Lego posts record profit, CEO shrugs off US tariff threat


By AFP
March 11, 2025


Lego chief executive Niels Christiansen told AFP that the toymaker would 'find ways to deal' with any tariffs - Copyright AFP/File Frederic J. BROWN

Lego’s CEO told AFP that US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats do not keep him “awake at night” as the world’s largest toymaker posted on Tuesday record earnings for 2024.

Sales rose 13 percent to 74.3 billion kroner ($10.8 billion) last year, while net profit grew five percent to 13.8 billion kroner.

“We are relevant and we have exciting passion points for many different consumer groups, and that has worked throughout the world,” the Danish company’s chief executive, Niels Christiansen, told AFP.

After this strong year, the head of the private family-owned company aims to keep a cool head in response to geopolitical uncertainties and Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on the European Union.

“At this point in time, there are no tariffs. If they would come in and we would deem that they would be more of a permanent nature, then I think we will we will also find ways to deal with that,” Christiansen said, adding it was “not what keeps me awake at night.”

“It’s not the first time we see those fluctuations and every time we’ve been able to not overreact,” he said.

The chief executive added that for the company gaining market share was “way more important than whether we get tariffs or not,” which he stressed that the company has managed to do for the last five years.

Lego’s success stands out in an otherwise sluggish toy market, as consumer sales increased by 12 percent, the company said, while the toy market contracted by one percent.

Franchises like Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter, along with partnerships — notably with the video game Fortnite — have cemented the Danish toymaker’s brand among consumers.

“It’s not one particular country, it’s not one particular product or product group. It is very broad-based,” Christiansen said.

However, the group, whose name is a contraction of the Danish “play well” (leg godt), has seen stronger demand in the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East than in Asia.

‘Getting scary’: US aid cuts undermine global fight against TB

The US is already reportedly experiencing the largest TB outbreak in its modern history in Kansas City.


By AFP
March 11, 2025


The funding cuts will increase TB rates by over 30% worldwide, says an internal USAID memo - Copyright AFP Andrey BORODULIN

Daniel Lawler

The Trump administration’s sweeping foreign aid cuts will send tuberculosis cases and deaths soaring around the world, humanitarian workers have warned.

One told AFP that people are already dying from a lack of treatment in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The United States has long been the biggest funder for the global fight against tuberculosis — once known as consumption — which is again the world’s biggest infectious disease killer after being briefly surpassed by Covid-19.

But President Donald Trump froze US foreign aid after returning to the White House in January, abruptly halting the work of many US-funded programmes against tuberculosis and other health scourges such as HIV and malaria.

Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk has boasted of putting the vast US humanitarian agency USAID “through the woodchipper”.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83 percent of all USAID contracts were officially cancelled. It was unclear which programmes would be spared.

The World Health Organization warned last week that the cuts would endanger millions of lives, pointing out that tuberculosis (TB) efforts averted 3.65 million deaths last year alone.

The change has already brought about a major impact in many developing countries, according to aid workers and activists on the ground.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, many frontline community workers have been forced to stop helping tuberculosis patients, said Maxime Lunga, who heads a local group called Club des Amis.

Even before the US funding cuts, there was shortage of TB drugs in the country, which is also facing outbreaks of mpox, as well as a mystery illness and a surge in fighting in its conflict-plagued east.

“The chaotic situation is starting to get scary here,” said Lunga, who is himself a tuberculosis survivor.

“Right now we are receiving a lot of phone calls from patients asking us how to help them access care,” he told AFP.

“We know that some of the patients on waiting lists are now dying because they are not being treated.”



– ‘People will suffer’ –



In Ukraine, another war-battered nation with high TB rates, a programme to teach children about the dangers of tuberculosis was just three days from starting in schools when the US order to stop work came in.

Olya Klymenko, whose group TB People Ukraine spent two years setting up the programme, lamented that the money had been wasted.

It was, she said, a “very bad deal”.

Klymenko feared the US cuts would reverse the gains that have been made since she survived TB a decade ago.

“As a person who started receiving treatment when the old approaches were used, I know perfectly well what we have lost now,” she told AFP.

“People will suffer a lot.”

