington would maintain levies of up to 15 percent on South Korean goods including vehicles, car parts and pharmaceuticals.
  • US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would raise tariffs on South Korean goods including autos, lumber and pharmaceuticals, accusing the country of not living up to an earlier trade pact struck with Washington.
  • Under the pact, Washington would maintain levies of up to 15 percent on South Korean goods including vehicles, car parts and pharmaceuticals.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would raise tariffs on South Korean goods including autos, lumber and pharmaceuticals, accusing the country of not living up to an earlier trade pact struck with Washington.
The increase would bring tariff levels from 15 percent to 25 percent.
"South Korea's Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He added that he was increasing tariff rates "because the Korean Legislature hasn't enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative."
South Korea's presidential office said it had not been informed about the tariff hike plans in advance.
On Tuesday, it convened an emergency meeting to hash out a response, with Trade and Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, currently in Canada, joining remotely.
"Our government intends to convey its commitment to implementing the tariff agreement to the US side, while responding in a calm and measured manner," Seoul said in a statement.
Seoul has said Trade Minister Kim will travel to Washington for talks on the issue with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Trump's apparent about-face comes months after Washington and Seoul struck a trade and security deal, capping a period of tense negotiations.
The agreement was finalized after Trump met his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung in October, and included investment promises by South Korea alongside tariff cuts by the United States.
Since then, it has remained in something of a legal limbo in South Korea.
Seoul's presidential office insisted in November that the deal does not require parliamentary approval, arguing it represents a memorandum of understanding rather than a binding legal document.
Asked whether the tariff deal had been submitted to parliament for approval, a senior official told AFP on Tuesday they were looking into it but did not elaborate.
Under the pact, Washington would maintain levies of up to 15 percent on South Korean goods including vehicles, car parts and pharmaceuticals.
Crucially, the deal's terms brought US tariffs on South Korean cars down from a 25 percent level.
Trump's latest threat, if enacted, would reverse that.

Export pain

The auto industry accounts for 27 percent of South Korea's exports to the United States, which takes in nearly half of the country's car exports.
A reversal to a higher tariff level could also put South Korean exports in a less advantageous position compared with economies like Japan and the European Union, which have both struck deals for a 15 percent US tariff.
The Trump administration has yet to issue formal notices to enact the changes.
The US president's threat targeting South Korea is his latest against key trading partners in recent days.
Over the weekend, Trump warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming across the border.
Earlier in January, Trump also threatened to slap tariffs on multiple European nations until his purchase of Greenland is achieved. He has since backed off the threat.
bys-kjk/oho/ane

Global Edition

Asian stocks track Wall St gains, Seoul brushes off tariff threat

  • Equities enjoyed healthy buying despite the US president reverting to tariff threats, warning South Korea he would impose 25 percent tolls on goods including autos for falling short of expectations on an earlier pact struck with Washington.
  • Asian markets rose Tuesday following gains on Wall Street, with tech firms leading Seoul to another record as investors brushed off Donald Trump's threat to hike tariffs on South Korean goods.
  • Equities enjoyed healthy buying despite the US president reverting to tariff threats, warning South Korea he would impose 25 percent tolls on goods including autos for falling short of expectations on an earlier pact struck with Washington.
Asian markets rose Tuesday following gains on Wall Street, with tech firms leading Seoul to another record as investors brushed off Donald Trump's threat to hike tariffs on South Korean goods.
The yen held its gains after a two-day surge stoked by intervention talk, while geopolitical and economic uncertainty saw silver hit another fresh peak and gold hover just below its own high.
Traders are also gearing up for a Federal Reserve policy meeting and earnings from tech titans, which will be pored over for an idea about sustainability of the AI investment surge.
Equities enjoyed healthy buying despite the US president reverting to tariff threats, warning South Korea he would impose 25 percent tolls on goods including autos for falling short of expectations on an earlier pact struck with Washington.
The announcement comes months after the two sides struck a trade and security deal following tense negotiations, setting levies at 15 percent.
"South Korea's Legislature is not living up to its Deal with the United States," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
He added that he was increasing tariff rates "because the Korean Legislature hasn't enacted our Historic Trade Agreement, which is their prerogative."
The presidential office in Seoul said it had not been informed in advance but added that Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan, currently in Canada, would head to Washington for talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Trump's outburst follows a warning to Canada on Saturday that it faced 100 percent levies if it signed a trade deal with China, days after backing down from a threat to hit several European countries with measures over their opposition to his grab for Greenland.
Still, Seoul's Kospi continued its run to fresh record highs, with observers pointing to the US president's history of rowing back the worst of his threats.
While carmakers slipped, tech firms ploughed higher with chipmaking giant SK hynix up more than five percent and Samsung Electronics up two percent.
There were also big gains in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta.
Tech firms are enjoying a fresh boost ahead of earnings releases as traders continue to pile into all things AI.
Magnificent Seven members Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Tesla are due this week, with other bellwethers including Texas Instruments, Boeing and Mastercard providing an idea about the state of the economy.
However, with questions being asked about the amount of cash being invested in artificial intelligence, there is a little nervousness on trading floors about when profits will be realised.
"The AI capex cycle is increasingly colliding with the real world: debt markets, power grids, and regulation," wrote Matt Weller, head of market research at City Index.
He added that "2026 capex estimates for the largest 'hyperscalers' is widely forecast to hit the $600 bn+ range, driven primarily by AI infrastructure. At the same time, major tech firms have leaned more heavily into debt issuance to fund the infrastructure race".
"This matters for earnings because the market's attention is moving from 'who spends the most' to 'who can sustain the spend without eroding free cash flow', especially if AI monetisation takes longer than expected."
Developments in Washington are also being followed after some senators warned they would vote against upcoming spending bills following the second killing of a US citizen in Minneapolis, threatening another possible government shutdown.
The dollar remained under pressure after its latest selloff sparked by talk of a joint intervention between US and Japanese authorities to support the yen.
And in corporate news, Hong Kong-listed shares in China's Zijin Gold International rose more than one percent after it agreed to buy Allied Gold, which owns gold mines in Africa, for US$4 billion. Its parent, Zijin Mining Group, soared more than six percent.
Zijin Gold's shares have tripled since listing in September. 

