budget

France's new PM warns of 'very serious' financial situation

BY JURGEN HECKER

  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
  • France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
France was placed on a formal procedure for violating European Union budgetary rules before Barnier was picked as head of government this month by President Emmanuel Macron.
And the Bank of France warned this week that a projected return to EU deficit rules by 2027 was "not realistic".
France's public-sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 percent of GDP this year and go over six percent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-percent ceiling on deficits.
"I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP.
"This situation requires more than just pretty statements. It requires responsible action," he said.
The new prime minister, who has yet to appoint a cabinet, is scheduled to submit a 2025 budget to parliament next month, in what is expected to be the first major test for the incoming administration.

'Out of the question'

Within days of taking office in early September, Barnier said in an interview that "French people want more justice" in terms of fiscal policy, while several politicians have reported the prime minister mentioning possible tax increases in private conversations.
Such a move would be a red rag to allies of Macron, who oversaw cuts in the corporate tax rate from 33.3 percent to 25 percent as well as tax reductions for households, including the wealthiest taxpayers.
Macron has claimed a reduction in the overall tax burden by 50 billion euros ($56 billion) since he became president in 2017.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a staunch Macron ally, said Wednesday that it was "out of the question" to join, or even back, a government that raised taxes. 
But years of extra spending during the Covid pandemic combined with sluggish growth have caused the French deficit to balloon, sparking the "excessive deficit procedure" by the EU, which is designed to force a country to negotiate a plan with Brussels to get their deficit or debt levels back on track.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is to be replaced soon, promised to bring the deficit back below three percent by 2027 but many analysts have dismissed the plan as implausible.
France's central bank governor, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, said this week that the objective was "not realistic" unless the government was willing to risk "stopping growth in its tracks".
Apparently backing Barnier's approach, Villeroy de Galhau called for an "exceptional and reasonable effort asked of some major companies and wealthy taxpayers" to help a recovery in finances. France, he said, could no longer afford "unfunded" tax cuts. 
But tighter fiscal policies could put Barnier on a collision course with Macron, who appointed the experienced politician -- best known internationally as the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator -- in the hope that he can survive an early no-confidence vote in parliament.

'Dreadful error to go back'

"We want a stable fiscal policy that does not undermine policies that caused unemployment to fall and our country's attractiveness to rise," said Jean-Rene Cazeneuve, a National Assembly deputy and Macron ally. "It would be a dreadful error to go back on this."
Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Les Republican (LR) parliamentary group on whom Barnier will depend for support, said last week that "our conviction is that in a certain number of areas we need rightist policies". This, he said, meant "no tax rises".
The tax question is likely to deepen budding tensions between Macron and Barnier, who is said to have been irritated that the president did not consult him about nominating Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne to the EU Commission.
"Knowing where Michel Barnier stands on Europe and the loss of French influence, I think he's just suffered his first humiliation," said one LR deputy on condition of anonymity.
burs-jh/sjw/js

conflict

Taiwan company says exploding Hezbollah pagers made by Hungary partner

  • There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others. aw/fox-ros/jza/fg
  • Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that the pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed at least nine people were made by a Hungarian partner.
  • There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others. aw/fox-ros/jza/fg
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that the pagers used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed at least nine people were made by a Hungarian partner.
About 2,800 people were wounded, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, when the pagers exploded across the country in blasts that Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah blamed on Israel.
The New York Times, citing anonymous American "and other" officials, reported that the pagers had been ordered from Gold Apollo, with explosives packed inside sometime before they arrived in Lebanon.
They were tampered with by Israel before arriving in Lebanon, some of the officials told the US newspaper.
Gold Apollo head Hsu Ching-kuang denied the report, saying the pagers were "100 percent not" made in Taiwan, and not from his company.
"They are not our products from beginning to end. How can we produce products that are not ours?" Hsu told reporters in Taipei.
The company said in a statement that it has established a "long-term partnership" with Budapest-based BAC Consulting KFT to use its trademark and the model mentioned in media reports "is produced and sold by BAC".
At BAC Consulting's registered postal address in a Budapest suburb, a woman there told reporters that the two-storey semi-detached building belongs to a company providing virtual business addresses.
BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
She appears to be the only employee of the company founded in 2022, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also report an annual revenue of 210 million forints ($590,000, 530,000 euros) and profit of around 45,000 euros.
The Times reported about 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, mostly its AR924 model.
"Our company only provides the brand trademark authorisation and is not involved in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo added.
Taiwan's economic affairs ministry said Gold Apollo's pagers made in Taiwan only have "a receiving function" and the capacity of their built-in battery "is about that of an ordinary AA battery that is not possible to explode to cause death or injury".
"After reviewing media reports and pictures, we think it's very questionable that (the model used) is the company's product," the ministry said, adding that there is no record of the company directly exporting to Lebanon.  
A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, previously told AFP that "the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices" which appear to have been "sabotaged at source".
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others.
aw/fox-ros/jza/fg

US

EU court scraps 1.5-bn euro fine against Google

BY RAZIYE AKKOC

  • The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
  • An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
  • The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
An EU court on Wednesday scrapped a 1.49-billion euro ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by Brussels against Google over abuse of dominance in online advertising.
"The General Court annuls the (European) Commission's decision in its entirety," the Luxembourg-based court said in a statement, adding that the "institution committed errors in its assessment".
Brussels "failed to take into consideration all the relevant circumstances in its assessment of the duration of the contract clauses that the commission had deemed abusive", the court said.
The commission, the EU's influential competition regulator, said it "takes note" and would "carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps" -- which could include an appeal.
A Google spokesperson said the company welcomed the ruling, noting it had "made changes" to its ad services in 2016, before the EU decision.
"We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine," a Google spokesperson added.
The ruling is especially welcome for Google after the EU's highest court last week upheld a 2017 fine worth 2.42 billion euros, imposed for abusing its dominance by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
As part of a major push to target big tech abuses, the EU slapped Google with fines worth a total of 8.2 billion euros between 2017 and 2019 over antitrust violations.
The 1.49-billion euro fine is the third of those penalties, focused on Google's AdSense service.
But the long-running legal battles between Google and the EU do not end there.

EU's greater powers

Google is also challenging a 4.3-billion-euro penalty Brussels levied on it for putting restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business.
The 2018 fine remains the EU's largest-ever antitrust penalty.
The General Court in 2022 slightly reduced the fine to 4.1 billion euros, but mainly supported the commission's argument that Google had imposed illegal restrictions.
The legal saga continues in that case after Google appealed the latest decision before the higher European Court of Justice.
The EU has since armed itself with a more powerful legal weapon known as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), to rein in tech giants including Google.
Rather than regulators discovering egregious antitrust violations after probes lasting many years, the DMA gives businesses a list of what they can and cannot do online.
The aim is that tech titans change their ways before the need for deterrent fines.
Google is already the subject of one investigation under the DMA alongside Facebook owner Meta and Apple.

