Fed

Watchdog finds no criminal misconduct over US Fed renovations despite Trump probe

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • In April, the Department of Justice dropped a criminal probe into then-chairman Jerome Powell over the cost overruns after Trump had called for the central bank chief to step down.
  • A government watchdog said Wednesday it found no grounds to pursue criminal charges over cost overruns in renovations of the US Federal Reserve headquarters after President Trump attempted to charge the central bank's then-chief over the issue.
  • In April, the Department of Justice dropped a criminal probe into then-chairman Jerome Powell over the cost overruns after Trump had called for the central bank chief to step down.
A government watchdog said Wednesday it found no grounds to pursue criminal charges over cost overruns in renovations of the US Federal Reserve headquarters after President Trump attempted to charge the central bank's then-chief over the issue.
"At no point during our evaluation did we find reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of federal criminal law had occurred," the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Federal Reserve said in its report.
In April, the Department of Justice dropped a criminal probe into then-chairman Jerome Powell over the cost overruns after Trump had called for the central bank chief to step down.
Trump had clashed with Powell over the path of interest rates, launching an unprecedented assault on the Fed's independence as he demanded the central bank cut rates to spur economic activity.
The charges were dropped after a senator from Trump's own party refused to confirm the president's chosen successor to Powell, saying he would only do so if the criminal probe was stopped.
At the time, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she would bow to the inspector general's findings.

Unprecedented assault

Powell took the helm of the Fed during Trump's first presidency in 2018 and was subsequently reappointed to the position under Democratic president Joe Biden.
When he announced that the DOJ probe had been launched in January, Powell explicitly said it was meant to pressure the Fed to set interest rates in line with Trump's preferences.
In a highly unusual move, he did not resign his post on the Fed's Board of Governors when his term as chair ended in May.
At the time, Powell said he would not leave that position until the probe over the cost overruns was "well and truly over, with transparency and finality."
Trump's campaign against the Fed's independence has also seen him attempt to unseat another Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over mortgage fraud allegations that she denies.
In June, the Supreme Court sided with Cook and ruled that Trump could not summarily dismiss her over unproven allegations.
In August, however, the White House doubled down on its attempt to fire Cook.
On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said the OIG's report proved that Trump's DOJ has "no basis to restart the President's witch hunt against former Fed Chair Jerome Powell."
"The President should quit trying to fire Fed governors to cover up for his economic failures and instead stop his chaotic tariffs and end his war in Iran."

Management deficiencies

The OIG's investigation centered around a major building renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters whose cost estimates grew from $1.3 billion in February 2020 to $2.4 billion in December 2024.
In its report -- which was dated Tuesday but made available online on Wednesday -- the OIG said that its probe found deficiencies in management of the renovation project, but "did not identify administrative misconduct during our evaluation."
It made a series of recommendations to address those problems, including the appointment of an independent body to oversee costs and the construction schedule, and the ordering of an audit of the project.
In a letter attached to the report, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh pledged to implement the OIG's recommendations.
"With the changes we are putting in place, we will deliver a superior result for this project and add to our strengths as an institution," he wrote.
aha/pnb

trade

US pushes against overproduction with eye on China at G20 meeting

BY BEIYI SEOW

  • "We're releasing a Milwaukee framework to take coordinated action on steel excess capacity," top US trade official Jamieson Greer told reporters Wednesday.
  • The United States is pushing for action against excess industrial capacity that drives prices down unfairly, Washington's top trade envoy said Wednesday on the sidelines of a G20 meeting, with some countries -- excluding China -- agreeing to a plan that includes lowering subsidies.
  • "We're releasing a Milwaukee framework to take coordinated action on steel excess capacity," top US trade official Jamieson Greer told reporters Wednesday.
The United States is pushing for action against excess industrial capacity that drives prices down unfairly, Washington's top trade envoy said Wednesday on the sidelines of a G20 meeting, with some countries -- excluding China -- agreeing to a plan that includes lowering subsidies.
The developments came as officials from the Group of 20 major economies convene in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee over two days, with a group of countries agreeing on a framework to counter "persistent" excess steel production.
This is a criticism often levied against China, with accusations that it produces more than it consumes, flooding markets. Beijing rejects these claims.
"We're releasing a Milwaukee framework to take coordinated action on steel excess capacity," top US trade official Jamieson Greer told reporters Wednesday.
"Every country will do what they think is appropriate. We want to coordinate those measures," Greer added. "The United States has taken robust measures, and it probably makes sense for other countries to do that too."
He did not elaborate if he meant for countries to raise trade barriers on Chinese steel.
Greer's comments came after a meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity, whose 28 members include the European Union, Australia, Japan and South Korea -- but not China.
Asked about his message to partners this week on overcapacity, China's international trade representative Li Chenggang told AFP that G20 members had yet to discuss the topic in earnest.
Besides plans to reduce or eliminate "market-distorting subsidies," members of the steel global forum also agreed to boost data sharing to help identify "suspicious patterns of steel trade," according to the framework.
It added that members would also take "trade measures," if needed, on countries that overproduce.

Few breakthroughs 

G20 trade ministers toured a business in Milwaukee on Wednesday and are set for talks in the afternoon.
But US President Donald Trump's global tariffs cast a pall over their agenda, and have pushed countries to seek cooperation outside the world's biggest economy.
The talks come amid a deepening US-Canada trade war, waves of US tariffs and Trump's investigations into member countries over excess industrial capacity.
Analysts expect few breakthroughs as trade tensions simmer.
Countries are meanwhile seeking deals with the Trump administration, with India pushing to get a trade pact over the finish line.
The G20 trade ministerial comes after finance ministers met in Asheville, setting the stage for a leaders' summit in Miami.
Heading into talks early Wednesday, Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski urged for a lowering of trade barriers.
"I do hope that our US partners will stick to all settlements that were made," he added, referring to an earlier deal between the United States and European Union to cap Trump's duties on the bloc at 15 percent.
Ongoing US investigations into overcapacity target 16 trading partners including China, the EU, Japan and India -- bringing the threat of additional tariffs even to those who earlier struck agreements.
Poland is not a permanent G20 member but has been invited to the table this year as Washington holds the grouping's rotating presidency. In turn, US officials have excluded South Africa.
Also on the agenda this week are efforts to eliminate forced labor in supply chains and the targeting of access to food supplies to pressure others.
Domanski on Wednesday condemned "all actions taken by Russia against the export of agriculture products from Ukraine," as Moscow and Kyiv remain at war after Russia's 2022 invasion.
Asked about existing deals to cut tariffs imposed by Trump in his second presidency, Greer told reporters Tuesday: "We will certainly take them into account."
On reaching a pact with Canada, where certain products now face a US ban due to their trade spat, Greer added: "It's not urgent for us."
"At some point will there be a deal? I mean, presumably," he said. "Eventually, it will happen."
The G20 comprises 19 nations plus the EU and the African Union.
bys/acb

