Business

Tesla CEO Elon Musk in China for talks

By Peter CATTERALL BEIJING, April 28, 2024 (AFP) – Tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was in China for talks on Sunday, making his second trip in less than a year to the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Musk — one of the world’s richest people — held a meeting with a top trade official, publishing a photograph of the X owner at Beijing’s grand Diaoyutai state guesthouse. […]

Vietnam tycoon appeals against $27 bn fraud death sentence

HANOI, April 26, 2024 (AFP) – A top Vietnamese property tycoon sentenced to death in a $27 billion fraud case has launched an appeal against her conviction, state media said Friday. Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, was found guilty this month of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. The 68-year-old was found to have embezzled $12.5 billion, but prosecutors said the total damages caused by the […]

Malaysian airline mogul Fernandes delays retirement

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysia’s Tony Fernandes, one of Asia’s most prominent entrepreneurs, has decided to extend his contract as chief executive of Capital A, the firm said Wednesday, after the board persuaded him to delay his planned retirement. Fernandes, 59, a pioneer of Southeast Asia’s budget carrier sector who is often compared to British tycoon Richard Branson, said in January that he intended to step aside within the next five years after more than […]

US economic growth slows significantly in first quarter

By Beiyi SEOW WASHINGTON, April 25, 2024 (AFP) – The US economy cooled markedly in the first three months this year, expanding less than anticipated as consumer spending and exports decelerated, according to government data released on Thursday. The world’s biggest economy grew 1.6 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said, missing analysts’ expectations of a larger 2.4 percent rise. This was also a clear slowdown from the 3.4 percent increase seen in […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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,” […]