Lunga and Klymenko’s organisations both received US funds through the Stop TB Partnership.

The Geneva-based NGO received a letter from the US government terminating all funding late last month.

It had to share the bad news with 150 community organisations that test, treat and care for patients in affected countries.

Then Stop TB received a new letter last week rescinding the termination.

“The new letter clearly indicates that all work should resume as planned,” the organisation’s executive director, Lucica Ditiu, told AFP.

But it was still unclear whether the decision was permanent — or when any new US money would actually be released, she added.



– ‘Snowball effect’ –



Allowing airborne TB to go untested and untreated could have a “snowball effect” across the world, Ditiu warned.

There are already mutated forms of TB that are resistant to most drugs, and Ditiu feared the US cuts could result in a bug that no treatment can stop.

“Interrupting a treatment for a drug-resistant TB person is horrible, because it will create a bug that will be spread through the air, so me and you and our families or friends can get it,” she warned.

The funding cuts were particularly “devastating” because 2024 was the “best year ever” for the fight against TB, Ditiu added.

According to an internal USAID memo by a now-dismissed assistant administrator, the aid cuts will cause rates of tuberculosis and drug-resistant TB to both surge by roughly 30 percent.

“The US will see more cases of hard-to-treat TB arriving at its doorstep,” according to the memo, published in the New York Times earlier this month.

The US is already reportedly experiencing the largest TB outbreak in its modern history in Kansas City.

A humanitarian source in Geneva who wished to remain anonymous told AFP the situation was “very dangerous, even for the European Union” because of the risk linked to drug-resistant TB in Ukraine and Georgia.

Balochistan Militants hold hundreds of train passengers hostage in Pakistan


By AFP
March 11, 2025


The train hostage incident occurred in rural Sibi district in Balochistan province 

- Copyright AFP BANARAS KHAN

Armed militants held hundreds of train passengers hostage on Tuesday in an ongoing siege claimed by a separatist group behind rising violence in southwestern Pakistan.

The militants wounded the driver as they took control of the train in a remote, mountainous area of Balochistan province which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

“Over 450 passengers onboard are being held hostage by gunmen,” Muhammad Kashif, a senior railway government official in Quetta, the capital of the province, told AFP.

“Passengers include women and children,” he added.

The attack was immediately claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) which is fighting for independence and accuses outsiders of profiting from the region’s wealth.

In a statement, it said gunmen bombed the railway track before storming aboard the train.

“The militants swiftly took control of the train and have taken all passengers hostage,” said the statement released to media.

The group “warned of severe consequences” if an attempt is made to rescue the hostages.

Pakistani sources who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity said an operation “to eliminate the terrorists is ongoing with extreme caution due to the difficult terrain”, adding that women and children are “being used as human shields”.

The incident happened around 1:00 pm (0800 GMT) in rural Sibi district, near to a city station where it had been due to stop.

“A passenger train called the Jaffar Express was stopped by armed militants,” said a senior government official in Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“The passengers are being held hostage, and the driver has been injured.”

The train had left Quetta for Peshawar, in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — a more than 30-hour journey — at around 9:00 am.

A senior police official from the area bordering Sibi, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that “the train remains stuck just before a tunnel surrounded by mountains”.

An emergency has been imposed at hospitals in Sibi, according to the government official.



– Decades-long insurgency –



The area is a mountainous region making it easier for militants to have hideouts and plan attacks.

Security forces have been battling a decades-long insurgency in impoverished Balochistan, which militant groups claim is being exploited by outsiders, with wealth from its natural resources syphoned off with little benefit to the local population.

Violence has soared in the western border regions with Afghanistan, from north to south, since the Taliban took back power in 2021.

More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan in 2024 — the deadliest year in almost a decade — according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.

BLA militants killed seven Punjabi travellers in February after they were ordered off a bus.

At least 39 people were killed in coordinated attacks last year that largely targeted ethnic Punjabis.

In November, the BLA claimed responsibility for a bombing at Quetta’s main railway station that killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers.