Global Edition

Europe's surging inflation spreads gloom in stock markets

  • Meanwhile Europe's main stock markets closed lower after France, Germany and Italy revealed that prices in their countries were surging, particularly at the petrol pumps.
  • Surging inflation in Europe dragged down the continent's stock markets on Wednesday while the US reported that prices of essentials were rising slower than expected, reducing the likelihood of another interest rate hike and helping Wall Street stocks climb.
  • Meanwhile Europe's main stock markets closed lower after France, Germany and Italy revealed that prices in their countries were surging, particularly at the petrol pumps.
Surging inflation in Europe dragged down the continent's stock markets on Wednesday while the US reported that prices of essentials were rising slower than expected, reducing the likelihood of another interest rate hike and helping Wall Street stocks climb.
The US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge stood at 3.4 percent year-on-year in August, unchanged from the month before after a revision to the July figure, government data showed.
But the core reading that excludes volatile food and energy prices came in at 3.0 percent, less than the 3.3 percent expected by economists.
"Expectations of a Fed rate hike in October have dropped sharply," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
"The market now sees a 37 percent chance of a hike from the Fed next month, down from a 70 percent chance last week."
The Fed raised rates earlier this month for the first time since 2023 as inflation remains stubbornly above its two percent target. Investors had worried another acceleration in inflation could force policymakers to raise rates again. 
The US dollar lost ground after the data was published, while yields on US government bonds dropped.
Meanwhile Europe's main stock markets closed lower after France, Germany and Italy revealed that prices in their countries were surging, particularly at the petrol pumps.
"This morning's economic releases from the eurozone have done little to improve the outlook, with a combination of rising inflation and weakening sentiment reinforcing concerns about stagflation," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
London's FTSE 100 also ended the day lower after an earlier rally following data showed the UK economy grew more than initially estimated in the second quarter.
London-listed mining firms had risen thanks to data out of China -- a huge consumer of industrial metals -- that showed the country's factory activity grew this month for the first time since June.
That news also gave a boost to the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets, which edged up slightly at the close along with Tokyo.
Oil prices jumped on Wednesday on reports of fresh damage to Saudi energy infrastructure.
"Reports of a Houthi attack on a Saudi oil processing facility have halted the selloff in oil prices, which had gathered pace yesterday on reports of a much-improved supply situation," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
Benchmark international contract Brent remains above $100 per barrel, fuelling global inflation and multi-decade highs in bond yields.

Key figures at around 1530 GMT

New York - Dow: UP less 0.1 percent at 51,389.69 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 7,716.15
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 27,061.20
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 10,606.00 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.0 percent at 7,957.51 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 25,199.19 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.9 percent at 66,753.72 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 24,613.27 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,842.19 (close)
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $91.73 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.1 percent at $103.73 per barrel
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.16 yen from 157.32 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1360 from $1.1339
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3276 from $1.3204
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.58 pence from 86.00 pence 
burs-rl/jxb

oil

Oil companies close in on Venezuela despite hurdles

BY AHIANA FIGUEROA

  • Venezuela's government, which remains under control of the ruling Chavista movement -- named after late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez -- blames years of tough US sanctions for crippling the industry.
  • Foreign oil companies scrambled for a slice of Venezuela's crude at an oil summit in Caracas this week despite years of sanctions, underinvestment and mismanagement that have crippled the once booming industry.
  • Venezuela's government, which remains under control of the ruling Chavista movement -- named after late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez -- blames years of tough US sanctions for crippling the industry.
Foreign oil companies scrambled for a slice of Venezuela's crude at an oil summit in Caracas this week despite years of sanctions, underinvestment and mismanagement that have crippled the once booming industry.
Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its current production of one million barrels of crude per day falls far short of the three million it averaged decades ago, with experts attributing the decline to years of corruption and poor management.
The sold-out Venezuela International Oil and Gas Summit in Caracas, which runs until Wednesday, has attracted bosses from companies including European giants Repsol, Siemens, Maurel & Prom, US firm Hunt Oil Company, Qatari producer UCC Holding and Colombia's GeoPark.
"Venezuela is the place to be," Erik Keskula, director of exploration and production at UCC Oil and Gas Holding, said Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump, who wants to take charge of the country's oil industry, has piled pressure on interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, who took power after the United States toppled president Nicolas Maduro in a military raid in January.
Rodriguez has granted Washington access to a huge chunk of the country's crude reserves and signed agreements with foreign companies to look for, produce and export oil and gas.
North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the company at the heart of a massive US-Venezuela deal in August to operate 17 oil fields with proven reserves of about 65 billion barrels, was not present at the summit.
According to a White House report, Washington holds veto power over NABEP's board of directors, the majority of whom must be US citizens.
Critics in both the United States and Venezuela accuse Trump of holding the country to ransom after ousting Maduro and warning that Rodriguez could face a similar fate if she does not succumb to Washington's demands.
Rodriguez insists Venezuela retains control of its oil.
 

'Work to be done'

 
Organizers said hundreds of names were on a waiting list for the event, highlighting the industry buzz around Venezuela's oil sector re-opening after years of state control.
Venezuela's government, which remains under control of the ruling Chavista movement -- named after late socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez -- blames years of tough US sanctions for crippling the industry.
In 2019, during his first term in office, Trump imposed an embargo on Venezuelan oil in response to 2018 elections that were already marred by fraud allegations.
Venezuela's state-owned PDVSA oil giant was in freefall at the time, beset by corruption scandals, mismanagement and a crippling lack of investment. 
Oil output buckled under the weight of the sanctions.
"Real work remains on transparency, on governance, on ensuring that every dollar of revenue serves its intended purpose," said Michael Garcia, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Caracas.
"But the direction is unmistakable," he said. "Where there was stagnation, there is now investment."
Venezuela's chronic electricity shortage was a key theme at the event, which was itself hit by two power cuts.
Hunter Hunt, CEO of Hunt Energy Holdings, said he was confident that such "infrastructural weaknesses" could be solved "quite quickly."
 

'Ambitious goal'

 
Companies already operating in Venezuela are pushing to boost production.
Ludwing Mercado, Repsol's operations manager for Venezuela, said the company aimed to increase oil production by 50 percent in its oil fields in the country's west.
When French firm Maurel & Prom secured a US license to operate in Venezuela this year -- along with BP, Chevron, Eni, Repsol and Shell -- bosses were "perhaps overly optimistic at the start," deputy general manager Cesar Alvarez said.
"We drew up an action plan, but we ran up against reality and [had to] delay certain activities," he said.
Despite the challenges, Maurel & Prom expects to close the year with an output of 23,000 barrels per day.
afc/pgf/atm/cb/mjf

growth

US reports firm Q2 economic growth, inflation steady

BY ASAD HASHIM

  • The BEA also revised upwards its estimate of GDP growth in the first quarter of this year by 0.4 percentage points to 2.5 percent.
  • The United States on Wednesday estimated stronger second-quarter GDP growth than previously reported, with inflation remaining steady and private payrolls increasing more than expected. 
  • The BEA also revised upwards its estimate of GDP growth in the first quarter of this year by 0.4 percentage points to 2.5 percent.
The United States on Wednesday estimated stronger second-quarter GDP growth than previously reported, with inflation remaining steady and private payrolls increasing more than expected. 
The US Commerce Department revised upwards its estimate for Q2 GDP growth in the world's largest economy by 0.7 percentage points to 2.2 percent.
"The contributors to the increase in real GDP in the second quarter were consumer spending, investment, and exports. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased," the Bureau of Economic Analysis said in a statement.
The new data will come as a boost to US President Donald Trump as his Republican Party heads into key midterm elections in November, with the state of the economy a major issue for voters.
Analysts said much of the upward revision came from sectors exposed to the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology boom.
"The annual revisions show AI contributed more to growth and less to inflation in recent years than previously thought," said Michael Pearce, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.
The BEA also revised upwards its estimate of GDP growth in the first quarter of this year by 0.4 percentage points to 2.5 percent.
That change was primarily driven by upward revisions to consumer spending and services exports, the department said.