Key figures at around 0230 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,017.71 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.3 percent at 27,123.67
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 4,137.56
Dollar/yen: UP at 154.26 yen from 153.98 yen on Monday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1877 from $1.1883
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3677 from $1.3682
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.84 from 86.85 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $60.35 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $65.23 per barrel
dan/mjw

diplomacy

'Come more often!' Mexico leader urges K-pop stars BTS on sold-out tour

  • So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
  • Around the world, hundreds of thousands of fans of K-pop megastars BTS are nursing disappointment after failing to secure a ticket for their highly-anticipated comeback tour.
  • So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of fans of K-pop megastars BTS are nursing disappointment after failing to secure a ticket for their highly-anticipated comeback tour.
But only in one country -- Mexico -- has the dearth of tickets become a matter for the highest office in the land.
BTS will perform three dates in Mexico City in May.
The tickets, which went on sale last weekend, sold out in minutes, demonstrating the growing fervor among Mexicans for all aspects of South Korean culture, from television series to cuisine, to of course K-pop. 
The government has sought to cash in on the act.
When it was announced that BTS would perform in Mexico, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, a longtime fan, posted a video on TikTok in which he is seen greeting Jin, a member of the band.
Now, President Claudia Sheinbaum has gotten involved.
Addressing reporters on Monday, she declared that "nearly a million young people" had vied for one of the coveted 150,000 tickets to BTS's Mexican gigs.
So moved was she by the disappointment of the unlucky many, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.
Sheinbaum said she had also asked Ocesa, the promoter of the shows in Mexico, about the possibility of organizing more dates, but received a negative answer.
BTS have not toured or released music since 2022 as they underwent the national military service required of all South Korean men under age 30.
The band's label announced on New Year's Day they would release a new album in March before heading on a mega-tour the following month that will take in 34 cities.
ai/acc/cb/mlm

trade

EU, India successfully conclude major trade deal: New Delhi

  • -'Mother of all deals' - Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services.
  • The leaders of India and the European Union will announce the "mother of all deals" on Tuesday when they meet in New Delhi to formalize a huge trade pact reached after two decades of negotiations.
  • -'Mother of all deals' - Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services.
The leaders of India and the European Union will announce the "mother of all deals" on Tuesday when they meet in New Delhi to formalize a huge trade pact reached after two decades of negotiations.
EU chiefs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hope the pact, which Indian officials said was concluded on Monday, will help shield against challenges from the world’s two leading economies, the United States and China.
"Official level negotiations are being concluded and both sides are all set to announce the successful conclusion" of talks at the Tuesday summit, Indian commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal told AFP late Monday.
Feted Monday as guests of honour at India's Republic Day parade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa are set to meet Modi late Tuesday morning.
The EU has eyed India -- the world's most populous nation -- as an important market for the future, while New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs.

'Mother of all deals'

Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services.
India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said the proposed agreement will be "the mother of all deals".
"Final negotiations have been focused and fruitful, and we are now very optimistic that we will land this historic trade deal," an EU official said Monday speaking on condition of anonymity.  
Under the agreement, India is expected to ease market access for key European products, including cars and wine, in return for easier exports of textiles and pharmaceuticals, among other things.
"The EU stands to gain the highest level of access ever granted to a trade partner in the traditionally protected Indian market," von der Leyen said on Sunday, adding that she expected exports to India to double.
"We will gain a significant competitive advantage in key industrial and agri-good sectors."
Talks went down to the wire on Monday, focusing on a few sticking points, including the impact of the EU's carbon border tax on steel, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

'Clear choice'

The accord comes as both Brussels and New Delhi have sought to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls.
India and the EU were also expected to conclude an accord to facilitate movement for seasonal workers, students, researchers and highly skilled professionals, and a security and defence pact.
"India and Europe have made a clear choice. The choice of strategic partnership, dialogue and openness," von der Leyen wrote on social media. "We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible."
India, the world's most populous nation, is on track to become its fourth-largest economy this year, according to International Monetary Fund projections.
New Delhi, which has relied on Moscow for key military hardware for decades, has tried to cut its dependence on Russia in recent years by diversifying imports and pushing its own domestic manufacturing base.
Europe is doing the same with regard to the United States.
bur-ub/msp

Global Edition

Gold hits records as US policy rattles investors

  • "The relentless quest for hard assets continued amid yet more talk of tariffs and US government shutdowns," said Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo UK. Wall Street stocks enjoyed a benign session, with the S&P 500 finishing up 0.5 percent. 
  • Gold prices jumped to fresh records Monday on rising worries about geopolitics, tariff threats and another potential US government shutdown while Wall Street stocks drifted higher ahead earnings from tech giants.
  • "The relentless quest for hard assets continued amid yet more talk of tariffs and US government shutdowns," said Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo UK. Wall Street stocks enjoyed a benign session, with the S&P 500 finishing up 0.5 percent. 
Gold prices jumped to fresh records Monday on rising worries about geopolitics, tariff threats and another potential US government shutdown while Wall Street stocks drifted higher ahead earnings from tech giants.
The dollar fell, meanwhile, amid speculation of US-Japanese central bank coordination to support the yen. 
Gold climbed above $5,100 an ounce before retreating a bit as markets react to rising global uncertainty set off by US President Donald Trump's policies and statements, including threats to impose deep tariffs on China.
"It vaulted over the psychologically important 5,000 mark on a glittering streak, heading sharply higher as trade tensions emanating from the US unnerved investors," said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
By comparison, gold could be had for just over $2,000 an ounce only two years ago. Silver prices have also spiked to record territory.
Shortly after 2000 GMT, gold was at $5,037.14 an ounce.
"The relentless quest for hard assets continued amid yet more talk of tariffs and US government shutdowns," said Neil Wilson, a strategist at Saxo UK.
Wall Street stocks enjoyed a benign session, with the S&P 500 finishing up 0.5 percent. 
Shares of Apple, Microsoft and Facebook won solid gains ahead of earnings later this week, reflecting "a little bit of front running of the idea that (the tech companies) would come in with good results yet again," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
US investors largely shrugged off a growing furor in the United States over the latest killing of a civilian by Trump's crackdown in Minnesota over immigration enforcement. 
Several US senators said they would vote against coming government spending bills after federal agents killed a second American citizen in Minneapolis, significantly increasing the chances of a government shutdown next week.
The dollar was weighed down by a surge in the yen on speculation that authorities may intervene to prop up the Japanese currency, but also by limited visibility on the US economy and on inflation.
"The FX (foreign exchange) market is front and center at the start of this week and the focus is on the huge move higher in the yen," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group. 
"Reports suggest that Japanese officials were joined by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York who bought yen to support the beleaguered currency," she added.
The yen had slid amid worries about Japan's fiscal position, the central bank's decision to hold off on interest rate hikes, and expectations that the US Federal Reserve will stay put on the rates front this week.
The yen's rebound weighed on Tokyo's stock market because of its negative impact on exporters.
The US Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady this week despite Trump's pressure to slash them, which is seen as a threat to its independence, which has traditionally been one of the pillars of US assets' solidity

Key figures at around 2110 GMT

New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 49,412.40 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,950.23 (close)
New York - NASDAQ Composite: UP 0.4 percent 23,601.36 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,148.85 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,131.15 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 24,933.08 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 52,885.25 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 26,765.52 (close
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,132.61 (close)
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.98 yen from 155.70 yen on Friday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1883 from $1.1828
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3682 from $1.3643
Euro/pound: UP at 86.85 from 86.69 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $65.59 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $60.63 per barrel
burs-jmb/gv