Mounting problems

Google is in the US regulators' crosshairs as well.
Last week, the tech titan faced its second major antitrust trial in less than a year with the US government accusing Google of a monopoly in ad technology -- the complex system determining which online ads people see and their cost.
It comes after a US judge in August found Google's search business to be an illegal monopoly, a ruling which threatens a possible break-up for the tech behemoth.
Ad tech is at the centre of multiple probes by regulators around the world.
British and EU competition watchdogs have said in preliminary findings that Google abused its dominance in the market. Google has the right to respond in both cases before the regulators reach final conclusions.
Parent company Alphabet in July said revenue from online ad searches climbed to $48.5 billion in the second quarter of this year.
raz/ec/jm

budget

French budgetary situation 'very serious': prime minister

  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
  • France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
  • "I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP. "This situation requires more than just pretty statements.
France's budgetary situation is "very serious", Prime Minister Michel Barnier told AFP on Wednesday, saying more information was needed to gauge the "precise reality" of French public finances.
France was placed on a formal procedure for violating European Union budgetary rules before Barnier became head of government earlier this month, while the Bank of France warned this week that a projected return to EU deficit rules by 2027 was "not realistic".
France's public sector deficit is projected to reach around 5.6 percent of GDP this year and go over six percent in 2025, which compares with EU rules calling for a three-percent ceiling on deficits.
Barnier, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron after protracted wrangling in the wake of an inconclusive parliamentary election, has floated possible tax rises to help stabilise finances, a measure Macron has ruled out during the seven years he has been president.
"I am discovering that the country's budgetary situation is very serious," Barnier said in a statement to AFP.
"This situation requires more than just pretty statements. It requires responsible action," he said.
The new prime minister, who has yet to appoint a cabinet, is to submit a 2025 budget to parliament next month, in what is expected to be the first major test for the incoming administration.
are-jh/sjw/imm

talent

Fashion's Game of Thrones as creative heads play musical chairs

BY ISABELLE SCIAMMA

  • Not a month has gone by this year without its share of shock announcements: Piccioli left Valentino in March after more than two decades, with the Roman luxury brand announcing within a week the arrival of former Gucci head Alessandro Michele, whose official debut comes in Paris later this month. 
  • Who will take over at Chanel and where will Pierpaolo Piccioli go now that he has left Valentino? 
  • Not a month has gone by this year without its share of shock announcements: Piccioli left Valentino in March after more than two decades, with the Roman luxury brand announcing within a week the arrival of former Gucci head Alessandro Michele, whose official debut comes in Paris later this month. 
Who will take over at Chanel and where will Pierpaolo Piccioli go now that he has left Valentino? 
The fashion world is awash with such questions at a time of turmoil as sales slump and artistic directors play musical chairs.
Resignations, new appointments -- the swirl of changes has begun to resemble a fashion version of "Game Of Thrones" as Milan Fashion Week begins. 
Not a month has gone by this year without its share of shock announcements: Piccioli left Valentino in March after more than two decades, with the Roman luxury brand announcing within a week the arrival of former Gucci head Alessandro Michele, whose official debut comes in Paris later this month. 
At Chanel, Virginie Viard, who took the reins after Karl Lagerfeld's death in 2019, bowed out in June, leaving vacant the top position at France's iconic privately run label.
Amid a flood of rumours as to who could take over the house of Coco Chanel, the name of Simon Porte Jacquemus, the young French designer with his namesake label, keeps being mentioned.  
Also in June, Dries Van Noten, the cult couturier from Antwerp, took his last bow, retiring after nearly 40 years at the top. 
Just last week, the suspense surrounding Givenchy -- which has been without an artistic head since the departure of American designer Matthew Williams in January -- finally ended.
British designer Sarah Burton, who spent more than two decades at Alexander McQueen, will take the helm of the French haute couture brand. 
In Milan this week, both Tom Ford and Blumarine are not showing on the catwalk, due to recent changes at the top.
Tom Ford announced two weeks ago that Haider Ackermann would be its new artistic director -- with his first collection for autumn 2025 in Paris -- while David Koma is to take the helm at Blumarine, following the sudden exit of Walter Chiapponi after just one season.

'Results in record time'

Dismissed artistic directors are often subject to non-compete agreements of one to two years with the risk of a heavy financial penalty, preventing them from taking over rivals right away. 
But nothing prevents new employers from covering this cost themselves in order to allow a candidate to start work immediately. 
In this context, rumours are rife. How much longer will Kim Jones remain at Fendi? What about John Galliano, whose contract at Maison Margiela is nearing an end and whom some predict will end up back at Dior or Fendi?
"Artistic directors must make the numbers in one season, two at the most, and if the results are not there, on to the next one," said Alessia Pellarini, founder of The AP Archive, which rents out thousands of iconic fashion pieces. 
The work of an artistic director at the top of an iconic brand "takes time", said Pellarini, with an ability to understand its history and heritage and to "offer something new but without turning everything upside down". 
"This short-term vision to meet market demands only lowers the cultural quality of the offer," she said. 
A former Fendi design director, Pellarini noted that, even amid the musical chairs seen in the industry, "the typical profile continues to be a white European man." 
Some designers are eschewing luxury and heading to bigger but more mainstream brands. 
Britain's Clare Waight Keller, the former Chloe and Givenchy designer who made Meghan Markle's wedding dress, this month became creative director of Uniqlo, the Japanese casual brand. 
Meanwhile, Spanish fast-fashion retailer Zara said it was doing a limited collection from Italy's Stefano Pilati, the former creative director at Yves Saint Laurent and Zegna. 
str/glr/ams/fg

Global Edition

Asian markets fluctuate on uncertainty over Fed rate plan

  • Still, Asian markets were mixed.
  • Asian markets were mixed Wednesday as traders tried to ascertain how big an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut would be later in the day, while the dollar held gains against the yen after forecast-beating US data.
  • Still, Asian markets were mixed.
Asian markets were mixed Wednesday as traders tried to ascertain how big an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut would be later in the day, while the dollar held gains against the yen after forecast-beating US data.
While the US central bank is widely expected to cut borrowing costs for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the big question is whether officials will go for a bumper move before a series of smaller ones into the new year.
The prospect of easier financial conditions has helped push markets higher this year, with several major indexes hitting multiple records, but observers warned that with prices elevated and a period of cuts baked in, equities could be in for a period of volatility.
Wall Street had a tepid day, with many investors keeping their powder dry until the Fed's decision and boss Jerome Powell's post-meeting statement later on Wednesday.
Market watchers have said the Fed has a tough balancing act, warning that a big cut could signal the bank is worried about the economy, while a smaller one might suggest it is behind the curve on easing policy.
"Our economists have made the case for a 25-basis-point cut, noting that while the labour market evolution could readily support a 50 basis point move to kick off the long-awaited cutting cycle... officials have not made that case, and the data is not emphatic enough to force their hand," said National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril. 
"Yet media reports from well connected journalists over the weekend have made the point that a discussion for a 50-point cut was very much alive."
He said traders now saw a 70 percent chance of a 50-point cut, adding that "when pricing expectations are this high, it is very rare for the (policy board) to disappoint".
Still, Asian markets were mixed.
Tokyo rose as a weaker yen helped exporters. The Nikkei 225 had fallen more than one percent the previous day as the currency sat around highs not seen since summer 2023.
Shanghai advanced as investors returned from a four-day weekend, while Mumbai and Bangkok also gained. But Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta, Wellington, Manila and Taipei fell, with Sydney flat.
Hong Kong and Seoul were closed for holidays.
London edged down as data showed UK inflation held stable at 2.2 percent last month, with eyes on a Bank of England policy decision on Thursday. 
Paris and Frankfurt both opened flat.
The yen's drop came after data from the US Commerce Department reported that consumer spending cooled in August but not as much as expected, suggesting the world's top economy remained in good health.
The reading also helped temper lingering worries that the country was in danger of slipping into recession, which had been stoked in the past two months by big misses on jobs creation.
After the Fed's day in the spotlight, focus will turn to the Bank of Japan as it prepares for its own policy announcement on Friday, when it is widely expected to stand pat, having hiked twice this year -- the first in 17 years.