Inflation steady

In a separate release, the BEA said the US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge stood at 3.4 percent year-on-year in August, unchanged from the month before after a revision to the July data.
US households and businesses have been battered by years of high prices since the pandemic, with the Fed missing its long-term two-percent target for inflation since early 2021.
Earlier this month, the Fed raised interest rates for the first time in three years to combat the inflation.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's targeted gauge, covers a broader range of household spending than the other benchmark metric, the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
US inflation has been stoked by some of Trump's policies, including his imposition of widespread tariffs. His launching of the Iran war has sent global energy prices skyrocketing, with US consumers paying an average of 50 percent more at the pump.
Core PCE inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, came in at 3.0 percent year-over-year.
Markets are closely watching inflation data to gauge the Fed's next move. On Tuesday, an influential US central banker said there was no "urgency" to raise rates again, even as he indicated one more rate hike could be needed before the end of the year.
Wednesday's revisions to PCE data were due to planned methodological changes, including to how the BEA calculates prices for computer-related products, portfolio management and legal services.  
Bernard Yaros, also of Oxford Economics, said the new PCE data was unlikely to sway the Fed from its path of monetary policy tightening, especially given upside risks to energy prices from the Iran war.
"Core inflation is still hovering well above target, and risks are firmly stacked to the upside because of the sharp rise in refined petroleum product prices in recent months," he said.

Private payrolls bounce back

The US labor market has been largely stable this year, allowing the Fed to concentrate on the inflation side of its dual mandate.
On Wednesday, payroll firm ADP reported that US private sector hiring had bounced back strongly in September, after registering its slowest pace this year the month before.
Private sector job growth came in at 90,000 last month, up from 38,000 the month before and well above market expectations. 
"It's a strong report," said Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist. "After a three-month slowdown, job creation rebounded and pay growth remained solid."
ADP's data is closely monitored ahead of official employment numbers due Friday, although the reports can diverge.
Analyst Matthew Martin said ADP's data underscored "the strength of the labor market."
It "will bolster market expectations for firmer monetary policy from the Federal Reserve as it seeks to ensure inflation is tamped out," he added.
aha/

France

Energy costs spark inflation surge across Europe

BY SAM REEVES

  • Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in Germany, France, Italy and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
  • Inflation accelerated more than expected in Germany, France and Italy in September as energy costs soared because of the Middle East war, official data showed Wednesday, boosting expectations for further eurozone interest rate hikes.
  • Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in Germany, France, Italy and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
Inflation accelerated more than expected in Germany, France and Italy in September as energy costs soared because of the Middle East war, official data showed Wednesday, boosting expectations for further eurozone interest rate hikes.
The annual rate hit 3.3 percent in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, the fastest pace since December 2023, according to preliminary data from the statistics agency Destatis.
In France consumer prices rose three percent in the month compared to a year earlier, the highest since February 2024 and a sharp increase from 2.4 percent in August, statistics office Insee said.
In Italy inflation jumped to 4.2 percent, nearly a full percentage point above the 3.3 percent recorded in August, the Istat agency reported.
The price hikes are well above the European Central Bank's inflation target of two percent, raising the likelihood it will raise interest rates further.
Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in Germany, France, Italy and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
That has raised expectations among analysts that the ECB will tighten monetary policy further in the coming months to rein in inflation, potentially dampening the eurozone's economic growth.
The central bank raised its benchmark rate to 2.5 percent earlier this month.
Inflation data for the full eurozone will be released on Friday. 
 

Inflation 'feeding through'

 
Jack Allen-Reynolds, an economist at Capital Economics, said the inflation readings "suggest that the indirect effects of higher energy costs are beginning to feed through" to the wider economy.
But he added that "this is unlikely to tip the balance for the ECB" and he expects policymakers to keep rates steady at their next meeting in October, before hiking again in December.
His view was shared by other analysts who said the central bank would wait until December, when it also releases updated economic forecasts.
Some analysts also noted that core inflation in Germany, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, was steady at 2.4 percent in September. 
"This should ease the immediate pressure on the ECB to implement further monetary tightening at its next meeting," said Dirk Schumacher, chief economist at the German public lender KfW.
Still, Rory Fennessy of Oxford Economics said the latest inflation readings could shift the debate at the ECB.
"The fact that inflation has surprised to the upside in September will only strengthen the case among the hawks in the [ECB governing council] for a more aggressive pace of tightening," he said.
Analysts at ING meanwhile said the French figures "suggest that inflation is likely to remain above three percent for the rest of 2026 before gradually declining in 2027".
That will weigh on household purchasing power "at a time when consumption is weakening and rising interest rates are exacerbating France's fiscal difficulties" they said.
Consumer spending fell 0.5 percent in France in August, Insee also reported Wednesday, and the country's public debt stood at 119 percent of GDP in the second quarter -- nearly double the eurozone limit of 60 percent.
bur-js-sr/fz/js
 
 

climate

Dangote's $16bn Kenya refinery 'new chapter' for Africa

  • Today we are not simply breaking ground for a refinery, we're breaking ground for a new chapter in Africa's industrial journey," Dangote said.
  • Africa's richest man was set to break ground on a new $16-billion mega-refinery in Kenya on Wednesday, saying it marked a "new chapter in Africa's industrial journey". 
  • Today we are not simply breaking ground for a refinery, we're breaking ground for a new chapter in Africa's industrial journey," Dangote said.
Africa's richest man was set to break ground on a new $16-billion mega-refinery in Kenya on Wednesday, saying it marked a "new chapter in Africa's industrial journey". 
Aliko Dangote created Africa's biggest oil refinery in his native Nigeria and the east African version at the port of Lamu will have a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day -- larger than any in Europe.  
The project, which aims for completion within 30 to 40 months, has already faced a lawsuit from a local community over land rights. A court ruling published on Monday said the ground-breaking could go ahead, but the case will continue. 
Greenpeace and other environmentalists have also raised objections over its impact. Lamu is a tourist hotspot known for the oldest Swahili settlement founded in the 12th century, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Dangote dismissed the challenges, saying: "We're not really scared of people taking us to court. Anybody who wants to cause trouble, we are ready for his trouble and will give him a headache."
He was joined by Kenyan President William Ruto and regional leaders including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for the ceremony.
"This is Africa coming together to build Africa. Today we are not simply breaking ground for a refinery, we're breaking ground for a new chapter in Africa's industrial journey," Dangote said.
Ruto said "Lamu will be the epicentre of the development of our country" and sought to reassure locals that land and environmental concerns "will be handled lawfully and fairly".

Regional rivalry

The project is emerging amid complex regional competition, with Uganda and Tanzania announcing a rival $20-billion refinery and energy hub at the Tanzanian port of Tanga in August, although details of that venture remain sketchy. 
Uganda will start producing its first oil in the coming weeks and has almost completed a pipeline to the Tanzanian coast in collaboration with French giant TotalEnergies.
As a result, most of the crude being refined at Dangote's Kenyan refinery will have to come by ship from other regions, at least initially. 
Dangote told reporters on Tuesday that it would source from the Middle East, the United States and other areas -- but would be ready as countries like Kenya and Mozambique start producing more oil. 
He initially considered building his refinery in Tanzania but finally chose Lamu for its deep seaport and "solid land", he said. 
It will include a 1,000-megawatt power facility, with half the production going back into the Kenyan grid. 