China

Migration, China ties dominate as Trump ally prepares to lead Honduras

BY JOAN SUAZO

  • On the eve of the election, Trump in a surprise move pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, from Asfura's party, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.
  • Conservative businessman Nasry "Tito" Asfura will be sworn in Tuesday as president of Honduras, two months after being helped to election victory by US President Donald Trump.
  • On the eve of the election, Trump in a surprise move pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, from Asfura's party, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.
Conservative businessman Nasry "Tito" Asfura will be sworn in Tuesday as president of Honduras, two months after being helped to election victory by US President Donald Trump.
Asfura was declared the winner of November's election by a razor-thin margin after Trump threatened to cut aid to Central America's poorest country if his "friend" was defeated.
His win gave the Republican leader another ally in Latin America after conservatives replaced leftists in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina.
A 67-year-old construction magnate of Palestinian descent, Asfura defeated TV star Salvador Nasralla in an election marred by allegations of fraud and a three-week wait for the results.
After his win, Asfura traveled to the United States to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and also visited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Following his meeting with Rubio, the United States and Honduras announced plans to negotiate a free trade deal.
Tegucigalpa's ties with Beijing -- the outgoing left-wing government switched its support from Taiwan to China in 2023 -- were at the heart of the election.
Trump has been pressuring countries in Washington's backyard to choose between close ties with Washington or Beijing.
The US ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, an ally of China, was widely seen as a warning to other Latin American countries to pick their camp.
Asfura has said he is considering switching ties back from China to the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Fate of migrants

The fate of around two million Hondurans living in the United States, many without legal status, hangs in the balance.
Asfura has urged Trump to reinstate their Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that protected some 60,000 Hondurans from deportation.
Remittances from migrants represent a third of Honduras's GDP.
Rubio however has said Washington is looking forward to working with him to "end illegal immigration to the United States," among other issues.
Asfura has also promised to crack down on drug trafficking, entrenched in the highest spheres of power in Honduras, and go after powerful gangs such as Barrio 18 and MS-13.
"Extortion is what's holding back anyone who owns a business or works independently, and if you don't pay, they kill you," Daniel Santos, a 64-year-old taxi driver, told AFP, calling on Asfura to tackle the scourge "head on."
On the eve of the election, Trump in a surprise move pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, from Asfura's party, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence in the United States for drug trafficking.
Asfura has distanced himself from Hernandez.
str-axm/cb/mlm

summit

North Sea nations vow to boost wind power for energy independence

BY CLEMENT KASSER

  • "By building the North Seas as a power hub for Europe, we can enhance Europe's energy resilience," he said, adding that it would also provide affordable energy to consumers, support the offshore energy industry and help Europe achieve climate neutrality.
  • A group of northern European nations vowed Monday to build up climate-friendly wind power in the North Sea to achieve greater energy independence from foreign suppliers.
  • "By building the North Seas as a power hub for Europe, we can enhance Europe's energy resilience," he said, adding that it would also provide affordable energy to consumers, support the offshore energy industry and help Europe achieve climate neutrality.
A group of northern European nations vowed Monday to build up climate-friendly wind power in the North Sea to achieve greater energy independence from foreign suppliers.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted a summit in the port-city of Hamburg as Europe not only faces a hostile Russia but also worries about the future strength of transatlantic ties and US designs on Greenland.
Aiming to make Europe more resilient in an uncertain world, the group of countries pledged to boost off-shore wind power in the North Sea and turn it into the "world's largest clean energy reservoir".
They agreed to build up an additional 100 gigawatts of wind turbines -- enough to power about 100 million homes -- through an "unprecedented fleet of joint offshore wind projects". 
Germany and Denmark also agreed on a project called the Bornholm Energy Island that will see an additional 3 GW of offshore wind power be connected to both countries.
"The North Sea is a harsh environment, but it offers great opportunities," said Merz.
"By building the North Seas as a power hub for Europe, we can enhance Europe's energy resilience," he said, adding that it would also provide affordable energy to consumers, support the offshore energy industry and help Europe achieve climate neutrality.
The agreement is a "very clear signal to Russia", said EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen after it was signed by countries also including Belgium, Britain, France and Norway.
"No more will we let you blackmail member states of the European Union and no more will we help indirectly fund the war in Ukraine," he told a press conference.
Germany and other EU members have been scrambling to wean themselves off Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
They have also been on heightened alert against suspected Russian sabotage and surveillance operations which they blame for severed seafloor cables and mysterious drone flights over airports and critical infrastructure. 

'Wind is for winners'

Imported US liquified natural gas has helped replace Russian gas in Europe's energy mix, and the European wind power push comes days after US President Donald Trump -- a strong promoter of oil drilling who denies man-made climate change is real -- branded wind farms "losers".
British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that "offshore wind is for winners" and "absolutely critical for our energy security".
It provides "homegrown, clean energy that we control" and that is not under "the control of the dictators and the petro-states", he said.
Proponents of wind energy argue it is not only good for the climate but also for security, as such decentralised systems are more resilient to sabotage and attack than traditional power plants, pipelines or oil tankers.
Simon Skillings of think tank E3G said recent so-called hybrid attacks on infrastructure and the Ukraine war had shown that "a more dispersed infrastructure is more robust. You need basically multiple attacks rather than single attacks to knock out an energy supply."

Greenland tensions

The Hamburg talks came as the issue of Greenland and broader Arctic security loom large.
Trump last week backed away from his threat to use force to seize Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, and to level punitive tariffs against European NATO allies who stand in his way.
Among the leaders in Hamburg was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who visited Greenland on Friday.
"Europe has shown strength and unity these past weeks," she said. "I'm grateful, but I also have to say it's the only way forward. We have to build a much stronger Europe. 
"To get there, we need to become more self-sufficient, more competitive and more independent, and that is what today's meeting has been about."
Jorgensen -- himself from Denmark -- addressed the issue of whether the EU wants to reduce its dependence on US gas imports in future.
"We want to trade and deal with the US on as many issues as possible," he said, but he added that "we are not aiming at replacing one dependency with a new dependency". 
"We want to grow our own energy, and our strategy in the future is to become free of gas."
Frederiksen said "it was a huge mistake to be dependent on Russian fossil fuels" in the past and added: "Now we have to make sure that we will have no dependencies on other countries outside Europe, not only on energy, on everything."
burs/fz/bst/gv

layoffs

Stricken games giant Ubisoft seeks rare French job cuts

  • On top of the restructuring and a new 200-million-euro ($240 million) cost-cutting drive, Ubisoft also cancelled six games in development and said seven more upcoming titles would be delayed.
  • French video games giant Ubisoft said Monday it aims to shed up to 200 staff at its Paris headquarters, days after investors gave a frosty reception to a drastic restructuring plan.
  • On top of the restructuring and a new 200-million-euro ($240 million) cost-cutting drive, Ubisoft also cancelled six games in development and said seven more upcoming titles would be delayed.
French video games giant Ubisoft said Monday it aims to shed up to 200 staff at its Paris headquarters, days after investors gave a frosty reception to a drastic restructuring plan.
Managers told AFP they would seek voluntary departure agreements covering that number of employees, a sizeable chunk of the 1,100 in Paris and around five percent of the group's French workforce.
Although Ubisoft has slashed around 3,000 jobs in recent years, shrinking headcount to 17,000 worldwide, almost none of the cuts had fallen in its home country.
"There will be no final decision until a collective agreement has been reached with worker representatives and approved by the French authorities," Ubisoft said.
The planned job cuts announcement follows Ubisoft's commitment to reorganise many of its dozens of development studios around the world into "creative houses" focused around different game genres.
On top of the restructuring and a new 200-million-euro ($240 million) cost-cutting drive, Ubisoft also cancelled six games in development and said seven more upcoming titles would be delayed.
Fans were particularly vocal online about the scrapping of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", a remake of a historic Ubisoft hit.
The moves left the company facing an operating loss of around one billion euros in its 2025-26 financial year, bosses said.
Financial woes and multiple disappointing game releases have already prompted Ubisoft to make 300 million euros in annual savings and close studios, including in San Franciso, Stockholm, Osaka, Halifax in Canada and Leamington in the UK.
Investors sent Ubisoft's stock plunging on Thursday, the day after the strategy was revealed, in its worst intraday performance ever.
At around 4.50 euros Monday, the shares are down around 30 percent so far in 2026 and over 95 percent in five years -- trading at around 85 euros in January 2021.
kf/tgb/rl