Key figures around 0710 GMT

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 36,380.17 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 2,717.28 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,301.04
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday
Dollar/yen: UP at 141.60 yen from 141.22 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1120 from $1.1116
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3179 from $1.3162
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.34 pence from 84.46 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $70.69 per barrel 
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $73.22 per barrel 
New York - Dow: FLAT at 41,606.18 (close)
dan/pbt

bankruptcy

Tupperware Brands files for bankruptcy

  • "Over the last several years, the Company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
  • Tupperware Brands and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, the food container firm said in a statement.
  • "Over the last several years, the Company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
Tupperware Brands and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, the food container firm said in a statement.
The company, known for its trademark food storage containers, has been hit by dwindling sales in recent years.
Last year the New York-listed firm warned of "substantial doubt" about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
"Over the last several years, the Company's financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment," president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
"As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward," added Goldman.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and "further advance Tupperware's transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company."
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
"We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process," Goldman said.
The firm's shares were trading at  $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
"The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work."
In its filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware, whose name became synonymous with its airtight plastic containers, in recent years lost popularity with consumers and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company's roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper "had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression," according to Tupperware's website.
"If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste."
Over time, Tupper's hermetically sealed plastic containers also became associated with "Tupperware Parties," where friends would gather with food and drink as a company representative demonstrated the items.
bur-mtp/dan

environment

'End of an era': UK to shut last coal-fired power plant

BY CLéMENT ZAMPA

  • - 'End of an era' - In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
  • Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
  • - 'End of an era' - In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station has dominated the landscape of the English East Midlands for nearly 60 years, looming over the small town of the same name and a landmark on the M1 motorway bisecting Derby and Nottingham.
At the mainline railway station serving the nearby East Midlands Airport, its giant cooling towers rise up seemingly within touching distance of the track and platform.
But at the end of this month, the site in central England will close its doors, signalling the end to polluting coal-powered electricity in the UK, in a landmark first for any G7 nation.
"It'll seem very strange because it has always been there," said David Reynolds, a 74-year-old retiree who saw the site being built as a child before it began operations in 1967.
"When I was younger you could go down certain parts and you saw nothing but coal pits," he told AFP.

Energy transition

Coal has played a vital part in British economic history, powering the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries that made the country a global superpower, and creating London's infamous choking smog.
Even into the 1980s, it still represented 70 percent of the country's electricity mix before its share declined in the 1990s. 
In the last decade the fall has been even sharper, slumping to 38 percent in 2013, 5.0 percent in 2018 then just 1.0 percent last year.
In 2015, the then Conservative government said that it intended to shut all coal-fired power stations by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think-tank, said the UK's 2030 clean-energy target was "very ambitious".
But she added: "It sends a very strong message that the UK is taking climate change as a matter of great importance and also that this is only the first step."
By last year, natural gas represented a third of the UK's electricity production, while a quarter came from wind power and 13 percent from nuclear power, according to electricity operator National Grid ESO.
"The UK managed to phase coal out so quickly largely through a combination of economics and then regulations," Ralston said. 
"So larger power plants like coal plants had regulations put on them because of all the sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxides, all the emissions coming from the plant and that meant that it was no longer economically attractive to invest in those sorts of plants."
The new Labour government launched its flagship green energy plan after its election win in July, with the creation of a publicly owned body to invest in offshore wind, tidal power and nuclear power.
The aim is to make Britain a superpower once more, this time in "clean energy".
As such, Ratcliffe-on-Soar's closure on September 30 is a symbolic step in the UK's ambition to decarbonise electricity by 2030, and become carbon neutral by 2050. 
It will make the country the first in the G7 of rich nations to do away entirely with coal power electricity.
Italy plans to do so by next year, France in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038. Japan and the United States have no set dates. 

'End of an era'

In recent years, Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station, which had the potential to power two million homes, has been used only when big spikes in electricity use were expected, such as during a cold snap in 2022 or the 2023 heatwave.
Its last delivery of 1,650 tonnes of coal at the start of this summer barely supplied 500,000 homes for eight hours. 
"It's like the end of a era," said Becky, 25, serving £4 pints behind the bar of the Red Lion pub in nearby Kegworth.
Her father works at the power station and will be out of a job. September 30 is likely to stir up strong emotions for him and the other 350 remaining employees. 
"It's their life," she said.
Nothing remains of the world's first coal-fired power station, which was built by Thomas Edison in central London in 1882, three years after his invention of the electric light bulb.
The same fate is slated for Ratcliffe-on-Soar: the site's German owner, Uniper, said it will be completely dismantled "by the end of the decade".
In its place will be a new development -- a "carbon-free technology and energy hub", the company said.
zap/ajb/phz/gv

unions

Boeing not taking strike talks seriously, union says

  • "Today, we ask Boeing not to miss the opportunity to recognize its workers by presenting a contract that can resolve this labor dispute so we can get back to building and delivering Boeing aircraft," said the union statement.
  • The union for striking Boeing workers said Tuesday the aviation giant was not "taking mediation seriously," after some 33,000 US employees walked out last week over a contract dispute, effectively shutting down two Seattle-area plants. 
  • "Today, we ask Boeing not to miss the opportunity to recognize its workers by presenting a contract that can resolve this labor dispute so we can get back to building and delivering Boeing aircraft," said the union statement.
The union for striking Boeing workers said Tuesday the aviation giant was not "taking mediation seriously," after some 33,000 US employees walked out last week over a contract dispute, effectively shutting down two Seattle-area plants. 
"We will not mince words -- after a full day of mediation, we are frustrated," said a statement from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), after its representatives met with Boeing negotiators.
"The company was not prepared and was unwilling to address the issues you've made clear are essential for ending this strike: Wages and Pension. The company doesn't seem to be taking mediation seriously," the statement said.
It added that mediation between the union and Boeing would continue on Wednesday.
"Today, we ask Boeing not to miss the opportunity to recognize its workers by presenting a contract that can resolve this labor dispute so we can get back to building and delivering Boeing aircraft," said the union statement.
Members of the IAM District 751 have been picketing 24 hours a day following the walkout early Friday morning, shuttering factories in Renton and Everett that assemble the 737 MAX and 777.
Boeing had been hopeful about averting a strike after reaching a preliminary deal with IAM leadership on September 8 that included a 25 percent general wage increase over four years, reduced mandatory overtime and a pledge to build the next new airplane in the Puget Sound region.
But rank-and-file workers blasted the deal as insufficient, dismissing the 25 percent figure as misleading and inadequate in light of the agreement's elimination of an annual bonus for workers.
Workers also were displeased with other elements of the agreement, including its failure to reinstate pensions. And they said the pledge on building the new airplane in the Puget Sound needed to be strengthened beyond the four-year lifespan of the contract.
Underlying the fury has been a more than decade-long period of essentially stagnant wages at a time when consumer inflation has stressed budgets. 
bjt/mtp