'A start-up'

The refinery is framed as a vital step towards Africa reducing its reliance on imports of refined fuel and foreign expertise.
"For too long, our continent has actually been rich in resources but poor in value creation and addition. We have exported crude oil and imported refined products," Dangote said. 
"Such practice only leads to us exporting our jobs and opportunities that should remain on the continent and lead us into importing poverty into our nations. Africa cannot build lasting prosperity by exporting what it has and importing what it needs," he added.
Ruto cited figures showing that Africa produced 6.8 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, while consuming 4.5 million of refined petroleum products -- a sign that it has high demand, but is surrendering the biggest profits to overseas refiners.
er/cw

Italy

Energy costs spark inflation surges in France, Italy

  • Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in France, Italy, Germany and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
  • Inflation rates jumped in France and Italy in September as energy and fuel costs soared because of the Mideast war, official data showed Wednesday.
  • Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in France, Italy, Germany and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
Inflation rates jumped in France and Italy in September as energy and fuel costs soared because of the Mideast war, official data showed Wednesday.
The annual rate hit three percent in France, the highest since February 2024 and a sharp increase from 2.4 percent in August, statistics office Insee said.
In Italy inflation jumped to 4.2 percent, nearly a full percentage point above the 3.3 percent recorded in August, the Istat agency reported.
The price hikes are well above the European Central Bank's inflation target of two percent, raising the likelihood it will raise interest rates further.
Diesel prices in particular have hit record highs in France, Italy, Germany and several other eurozone countries in recent weeks, a result of the Middle East war that has slowed shipments of both crude oil and refined fuels from the Gulf.
That has raised expectations among analysts that the ECB will have to tighten monetary policy further in the coming months to rein in inflation, potentially weighing on the eurozone's economic growth.
The central bank raised its benchmark rate to 2.5 percent earlier this month.
Germany is also set to release inflation data later Wednesday, ahead of the full eurozone reading on Friday. 
Analysts at ING said the French figures "suggest that inflation is likely to remain above three percent for the rest of 2026 before gradually declining in 2027".
That will weigh on household purchasing power "at a time when consumption is weakening and rising interest rates are exacerbating France's fiscal difficulties" they said.
Consumer spending fell 0.5 percent in France in August, Insee also reported Wednesday, and the country's public debt stood at 119 percent of GDP in the second quarter -- nearly double the eurozone limit of 60 percent.
bur-js/jxb

fraud

Turkey freezes ex-minister's assets as fund crisis grows

  • A day later, regulators moved to address the crisis by placing into liquidation seven companies that hold 131 investment funds, whose assets are reportedly worth around $17 billion, with the Capital Markets Board (SPK) saying more than 455,000 individual investors were affected.  hmw-dla/js    
  • Turkish prosecutors have moved to freeze the assets of a top governing party official and former minister who resigned at the weekend over allegations she profited from an investment fund crisis. 
  • A day later, regulators moved to address the crisis by placing into liquidation seven companies that hold 131 investment funds, whose assets are reportedly worth around $17 billion, with the Capital Markets Board (SPK) saying more than 455,000 individual investors were affected.  hmw-dla/js    
Turkish prosecutors have moved to freeze the assets of a top governing party official and former minister who resigned at the weekend over allegations she profited from an investment fund crisis. 
In a brief statement late Tuesday, prosecutors said they had sent "a letter concerning the freezing of all assets" of Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, to "all the relevant institutions".
Turkey has been wrestling with the fallout from an investment fund scandal that erupted this month with the collapse of what officials have called a "Ponzi-like" scheme. 
Following allegations by Turkey's main opposition Yeni Parti that she and her husband made millions trading in such shares, Kaya, the deputy head of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP party, said late Saturday she was resigning. 
While admitting nothing, Kaya, who was Turkey's family minister from 2016 to 2018, said she was taking "political responsibility" to ensure that any investigation could be conducted "independently, impartially". 
At a news conference earlier Saturday, a Yeni spokesman, Gokhan Gunaydin, said the party was seeking clarification over claims that Kaya invested 63 million lira ($1.3 million) in shares in April and sold them in September, earning a profit of around 1.3 billion lira ($26.5 million).
He also said her husband had allegedly invested 100 million lira and earned back 826 million lira, collectively netting the pair an alleged profit of nearly 2.2 billion lira ($45 million).
Gunaydin said it was "clear" Kaya had received insider information and pledged that the party would unveil more names this week. 
 

'Robbery of the century'

 
The scandal is expected to dominate the coming agenda in parliament, which formally reopens on Thursday following the summer recess. 
"This name is the tip of the iceberg," Yeni leader Ozgur Ozel told a party meeting on Wednesday, describing the scandal as "the robbery of the century". 
On Tuesday, Erdogan held a three-hour meeting with economic aides over the fund crisis, after earlier defending his party's record. 
"The AK Party is a clean party, just as its name suggests; it is a party true to its name. No one can tarnish this party's purity or stain that cleanliness," he told party cadres. 
"Without looking at their own pitch-black records, they even try to give us lessons in morality and political ethics. 'Get lost', I tell them," he said of his political opponents. 
The crisis erupted in mid-September when several funds said they were unable to satisfy investor redemption demands, sending Istanbul's main stock exchange tumbling. 
A day later, regulators moved to address the crisis by placing into liquidation seven companies that hold 131 investment funds, whose assets are reportedly worth around $17 billion, with the Capital Markets Board (SPK) saying more than 455,000 individual investors were affected. 
hmw-dla/js
 
 

environment

Ivory Coast clamps down on harmful illegal gold rush

BY MARIETOU BA

  •   - 'Suited everyone' -   Artisanal prospectors began mining gold illegally on a large scale in Ivory Coast in the 2000s, at a time when violent political crises weakened the state. 
  • A gaping hole in the ground dug by a hundred prospectors is all that is left of an illegal gold mine in Ivory Coast, one of many the state has vowed to eradicate within six months.
  •   - 'Suited everyone' -   Artisanal prospectors began mining gold illegally on a large scale in Ivory Coast in the 2000s, at a time when violent political crises weakened the state. 
A gaping hole in the ground dug by a hundred prospectors is all that is left of an illegal gold mine in Ivory Coast, one of many the state has vowed to eradicate within six months.
Near the central village of Baziafla, flanked by tall grass, the pit was excavated over several weeks with spades, pickaxes and crushers, before the miners were driven out of town by the local authorities.
As across much of west Africa, particularly Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali, Ivory Coast is experiencing a boom in both legal and illegal artisanal gold mining, the latter of which the government has condemned as a "scourge". 
Besides damaging the environment and the health of locals nearby, the profits from illegal mining help finance the jihadists and armed groups running rampant across the neighbouring Sahel region, according to experts.
The black market for irregularly mined gold represents millions of dollars that would have otherwise ended up in the Ivorian state's coffers. 
The government toughened prison sentences this month to up to 20 years, stepped up surveillance measures and increased the number of brigades deployed in a bid to tackle the issue.
At the same time, the local authorities have intensified their warnings. 
"To put an end to illegal gold mining, we have to stamp out all forms of complicity," local official Gueu Georges Gombagui told AFP. 
His region of Mara
 
houe is among those most pockmarked by artisanal pits, with around 15 mines identified, including the one near Baziafla.
 
- 'Nothing else to do' - 
 
"From today, you will have to watch over your villages," Gombagui told around 100 local officials gathered in the village of Tibeita on a recent morning, urging them to "denounce" the prospectors and their accomplices. 
By his side, the regional mining and geology director, Souleymane Sanogo, took aim at a climate of indulgence which allows irregular miners to thrive. 
Among the culprits: owners letting their land, the youths delivering the fuel to run the mining machinery, but also "certain officials" in both Ivory Coast and abroad financing illegal mines to reap the profits. 
Yet, on the ground, everyone denies having a hand in the trade. 
When the prospectors are at work -- sometimes for months at a time -- "we do hear the noises", Baziafla's interim leader David You Bi Bolou said.
But "we don't have the strength necessary to go and interrupt them", he insisted. 
Women are recruited to wash away the mud to reveal the nuggets of the precious metal, conceded Jacqueline Djangone, the head of the village women's association. 
But she denies ever having done so herself.
Illegal prospecting "is an activity that young people get into because there's nothing else to do", acknowledged Michael Gohore Bi Vro, the deputy leader of Baziafla's youth organisation.
He, too, said he abstains from getting involved due to the damage illegal mining does to the land, especially as a result of the chemicals used for extracting gold. 
"We can't grow anything anymore," he said. 
The damage has even spread to Lake Kossou, Ivory Coast's largest, and an important source of water for the region.
After dredging up Kossou's sediments and using mercury to bind the gold into nuggets, the prospectors dump their toxic waste back in the lake, raged Gombagui, the prefect.
"The fish are no longer able to reproduce," he said. 
 