AI

EU opens probe into Musk's Grok over sexual AI deepfakes

BY MAX DELANY

  • According to research published Thursday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit watchdog, Grok generated an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children in a matter of days.
  • The EU on Monday hit Elon Musk's X with an investigation over AI chatbot Grok's generation of sexualised deepfake images of women and minors, in the latest step of an international backlash against the tool.
  • According to research published Thursday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit watchdog, Grok generated an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children in a matter of days.
The EU on Monday hit Elon Musk's X with an investigation over AI chatbot Grok's generation of sexualised deepfake images of women and minors, in the latest step of an international backlash against the tool.
Grok faces an outcry after it emerged that users could sexualise images of women and children using simple text prompts such as "put her in a bikini" or "remove her clothes".
"In Europe, we will not tolerate unthinkable behaviour, such as digital undressing of women and children," said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
"It is simple -- we will not hand over consent and child protection to tech companies to violate and monetise. The harm caused by illegal images is very real," she said in a statement to AFP.
EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen said the probe would "determine whether X has met its legal obligations" under the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA), which is designed to police internet giants.
She said the rights of women and children in the EU should not be "collateral damage" of X's services.
Brussels said it was investigating whether X had properly mitigated "risks related to the dissemination of illegal content in the EU, such as manipulated sexually explicit images, including content that may amount to child sexual abuse material".
The EU move comes despite repeated US threats of retaliation against enforcement of tech rules President Donald Trump's administration attacks as curbing free speech and unfairly targeting US firms.

Three million images

Under fire, Grok said earlier this month it was restricting image generation and editing to paying subscribers. 
But that move did not stave off the EU's probe -- which follows investigations in multiple countries including France and the United Kingdom. 
"Let's be very clear, child sexual abuse material is not a premium privilege," said EU commission spokesman Thomas Regnier. 
According to research published Thursday by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit watchdog, Grok generated an estimated three million sexualised images of women and children in a matter of days.
As part of the new probe, the EU said it was widening an existing investigation into X aimed at tackling the spread of illegal content and information manipulation. 
That move was due to the fact that X announced last week Grok will now power its recommendation system for users and EU concerns that the company had not adequately assessed the risks.  
Contacted by AFP, X did not immediately react to the EU announcement.
Musk's social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been the target of an investigation under the EU's digital content rules since December 2023.
Brussels in December slapped a 120-million-euro ($140-million) fine on X -- the first-ever imposed under the DSA -- for violating transparency rules, triggering angry reactions from Trump's administration.
X's breaches included the deceptive design of its "blue checkmark" for supposedly verified accounts, and failure to provide access to public data for researchers.
Violators can in theory face much higher fines -- up to six percent of a provider's global turnover -- for breaching the DSA, and the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe for repeated non-compliance.
The EU has insisted it will enforce its tech rules despite pressure from Washington -- which has pressed the bloc to roll them back.
The dispute over regulation comes as the EU has grappled with the Trump administration on multiple other fronts -- from the Ukraine war to trade to Greenland.
In outlining the new X probe, commission spokesman Regnier said the EU enforces its legislation "firmly, fairly, objectively" and did not "target any company based on its origin."
In a separate move, the European Commission on Monday added WhatsApp to its list of digital firms big enough to face stricter content rules under the DSA.
The Meta-owned service joins Facebook, TikTok, X and others in a list of 26 "very large online platforms," after its "channels" feature passed 45 million monthly active users in the European Union.
The tougher obligations will apply only to its "channels", considered a broadcasting feature, rather than its core messaging service.
bur-del-ec/jh

aviation

Ryanair's quarterly net profit slides on Italy fine

  • Ryanair confirmed Monday that it had appealed the fine, calling it "baseless". 
  • Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday announced an 80 percent drop in net profit for its third quarter, impacted by a hefty fine from Italy's competition authority.
  • Ryanair confirmed Monday that it had appealed the fine, calling it "baseless". 
Irish no-frills airline Ryanair on Monday announced an 80 percent drop in net profit for its third quarter, impacted by a hefty fine from Italy's competition authority.
Profit after tax stood at 30 million euros ($36 million) in the three months to the end of December compared with 149 million euros in the period a year earlier, the Dublin-based carrier said.
The decline was driven by a provision for a fine totalling more than 255 million euros imposed by the Italian regulator, which said Ryanair abused its dominant position to block travel agencies' access to its services.
Ryanair confirmed Monday that it had appealed the fine, calling it "baseless". 
Revenue in the quarter rose nine percent to 3.2 billion euros.
Chief executive Michael O'Leary said full-year net profit could reach as much as 2.23 billion euros. 
"The final... outcome remains exposed to adverse external developments" including "conflict escalation in Ukraine and the Middle East, macro-economic shocks and any further impact of repeated European strikes (by air traffic controllers) and mismanagement", O'Leary said.
He added that he expected full-year traffic to reach almost 208 million passengers, an annual gain of four percent.
"Running an airline is all about getting as many bums as possible on seats, selling extras, and keeping costs low," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"Ryanair is good at all these things, and it has form in riding out short bursts of turbulence," he added.

Elon Musk spat

During an investor call, O'Leary brought up the recent media attention over his public spat with US billionaire Elon Musk.  
"We had a bumper week of free PR last week," he said. 
The feud between the two men, both known for their provocative outbursts, came after O'Leary ruled out using Musk's Starlink satellite internet system to equip Ryanair's fleet with wi-fi, citing cost considerations.
The Ryanair boss has also taken aim at the Irish government over a passenger cap at Dublin Airport, an environmental measure regularly criticised by the airline and by US carriers.
Ryanair confirmed to AFP on Monday that it planned to take out advertisements on the conservative US news channel Fox News, putting the issue on the agenda of the Irish prime minister's St. Patrick's Day visit to the United States.
ajb/bcp/js

trade

Truckers block Balkan borders over EU travel rules

  • - Visa restrictions - Driver Nikola Rakonjac, who was taking part in the blockade at Batrovci, said there had been a lot of talk about the issue but so far nothing had changed.
  • Hundreds of truck drivers began blockading freight border crossings across several Balkan countries on Monday, demanding changes to the European Union visa system that restricts their time in the bloc.
  • - Visa restrictions - Driver Nikola Rakonjac, who was taking part in the blockade at Batrovci, said there had been a lot of talk about the issue but so far nothing had changed.
Hundreds of truck drivers began blockading freight border crossings across several Balkan countries on Monday, demanding changes to the European Union visa system that restricts their time in the bloc.
Dozens of goods checkpoints in Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia were being targeted as part of a coordinated effort by trucking unions that could last up to a week.
"You are punishing, deporting and causing damage to the entire European economy," Nedjo Mandic from the Association of Transport Operators of Serbia said of officials enforcing EU travel rules.
He was speaking to AFP at Batrovci, a major border checkpoint with EU-member Croatia. 
By shortly after noon, a line of lorries stretched back hundreds of metres (yards) had built up on the Serbian side of the border.
Mandic said similar scenes were unfolding at almost all EU borders with the Western Balkans.
Since October, the EU has started rolling out its long-delayed Entry/Exit System (EES) at borders around the 27-nation bloc.
The scheme aims to end the use of passport stamps and digitise visitor registration.
Although the limit on staying in the EU is not new, the electronic EES system will mean more rigorous enforcement of a 90-day limit every 180 days for non-EU citizens.
That would make long-haul trucking from the Balkans "unsustainable", Mandic said.
"We have been telling you that for more than 10 years," he said.