Ghana scraps IMF-linked ‘nuisance’ taxes


By AFP
March 11, 2025




The tax cuts in Ghana come as the economic crisis that pushed the debt-laden country towards IMF financing continues apace - Copyright AFP/File ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Ghana’s new government on Tuesday announced it was scrapping several Covid-era taxes introduced in an effort to secure IMF financing, citing the economic hardship placed on ordinary citizens.

Five taxes deemed “nuisance levies” by the current government — including a one-percent levy on mobile money transfers and a value-added tax on motor vehicle insurance — are being cancelled, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said, presenting the government’s 2025 budget.

With the economy in “severe distress” — in part from debt mismanagement and financing shortfalls — concerns quickly emerged over how the government planned to close the resulting revenue shortfall.

Authorities say they are seeking to help Ghanaians struggling with soaring inflation and a depreciating currency and will introduce alternative measures to enhance tax collection.

“The removal of these taxes will ease the burden on households and improve their disposable incomes,” Forson told lawmakers in the capital Accra. “In addition, it will support business growth.”

The other scrapped levies are a 10-percent tax on lottery winnings, an emission levy on industries and vehicles and a 1.5-percent tax on unprocessed gold from small-scale miners.

They were introduced as part of efforts by the previous government to reach a $3-billion International Monetary Fund bailout, which was eventually secured in 2023.

Forson assured parliament that the new government under President John Mahama, elected in December, had “stopped the bleeding”.

Plans are in place to amend the Revenue Administration Act to improve tax revenue collection, which is expected to yield an additional 0.3 percent of GDP.

Additionally, the government wants to enhance road toll collection this year as part of its infrastructure development initiative, dubbed the “Big Push”.



– Gold sector reform –



The tax cuts come as the economic crisis that pushed debt-laden Ghana towards the IMF in the first place continues apace.

“We inherited an economy in deep crisis, hard hit with debt and beset by other fiscal challenges such as large accumulation of arrears, energy sector financing shortfalls and large fiscal risks from the cocoa and financial sectors,” Forson said.

Praising the government’s move, economist Daniel Amateye Anim-Prempeh told AFP that “the removal of these nuisance taxes will put money back into the pockets of citizens and help businesses recover”.

“However, the success of these measures will depend on the government’s ability to boost revenue collection without increasing the fiscal deficit.”

Additionally, the government is setting up the Ghana Gold Board to help regulate and manage the sector, with the aim of increasing foreign exchange reserves and stabilising the local currency.

Illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, has exploded as high gold prices have drawn more workers to the sector — leaving environmental devastation in its wake

China launches autonomous AI agent Manus: To be welcomed or feared?


By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
March 11, 2025


Image: © AFP

A new AI agent named Manus, developed in China, is gaining attention for its autonomous capabilities in tasks like resume sorting and stock analysis, sparking both interest and concerns over data privacy and AI competition with the U.S.

Manus AI says on its website that it was named after the Latin word for hand and is “a general AI agent that turns your thoughts into actions”.

To learn more about this software Digital Journal asked Mel Morris, CEO of Corpora.ai about Manus and its impact on the AI industry at large.

According to Morris there are indeed issues to be mindful about: “Manus’ demonstrations showcase the potential of Agentic AI as a significant step forward. However, granting autonomous AI agents like Manus the ability to perform independent actions raises serious concerns.”

Agentic AI uses sophisticated reasoning and iterative planning to autonomously solve complex, multi-step problems.

Citing examples, Morris explains: “We have already witnessed numerous examples of generative AI and so-called reasoning models producing flawed outputs. If given autonomy over high-stakes tasks—such as buying and selling stocks—such imperfections could lead to chaos. The ability to compare stock fundamentals and trading activity in minutes is vastly different from successfully navigating the complexities of the market.”

Morris also notes the technological development: “Agentic AI represents a major advancement. AI’s ability to design, construct, and execute code dramatically expands its capabilities. Notably, research into DeepSeek R1 suggests that it can reason simultaneously in both English and Chinese.”

This sends signals about the future of AI: “This raises the possibility that AI models could develop their own, humanly indecipherable language—justified by potential performance gains but fundamentally limiting human oversight. This prospect is both fascinating and alarming.”