'Suited everyone'

 
Artisanal prospectors began mining gold illegally on a large scale in Ivory Coast in the 2000s, at a time when violent political crises weakened the state. 
After returning to stability, the mining business has boomed.
Between 2012 and 2023, official gold production nearly quadrupled from 13 to 51 tonnes, while the country also boasts veins of iron, diamonds, nickel, manganese, bauxite, copper and coltan. 
On top of the legal boom, the state has attempted to clamp down on clandestine prospecting. 
Since 2021, nearly 4,500 people, 65 percent of them foreigners, were dragged before the courts on irregular mining charges, according to official statistics. 
Over that time, the authorities have dismantled 8,500 illegal pits. 
But critics say that only the small-time players ever get arrested, with the ringleaders most often getting off scot-free. 
Around 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Baziafla in the commune of Bore, dozens of pits dug near the main road provide evidence of the recent presence of gold miners, chased out by the authorities at the beginning of September.
In one neighbourhood of the small town, many shacks where the prospectors lived and did business for more than a decade have also been destroyed.
"Gold mining suited everyone," one young resident said.
bam/sbk/kjm

AI

Trump touts AI boss pledge to self-regulate

BY AURéLIA END

  • Trump said the tech bosses had signed a deal that would put on paper their commitment to self-regulate in a morally binding agreement that would not be legally enforceable.
  • US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the tech executives gathered at the White House to discuss regulating AI had signed a "morally binding" commitment to build adequate safeguards on the fast-moving technology.
  • Trump said the tech bosses had signed a deal that would put on paper their commitment to self-regulate in a morally binding agreement that would not be legally enforceable.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the tech executives gathered at the White House to discuss regulating AI had signed a "morally binding" commitment to build adequate safeguards on the fast-moving technology.
"They're going to police themselves," Trump said after the meeting that gathered the top leaders in artificial intelligence, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Greg Brockman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei.
Trump said the tech bosses had signed a deal that would put on paper their commitment to self-regulate in a morally binding agreement that would not be legally enforceable.
But the final document, dubbed the White House Accord, left the door open "to codify these steps into laws or regulations" if it made sense over time.
Speaking to reporters outside the Oval Office surrounded by the world's most powerful tech titans, Trump also confirmed he would officially rename the technology "super intelligence" instead of artificial intelligence, "because it's not artificial."
Hours later he released an executive order in which he says the terms super intelligence and SI shall be used by the federal government whenever possible, because "'Super Intelligence' more appropriately captures the promise, potential and rapidly advancing capabilities of these technologies."

'Robust internal controls'

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said the White House accord aims to assure customers that AI technology "works in the way that we intend."
The commitment includes "robust internal controls" and multiple layers of auditing -- from internal risk reviews to external auditors and oversight from the companies' boards of directors, he said.
Zuckerberg called it a starting point for industry-wide standards.
Elon Musk, the world's richest person, said the executives essentially agreed to "grading each other's homework, which is a lot better than if people just grade their own homework for obvious reasons."
The lunch meeting also included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Sundar Pichai of Google.
Of the 31 guests, two were women: Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, and AMD chief executive Lisa Su.
The gathering occurred as attitudes toward AI sour in Washington, with lawmakers increasingly under pressure from voters to curb or slow its development over fears it could displace workers and upend society.
Those concerns gained force from a run of incidents in which OpenAI's autonomous systems slipped out of their constraints, beginning with a July breach of Hugging Face -- a widely used platform for sharing AI models.
OpenAI announced on Monday it was canceling the release of its latest model, known as Astra 6.1, after internal testing by the ChatGPT-maker revealed it did not meet safety standards.
Trump, advised by Huang and his former AI czar David Sacks, has urged unfettered AI development to outpace China and fuel a US economy increasingly dependent on AI-driven growth.
The issue of data centers, the vast computing facilities the technology requires, has emerged as a flashpoint in midterm election races in both parties, with more and more communities worried about rising electricity bills and strains on water and land.
Trump has dismissed opponents of these data centers and after the meeting insisted that AI companies "will be very generous" with communities who open their doors to them.
"They'll help with their schools, they'll help with their teachers," he said.

'Still under discussion'

Major AI companies, particularly Anthropic and OpenAI, have issued stark public warnings about uncontrolled development of increasingly powerful systems -- even as they develop and deploy this same technology.
Those concerns intensified after a former employee of both companies went public with warnings that the industry is moving faster than safety reviews allow.
Anthropic warned investors of potential existential risks to humanity in the prospectus for its highly anticipated initial public offering, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Anthropic is aiming for an IPO as early as November.
Trump has repeatedly characterized these warnings about existential risks as overblown and the White House has bitterly clashed with Anthropic over AI safety.
"As the president has said, whoever wins AI wins. I think that's very important," Amodei said after the meeting. "But I think the technology has very real risks, and the mechanism, how we address those risks, is still under discussion."
arp-aue/mlm/sla

AI

ChatGPT maker wants to be the App Store for AI as safety concerns grow

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  • – “Disappoint Wall Street” – As speculation swirls around when OpenAI might go public, Altman told reporters on Tuesday that the company was "investing more in safety, security, alignment, monitoring, and that will allow us to continue to progress model capability a lot."
  • OpenAI on Tuesday launched a less expensive artificial intelligence (AI) model and tools that run continuously, as it aims to reposition ChatGPT as an app store for AI.  Other companies, such as Adobe, will be able to offer their software directly within ChatGPT, which is now used weekly by 1.2 billion people.
  • – “Disappoint Wall Street” – As speculation swirls around when OpenAI might go public, Altman told reporters on Tuesday that the company was "investing more in safety, security, alignment, monitoring, and that will allow us to continue to progress model capability a lot."
OpenAI on Tuesday launched a less expensive artificial intelligence (AI) model and tools that run continuously, as it aims to reposition ChatGPT as an app store for AI. 
Other companies, such as Adobe, will be able to offer their software directly within ChatGPT, which is now used weekly by 1.2 billion people. ChatGPT users will also be able to access their subscriptions in other apps.
"We want to help people discover what you build and connect you with new customers," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told around 2,500 developers from around the world who gathered on the shores of the San Francisco Bay for the company’s annual conference.
During his keynote speech, the 41-year-old executive made no mention of multiple security incidents that forced OpenAI to once again suspend development of some models on Friday, after one of its agents gained unauthorized access to the internet.
Altman told reporters that "it is going to take us some time to figure out how to make sure that alignment, monitoring, safety, security stay well ahead of capabilities."
A new model unveiled on Tuesday, GPT-6.1 Sol, was described as almost as powerful as GPT-6 Astra at one-fifth the price. It comes one day after the company said it scrapped a new version of Astra because it often ignored instructions.
— New "Renaissance” —
Outside the conference, around thirty protesters shouted chants like “put people before profit,” alongside demands that OpenAI drop contracts with the U.S. military and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Inside, Altman rejected comparisons between the AI era and the Industrial Revolution.
"I think we should learn from the mistakes of the Industrial Revolution, and I think we should be more like the Renaissance," Altman said. 
That new renaissance is now increasingly connected to agentic software – or programs capable of automatically completing tasks like managing calendars, booking reservations and sorting through email.
Attendees cheered the arrival of “dots” – OpenAI's version of AI agents which will run continuously and ask users to approve sensitive actions.
Dots will only be available to paid subscribers and are not yet available to individual users in the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom due to regulations, though OpenAI hopes to resolve those issues.
It competes with Meta's Muse and Google's Spark agents. 
Last week Meta unveiled a small tamagotchi-like device powered by Muse that could ship by December. OpenAI is working on its own AI hardware but provided no updates. 
However, integrating the new dots onto a device "seems like a very reasonable thing to assume we may do someday," Altman said. 
– “Disappoint Wall Street” –
As speculation swirls around when OpenAI might go public, Altman told reporters on Tuesday that the company was "investing more in safety, security, alignment, monitoring, and that will allow us to continue to progress model capability a lot."
Despite gaining an early lead with ChatGPT, rival Anthropic overtook OpenAI in second-quarter revenue. Anthropic, which has focused more on business customers, generated $11.6 billion dollars versus OpenAI's $6.7 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, Anthropic's annual recurring revenue is expected to reach $100 billion by the end of the year, while OpenAI reached $70 billion in July, according to various reports.
OpenAI has delayed its own Wall Street debut till next year at the earliest, as Anthropic aims for November.
"I want OpenAI to be a public company someday," Altman said, "but I don't want to put additional pressure right now." 
OpenAI is nonetheless seeking to raise at least $30 billion from private investors in a deal that could increase its valuation to around $1.4 trillion, up from $852 billion in March, according to Bloomberg.
On Tuesday, OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman attended an event at the White House where President Donald Trump said top AI executives agreed to a "morally binding" commitment to build AI with safeguards.
bl/smb/sla