Visa restrictions

Driver Nikola Rakonjac, who was taking part in the blockade at Batrovci, said there had been a lot of talk about the issue but so far nothing had changed.
"If we stand united, this is the only way we can resolve it," the 25-year-old said.
North Macedonia's Association of Transporters warned that although workers had already been operating around the visa restrictions, they would increasingly face arrest or be blocked at the border under tighter digital tracking.
"Professional drivers are not tourists. They are not illegal migrants, terrorists or illegal workers," the association said in a statement.
The unions said they would immediately end the blockade if the EU were willing to talk with them. If not, it could last a week.
According to EU data, the bloc is the Western Balkans' leading trade partner.
It accounts for more than 60 percent of the region's total trade, the vast majority of which is transported by road.
Trade in goods specifically between the bloc and the Western Balkans totalled over 83 billion euros ($98 billion) in 2024.
oz-bur/al/gil

politics

UK PM Starmer heading to China aiming to reset ties

BY JOE JACKSON WITH SAM DAVIES IN BEIJING

  • Starmer's trip follows finance minister Rachel Reeves's visit to Beijing last year, as the centre-left Labour government looks to improve trade relations and fulfil its primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.
  • UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer travels to China late Tuesday for the first official visit by a British premier since 2018 as he bids to boost trade ties despite frictions.
  • Starmer's trip follows finance minister Rachel Reeves's visit to Beijing last year, as the centre-left Labour government looks to improve trade relations and fulfil its primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer travels to China late Tuesday for the first official visit by a British premier since 2018 as he bids to boost trade ties despite frictions.
Starmer's visit is expected to include a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, when some of those concerns -- including Beijing's alleged rights abuses, the war in Ukraine, and alleged spying -- could be apparent.
The British leader will then travel on to Japan on Saturday for a brief stop there, Tokyo's foreign ministry confirmed.
Starmer "will depart for his travel to China and Japan on Tuesday night", his spokesman told reporters on Monday, without providing further details of the much-anticipated trip.
"You can expect a range of issues to be raised, including but not restricted to trade and investment," he noted.
The visit spotlights Starmer's ambition to reset ties with China, an economic powerhouse, as the UK economy struggles and after relations between London and Beijing sank to new lows under the previous Conservative government.
The announcement of his visit comes less than a week after the British government approved contentious plans to build a "mega-embassy" in the heart of London.
The 20,000-square-metre (235,000-square-foot) site is set to become the largest embassy complex in the UK by area, and one of the largest in the centre of a Western capital.
But it could still face legal challenges and angry residents vowed last week to act.
Starmer himself last month acknowledged that while China provided significant economic opportunities for the UK, it also posed "real national security threats".

'Rethink alliances'

There have also been protests by activists who fear the sprawling site in the historic former Royal Mint, next to the Tower of London, could be used to spy on and harass dissidents.
The UK government has said intelligence agencies have helped to develop a "range of measures" to manage any risks while Beijing has agreed to consolidate its seven current London sites into one, "bringing clear security advantages".
Bilateral relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.
Starmer is also expected to raise the case of Hong Kong media mogul and democracy supporter Jimmy Lai, 78, who is facing years in prison after being found guilty of collusion charges in December.
Starmer's trip follows finance minister Rachel Reeves's visit to Beijing last year, as the centre-left Labour government looks to improve trade relations and fulfil its primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.
The reset has faced domestic pushback, in particular from UK lawmakers who have been sanctioned by China for their criticisms of Beijing's actions in Hong Kong and over rights abuses.
Kerry Brown, who directs King's College London's Lau China Institute, told AFP that Starmer "may as well be getting something in return" for the flak he is taking.
"It is time for the UK government to really show that the reason for a pragmatic relationship with China is that it actually brings results that create jobs, help with the key priority of improving Britain's economy," he said.
Brown also noted it was an "excellent chance to try to work out the shape" of a new global geopolitics emerging due to US President Donald Trump's policies and volatile behaviour.
"Suddenly, we need to rethink the standard patterns and blocks of alliances," he noted. 
"So in this context, China might not be an ally, but it is also not an enemy. It is a place that in some ways, has common reason to be as dismayed and appalled by the behaviour of the US as UK and other powers."
jj/jkb/phz

trial

Ex-OPEC president's corruption trial sees start delayed

  • Born to a well-off family in the oil city of Port Harcourt in 1960, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in Britain and the United States before joining oil giant Shell's Nigerian subsidiary.
  • The corruption trial in London of Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Nigerian oil minister and the first woman president of OPEC, had its start delayed Monday for legal and technical reasons, lawyers said.
  • Born to a well-off family in the oil city of Port Harcourt in 1960, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in Britain and the United States before joining oil giant Shell's Nigerian subsidiary.
The corruption trial in London of Diezani Alison-Madueke, a former Nigerian oil minister and the first woman president of OPEC, had its start delayed Monday for legal and technical reasons, lawyers said.
The 65-year-old faces five counts of accepting bribes and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, related to her time as Nigeria's Minister for Petroleum Resources between 2010 and 2015 when Goodluck Jonathan was Nigeria's president.
The trial may not begin until Tuesday, with both the prosecution and defence teams needing to agree on certain evidence that may or may not be examined during the proceedings -- and to finalise the selection of jurors -- lawyers said.
Alison-Madueke is accused of accepting "financial or other advantages" from individuals linked to the Atlantic Energy and SPOG Petrochemical groups between 2011 and 2015.
These included the use of, refurbishment work on and staff costs at several London properties, furniture, chauffeur-driven cars, a private jet flight to Nigeria and £100,000 ($137,000) in cash.
Other counts allege she received bribes, including school fees for her son, products from high-end shops such as Harrods and Louis Vuitton, and further private jet flights.
Accepting these bribes constituted "improper performance" of her duties as oil minister, the indictment said.
She appeared at a London court last week for preliminary proceedings, including technical matters and jury selection, ahead of the trial, which is expected to last 10 to 12 weeks.
Two others, Doye Agama and Olatimbo Ayinde, are also being prosecuted on bribery charges linked to the case.