flood

Local, foreign firms facing months of recovery in storm-hit Vietnam

BY ALICE PHILIPSON

  • Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi, while some in neighbouring Quang Ninh province expect to have no power until the end of the week, business leaders told AFP. "I can guarantee that (the damage) is more than tens of millions of dollars," said Bruno Jaspaert, chief executive of DEEP C Industrial Zones, home to 178 companies across five industrial areas in Haiphong and Quang Ninh.
  • Factory roofs blown off, products worth millions of dollars destroyed, supply chains disrupted: Typhoon Yagi has had a disastrous impact on local and global companies in northern Vietnam who could take months to recover, business leaders warn.
  • Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi, while some in neighbouring Quang Ninh province expect to have no power until the end of the week, business leaders told AFP. "I can guarantee that (the damage) is more than tens of millions of dollars," said Bruno Jaspaert, chief executive of DEEP C Industrial Zones, home to 178 companies across five industrial areas in Haiphong and Quang Ninh.
Factory roofs blown off, products worth millions of dollars destroyed, supply chains disrupted: Typhoon Yagi has had a disastrous impact on local and global companies in northern Vietnam who could take months to recover, business leaders warn.
The strongest typhoon to hit the country in decades slammed into the important industrial port city of Haiphong before unleashing a torrent of rain across the north, a major production hub for global tech firms such as Samsung and Foxconn.
With climate change making destructive storms like Yagi more likely, the disaster raises questions about Vietnam's push to become an alternative to China in the global supply chain owing to its high susceptibility and lack of mitigating measures. 
Dozens of factories and warehouses in Haiphong were damaged by Yagi, while some in neighbouring Quang Ninh province expect to have no power until the end of the week, business leaders told AFP.
"I can guarantee that (the damage) is more than tens of millions of dollars," said Bruno Jaspaert, chief executive of DEEP C Industrial Zones, home to 178 companies across five industrial areas in Haiphong and Quang Ninh.
"At least 85 percent of our customers have sustained damage."
Many companies lost roofs, while another business saw 3,000 square metres (32,300 square foot) of wall panels blown off in gale-force winds, Jaspaert told AFP.
At the Haiphong DEEP C industrial zones, energy consumption was at two thirds of its usual rate, Jaspaert said, and was not expected to return to normal for another two or three months.
Hong Sun, chairman of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam, told AFP the typhoon had been a "disaster" for his members, with some struggling with staff shortages as flooding stopped workers reaching factories.
Samsung -- Vietnam's largest foreign investor -- said its operations were running as normal, but a warehouse belonging to Korean giant LG Electronics was flooded last week, Hong said, damaging fridges and other home appliances.
LG told AFP it had resumed production of some products shortly after the storm and was making "every effort to swifty recover".

'China plus one' drive

Among businesses from Japan, another major investor, around half reported some kind of damage -- while around 70 said their business had been interrupted or suspended, according to Susumu Yoshida at the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Floods and landslides triggered by Yagi have killed more than 500 people across Southeast Asia -- 292 in Vietnam, according to government figures.
The southeast Asian nation of 100 million people has long been seen as a likely key beneficiary of the decoupling between the United States and the world's second-largest economy.
Investors have expanded into the country as part of a "China plus one" strategy and US President Joe Biden made a high-profile state visit to Hanoi a year ago.
Biden symbolically upgraded diplomatic ties and pushed Vietnam as a solid partner for "friendshoring" -- diversifying manufacturing supply chains away from China towards friendly countries.
Executives from tech behemoth Google, chip makers Intel and GlobalFoundries, and aviation giant Boeing joined Biden for investment talks in Hanoi. 
But Vietnam is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to human-caused climate change, and without adaptation and mitigation measures, the World Bank estimates it will cost about 12 percent to 14.5 percent of GDP a year by 2050.
A study earlier this year said Southeast Asia -- and Haiphong specifically -- was facing "unprecedented threats" from longer and more intense typhoons because of climate change.

'Unprecedented threat'

Vietnam's communist government has set a target to become a high-income country by 2045, but the World Bank says damage caused by climate change poses a "critical obstacle" to this goal. 
Vietnam's government has already said Yagi caused an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses, and would slow GDP growth in the second half of the year.
But if Vietnam's susceptibility is a worry for investors, most see a lack of climate-safe alternatives.
"Vulnerability due to climate change is subject to any region... (so) it will not affect Japanese investment," said Yoshida.
However, some hope the disaster may incentivise investors to consider renewable energies such as solar that could help shore up supply when storms or floods occur.
Solar and wind power grew tenfold to 13 percent of electricity generation from 2015 to 2023, on par with the global average and exceeding some Southeast Asian peers, according to Ember.
But Vietnam is still heavily reliant on coal, as well as hydropower which is vulnerable in heavy floods.
A shift "would depend on the existing policies for making more solar energy viable", according to Dinita Setyawati, senior electricity policy analyst for Southeast Asia at independent energy think tank Ember.
"These are the opportunities that the Vietnamese government should tap into."
aph/pdw/dan

wine

Women drive innovation, evolution of Chinese wine industry

BY REBECCA BAILEY AND CELIA CAZALE

  • Aside from Helan Qingxue, many of its best-known producers -- Silver Heights, Kanaan Winery, Jade Vineyard -- are women-led.
  • As the female winemaker who put Chinese vintages on the map for the first time, Zhang Jing of Helan Qingxue winery is a trailblazer, but no anomaly.
  • Aside from Helan Qingxue, many of its best-known producers -- Silver Heights, Kanaan Winery, Jade Vineyard -- are women-led.
As the female winemaker who put Chinese vintages on the map for the first time, Zhang Jing of Helan Qingxue winery is a trailblazer, but no anomaly.
From the dusty vineyards of China's outback to its chic metropolitan bars, women are at the forefront of the country's increasingly vibrant wine scene, spurring innovation at every stage of the production -- and consumption -- process.
Helan Qingxue sent shockwaves through the industry in 2011 when it produced the first Chinese wine to win top honours at the industry's most prestigious competition, even provoking unsubstantiated claims of fraud.
Over a decade later, Zhang is one of many Chinese women internationally recognised for their boutique, world-class bottles, as the fledgling sector continues to evolve.
"It's a very strong female-dominated industry here," Chinese wine expert Fongyee Walker told AFP.
"I don't think there's been any statistics done. But when I think about a lot of China's most famous wineries, they're run by women." 
That's true in Zhang's home region, northern Ningxia, where tens of thousands of hectares of vines have been nestled into the terracotta earth beneath the Helan mountain range over the last few decades.
Aside from Helan Qingxue, many of its best-known producers -- Silver Heights, Kanaan Winery, Jade Vineyard -- are women-led.
"There are more and more excellent female winemakers (worldwide) now," Zhang said as she showed AFP around the winery's cool, dim cellar. 
"But it's very interesting in Ningxia... Female owners and winemakers, female marketing staff and female receptionists probably make up more than 60 percent (of the workforce), so this proportion is quite large."

'Not a traditional industry'

The Chinese industry's youth has helped women get a foothold, compared to more established wine-producing countries.
In the West, the sector "is very much dominated by male (figures) because it's a traditional industry", said Walker. 
"For China, wine is not a traditional industry... It is a very safe sphere to open a company in if you're a woman."
In Ningxia, enthusiastic state support for the sector has meant an abundance of opportunities for anyone interested.
Zhang met her co-founders, former officials, when they worked together in local government.
When the two men asked Zhang -- then still in her twenties -- to be a winemaker for their retirement passion project, she agreed on the condition they send her abroad to study.
Many other young women did similarly, said Zhang, and when they returned, were among the best qualified to take advantage as the domestic wine scene picked up pace. 

'Yin flourishing'

Silver Heights' Emma Gao was one of the first Chinese women to obtain a degree in oenology. These days, her wines are served by President Xi Jinping to European leaders at state dinners.
Gao was sent to France's Bordeaux wine region by her father, who founded the vineyard.
"I think China is very tolerant of women, and we're even seeing a little bit of yin (the feminine force) flourishing and yang (the masculine) declining," Gao laughed.
Silver Heights' angular modern buildings are emblematic of its boundary-pushing nature.
It is China's first biodynamically certified vineyard, using natural techniques such as fertiliser made from manure-filled cow horns.
As well as more familiar tall metal cylinders, Gao's fermentation room contains smaller egg and vase-shaped vessels made of Ningxia clay.
"China is a relatively new production area, that is, its direction has not yet been determined," said Gao as she sampled her experiments, nodding approvingly.
"So we can try different planting methods, brewing methods, and fermentation in different containers."
That spirit of exploration has paid off.
A sparkling wine that incorporates local rice wine became a sell-out hit: "What every girl should have in her bag to take to a house party, because it has a good story to tell," Gao said.