Global Edition

Oil down, but stocks lower as bond yields rise

  • "While energy prices pulled back a bit today, yields did not," Art Hogan, from B. Riley Wealth Management, told AFP. "Higher yields continue to pose a significant headwind for investors.
  • US and European stocks traded mainly lower Tuesday despite oil prices retreating from a recent surge, as bond yields pushed higher and investors waited for key inflation data.
  • "While energy prices pulled back a bit today, yields did not," Art Hogan, from B. Riley Wealth Management, told AFP. "Higher yields continue to pose a significant headwind for investors.
US and European stocks traded mainly lower Tuesday despite oil prices retreating from a recent surge, as bond yields pushed higher and investors waited for key inflation data.
The US 30-year Treasury yield touched 5.62 percent, a level not seen for 24 years, while the benchmark 10-year yield stood at 5.25 percent, remaining at its highest level since 2007.
"While energy prices pulled back a bit today, yields did not," Art Hogan, from B. Riley Wealth Management, told AFP.
"Higher yields continue to pose a significant headwind for investors. And that's been true not just today, but for the last month or so."
The Dow Jones fell 0.26 percent, the Nasdaq index dropped 0.09 percent, and the broader S&P 500 index lost 0.17 percent.
Investors are braced for the PCE -- the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge -- out on Wednesday as well as official jobs numbers on Friday.
Offering some support for stocks, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that the US central bank does not need to raise interest rates with "urgency" although a further increase may be required late this year.
The Fed raised the key interest rate for the world's largest economy earlier this month, increasing it by 25 basis points to combat stubbornly high inflation.
Oil prices had jumped Monday, but reversed course after President Donald Trump said he expected talks with Iran to develop as well as reports that considerable volumes are continuing to flow from the region.
Crude's current slide "reflects growing hopes that Middle East tensions can ease, while the restoration of Saudi pipeline flows is helping offset disruption through the Strait of Hormuz," said IG analyst Axel Rudolph.
The benchmark US crude contract WTI was trading around $89 per barrel on Tuesday while its international equivalent, Brent crude, was above $102 per barrel.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said oil prices were "reacting favorably to a report that oil exports out of the Middle East hit a post-war high."
Main indices were lower also on sentiment hit by data showing US consumer confidence plunged sharply in September to a level not seen since 2014.
In Europe, London and Paris both finished in the red but Frankfurt ended the day with a small gain.
Trump on Tuesday said tech executives gathered at the White House to discuss AI had signed a "morally binding" commitment to build safeguards on the fast-moving technology.
"They're going to police themselves," Trump said after the meeting that included Nvidia's Jensen Huang.
Tech stocks were mixed, as Nvidia fell 0.72 percent and Google parent Alphabet lost 0.53 percent, while Meta (Facebook, Instagram) gained 3.24 percent and Amazon rose 0.21 percent.

Key figures at around 2030 GMT

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.26 percent at 51,349.92 points (close)
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.17 percent at 7,670.84 (close)
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.09 percent at 26,797.54 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 10,636.71 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,027.33 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 25,399.21 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 65,481.27 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 24,523.57 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,830.45 (close)
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.56 percent at $102.59 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.48 percent at $89.38 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1339 from $1.1367
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3204 from $1.3252
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.32 yen from 157.42 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86 pence from 85.78 pence 
burs-bgs/mlm

AI

OpenAI unveils low-cost AI model, a day after shelving Astra upgrade

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  •   - 'Mission first' -   The scrapped update of its flagship model follows a string of safety lapses. 
  • OpenAI launched a new mid-range artificial intelligence model Tuesday at one-fifth the cost of its flagship offering, one day after scrapping an upgraded version deemed unreliable.
  •   - 'Mission first' -   The scrapped update of its flagship model follows a string of safety lapses. 
OpenAI launched a new mid-range artificial intelligence model Tuesday at one-fifth the cost of its flagship offering, one day after scrapping an upgraded version deemed unreliable.
GPT-6.1 Sol ranks below OpenAI's most powerful model, GPT-6 Astra, released in early September. The company said Monday it had abandoned plans for GPT-6.1 Astra because the model frequently ignored instructions. 
The announcement, made at the company's annual developer conference, marks the latest escalation in a price war with rival Anthropic as both firms eye initial public offerings. 
OpenAI also announced Dots, an always-on personal agent designed to compete with Meta's Muse, unveiled last week. 
These agent platforms -- with Google also offering its own version called Spark -- are designed to act as digital assistants that carry out tasks online, such as booking restaurant reservations or managing a calendar. 
The company also announced that ChatGPT is now used by more than 1.2 billion people every week. 
 

'Mission first'

 
The scrapped update of its flagship model follows a string of safety lapses. 
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told reporters that "there will be major new models, of course," but that "right now we're investing more in safety, security, alignment, monitoring." 
On Friday, OpenAI said it had partially suspended training of its most advanced tools after one of its agents -- software built on AI models that can carry out a series of tasks on its own -- accessed the internet without authorization on September 20. 
The incident is the latest in a series that began in July, when OpenAI agents hacked into Hugging Face, a platform for AI models. 
The company acknowledged last week that tools being tested had browsed US federal agency websites without authorization and attempted to hack one of them.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also criticized the company for being slow to report a June intrusion into a public health portal. 
Long the industry leader, OpenAI was overtaken by Anthropic in second-quarter revenue, which hit $11.6 billion against $6.7 billion for OpenAI, according to the Wall Street Journal. 
Anthropic is now targeting a stock market listing as early as November, even though it warned investors in its IPO prospectus that AI could pose "existential risks to humanity," the Financial Times reported Tuesday. 
OpenAI, valued at $852 billion in March, has not set a date for its own listing. 
In mid-September, chief executive Sam Altman ruled out 2026, citing safety, and on Tuesday he told CNBC that "this is a time to put safety and mission first." 
OpenAI's second-quarter operating loss widened to $12.3 billion, including stock-based compensation, according to the Wall Street Journal.
 