'Abuse of power'

Alison-Madueke has been on bail since she was first arrested in London in October 2015. She has denied the charges against her.
In 2023, she was formally charged with offences of accepting bribes, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
"We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million-pound contracts," the NCA said at the time. 
Earlier in 2023, the NCA, which targets international and serious and organised crime, said it provided evidence to US prosecutors allowing them to recover assets totalling $53.1 million linked to Alison-Madueke's alleged corruption.
They included luxury real estate in California and New York, as well as a 65-metre (213-foot) superyacht, the Galactica Star, the US Department of Justice announced on March 27.
Born to a well-off family in the oil city of Port Harcourt in 1960, Alison-Madueke studied architecture in Britain and the United States before joining oil giant Shell's Nigerian subsidiary.
In politics, she held three major positions in government -- first as transport minister in 2007 under president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, then minister of mines and steel development.
When Jonathan took over after the death of Yar'Adua, he appointed her minister of petroleum resources in April 2010. In 2014, she became the first female president of OPEC, a role she held for around a year.
bur-pml/bcp/ajb/phz

summit

North Sea nations look to wind to resist Russian energy 'blackmail'

  • "We want to trade and deal with the US on as many issues as possible," Jorgensen said, but he added that "we are not aiming at replacing one dependency with a new dependency". 
  • Nine European nations vowed Monday to build up North Sea offshore wind power with the aim of boosting climate-friendly energy while reducing dependence on Russia and other foreign powers.
  • "We want to trade and deal with the US on as many issues as possible," Jorgensen said, but he added that "we are not aiming at replacing one dependency with a new dependency". 
Nine European nations vowed Monday to build up North Sea offshore wind power with the aim of boosting climate-friendly energy while reducing dependence on Russia and other foreign powers.
Germany, France, the UK and Denmark were among the countries which signed an agreement pledging to turn the North Sea into the "world's largest clean energy reservoir".
The EU's Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jorgensen, said at the signing ceremony that the agreement was a "very clear signal to Russia".
"No more will we let you blackmail member states of the European Union and no more will we help indirectly fund the war in Ukraine".
The European Union has been scrambling to wean itself off Russian energy imports since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 
Leaders and ministers were meeting in the German port city of Hamburg for the third North Sea summit, after they pledged in 2023 to develop 300 gigawatts of clean energy capacity in the North Sea by mid-century.
An intermediate target of 120 GW by 2030 was also set at the time, although experts have said this will not be met on current trends.
The "Hamburg Declaration" signed on Monday envisages that 100 GW of the targeted 300 GW will be quickly delivered through an "unprecedented fleet of joint offshore wind projects". 
That would be enough to power roughly 100 million homes.
According to the UK's energy ministry, the new projects will include wind farms at sea directly connected to more than one country through interconnectors.
The agreement aims to strengthen Europe's "resilience" and "security of supply," said Katherina Reiche, Germany's minister for economic affairs and energy.
In response to recent comments from US President Donald Trump branding wind farms "losers", British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that "offshore wind is for winners".
Wind farms are "absolutely critical for our energy security" to provide "homegrown, clean energy that we control", he said, adding that this energy is not under "the control of the dictators and the petro-states".
Jorgensen also addressed the issue of whether the EU wanted to reduce dependence on US gas imports in the wake of Trump's threats to annex Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
"We want to trade and deal with the US on as many issues as possible," Jorgensen said, but he added that "we are not aiming at replacing one dependency with a new dependency". 
"We want to grow our own energy, and our strategy in the future is to become free of gas. 
jsk/fz/rl

indicator

German business morale still muted in January

  • "The weaker-than-expected German Ifo in January pours some cold water on expectations that the German economy might be finally turning the corner," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
  • German business sentiment held steady at a low level in January, a survey showed Monday, with firms still pessimistic about any sustained recovery in Europe's biggest economy.
  • "The weaker-than-expected German Ifo in January pours some cold water on expectations that the German economy might be finally turning the corner," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
German business sentiment held steady at a low level in January, a survey showed Monday, with firms still pessimistic about any sustained recovery in Europe's biggest economy.
The Ifo institute's confidence barometer came in at 87.6 points, weaker than some forecasts and the same reading as December when it slipped to its lowest for months.
"The German economy is starting the new year with little momentum," said Ifo president Clemens Fuest. 
Hammered by a manufacturing slump, fierce competition in key export markets and US tariffs, the German economy has been mired in a long decline.
After meagre growth in 2025 following two years of recession, some have been banking on the turnaround picking up speed sharply this year driven by a public spending blitz.
But the Ifo survey, in which about 9,000 businesses are polled every month, tempered hopes that the eurozone's traditional powerhouse is about to race out of the blocks.
The climate in the service sector deteriorated, with businesses assessing their current situation and expectations for the future as worse, it showed. 
The readings in the manufacturing, trade and construction sectors all ticked up.
"The weaker-than-expected German Ifo in January pours some cold water on expectations that the German economy might be finally turning the corner," said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics.
"We think the recovery will be slower than most anticipate."
The government is forecasting growth of 1.3 percent this year, supported by a debt-fuelled spending bonanza on defence and infrastructure.
But, with worries growing that spending will not be accompanied by much-needed reforms, some economists have in recent times downgraded their forecasts to between 0.8 and one percent expansion for 2026.
sr/fz/jh

Fed

Financial trading master Rick Rieder emerges as possible Fed chief

BY JOHN BIERS

  • - Independent streak - Ironically, the Fed chair from recent years whose profile most closely resembles Rieder's is probably Jerome Powell, the current central bank head, whom Trump has criticized relentlessly.
  • The emergence of BlackRock's Rick Rieder as a Federal Reserve frontrunner means the US central bank could be led by a financial markets master less academically credentialed than other recent chairs.
  • - Independent streak - Ironically, the Fed chair from recent years whose profile most closely resembles Rieder's is probably Jerome Powell, the current central bank head, whom Trump has criticized relentlessly.
The emergence of BlackRock's Rick Rieder as a Federal Reserve frontrunner means the US central bank could be led by a financial markets master less academically credentialed than other recent chairs.
Rieder vaulted to the top of betting markets this week after President Donald Trump spoke effusively of the bond market expert, who makes frequent appearances as a commentator on CNBC and other business news broadcasts.
Rieder, whom Trump described as "very impressive," manages some $2.4 trillion as BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income. The post demands deep understanding of myriad securities and digitalized investment platforms.
Rieder studied business as an undergraduate at Emory University and earned a Master of Business Administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
But unlike past Fed chairs Alan Greenspan, Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke -- who won a Nobel prize after his Fed service -- Rieder has no PhD. He has served on government panels, but never worked for the US central bank. 
That lack of government experience was viewed as a "big positive," according to a Fox Business report on Rieder's January 15 interview at the Oval Office.
Besides Trump, the interview included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who in July likened the Fed's personnel management to "universal basic income for academic economists." 
In a 2023 interview with the Goldman Sachs podcast "Exchanges," Rieder described trading as a thrilling challenge of navigating constantly changing dynamics and discovering when you need to pivot.
"I always say this in managing money, we're not in the business of being right," said Rieder, who famously begins his daily research ritual at 3:30 am. "We're in the business of generating return for our clients."
Trading is about "risk management and your perception of where the world is and how people think the world is," he said. 
Rieder worked at Lehman Brothers from 1987 to 2008 before starting R3 Capital Partners in 2008, months before the Lehman bankruptcy. In 2009, BlackRock acquired R3. 
BlackRock declined to comment. 