'Living for themselves'

Telling compelling stories about wine is influencer Zhu Lili's domain.
Livestreaming into three cameras in a Beijing restaurant, she described bottle after bottle with easy expertise -- her mother runs another award-winning winery.
Pop-up links allowed those of her two million followers watching to make immediate purchases.
Online sales are a significant source of revenue for producers -- and streamers like Zhu are key to capturing new consumers.
"Middle-aged mothers really love my videos because that's the life that they didn't have time to explore," said Zhu.
Learning about wine feels like "living for themselves".
China's classic alcohols -- beer and baijiu, a potent grain spirit -- are largely associated with and consumed by men.
But "the cultural way that wine is promoted here, it's very much a sophistication" that appeals to women, Walker said.
Female students are the overwhelming majority on wine courses, Walker and Zhang both noted.
Though men still buy more wine, said Zhu, women were more open to trying new things.
"For me, it's like how Chinese men and women treat fashion," said Sophie Zhou, who runs a trendy specialist bar among Beijing's historic alleyways.
Just as women are more likely to try out new season looks, her female customers "usually go for different glasses, so they can try different styles and tastes".
cc-reb/je/dhw

economy

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka eyes China development

BY AMAL JAYASINGHE

  • When the island nation plunged into chaos, CIA chief Bill Burns blamed its economic collapse on what he called "dumb bets" on Chinese-funded projects.
  • Sri Lanka's economic collapse was partly blamed on struggling high-debt Chinese mega-projects, but candidates in Saturday's presidential election are banking on at least one of them to buck the trend.
  • When the island nation plunged into chaos, CIA chief Bill Burns blamed its economic collapse on what he called "dumb bets" on Chinese-funded projects.
Sri Lanka's economic collapse was partly blamed on struggling high-debt Chinese mega-projects, but candidates in Saturday's presidential election are banking on at least one of them to buck the trend.
The strategically located Indian Ocean country suffered its worst financial meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of dollars to import essentials, sparking street protests that toppled the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
When the island nation plunged into chaos, CIA chief Bill Burns blamed its economic collapse on what he called "dumb bets" on Chinese-funded projects.
These include an international airport without flights, a seaport without ships, an empty convention centre, and a $113 million, 350-metre (1,155-foot) communication tower shunned by broadcasters.
Colombo has since secured a $2.9 billion IMF bailout loan, but whoever is elected will face huge loans and interest accumulated since Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion external debt.
All top three candidates -- incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka -- are hoping a Chinese-funded real estate "Port City" development will woo much-needed foreign investors.

'Gateway to South Asia'

Past projects, dubbed "white elephants" by critics, were built with generous loans from China's infrastructure development programme known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Western nations criticise as a debt trap for developing countries.
In December 2017, unable to repay a huge Chinese loan, Sri Lanka handed its Hambantota port in the south of the island to a Beijing company on a 99-year lease for $1.12 billion.
The Port City development began in 2014, when the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) invested $1.4 billion to reclaim 269 hectares (665 acres) of land next to Colombo harbour.
It bills itself as the "gateway to South Asia", a special economic zone with tax breaks of up to 40 years.
For now, it remains largely empty.
But Revan Wickramasuriya, the chief operating officer of the Port City Economic Commission, the state regulator of the zone, said the authorities expect to attract $12-$15 billion in foreign direct investment to construct buildings and set up hotels, housing, and a marina.
"This is an asset that has been created for Sri Lanka", Wickramasuriya told AFP, underlining that "the government hasn't borrowed a single dollar to reclaim this land.
"Now it is up to the government of Sri Lanka to actually take this asset and monetise it," he added.
CHEC's Port City plan says it offers a "world-class global hub" for businesses, promising a "high-freedom, low-risk financial environment".

'Tax holidays'

While election campaigning season was in full swing, President Wickremesinghe, once critical of the project, took time to inaugurate a Duty Free mall at the site -- yet to see major construction -- and secured parliamentary approval to allow offshore banking.
Key challenger Premadasa has vowed to continue with the project, but with unspecified amendments to the terms of the zone.
The coalition of the main leftist candidate, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, has said it would use it to attract "global IT players".
But critics note several businesses moving to the special zone were existing Sri Lankan companies, and a few foreign firms already operating.
"Why are these companies going to Port City? The simple and only reason is that they are getting very generous 25- to 40-year tax holidays," said Imran Furkan, from geopolitical risk analysis firm Tresync.
Furkan also said the development fed into strategic rivalry between China and India, which has previously seen neighbouring Colombo as firmly part of its sphere of influence.
Indian firms that already benefit from tax free zones at home may be reluctant to deal with a landlord that is a state-owned company of China, Furkan said.
"It makes no economic or strategic sense," Furkan warned.
aj/pjm/hmn

Fed

US Fed set to make first rate cut since 2020

BY DANIEL AVIS

  • But as inflation has fallen in the months since, and the labor market has cooled, analysts at top US banks have raised the number of cuts they expect the Fed to pencil in this year. 
  • The US Federal Reserve is all but certain to cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in more than four years, a significant move likely to ripple through global financial markets.
  • But as inflation has fallen in the months since, and the labor market has cooled, analysts at top US banks have raised the number of cuts they expect the Fed to pencil in this year. 
The US Federal Reserve is all but certain to cut interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in more than four years, a significant move likely to ripple through global financial markets.
Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed chair Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank's long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool.
The decision will affect the rates at which commercial banks lend to consumers and businesses, affecting the cost of borrowing on everything from mortgages to credit cards.
Traders and analysts remain uncertain about how sharply the Fed will lower its benchmark lending rate from the current 23-year high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent. 
Some are banking on a smaller cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and others are backing a bigger half-point reduction.
A smaller cut would be a more predictable move, while a bigger move would do more to boost demand -- while also running the risk of reigniting inflation. 
"It's around points of inflection that we get the most mixed signals," Erica Groshen, a senior economics advisor at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, told AFP.  
"The Fed is trying to make sense out of them. And the markets are trying to make sense out of them, and trying to make sense out of how the Fed will interpret them," added Groshen, a former vice president at the New York Fed. 

Lower borrowing costs

Futures traders saw a 63 percent chance on Tuesday that the Fed would announce a bigger, half percentage-point move on Wednesday, and a 37 percent chance it would go with a more conventional 25 basis point cut, according to CME Group data. 
When the Fed cuts interest rates, commercial banks in the United States generally follow, reducing borrowing costs and stimulating demand in the world's largest economy.
For the Fed, a rate cut of any size would signal that consumer inflation, which hit a four-decade high in 2022, was returning to target. 
While there is a "compelling risk management case to support a larger move," recent Fed communications and data did not "argue clearly" for a larger cut, economists at Deutsche Bank wrote in a recent investor note, predicting a 25 basis point cut. 
"We remain of the view that the Fed will opt for a 25bps (basis point) rate cut to start its easing cycle," EY chief economist Gregory Daco wrote in a note to clients.

