Business

‘GTA’ video game publisher Take-Two cuts workforce

SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2024 (AFP) – Take-Two Interactive on Tuesday told US regulators it is trimming its workforce by five percent and eliminating some video games in production to cut costs. About 600 jobs are expected to be eliminated by Take-Two, parent company of studios including Rockstar Games, maker of the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto” line-up. Take-Two is “rationalizing its pipeline and eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure, which will […]

Continue Reading →

Equities sink, oil rallies on fears of Iran-Israel conflict

HONG KONG, April 16, 2024 (AFP) – Asian stocks fell and oil prices climbed Tuesday on growing fears of a wider war in the Middle East after Israel’s army chief vowed a response to Iran’s unprecedented attack on his country at the weekend. The selling came after Wall Street’s three main indexes tanked in response to forecast-beating US retail sales data that reinforced the view that the world’s top economy remained in rude health and […]

Continue Reading →

Hong Kong conditionally approves first bitcoin and ether ETFs

HONG KONG, April 15, 2024 (AFP) – Hong Kong’s securities regulator on Monday granted conditional approval to start the city’s first spot-bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), firms involved said, positioning it as a leader in Asia for the use of cryptocurrencies as investment tools. ChinaAMC (HK), the city’s unit of China Asset Management, said in a statement it had received regulatory approval from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC) for […]

Continue Reading →

Tesla to cut more than 10% workforce: report

NEW YORK, April 15, 2024 (AFP) – Tesla plans to lay off “more than 10 percent” of its global workforce, news site Electrek reported Monday, publishing an email from Chief Executive Elon Musk announcing the cuts. The job cuts were needed after “rapid growth” that has led to duplication of roles, Musk said in the email to staff, according to Electrek, an online news site focused on electric vehicles (EV). “There is nothing I hate […]

Continue Reading →

Lufthansa stops using Iran airspace and keeps halt on Tehran flights

FRANKFURT, Germany, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – German airline Lufthansa said Friday its planes would no longer use Iranian airspace as it extended a suspension on flights to and from Tehran amid soaring Middle East tensions. “Due to the current situation, Lufthansa is suspending its flights to and from Tehran up to and including Thursday, 18 April,” a company spokesperson said Friday. “The airline is also no longer using Iranian airspace.” Its subsidiary Austrian Airlines […]

Continue Reading →

Vietnam property tycoon sentenced to death in multi-billion dollar fraud case

HO CHI MINH CITY, April 11, 2024 (AFP) – A top Vietnamese property tycoon was sentenced to death on Thursday in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated $27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defence arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. […]

Continue Reading →

Whistleblower claims Boeing prioritized profit over safety in 787 Dreamliner production

NEW YORK, April 10, 2024 (AFP) – Federal aviation authorities are investigating claims by a Boeing engineer that the 787 Dreamliner suffers from assembly defects that threaten safety, US officials said Tuesday. Attorneys for the whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, accuse the company of putting profit over safety — and retaliating against him after he raised concerns by “involuntarily” transferring him to the 777 program. At the 777 program, he raised more issues, for which his attorneys […]

Continue Reading →

JPMorgan Chase CEO warns inflation could stay high

NEW YORK, April 8, 2024 (AFP) – Inflation could remain elevated for longer than expected, posing a risk to the US economy’s near-term health, JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Monday. In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon pointed to “persistent inflationary pressures” that belie the stock market’s confidence about the outlook and could result in even higher interest rates. “Equity values, by most measures, are at the high end of the valuation range,” […]

Continue Reading →

US ‘will not accept’ flood of below-cost Chinese goods: Yellen

By Beiyi SEOW BEIJING, April 8, 2024 (AFP) – The United States “will not accept” a situation where underpriced Chinese goods flood the global market, battering industries elsewhere, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday as she wrapped up high-level talks in China. Yellen repeatedly warned about the risks of China’s excess industrial capacity during four-day talks with officials and business leaders in the southern city of Guangzhou and capital Beijing. Washington’s concern is that […]

Continue Reading →

Yellen, Premier Li express hope for US-China cooperation

By Beiyi SEOW BEIJING, April 7, 2024 (AFP) – US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang sounded a hopeful tone on US-China cooperation on Sunday, though the American policymaker noted both sides cannot shy away from tough conversations. The US-China relationship can only move forward with direct and open communication, Yellen told Li, after arriving in the Chinese capital from the southern city of Guangzhou. Li, in welcoming Yellen, said “China sincerely […]

Continue Reading →

Workers remove first chunk of destroyed Baltimore bridge

BALTIMORE, March 31, 2024 (AFP) – Workers have lifted out the first, 200-ton chunk of Baltimore’s collapsed bridge, officials said Sunday, as efforts get underway to clear the harbor of the steel structure destroyed by an out-of-control ship. Demolition crews using blow torches sliced through the upper part of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which crumbled when the Dali cargo vessel lost power and struck it on Tuesday, killing six people. Authorities hope that removing […]

Continue Reading →

Maintenance staff shortage could clip aviation industry’s wings

By Elodie MAZEIN The United States is grappling with a shortage of maintenance workers in the aviation industry, with baby boomers retiring and others changing jobs during the pandemic. This comes as the global fleet of commercial aircraft is set to balloon a third by 2034, involving more than 36,400 vessels, according to a recent study by consulting firm Oliver Wyman. In its wake, spending in the maintenance, repair and overhaul market is projected to […]

Continue Reading →
1 2 3 … 324