Independent streak

Ironically, the Fed chair from recent years whose profile most closely resembles Rieder's is probably Jerome Powell, the current central bank head, whom Trump has criticized relentlessly.
Trump in 2017 named as chairman Powell, an attorney who had worked in private equity in between stints at the US Treasury Department and the Fed. 
Trump's interest in Rieder reflects "MAGA's critique of the Fed as being excessively technocratic," said Mark Blyth, a professor in international economics professor at Brown University.
Blyth also called Rieder a bit of a "dark horse" on whether his decisions would shift from Powell's.
"It's not automatically clear that Rieder is a very low-interest rates guy," Blyth said.
Rieder's political donations suggest an independent streak. In the 2024 cycle, he backed Trump's Republican primary challenger Nikki Haley over Trump and some Democrats.
In a January 2 BlackRock column, Rieder said the inflation "storm has passed," characterizing labor market weakness as the bigger priority.
That position is in line with pronouncements by Powell at recent meetings. The Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged this week at between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent after three straight cuts.
Rieder told CNBC on January 12 that the "Fed's got to get the rate down" to about three percent.
His appearance on CNBC came the day after Powell hit out at a criminal probe of the Fed launched by Trump's Justice Department as a "pretext" for the president's opposition to the Fed's cautious approach to cutting rates.
Rieder declined to comment directly on Powell's remarks, but backed Fed independence, insisting that whomever leads the Fed is "going to make the right decisions... for maximum employment and price stability," he told CNBC.
Besides Rieder, the other leading candidates are White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett; former Fed official Kevin Warsh; and Fed governor Christopher Waller.
jmb/iv

conflict

What is Russia's 'shadow fleet' and how does it work?

  • The French navy on Thursday boarded an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet. 
  • France's interception of an oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet" draws attention to how the vessels allegedly operate in order to escape Western sanctions.
  • The French navy on Thursday boarded an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet. 
France's interception of an oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia's "shadow fleet" draws attention to how the vessels allegedly operate in order to escape Western sanctions.

What is the 'shadow fleet'?

Russia has reportedly built up a flotilla of old oil tankers of opaque ownership to get around sanctions imposed by the European Union, United States and the G7 group of nations over Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine that started in 2022.
The sanctions, based on a price-cap on Russian crude to limit Moscow's revenues used to pursue its war, have shut out many tankers carrying Russian oil from Western insurance and shipping systems.
The EU lists 598 vessels that are banned from European ports and maritime services.
The US -- which seized a Russian-flagged tanker in the north Atlantic early in January -- lists 183 vessels and asserts an extraterritorial right to act against them.

How does it operate?

According to experts, and a briefing paper by the European Parliament, the "shadow fleet" obscures the ownership of vessels, and ensures the companies managing them are outside Russia and fly flags of convenience -- or even sometimes falsely claimed flags.
In addition, the vessels have been observed turning off their Automatic Identification System, to go "dark" at sea, where ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil occur. 
Many of the vessels are old, meaning they can be more easily written off if seized, or forfeited if they cause oil spills.
The Kyiv School of Economics, which runs a "Russian Oil Tracker", said in its latest report, in December, that 78 percent of the shadow-fleet tankers it monitored in November were older than 15 years.
"The top three flags used by Russian shadow-fleet vessels transporting crude oil are false/unknown flag, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon," it said. 
It said management companies for the vessels were located in the United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Marshall Islands and elsewhere.
The Kyiv School of Economics also said that "India remains the biggest Russian seaborne crude importer with 40 percent share in total Russian exports".

What is being done against it?

The United States, which is leading efforts to try to broker an end to the conflict in Ukraine, in early January stepped up its sanctions against Russia's oil industry, including the shadow fleet. 
When its forces seized the tanker in the Atlantic on January 7, the White House said the vessel was "deemed stateless after flying a false flag". 
Russia said on Tuesday that the US still had not released two Russian crew members from the tanker.
The European Union is considering expanding its powers to board Russia's shadow-fleet vessels, according to a document by its foreign-policy service viewed by Politico in October.
The French navy on Thursday boarded an oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of belonging to Russia's shadow fleet. 
President Emmanuel Macron said on X the vessel, "coming from Russia, was subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag".
Britain said it provided tracking and monitoring support for the French interception.

How is Russia reacting?

When France in late September detained a Russian-linked ship called the Boracay, a vessel claiming to be flagged in Benin, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the move as "piracy".
After the US seizure of the tanker in early January, the Russian foreign ministry warned the move could "result in further military and political tensions", and said it was worried by "Washington's willingness to generate acute international crisis situations".
rmb/gv

fashion

Men's fashion goes low-risk in uncertain world

BY MARINE DO-VALE

  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
  • Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
  • According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
Paris Men’s Fashion Week, which wrapped up Sunday, saw designers opt for often pragmatic and timeless styling, reflecting a low-risk approach at an uncertain time for the industry, experts said. 
After a 2025 marked by sweeping turnover among creative directors and numerous debuts, this Fall/Winter 2026 edition was more measured, in substance as well as in style. 
"It’s been a fairly conservative season, without any incredible propositions," Matthieu Morge Zucconi, head of men’s fashion at France's Le Figaro newspaper, told AFP. 
"We’re in a period where we zero in on what's essential. You can feel it in the shows," added Astrid Faguer, fashion journalist at Les Echos newspaper. 
Against a backdrop of worrying international news and economic turbulence in the luxury sector, brands are looking to reassure customers rather than risk unsettling them, experts agree. 

Suits in force

The classic suit-and-tie duo stood out as one of the strongest markers on the runways.
The overall colour palette was fairly classic: black, gray, beige and brown, with a few brighter touches, like the purple seen from Dior to Vuitton, via Issey Miyake and Etudes Studio. 
The extravagant over-sized jackets with large shoulder pads of previous seasons have become more fitted -- still loosely tailored, but more traditional.
"I think that with age and the way my view of the world is evolving now, I wanted to create a silhouette that's ... a bit more fitted," head of Paris-based 3.Paradis, Emeric Tchatchoua, told AFP.
Louis Vuitton chief designer Pharrell Williams wrote that his fairly conventional collection was "designed to endure rather than expire, it is a timeless expression."
For Adrien Communier, head of fashion at GQ magazine in France, the restraint signals a return to basics. 
"There’s really a phenomenon of creating clothes for the now, that will be able to last and take on everyday life," he observes. 
According to him, both the public and designers are no longer looking for one-season pieces which are quickly out-of-date, instead opting for styling that will stand the test of time. 
"It’s impossible not to see a reference to the international context. I think there’s something very responsive and pragmatic in relation to that," he told AFP. 
The unstable state of the world has weighed on luxury sales over the last few years, crimping profits at luxury groups which had enjoyed a post-Covid sales bonanza.  
- 'Normality' - 
It was not all sensible shapes and tasteful tailoring.
Dior designer Jonathan Anderson appeared keener than most to take some risks.
He said he didn't want "normality" as he reimagined modern-day aristocrats for his second men's collection, adding that his designs included some "angst and a kind of wrongness, engulfing wrong taste".
He sent out shirts with checks adorned with rhinestone-fringed epaulettes, while models wore yellow or spiked wigs.
The Bar jacket, a Dior signature item, was redesigned in a shrunken format
A grey cape-coat from Dries van Noten had tiny embedded jewels embedded in a gray cape-coat, while there were faux-fur coats for men at KidSuper and Willy Chavarria. 
Embroidery showed up in several shows, while floral prints and patchwork bomber jackets also featured.
Simon Longland, chief fashion buyer for London luxury store Harrod's, also said that the past week had been about designers "offering flexibility, comfort and longevity."
"Broadly, collections felt less driven by trend and more focused on creating pieces with purpose -- clothing intended to be worn, lived in and valued over multiple seasons rather than defined by the moment alone," he said.
mdr-adp/gv