US election stakes

Analysts overwhelmingly expect the Fed to announce it is cutting rates on Wednesday, though there is less clarity about what comes next. 
In June, rate-setting committee members sharply reduced the number of cuts they had penciled in for this year from a median of three down to just one, amid a small uptick in inflation.  
But as inflation has fallen in the months since, and the labor market has cooled, analysts at top US banks have raised the number of cuts they expect the Fed to pencil in this year. 
The Fed has a dual mandate from Congress to act independently to set monetary policy to ensure both stable prices and maximum sustainable employment. 
But if it announces a cut on Wednesday, the Biden-Harris White House is likely to claim it as proof that their economic agenda is working and that the long-running battle against inflation is being won. 
That could raise the spirits of US consumers, who have consistently named the cost of living and inflation as top concerns ahead of November's election in which former Republican president Donald Trump is running against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. 
da/bjt

Trump

Musk to deliver 'drastic' cuts to Trump government

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House.
  • Elon Musk's fervent support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US election could extend far beyond incendiary tweets and campaign cash if the former president returns to the White House.
  • The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House.
Elon Musk's fervent support for Donald Trump in the upcoming US election could extend far beyond incendiary tweets and campaign cash if the former president returns to the White House.
The world's richest person has become increasingly present in Trump's campaign, essentially putting his personal X account, with its nearly 200 million followers, at the candidate's service.
Following a second apparent assassination bid on Trump Sunday, Musk questioned why Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden have been spared such attempts on their lives. He later deleted the post.
Musk has also used his personal account to endorse the unfounded conspiracy theory that a community of Haitian immigrants in Ohio had been stealing and eating the predominantly white population's pets.

Role in a Trump admin

Less publicized is Musk's agreement with Trump to lead a special commission on reducing federal spending, which would implement "drastic reforms," according to the former president.
The idea originated from a freewheeling conversation between Musk and Trump broadcast on X in August. Musk proposed a "government efficiency commission" to ensure taxpayers' money would be well spent.
Trump embraced the idea, praising Musk as "the greatest cutter," in reference to the Tesla and SpaceX founder's ruthless approach to running his companies.
"When your employees stop working, you say 'That's OK... every one of you is gone,'" Trump said admiringly of Musk.
While Trump didn't name the company, the reference was clearly to Musk's 2022 takeover of Twitter, which he later renamed X. 
In that acquisition, Musk eliminated 75 percent of staff, retaining only those willing to abide by his "hardcore" workplace ethos.
The mass layoffs decimated its content moderation teams and ushered in Musk's reign over the platform, leading to a rise in misinformation and an exodus of advertisers.

No 'rule by fiat'

According to the New York Times, the two men have had regular conversations about Musk's workplace philosophy, with the hope that the multi-billionaire can impose it on the US government in a second Trump administration.
When asked on the "All-In" podcast if this meant cutting as much as 5 percent of federal staff annually (about 150,000 workers), Musk replied, "I think we'd need to do more than that."
He declined to be more specific, claiming doing so would put him at risk of being "assassinated," but said that workers would have time to find new careers.
"The number of disgruntled workers, former government employees will be quite a scary number," he added ominously.
Public policy scholars cautioned that Musk may be overestimating his potential influence. 
In the United States, the power to cut government jobs lies with Congress, which controls the government's purse strings.
"Our system doesn't allow that concentration of power into any one office or any one individual that allows them to just rule by fiat the way that Musk can do at X, Tesla or SpaceX," said Casey Burgat, director of the legislative affairs program at George Washington University.
However, others worry that a second Trump administration could reset the rules, especially now that a conservative-led Supreme Court has the final say over the laws of the land.
The nine-member top court is now dominated by conservatives, including several Trump appointees, and has made recent decisions increasing the powers of the White House.
Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor at Syracuse University, suggests that Trump could decide to "do whatever he wants and let somebody file a lawsuit and bring it to the Supreme Court, who have been pretty favorable to Trump on matters of executive power."

No fouls?

Neither Trump nor Musk seem to be bothered by questions of conflict of interest, which are glaring to many observers.
Musk's diverse businesses are deeply intertwined with government, whether as a supplier to NASA in the case of SpaceX or as a subject of regulation as with Tesla, which often faces scrutiny over safety issues.
Trump, meanwhile, has a history of appointing family members to top government positions and faces regular accusations of overlapping his business interests with his role as a public servant.
Enforcing conflict-of-interest rules requires the political will of Congress, which Burgat said did little against obvious breaches in the first Trump administration.
"There's no umpire calling fouls here," Burgat told AFP.
arp/bfm

Global Edition

Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut

  • Retail sales were up 0.1 percent in the month, while expectations had been for a 0.2 percent drop.
  • Wall Street stocks finished little changed Tuesday as investors weighed how better than expected retail sales data would affect a Federal Reserve decision.
  • Retail sales were up 0.1 percent in the month, while expectations had been for a 0.2 percent drop.
Wall Street stocks finished little changed Tuesday as investors weighed how better than expected retail sales data would affect a Federal Reserve decision.
After closing at a record Monday, the Dow edged lower, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended with modest gains.
"I think investors are beginning to recalibrate their expectations," Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital said of the outlook on whether the Fed will opt for a bigger or smaller interest rate cut.
"I just think it was a little too much optimism for a bigger rate cut," Ablin added.
The Fed began its two-day meeting, with Fed boss Jerome Powell having already signalled that slowing inflation will allow the central bank to cut rates for the first time in four years when it reports its decision on Wednesday.
Debate has focused on whether officials will go for 25 basis points or 50, with some warning that the bigger option could signal there is some concern about the economy.
Earlier Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that consumer spending cooled in August, but not as much as analysts had expected, indicating the economy remains healthy. 
Retail sales were up 0.1 percent in the month, while expectations had been for a 0.2 percent drop.
Bets on the US central bank opting for a super-sized cut have jumped in recent days, with observers suggesting officials want to go big before a series of smaller reductions.
"It is extremely rare to go into a Fed meeting with such a high level of uncertainty," said David Morrison, analyst at Trade Nation. "This means there is likely to be considerable volatility after the announcement."
The expectations of lower interest rates have hurt the dollar in recent days, but it steadied Tuesday.
There are concerns too over Europe's biggest economy Germany as a survey Tuesday showed investor confidence fell significantly more than expected this month.
The ZEW institute's closely-watched economic expectations index fell to 3.6 points, down sharply from 19.2 points in August.
But the Frankfurt stock market ended higher, along with the bourse in Paris.
Support has come from the European Central Bank's decision last week to cut rates for the second time this year, according to analysts.
The Bank of England will also hold a policy meeting on Thursday but is widely expected to maintain its key interest rate at 5.0 percent.
Earlier, Tokyo closed down one percent as a strong yen weighed on Japanese exporters.

Key figures around 1235 GMT

New York - Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 41,606.18 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP less than 0.1 percent at 5,634.58 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 17,628.06 (close) 
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8,309.86 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,487.42 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX:  UP 0.5 percent at 18,726.08 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 36,203.22 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.4 percent at 17,660.02 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1116 from $1.1133 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3162 from $1.3226
Dollar/yen: UP at 141.22 yen from 140.62 yen 
Euro/pound: UP at 84.46 pence from 84.17 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $71.19 per barrel 
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.3 percent at $73.30 per barrel 
bur-jmb/bgs

children

Instagram, under pressure, tightens protection for teens

BY JULIE JAMMOT

  • "'Teen Accounts' is a significant update, designed to give parents peace of mind," Antigone Davis, Meta vice-president in charge of safety issues, told AFP. Under the new policy, users aged 13 to 17 will have private accounts by default, with tighter safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see.
  • Meta on Tuesday announced the creation of "Teen Accounts," designed to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with Instagram.
  • "'Teen Accounts' is a significant update, designed to give parents peace of mind," Antigone Davis, Meta vice-president in charge of safety issues, told AFP. Under the new policy, users aged 13 to 17 will have private accounts by default, with tighter safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see.
Meta on Tuesday announced the creation of "Teen Accounts," designed to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with Instagram.
Many experts and authorities accuse the hugely popular photo-sharing app of damaging the mental health of its youngest users through addiction to the app, bullying, and body image and self-esteem issues.
"'Teen Accounts' is a significant update, designed to give parents peace of mind," Antigone Davis, Meta vice-president in charge of safety issues, told AFP.
Under the new policy, users aged 13 to 17 will have private accounts by default, with tighter safeguards on who can contact them and what content they can see.
Thirteen to 15-year-olds who want a more public profile and fewer restrictions -- because they want to become influencers, for example -- will need to obtain permission from their parents. The new rules apply for both existing and new users to the platform.
"This is a big change. It means making sure that we do this really well," Davis said.

