Business

Digital media upstart Vice laying off ‘several hundred’ staff: CEO

WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Vice, the dynamic, fast-growing digital media company that gained a wide following with young readers, said Thursday it will no longer publish on its flagship website and is eliminating hundreds of jobs. Millennial-focused and known for its edgy news and lifestyle content, Vice had been among the rising stars of a new breed of digital media firms but struggled as advertising revenues shrank. The move is the latest dose […]

AT&T outage resolved; service restored after hours-long disruption

By John BIERS NEW YORK, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of AT&T customers in the United States lost cell phone service for hours Thursday, with US officials saying there was no immediate indication of any cybersecurity attack. AT&T had succeeded by midday in winnowing the number of affected customers to a few thousand from a peak of 75,000. A few hours later near mid-afternoon, the company said it had fully restored all service. “We […]

Vietnam EV maker VinFast reports $2 billion net loss in 2023

HANOI, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast on Thursday reported a net loss of more than $2 billion in 2023 after missing its sales target, despite a 90 percent increase in revenue. The communist state’s first homegrown car manufacturer is trying to crack the international market, aiming to compete with global EV giants such as Tesla. VinFast said in a filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its […]

Tokyo smashes 34-year high as Nvidia reignites stock rally

LONDON, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Global stock markets rallied Thursday, with Tokyo breaking a record high that had stood since 1989, as investors cheered bumper profits from US chip giant Nvidia, seen as the bellwether for artificial intelligence. Highly anticipated results from Nvidia after the Wall Street close Wednesday saw the company post quarterly profit of $12.3 billion on record revenue, driven by demand for its AI-powering chips. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.2 percent […]

Boeing 737 MAX program chief departs months after Alaska Airlines’ mid-air scare

NEW YORK, Feb 21, 2024 (AFP) – Boeing announced Wednesday that the head of its 737 MAX program is departing the aviation giant less than two months after a major safety incident temporarily grounded 171 planes. Ed Clark, an 18-year Boeing veteran is “leaving the program,” Boeing Commercial Aviation (BCA) chief Stan Deal said in a memo released by the company. Katie Ringgold has been named as his replacement. The move comes after a 737 […]

Vietjet inks deal for 20 Airbus A330-900s, modernizing fleet and expanding network

SINGAPORE, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – European aviation giant Airbus said Thursday that Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air has agreed to buy 20 of its A330-900 planes. Vietjet signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus for the widebody aircraft, which will replace its current fleet of leased A330-300 planes, Airbus said in a statement. “We are excited to work with Vietjet on the next phase of the carrier’s expansion,” said Christian Scherer, chief executive of Airbus’s […]

In a doughnut in Japan, unlocking the power of the Sun

NAKA, Japan, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – With its tangle of pipes and pumps leading to a metal pot the size of a five-storey building, Japan’s JT-60SA machine looks to the untrained eye like a contraption from 1970s sci-fi. But inside it is a doughnut-shaped vessel where experiments done at millions of degrees could help unlock a carbon-free, inexhaustible and safe power source for the future: nuclear fusion. “Fusion energy, the power behind the Sun […]

Japan welcomes TSMC: Chip giant’s new plant boosts industry, counters China threat

KIKUYO, Japan, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Surrounded by fields of carrots and cabbages, workers are putting the finishing touches to a factory opening on Saturday that is a milestone for both US ally Japan and Taiwanese chip giant TSMC. The $8.6-billion facility in the southern Kumamoto region showcases TSMC’s efforts to make some of its strategically crucial chips elsewhere than hotspot Taiwan, as well as Japan’s push to revive its once-dominant semiconductor sector. The […]

Tesla’s German factory expansion plans suffer setback

FRANKFURT, Germany, Feb 21, 2024 (AFP) – Tesla said Wednesday it will have to rethink expansion plans for its German factory, the electric carmaker’s only European plant, after local residents opposed them in a vote. The vote, which was not legally binding, related to a project to expand the Gruenheide site, south of Berlin, by 170 hectares (420 acres), from a current size of 300 hectares. The US company hopes to increase production at the […]

Fresh farmers’ protests choke Europe

MADRID, Feb 21, 2024 (AFP) – Hundreds of tractors rolled into Madrid Wednesday for fresh protests by Spanish farmers angered by what they say is unfair competition, with similar moves taking place in France, Poland and Greece. Spain’s Union of Unions syndicate rallied farmers at the crack of dawn, demanding fair product prices and competition with non-EU importers, AFP reporters said. “We have to protest in Madrid, because that’s where everyone is,” said Jose Angel […]

Food watchdog lodges complaint over Nestle mineral water ‘fraud’

PARIS, Feb 21, 2024 (AFP) – Consumer watchdog Foodwatch said it was filing a legal complaint Wednesday against food giant Nestle and another group over them allegedly fraudulently treating water for their top mineral water brands. A government probe reported by media last month said about 30 percent of mineral water sold in France had undergone purification treatment only meant to be used on tap water. Foodwatch said it was lodging its complaint with a […]

Operations cancelled as South Korea doctors’ strike grows

SEOUL, Feb 21, 2024 (AFP) – Pregnant women had C-sections cancelled and cancer treatments were postponed Wednesday as the number of South Korean trainee doctors to walk off the job over proposed reforms swelled, officials and local reports said. More than 8,800 junior doctors — 71 percent of the trainee workforce — have now quit, said Seoul’s Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo, part of a spiralling protest against government plans to sharply increase medical […]