Will these changes be a force for good? Much depends, as Morris points out: “There are still many uncharted aspects of AI and autonomous agents, particularly the risks of independent reasoning in an undisclosed language. Vigilance in deployment, instrumentation, and monitoring is critical. Unfortunately, little progress has been made in these areas, which must be urgently addressed.”

This means: “We need to understand what our AI agents are doing, how they reach their conclusions, and establish mechanisms for oversight or intervention.”

Overall, various forms of AI relate to similar discussions and concerns, which Morris summarises as: “While Manus presents intriguing capabilities, it is not a revolutionary leap beyond existing AI models like Gemini or OpenAI’s research offerings. The same concerns about data privacy and exposure to cloud servers persist, compounded by concerns over Manus’ ties to China. These factors will only intensify the ongoing debate over AI security and governance.”

Trump burnishes Tesla at White House in show of support for Musk


By AFP
March 11, 2025


US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speak to the press as they stand next to a Tesla vehicle on the South Portico of the White House on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC - Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN

Jeremy CHILDS

President Donald Trump responded Tuesday to plummeting Tesla share prices by briefly turning the White House into a showroom, announcing he was buying one of the electric cars manufactured by close advisor Elon Musk, and threatening anti-Tesla protesters with “hell.”

The unprecedented product endorsement by a sitting president for a company founded by his top donor comes after Tesla shares cratered amid market fears spurred by Trump’s tariffs and backlash to Musk’s controversial role in slashing the US government.

“I said, ‘you know, Elon, I don’t like what’s happening to you, and Tesla’s a great company,'” Trump said to reporters Tuesday while standing alongside Musk in front of a red Tesla sedan on the south portico of the White House.

“He has never asked me for a thing, and he’s built this great company, and he shouldn’t be penalized because he’s a patriot,” Trump continued.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has empowered Musk to slash federal government spending and headcounts as leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

But DOGE’s high-profile cost-cutting campaign has faced increasing resistance, including protests, court rulings and some pressure from lawmakers.

The turmoil has also tarnished the Tesla brand, with sales plummeting in Europe, share prices tumbling and multiple reports of cars being vandalized.

Unhappy Tesla owners have even slapped bumper stickers on their vehicles claiming they had purchased them “before Elon went crazy.”

Trump warned of unspecified crackdowns on protesters.

Asked by a reporter if they should be “labeled domestic terrorists,” Trump said “I’ll do it.”

“You do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re going to catch you and you’re going to go through hell,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform his intent to buy a Tesla in support of Musk, promoting the vehicles to his followers.

“To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!,” Trump wrote.

“I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” his post continued.

Musk, the world’s richest person, responded on his X platform, thanking the president.

While Musk enjoys Trump’s confidence, polling shows the tech billionaire is deeply unpopular among ordinary Americans, and his cuts to government budgets have sparked angry confrontations between Republicans and their constituents at town halls.



– Tesla shares recover –



Tesla share prices rallied in part Tuesday after closing more than 15 percent down on Monday, as uncertainty over Trump’s import tariffs and threats roils US financial markets.

Tesla has also seen its sales drop across Europe in recent weeks following Musk’s controversial support for far-right groups, including Germany’s AfD during the country’s recent election campaign.

Tesla sales in Germany — Europe’s biggest auto market — plunged more than 76 percent year-on-year in February, official data showed. Overall sales in the European Union almost halved, on year, in January.

In early March, a dozen Teslas were torched at a dealership in France in what authorities treated as an arson attack, and the firm’s facilities have also been vandalized in the United States.

Tesla has lost more than one-third of its market value since mid-December as Musk deepens his association with Trump.

Meanwhile, Musk said his X platform was hit Monday by a major cyberattack, raising questions as to whether the politically divisive billionaire is being targeted or his decision to gut staff at what was once Twitter is haunting the social network.

Fox News reporter challenges Trump on promoting Tesla while Americans are ‘struggling’

David Badash,

 The New Civil Rights Movement
March 11, 2025 

U.S. President Donald Trump holds notes about Tesla cars while being shown various models parked in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque


As the stock market continues to drop due to President Donald Trump’s tariff program and resulting anxiety over the possible recession economists warn may come — reinforced by his refusal to rule one out — the President has decided to go on a campaign to promote Tesla, the electric vehicle company owned by the leader of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), billionaire tech magnate Elon Musk. Tesla’s stock price reportedly had been sliced nearly in half since Trump was elected.