3 billion IDs

For the past year, pressure has been building across the globe against the social media giant founded by Mark Zuckerberg and its rivals. 
Last October, some forty US states filed a complaint against Meta's platforms, accusing them of harming the "mental and physical health of young people," due to the risks of addiction, cyber-bullying or eating disorders.
Australia, meanwhile, will soon set the minimum age for its social networks at between 14 and 16.
For the time being, Meta refuses to check the age of all of its users, in the name of confidentiality.
"When we have a strong signal that someone's age is wrong, we're going to ask them to verify their age, but we don't want to make three billion people have to provide IDs," Davis said.
In her opinion, it would be simpler and more effective if age checks were carried out at the level of the smartphone's mobile operating system, i.e. Google's Android or Apple's iOS.
"They actually have significant information about the age of users. And if they were to share that broadly across all the apps that teens use, that would provide peace of mind for parents."
It's not clear whether the new protections will be enough to reassure governments and online safety advocates, such as Matthew Bergman, founder of the Social Media Victims Law Center.
"Instagram is addictive. Instagram leads kids down dangerous rabbit holes, where they are shown not what they want to see, but what they can't look away from," he said.
His group represents 200 parents whose children committed suicide "after being encouraged to do so by videos recommended by Instagram or TikTok."
Bergman points to the many cases where young girls have developed serious eating disorders. 
Meta now prevents the promotion of extreme diets on its platforms, among other measures taken in recent years. 
These measures are "baby steps, but nevertheless, steps in the right direction," he told AFP.
In his view, all that's needed is for groups to make their platforms less addictive -- "and therefore a little less profitable."
This can be done without the platforms losing their quality for users, he said.
juj/arp/dw

Global Edition

Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil

BY RODRIGO ALMONACID

  • The report accuses meatpackers JBS, Marfrig and Minerva of doing business with farmers engaged in the illegal actions.
  • A report by environmental and rights NGOs Tuesday linked three major meatpacking companies to illegal deforestation in Brazil, where farmers are accused of spraying herbicides from the sky to clear huge tracts of land.
  • The report accuses meatpackers JBS, Marfrig and Minerva of doing business with farmers engaged in the illegal actions.
A report by environmental and rights NGOs Tuesday linked three major meatpacking companies to illegal deforestation in Brazil, where farmers are accused of spraying herbicides from the sky to clear huge tracts of land.
The farmers used 2,4-D -- a herbicide found in "Agent Orange," infamously used in the Vietnam War -- to clear 81,200 hectares of the Pantanal wetland, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, said the report by Mighty Earth, Reporter Brasil and AidEnvironment.
Using "chemical deforestation," they thus cleared an area four times the size of Amsterdam for raising cattle in what is meant to be a sanctuary for biodiversity, it added.
The report accuses meatpackers JBS, Marfrig and Minerva of doing business with farmers engaged in the illegal actions.
They, in turn, supply beef products to retailers including Carrefour, Casino/GPA, Grupo Mateus and Sendas/Assai, it added.
"The deliberate killing of countless trees and wildlife in the Pantanal by aerial spraying of a highly toxic compound of 'Agent Orange' is a devastating new war on nature being waged by the beef industry," said Mighty Earth Brazil director Joao Goncalves.
Apart from killing plant life, the chemicals can contaminate water and endanger fish, animals, even human beings.
Vietnam blames Agent Orange, sprayed by US forces to destroy ground cover and food sources in their war with North Vietnamese troops from 1962 to 1971, for severe birth defects in 150,000 children.
One farmer implicated in the Pantanal "chemical deforestation" campaign has been charged with numerous environmental crimes and fined over $520 million.
- 'The biome cannot withstand' - 
From 2009 to 2023 overall, the report said JBS slaughterhouses were linked to nearly 470,000 hectares of deforestation and land use conversion in the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado tropical savanna.
"Including Marfrig and Minerva Foods slaughterhouses, the total area destroyed over this period rises above 550,000 hectares. Of this total, 55 percent is located in the Cerrado biome and 45 percent in the Amazon," it said.
The NGO report was published as the Pantanal, the world's biggest wetland, battles devastating wildfires that have, among other things, injured a number of jaguars -- listed as "near threatened" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.
Authorities have said many of the fires were deliberately set, often to clear land for farming.
"The biome cannot withstand fire and rampant chemical deforestation," said Goncalves.
"The big beef companies need to urgently suspend all ranchers hell-bent on this destruction of nature for profit."
JBS in a response included in the report said the cases mentioned have not appeared in a database or an alert system it uses for monitoring.
The company added in a note to AFP that its policies do not "tolerate illegal deforestation."
Marfrig said that at the time it received cattle from a ranch mentioned in the report, the supplier had "met all the socio-environmental criteria."
Minerva said it had no business with the same farm.
Carrefour, for its part, said "none of the five farms mentioned is (a) supplier of the Carrefour Brazil group."
raa/app/mr/mlr/cb/st

protest

Bolivian ex-leader Morales, backers set out on weeklong protest march

  • Arce has accused his former ally-turned-rival Morales of plotting a coup by calling for demonstrations against him.
  • Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales embarked on a seven-day march with thousands of supporters Tuesday against incumbent leader Luis Arce, who has denounced the protest as a "coup attempt." 
  • Arce has accused his former ally-turned-rival Morales of plotting a coup by calling for demonstrations against him.
Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales embarked on a seven-day march with thousands of supporters Tuesday against incumbent leader Luis Arce, who has denounced the protest as a "coup attempt." 
Before departing on the near 200-kilometer (124-mile) "March to save Bolivia," from the town of Caracollo to the capital La Paz, Morales told backers Arce had "abandoned us, betrayed us, with bad management and corruption." 
Thousands of Indigenous marchers waved the flag of Bolivia as well as the flag of Morales and Arce's MAS socialist party. 
They also waved wiphalas -- the multicolored checkered symbol of the Indigenous peoples of the Andes. 
Arce has accused his former ally-turned-rival Morales of plotting a coup by calling for demonstrations against him.
Protesters, however, blame him for economic woes and a shortage of dollars and fuel in the South American country.
Chanting "The people are angry," the crowd set out on foot on a journey expected to get them to La Paz by next Monday. 
In a religious ceremony prior to their departure, they asked for the blessing of Pachamama (Mother Earth).
Morales, Bolivia's first-ever Indigenous president from 2006-2019, was extremely popular until he tried to bypass the constitution and seek a fourth term. 
He wants to challenge Arce to become the MAS candidate for presidential elections in August 2025, but the courts have so far barred him from doing so.  
On Monday, Morales supporters blocked roads leading to Lake Titicaca, a gigantic body of water shared by Bolivia and Peru and a popular tourist destination. 
jac/nn/lab/liu/mlr/fb/nro