Third device

 
The AI battle is also being fought over the hardware that gives users access to these assistants. 
While Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is betting on tools that replace the smartphone, OpenAI has been working since 2025 on a product described internally as a third device, alongside the phone and computer. 
At last year's DevDay, Altman closed the event with a closely watched conversation with Jony Ive, Apple's former design chief, whose startup io OpenAI bought for around $6.5 billion. 
In January, OpenAI public affairs chief Chris Lehane said the company was on track to unveil its first device in the second half of 2026. 
Court documents have since shown it will not ship before March 2027, and Apple has been suing OpenAI since July, accusing former employees hired by the ChatGPT-maker of stealing trade secrets. 
Meta has moved first: the social media giant last week announced Muse Charm, a small device dedicated to its AI assistant Muse, due in December.
bl-arp/mjf

finance

Swiss regulator concludes Julius Baer bank probe

  • It opened a second phase of the proceeding in August last year -- months after a new chief executive arrived at the firm -- looking into possible breaches of anti-money-laundering rules involving clients linked to two "politically exposed" Russians.
  • Switzerland's financial watchdog said Tuesday the bank Julius Baer committed "serious" regulatory violations, but the wealth manager's share price surged as investors turned the page on a probe partly linked to suspected breaches of anti-money-laundering rules.
  • It opened a second phase of the proceeding in August last year -- months after a new chief executive arrived at the firm -- looking into possible breaches of anti-money-laundering rules involving clients linked to two "politically exposed" Russians.
Switzerland's financial watchdog said Tuesday the bank Julius Baer committed "serious" regulatory violations, but the wealth manager's share price surged as investors turned the page on a probe partly linked to suspected breaches of anti-money-laundering rules.
Announcing its much-anticipated findings, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said it had established that the bank had "committed serious violations of supervisory provisions".
It highlighted breaches of "the requirements for appropriate risk management and the legal obligations relating to the prevention of money laundering".
FINMA had initiated its fifth so-called enforcement proceeding against Julius Baer in a decade in December 2024 -- before the arrival of a new management team that has since launched a major reorganisation.
In the first phase of its probe, the regulator looked into several loans granted to collapsed Austrian real estate empire Signa.
It opened a second phase of the proceeding in August last year -- months after a new chief executive arrived at the firm -- looking into possible breaches of anti-money-laundering rules involving clients linked to two "politically exposed" Russians.
FINMA said Julius Baer had "already implemented many immediate measures... to address the identified shortcomings and improve its culture".
At the regulator's request, the bank had among other things "redefined its risk appetite... strengthened its control functions, overhauled its remuneration system... (and) fundamentally overhauled its corporate governance framework", it said.

$12 million seized

As for penalties, FINMA said it was "confiscating" around 10 million Swiss francs ($12 million) in ill-gotten gains and had opened proceedings against three former employees.
It said that due to the bank's changed risk situation and the measures already implemented, it had been able to "lift in part or in full, the immediate measures previously imposed in the areas of capital and liquidity".
It added that measures restricting the bank's activities in the lending business, and in relation to entering into new business relationships with politically exposed persons from high-risk countries, had been lifted or relaxed.
Following the announcement, Julius Baer saw its share price jump 7.23 percent shortly before closing, to 76.76 francs each, while the Swiss stock market's broader SPI index was up just 0.01 percent.
"We view the conclusion of the proceedings positively: after a long wait, investors can now genuinely turn the corner," said analyst Ausano Cajrati Crivell of Zurcher Kantonalbank.
"In our view, the bank is emerging from the 'clean-up phase' structurally strengthened."
The bank's chief executive Stefan Bollinger hailed the FINMA decision as "an important milestone, which is a recognition of our efforts over the past 20 months".
In the statement, the bank said it had submitted a request to FINMA regarding its share buyback programme, which was "pending final approval".
noo/nl/rlp

index

AI driving up innovation investment: UN

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • Global research and development is expected to reach $3.4 trillion this year, growing faster than GDP growth, while corporate R&D reached a record $1.5 trillion in 2025, up 5.8 percent, said WIPO.   - Venture capital's AI focus -   And while the number of venture capital deals dropped for the fourth straight year, their value rose by 28 percent to $510 billion in 2025.
  • Artificial intelligence is fuelling a rebound in investment in innovation, with corporate research and development spending reaching record highs, the United Nations said Tuesday.
  • Global research and development is expected to reach $3.4 trillion this year, growing faster than GDP growth, while corporate R&D reached a record $1.5 trillion in 2025, up 5.8 percent, said WIPO.   - Venture capital's AI focus -   And while the number of venture capital deals dropped for the fourth straight year, their value rose by 28 percent to $510 billion in 2025.
Artificial intelligence is fuelling a rebound in investment in innovation, with corporate research and development spending reaching record highs, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The UN's World Intellectual Property Organization said more money was going into venture capital, even as the number of VC deals was shrinking and becoming increasingly concentrated on AI firms.
WIPO, the UN patent and innovation agency, said AI was shortening the paths of discovery and fuelling much of the world's economic growth.
"AI is not just a breakthrough technology; it's going to change the way that we innovate and create," WIPO chief Daren Tang told reporters.
"A new generation of deep-science startups is translating breakthroughs into products and transforming fields such as life sciences, space, robotics and clean energy."
Tang said innovation investment had remained resilient this year and was even "beginning to see growth again".
Global research and development is expected to reach $3.4 trillion this year, growing faster than GDP growth, while corporate R&D reached a record $1.5 trillion in 2025, up 5.8 percent, said WIPO.
 

Venture capital's AI focus

 
And while the number of venture capital deals dropped for the fourth straight year, their value rose by 28 percent to $510 billion in 2025.
AI accounted for 53 percent of global VC deal value last year, and 77 percent in the first half of 2026.
"AI might reverse this productivity slump that we have seen for the last 15 to 20 years in high-income economies," said Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, co-editor of WIPO's annual Global Innovation Index.
If applied correctly, artificial intelligence would help every sector, he told reporters.
"The open question here really is how can we broaden this innovation spurt beyond this one technology only, which is currently mostly LLM (large language models).
"We see a lot of the traditional big R&D spenders -- pharma, cars, construction -- cutting back on their R&D spend", he noted.
Tang said he hoped AI was "a rising tide that lifts all boats, because... a healthy innovation ecosystem needs to be able to have strength in as many areas of technology as possible".
 