Late Tuesday afternoon Trump and Musk “turned the South Lawn of the White House into a temporary Tesla showroom in a conspicuous favor to his adviser Elon Musk,” NBC News reported. “Tesla delivered five of its vehicles to the White House and parked them on a driveway for Trump to personally inspect, hours after he said in a post on his app Truth Social that he planned to buy a Tesla to demonstrate his support for Musk and for the slumping car company.”

CNN called it “an extraordinary scene” as Trump “effectively held a combination press conference and live Tesla ad outside the White House,” while noting that “Tesla stock climbed on Tuesday, with Trump saying that he would label any violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism.”


ALSO READ:'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight

Many Americans are increasingly concerned about the economy as Trump’s tariffs start to take hold and the markets continue to drop. The DOW, for example, has lost 2800 points in the past month, including Tuesday’s drop of 478 points.

Trump lavished praise on Musk’s Model S, repeatedly calling it “beautiful” and expressing surprise, remarking, “everything’s computer.” His remarks are in stark contrast to his history of denouncing electric vehicles, and more recently, indicating he plans to make it more expensive for Americans to buy them.


According to Kelley Blue Book, the Model S starts at $76,880.

During the event, Musk lavished praise on President Trump, declaring, “As a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and as an act of faith in America, Tesla is going to DOUBLE vehicle output in the United States within the next two years. Double.”

Trump told reporters he was going to buy a Tesla today “because number one this is a great product, as good as it gets, and number two because this man has devoted his energy, and his life to doing this.”


“I think he’s been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people, Trump continued. Earlier this week on social media Trump blamed “Radical Left Lunatics” for “illegally,” he claimed, boycotting Tesla.

“And I just want people to know that you can’t be penalized for being a patriot. And he’s a great patriot. And he’s also done an incredible job with Tesla and I mean, nobody else has a car company started up in the last 30 years that’s been successful, and I don’t think so. And not only successful, but super successful and because he’s able to find billions and billions and billions of dollars of fraud and waste and all other things.”

News reports question the evidence of fraud and waste unearthed by Musk’s DOGE team.


“I mean, our country is gonna be very strong very soon,” Trump added, “because of a lot of the things that he’s done, and a lot of the things that I’m doing. And uh this there is no better team, but there’s no better for what we’re doing. There’s nobody like this, and he shouldn’t be penalized, and when I watched the other day, I said, I can’t believe it. It should be the opposite.”

But it was Fox News’ Peter Doocy, known for his attacks on the Biden administration, who shifted the conversation, challenging the event that resembled a presidential endorsement of Tesla.

“President Trump, buying a new car while there are some folks who will see this clip at home, and they are struggling with their retirement accounts — down at the moment — uncertainty about work ahead,” he told Trump.


“Well I think they’re going to do great,” Trump declared, bypassing the line of questioning. “Our country had to do this. We had to go and do this.”

“Other countries have taken away our business. They’ve taken away our jobs,” Trump insisted.

Watch the videos above or at this link.

  

Volkswagen profits hit as high costs, China woes weigh


By AFP
March 11, 2025


Volkswagen has struggled with the shift to electric vehicles 

- Copyright AFP/File Yuichi YAMAZAKI

Léa Pernelle, with Louis Van Boxel-Woolf in Berlin

German auto giant Volkswagen said Tuesday its annual profits nosedived during a torrid year that saw Europe’s top carmaker increasingly struggle with high production costs and fierce Chinese competition.

At 12.4 billion euros ($13.4 billion) in 2024, net profit fell 30.6 percent compared with the previous year, even as overall sales grew slightly to reach 324.7 billion euros.

The poor results were due to a “significant increase in fixed costs” and one-off expenses totalling 2.6 billion euros, primarily aimed at restructuring, the company said.

Volkswagen has been hit hard not just by rising costs but also a stuttering switch to electric vehicles, where it faces stiff competition from Chinese rivals.

The 10-brand group, whose models range from Audi to Seat and Skoda, had a particularly difficult 2024, marked by a long dispute with unions that ended with a deal in December to cut 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030.