unions

Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants

BY YEHYUN KIM WITH JOHN BIERS IN NEW YORK

  • Workers late Thursday overwhelmingly rejected the deal and voted 96 percent to strike.
  • Negotiators from Boeing and the machinists union representing its workers resumed talks Tuesday after some 33,000 employees went on strike late last week, effectively shutting down two Seattle-area factories.
  • Workers late Thursday overwhelmingly rejected the deal and voted 96 percent to strike.
Negotiators from Boeing and the machinists union representing its workers resumed talks Tuesday after some 33,000 employees went on strike late last week, effectively shutting down two Seattle-area factories.
Talks got underway Tuesday morning, said a person familiar with the matter. 
The objective is "to reestablish the relationship" between the union and Boeing, said a second person close to the discussions.
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 have been picketing 24 hours a day following the walkout early Friday morning, shuttering factories in Renton and Everett that assemble the 737 MAX and 777.
"We stand united, stronger than ever, because we fight side by side with an unwavering belief in our cause," the IAM said late Monday on its website.
The IAM, which has touted support from peer unions and political figures, began surveying the members to rank their priorities as the negotiations enter the next phase.
Meanwhile, Boeing announced Monday a hiring freeze and cutbacks in supplier expenditures and cautioned that it was considering staff furloughs.
"Our business is in a difficult period," Chief Financial Officer Brian West said in a memo to staff. "We must take necessary actions to preserve cash and safeguard our shared future."
West told an investor conference Friday that the company was eager to get back to the bargaining table and "hammer out a deal."
The talks, which will be assisted by federal mediators, aim to speed a resolution to Boeing's first strike since 2008 at a time when the aviation giant has been losing money and faces scrutiny from regulators and customers after safety incidents.

Quick resolution possible?

Boeing had been hopeful about averting a strike after reaching a preliminary deal with IAM leadership on September 8 that included a 25 percent general wage increase over four years, reduced mandatory overtime and a pledge to build the next new airplane in the Puget Sound.
But rank-and-file workers blasted the deal as insufficient, dismissing the 25 percent figure as misleading and inadequate in light of the agreement's elimination of an annual bonus for workers.
Workers also were displeased with other elements of the agreement, including its failure to reinstate pensions. And they said the pledge on building the new airplane in the Puget Sound needed to be strengthened beyond the four-year lifespan of the contract.
Underlying the fury has been a more than decade-long period of essentially stagnant wages at a time when consumer inflation has stressed budgets. 
Workers late Thursday overwhelmingly rejected the deal and voted 96 percent to strike.
Analysts at Bank of America noted that Boeing strikes have historically lasted about 60 days on average, but said there was also a chance of it being as short as a week.
"We see it likely Boeing would have to make further concessions and move closer to the IAM's initial proposal of 40 percent wage gains," Bank of America said in a note.
TD Cowen also said a "quick resolution" was a possibility, but pointed to the chance of a protracted stoppage because of the "loss of credibility" of Jon Holden, head of the IAM's Seattle district, who initially supported then pivoted away from the deal.
"Boeing will be leery of getting a yes vote just on his support, and the union is unlikely to accept a revised Boeing offer on his say so," TD Cowen said. "If Boeing's second offer fails, we see both sides digging in."
Holden has said his initial support for the deal was because he believed it was the best agreement possible without a strike and that a better deal could not be guaranteed in a strike.
But the "real power" of the IAM rests with workers, Holden said at a news conference last week announcing the strike.
Joining the talks will be three officials from the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS), which had been monitoring the talks, reached out to the parties right after the strike began and will facilitate negotiations.
Javier Ramirez, deputy director of field operations for the FMCS, said the plan Tuesday will be to meet with the two sides together before speaking individually with each and sometimes conducting shuttle diplomacy.
"We reached out to have them meet and talk sooner rather than later," said Ramirez, who described the FMCS' role as open ended and day-by-day.
jmb/bfm

climate

Electric cars overtake petrol models in Norway

BY PIERRE-HENRY DESHAYES

  • "The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with a passenger car fleet dominated by electric cars," Thorsen said.
  • Hot on the heels of still-dominant diesel cars, electric vehicles now outnumber petrol models for the first time in oil-rich Norway, a world first that puts the country on track to taking fossil fuel vehicles off the road.
  • "The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with a passenger car fleet dominated by electric cars," Thorsen said.
Hot on the heels of still-dominant diesel cars, electric vehicles now outnumber petrol models for the first time in oil-rich Norway, a world first that puts the country on track to taking fossil fuel vehicles off the road.
Of the 2.8 million private cars registered in Norway, 754,303 are all-electric, compared to 753,905 that run on petrol, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV), an industry organisation, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Diesel models remain most numerous at just under one million, but their sales are falling sharply.
"This is historic. A milestone few saw coming 10 years ago," OFV director Oyvind Solberg Thorsen said in a statement.
"The electrification of the fleet of passenger cars is going quickly, and Norway is thereby rapidly moving towards becoming the first country in the world with a passenger car fleet dominated by electric cars," Thorsen said.
The speed at which Norway's car fleet is being renewed "suggests that in 2026 we will have more electric cars than diesel cars," he said.
"As far as I know, no other country in the world is in the same situation" with EVs outnumbering petrol cars, he told AFP.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electric vehicles made up just 3.2 percent of the global car fleet in 2023 -- 4.1 percent in France, 7.6 percent in China, 18 percent in Iceland -- with this data including rechargeable hybrid cars, unlike the Norwegian data. 
Norway, paradoxically a major oil and gas producer, has set a target to sell only zero-emission vehicles by 2025, 10 years ahead of the European Union's goal. Norway is not an EU member.
Boosted by sales of the Tesla Model Y, all-electric vehicles made up a record 94.3 percent of new car registrations in August in Norway, a sharp contrast to EV struggles seen elsewhere in Europe.
"We're almost there," said Christina Bu, head of the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association. 
"Now the government just has to make a little extra effort in the 2025 budget bill (to be presented to parliament on October 7) and resist the temptation to raise taxes on EVs while continuing to increase those on fuel cars," she told AFP.
In a bid to electrify road transport to help meet Norway's climate commitments, authorities have offered generous tax rebates on EVs, making them competitively priced compared to highly-taxed fuel and diesel cars, as well as hybrid vehicles.
Several other EV incentives -- including exemptions on inner city tolls, free parking and use of collective transport lanes -- have also played a role in Norway's success, even though those have gradually been rolled back over the years.

Sharp contrast with Europe

Norway has come a long way in 20 years: in September 2004, the country's car fleet counted 1.6 million petrol cars, around 230,000 diesel cars and just 1,000 EVs, OFV noted.
The transition to EVs has played a big role in Norway's efforts to meet its climate commitments, which include a 55-percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 from 1990 levels.
But it is not enough.
In 2023, emissions shrank by 4.7 percent from the previous year, according to official statistics, but the decline compared to 1990 was just 9.1 percent.
Electric cars are considered even more climate-friendly in Norway, where almost all electricity is generated by hydro power.
This success story contrasts sharply with the situation in the rest of Europe, where sales of EVs are slumping as hybrid models prove more popular.
Electric car sales began falling at the end of 2023, and account for just 12.5 percent of new cars sold on the continent since the start of the year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
Their share of the market is expected to increase sharply in 2025, to between 20 and 24 percent of new car registrations, according to think tank Transport & Environment (T&E).
Some doubt the EU's ability to completely ban fuel and diesel cars by 2035.
In Norway's neighbour and EU member Sweden, sales of new EVs have decreased this year for the first time, according to industry group Mobility Sweden, likely the result of a government decision to remove a rebate on EV purchases.
phy/po/jm