Global country rankings

 
For the 16th consecutive year, Switzerland led the Global Innovation Index, which tracks innovation drivers in the world's economies.
Sweden and the United States retained second and third place for the fourth year running, followed by South Korea and Singapore.
China has meanwhile shot up from 35th place in 2013 to 10th position, while India rose from 66th to 38th place during the same period, the report showed, also highlighting big jumps up by the likes of Vietnam, Turkey and the Philippines.
The top five innovation clusters remain unchanged in 2026, led by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, followed by Tokyo-Yokohama, San Jose-San Francisco, Beijing and Seoul, the report showed.
Further down, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto and Paris overtook Los Angeles, which dropped two places to 12th.
Most of the big risers were in China, with Ningde the most prominent, up 24 places to 75th.
Outside China, Miami rose six places to 61st, while Chennai climbed five places to 79th.
The biggest fallers were Pittsburgh and Oxford, which both dropped eight places to 84th and 85th respectively.
rjm/nl/rl

energy

Spain to cap gas price hikes, extend fuel discounts

  • "If we didn't put these limits, the price for consumers, for households, would rise by more than 45 percent starting next month," she said of the gas cap.
  • The Spanish government on Tuesday announced plans to limit natural gas price increases to 15 percent and extend fuel discounts to shield consumers from the fallout of the Middle East war.
  • "If we didn't put these limits, the price for consumers, for households, would rise by more than 45 percent starting next month," she said of the gas cap.
The Spanish government on Tuesday announced plans to limit natural gas price increases to 15 percent and extend fuel discounts to shield consumers from the fallout of the Middle East war.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said the package aimed to "extend and adapt" support measures first taken in March after the conflict, triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, plunged global energy markets into turmoil.
The volatility has affected Spain's dynamic economy, which is less dependent on fossil fuels but is suffering higher inflation as a result of spiralling energy costs.
Cuerpo told a press conference that the government had approved a discount of 20 euro cents ($0.23) per litre of petrol and diesel for October amid a "significant deterioration" of the situation.
The discounts would progressively decrease to 13 euro cents per litre in November and six cents in December, but a "reactivation clause" would be available if prices spiked by more than 15 percent, Cuerpo explained.
Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen had earlier announced the limit to gas price spikes as EU ministers met in Dublin to discuss preparations for the upcoming winter.
The price of butane tanks, used by many households for cooking and heating, will also be capped at 19.55 euros, Aagesen told journalists.
"If we didn't put these limits, the price for consumers, for households, would rise by more than 45 percent starting next month," she said of the gas cap.
"These are essential measures to protect against this vulnerable situation," she said, without specifying how much they would cost.
Soaring energy prices pushed Spanish inflation up to 4.9 percent year-on-year in September, according to a first official estimate released on Tuesday -- the highest level since February 2023.
The leftist government approved in March a package of around 80 measures to limit the impact, for a total cost of five billion euros, which it says helped 20 million households and three million businesses.
adc-rbj/imm/rl

water

'We just need rain': Germany's Rhine river hits new low

  • The waterway, which flows through the industrial heartland of Germany, has been at record lows since late July when Europe was struggling through a series of heatwaves.
  • Parts of Germany's Rhine are now unnavigable for most shipping, an industry group warned Tuesday, after the river dropped to an all-time record low following months of little rainfall and hot weather.
  • The waterway, which flows through the industrial heartland of Germany, has been at record lows since late July when Europe was struggling through a series of heatwaves.
Parts of Germany's Rhine are now unnavigable for most shipping, an industry group warned Tuesday, after the river dropped to an all-time record low following months of little rainfall and hot weather.
The waterway, which flows through the industrial heartland of Germany, has been at record lows since late July when Europe was struggling through a series of heatwaves.
It has already led to some restrictions on commercial shipping, affecting industries from chemicals to steel-making, and heaping extra pressure on Europe's long-stagnant top economy.
But continued dry weather this week pushed water levels at Kaub on the Rhine -- a reference point for vessels -- even further downwards and made the area unpassable for laden cargo vessels. 
"Most German ship captains say, that's too shallow, I'm not sailing there anymore," Matthias Roeser, from the German Inland Shipping Association, told AFP. 
The navigable depth of the river around Kaub was just over a metre Tuesday. Only specially adapted vessels, or those carrying almost no cargo, can navigate such low waters.
This means the Rhine has effectively been split into two sections, Thomas Puls, a transport expert from the IW Economic Institute in Cologne told AFP.
The upper and middle sections of the river in Germany are cut off from major northern ports such as Duisburg in Germany and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
"The problem here is simply that it has been raining far, far, far too little for months," Puls told AFP. "We just need rain -- nothing else helps".
Companies including steel giant Thyssenkrupp and chemical maker BASF have already resorted to using specially adapted vessels in recent weeks to transport products. 
Only around five percent of goods are transported by river in Germany. 
But the Rhine plays an outsized role, carrying around two-thirds of Germany's inland waterway freight, said Puls.
The government last month lifted a ban on trucks driving on Sundays and public holidays to help companies impacted by the problems. This measure was reportedly extended Tuesday.
But Puls said switching goods transport from shipping to trucks is difficult, as many trucks are typically required to carry the cargo of a single commercial vessel.
Ships on the Rhine carry large cargoes of goods such as petroleum products.
Puls said climate change meant the frequency of such low water events would increase. 
He urged authorities to take measures, such using more shallow-draught ships adapted for low waters, to "strengthen resilience."
sr/jsk/cw

tourism

UK decides against charging foreign visitors for museums

  • The government announced in March it would explore the idea of charging foreign visitors to boost funding.
  • The UK government said on Tuesday that national museums would remain free for foreign visitors, after previously floating the idea of charging tourists an entry fee to buoy the cash-strapped sector.
  • The government announced in March it would explore the idea of charging foreign visitors to boost funding.
The UK government said on Tuesday that national museums would remain free for foreign visitors, after previously floating the idea of charging tourists an entry fee to buoy the cash-strapped sector.
Access to permanent collections at national museums such as London's British Museum and National Gallery has been free for the millions of tourists who visit every year since 2001, unlike at many European and international counterparts.
The government announced in March it would explore the idea of charging foreign visitors to boost funding.
But after months of consultation, the culture ministry decided against the move, saying it could risk deterring domestic visitors as well as a result.
The government believes the "impacts and benefits of charging would not be felt equally across the sector and therefore will not introduce charges for overseas visitors", the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.
The ministry noted that national museums contribute more than one billion pounds ($1.3 billion) to the economy every year.
"It's great news that the government has committed to continuing to keep museums free for everyone," London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
Last year, 7.1 million people visited the Natural History Museum in London and 6.4 million the British Museum -- which is currently hosting a landmark exhibition of the Bayeux Tapestry, on loan for the first time from France.
Museums charge visitors for entry to temporary exhibitions.
According to government figures from 2023–2024, 43 percent of visitors to national museums were foreigners.
ctx/alm/aks/am/gil

technology

Slovenia sees surge in '.si' sites after Trump hypes 'super intelligence'

  • He added the United States would start using "the much more accurate term 'Super Intelligence -- SI" for its official documents It so happens that .si is the top-level suffix for Slovenia's internet domain names registry, which both locals and foreigners can request. 
  • US President Donald Trump's push to rebrand artificial intelligence (AI) as "super intelligence" (SI) has sparked a flurry of requests for internet domains ending in ".si", to Slovenia's surprise.
  • He added the United States would start using "the much more accurate term 'Super Intelligence -- SI" for its official documents It so happens that .si is the top-level suffix for Slovenia's internet domain names registry, which both locals and foreigners can request. 
US President Donald Trump's push to rebrand artificial intelligence (AI) as "super intelligence" (SI) has sparked a flurry of requests for internet domains ending in ".si", to Slovenia's surprise.
"The word artificial intelligence makes it sound fake," Trump told the UN General Assembly last week, saying that SI "sounded much better".
He added the United States would start using "the much more accurate term 'Super Intelligence -- SI" for its official documents
It so happens that .si is the top-level suffix for Slovenia's internet domain names registry, which both locals and foreigners can request. 
"Since the speech, there has been a strong but stable increase of requests for the use of the '.si' domain," said Klara Herman, spokeswoman for Register.si, which manages Slovenia's domain names. 
The agency has registered an average of 3,700 new domains per day since Trump's speech -- compared with around 3,500 for the whole month of August -- pushing the total to more than 220,000 as of Tuesday.  
In a statement on its website, the agency "strongly recommends to holders of trademarks, slogans, company names and others who do not yet own a .si domain that they register one as soon as possible".
bk/js/rmb