trade

EU council president arrives in India to seal trade pact

  • Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday, before an EU-India summit the next day where they hope to shake hands on an accord described as the "mother of all deals".
  • European Council president Antonio Costa arrived in India on Sunday as the EU and New Delhi seek to seal a free trade pact, capping nearly two decades of negotiations between the economic behemoths.
  • Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday, before an EU-India summit the next day where they hope to shake hands on an accord described as the "mother of all deals".
European Council president Antonio Costa arrived in India on Sunday as the EU and New Delhi seek to seal a free trade pact, capping nearly two decades of negotiations between the economic behemoths.
Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are chief guests for this year's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Monday, before an EU-India summit the next day where they hope to shake hands on an accord described as the "mother of all deals".
"The summit will be an opportunity to build on the EU-India strategic partnership and further strengthen collaboration across key policy areas," the EU Council said on X.
India, the world's most populous nation, is on track to become its fourth-largest economy this year, according to International Monetary Fund projections.
The EU eyes India as an important market for the future, while New Delhi sees the European bloc as an important source of much-needed technology and investment to rapidly upscale its infrastructure and create millions of new jobs.
"The EU stands to gain the highest level of access ever granted to a trade partner in the traditionally protected Indian market," von der Leyen said on Sunday, adding that she expected exports to India to double.
"We will gain a significant competitive advantage in key industrial and agri-good sectors."
Bilateral trade in goods reached 120 billion euros ($139 billion) in 2024, an increase of nearly 90 percent over the past decade, according to EU figures, with a further 60 billion euros ($69 billion) in trade in services.
The pact would be a major win for Brussels and New Delhi as both seek to open up new markets in the face of US tariffs and Chinese export controls.
"The EU and India are moving closer together at the time when the rules-based international order is under unprecedented pressure through wars, coercion and economic fragmentation," Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, said on Wednesday. 
However, ongoing negotiations are focusing on a few sticking points, including the impact of the EU's carbon border tax on steel exports, according to people familiar with the discussions.
New Delhi, which has relied on Moscow for key military hardware for decades, has tried to cut its dependence on Russia in recent years by diversifying imports and pushing its own domestic manufacturing base.
Europe is doing the same with regard to the United States.
sai-ub/pbt

politics

India's solar-panel boom: full throttle today, uncertain tomorrow

BY PHILIPPE ALFROY

  • "The quality of the product is very, very critical," said Ashish Khanna, CEO Adani Green Energy.
  • The race for green energy is on.
  • "The quality of the product is very, very critical," said Ashish Khanna, CEO Adani Green Energy.
The race for green energy is on. India, driven by soaring electricity demand and a push to reduce reliance on China, is rapidly producing solar panels, fuelling a booming yet uncertain market.
At the Adani Group's factory in Mundra, in India's western state of Gujarat, assembly lines churn out photovoltaic panels around the clock.
Up to 10,000 a day come off the line, with most sent straight to Khavda, further north, where the Indian conglomerate is finishing what will be the world's largest solar park.
But Adani Solar's CEO, Muralee Krishnan, says operations are "actually lagging".
"Our capacity needs to be fully used -- we should work 48 hours a day."
The intensity is matched by other major producers in the world's most populous nation.
At the Tata conglomerate factory in Tirunelveli, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, 4,000 mostly women employees also work non-stop shifts.
"They operate 24/7, so you get better yield, better efficiency, better productivity," said Praveer Sinha, CEO of Tata Power.
"You cannot stop the production line... there is a rush to produce to maximise the output."
With the twin imperatives of development and lower carbon emissions, India has set itself ambitious renewable energy targets.
Last year, it said half its electricity-generation capacity was now "green", five years ahead of the timeline set in the Paris Agreement on lowering emissions.
But 75 percent of electricity is still generated by coal-fired power plants, with inflexible operations and long-term coal power purchase agreements hampering renewable uptake.

'Make in India'

There are signs of change.
Last year, coal-fired power generation fell three percent, only the second full-year drop recorded in half a decade, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Renewable capacity of 230 gigawatts (GW) is set to rise to 500 GW by 2030, including 280 GW of solar.
But Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed another constraint on the industry: "Make in India."
That means there is no question of importing solar panels from China, which supplies 90 percent of the world's market.
All public tenders require "local" production, which India supports with substantial subsidies that have attracted big businesses.
Tata, a pioneer in solar panels since the 1990s, has been joined by Adani and Reliance, which have built state-of-the-art, highly automated factories.
"The quality of the product is very, very critical," said Ashish Khanna, CEO Adani Green Energy.
"When you are building a project of this size, you also need to be very reassured of the supply chain. We cannot have a disruption or interruption in that particular process." 
But for now, the technology and raw materials still come from China.
And Beijing has complained to the World Trade Organization over the subsidies and restrictions on its solar panels.
The solar push is so intense that Adani is considering silicon mining to secure a key raw material, company insiders say, and there are suggestions Tata Power is eyeing in-house silicon-wafer production.

'A huge market'

Growth in the sector is already staggering, with solar manufacturing capacity expected to soon exceed 125 GW, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie said.
But that is triple current domestic demand, according to Wood Mackenzie analyst Yana Hryshko.
Government incentives have "been highly effective in spurring factory announcements, but the industry is now seeing warning signs of rapid overcapacity", Hryshko said in a report last year.
The sector's long-term sustainability may therefore depend on exports, with some companies already targeting global markets.
"Solar is a huge market: the world will see it doubling, from 2,000 GW to 4,000 GW in four years," said Ashish Khanna, head of the International Solar Alliance. 
"The question is now -- will Indian manufacturers be globally competitive compared to China?" 
Tejpreet Chopra, from the private power company Bharat Light and Power, points out that "the problem is that it's cheaper to import from China than to buy local".
And the level of manufacturing in China "is so much higher that it's very difficult to match", he added.
The sector also faces "geopolitical" headwinds from US President Donald Trump's tariffs, with Chopra adding that they make it "very difficult to sell to the United States".
Despite these challenges, the head of Tata Power, which does not yet export, remains convinced his business has a bright future.
"We strongly believe," said Praveer Sinha, "that solar will play a very important role in the renewable space of India."
pa/pjm/dan