Business

Shock as Warner Bros Discovery shutters major N.Zealand news outlet

WELLINGTON, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – US entertainment giant Warner Bros Discovery announced plans to shutter major New Zealand news outlet Newshub Wednesday, in what the deputy prime minister called a “disaster for this country’s democracy”. Citing cratering advertising revenues, the US firm said it was closing “all Newshub’s multi-platform news operations” in June, with a reported loss of about 300 jobs. The announcement effectively spreads the impact of massive recent US media cost-cutting beyond […]

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Hong Kong scraps property taxes to revive sluggish market

HONG KONG, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – Hong Kong has axed all property transaction taxes in a bid to revive the depressed housing market, finance minister Paul Chan said in his annual budget speech Wednesday. The finance hub’s economy was initially buoyed by China’s post-pandemic reopening but recovery has since slowed and residential property prices are at a multi-year low. Chan said Hong Kong would scrap three types of stamp duty with immediate effect, reversing […]

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Nissan to launch self-driving taxi service in Japan in 2027

Nissan is planning to launch a self-driving taxi service in Japan in the financial year starting April 2027, the auto giant said Wednesday. The company said it will begin trials of the commercial service in the upcoming financial year from April, using minivans in an area of Yokohama, south of Tokyo. “Local communities have been facing several mobility challenges, such as driver shortages, which are a result of an ageing population,” Nissan said in a […]

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Rat on a plane sparks worries for Sri Lanka’s airline

COLOMBO, Feb 27, 2024 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s national airline on Tuesday blamed a rat for grounding a plane for three days, sparking chaotic delays and fears it will scare off investors for the cash-strapped carrier. The stowaway rodent was spotted enjoying the SriLankan Airlines Airbus A330 flight from the Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, triggering an aircraft search to ensure it had not chewed through critical components. An airline official said the plane […]

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Struggling US retailer Macy’s to close 150 stores

NEW YORK, Feb 27, 2024 (AFP) – The iconic but struggling US department store Macy’s announced plans on Tuesday to close almost a third of its eponymous locations by 2026 while building up its upscale Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands. In a new strategy dubbed a “Bold New Chapter” aimed at breathing new life into the 166-year-old retailer, the company said it would shut 150 “underproductive” Macy’s locations. It will close 50 of them by the […]

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Japan inflation slows to 2.0% in January, BOJ faces dilemma between rates and recession

  By Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Feb 27, 2024 (AFP) – Japanese inflation slowed less than expected to two percent in January, data showed Tuesday, hitting the central bank’s target and firming expectations of an end to its outlier negative rates policy. Other major central banks including the US Federal Reserve have hiked borrowing costs because of rising prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago, and may soon start cutting again. But haunted by […]

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Dior postpones Hong Kong fashion show: govt

HONG KONG, Feb 24, 2024 (AFP) – Dior has postponed a fashion show set to be held in Hong Kong next month, a city official confirmed Saturday, dealing a blow to the financial hub’s ambitions to boost its economy through major events. Hong Kong is courting top international celebrities and brands in the hope of rebooting its reputation, which had been battered by years of social unrest and strict pandemic curbs. The Dior fashion show […]

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Fears over Russia’s ‘ghost fleet’ bypassing oil sanctions

By Emeline BURCKEL LONDON, Feb 24, 2024 (AFP) – Two years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting multiple rounds of Western sanctions, Moscow increasingly relies on a shadow fleet of ships to circumvent curbs on its oil exports. Experts say the so-called ghost fleet of tankers with opaque ownership or without proper insurance has allowed the Kremlin to keep exporting despite a Western-imposed embargo and oil price cap on its global sales. […]

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Digital Markets Act: Tech titans yield to new EU rules before March deadline

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – 2024 will be a year of change for the world’s biggest tech companies as they bow to EU rules that come into force next month, shaking up how Europeans use vastly popular platforms from Google to Instagram. The European Union long ago set its sights on big tech, aiming to rein in globally dominant companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft. The landmark law known as the Digital Markets […]

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Boeing, Airbus grapple with supply chain woes, delaying billion-dollar orders

By Martin ABBUGAO SINGAPORE, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Boeing and Airbus struck deals to sell billions of dollars’ worth of planes at this week’s airshow in Singapore, but supply chain disruptions mean they may struggle to deliver them on time, analysts said. Plane makers are already behind in their current orders due to parts shortages and lack of skilled labour, as the travel sector recovers from the havoc caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. From […]

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Underfunded & under-maintained: Eiffel tower workers strike for repairs, fair treatment

France’s iconic Eiffel Tower was closed for a fourth day on Thursday as employees extended a strike over the monument’s management, unions said. The stoppage at one of the world’s best-known tourist sites is the second within two months in protest of what unions say is insufficient investment. The tower’s operator, SETE, has advised ticket holders to check its website before showing up, or to postpone their visit. E-ticket holders were asked to check their […]

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Shipping insurance rates soar on Red Sea missile attacks

By Emeline BURCKEL with Marie-Morgane Le Moel in Paris LONDON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Attacks by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on commercial ships in the Red Sea have sent insurance premiums surging, exacerbating costs already stretched by soaring freight rates and longer alternative trade routes. The Huthis have carried out relentless attacks since November on shipping transiting the Red Sea, a maritime hub through which 12 percent of global trade usually passes. Maritime container transport […]

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