The carmaker ultimately decided against closing factories at home for the first time ever, but its problems nevertheless highlighted a broader crisis buffeting Europe’s ailing auto industry as it struggles to keep pace with rapid changes.

Highlighting Volkswagen’s difficulties, its deliveries last year to China — its single biggest national market — fell almost 10 percent, even as they were flat or rose in the rest of the world.

The weakness in China was behind an overall 3.5-percent drop in unit sales, with Volkswagen only shifting around nine million vehicles worldwide last year.



– ‘Uncertainty, tensions’ ahead –



Cost pressures also squeezed Volkswagen’s profit margins down to 5.9 percent in 2024, from some seven percent the previous year.

The outcome was somewhat better than feared by the group, which midway through last year predicted a margin of some 5.6 percent for 2024.

“Consistently reducing costs and increasing profitability” was key for the firm going forward, Volkswagen finance chief Arno Antlitz said in a statement.

But Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research institute in Germany, said the politics of deep cost cuts would be difficult for the firm, pointing out that it was part-owned by the German state of Lower Saxony.

“The Volkswagen brand, its factories and development centres, are found far too often in Germany, an expensive place to do business, and particularly in Lower Saxony,” he said.

“VW is a ‘semi state-owned’ enterprise and cannot adjust costs like its competitors can.”

Volkswagen said it expected revenue this year to exceed the 2024 figure by “up to five percent”. For 2025, it is aiming for a margin of between 5.5 and 6.5 percent.

But the carmaker also warned 2025 could be marked by challenges arising “from an environment characterised by political uncertainty, increasing trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions”.

US President Donald Trump has upended global trade by unleashing a series of tariffs and threats targeting US allies and adversaries.

The EU is also in his crosshairs — he is threatening to hit the bloc with 25-percent duties.

Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan replaces CEO


By AFP
March 11, 2025


Nissan Rogue: — © Nissan USA

Tomohiro Osaki and Julien Girault

Struggling Japanese automaker Nissan announced on Tuesday that chief executive Makoto Uchida would step down, a move that follows the failure of merger talks with rival Honda.

The company said the leadership change was meant to “achieve the company’s short- and mid-term objectives while positioning it for long-term growth” but did not elaborate.

Ivan Espinosa has been chosen as representative executive officer in Uchida’s place, Nissan said in a statement. The company will hold an online briefing later on Tuesday.

Espinosa joined Nissan in Mexico in 2003 and held posts in Southeast Asia before becoming a director for Mexico and Latin America in 2010. The change is effective April 1, Nissan said.

Nissan announced thousands of job cuts last year after reporting a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit. It now expects an annual loss of more than $500 million.

The company and Honda announced last month they were scrapping merger talks that would have created the world’s third-biggest auto company by unit sales behind Toyota and Volkswagen.

The discussions — seen as a way to catch up to US titan Tesla and Chinese firms on electric vehicles — are believed to have unravelled after Honda proposed making Nissan a subsidiary instead of an initial plan to integrate under a new holding company.

However, media reports have since said Honda could be prepared to revive negotiations under a different Nissan boss.

Despite the scrapped talks, Honda’s president Toshihiro Mibe has said the automakers would continue to seek “synergy” through a strategic partnership announced in August that also includes Nissan’s junior partner Mitsubishi Motors.

After the failure of the merger talks in February, Uchida “called for opening new discussions with potential partners, because… we cannot do without a partner” to survive in the global market, a source close to the matter told AFP on Tuesday.

“For Nissan to become stronger, it must find a partner in the markets that are its priority,” the source said.

The Nikkei Business weekly magazine, citing unidentified Nissan sources, has reported the company would likely re-consider investment from Honda under its new leadership, but “not in the form of becoming its full subsidiary”.

Nissan is also eyeing a four-way cooperation that would include Taiwanese chip behemoth Foxconn as well as Mitsubishi Motors, the Nikkei Business report said.

Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and builds devices for major tech companies, including Apple’s iPhones.

It has recently been pushing into areas ranging from electric vehicles to semiconductors and servers.

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded the credit rating of Nissan to junk last month, saying the decision “reflects Nissan’s weak profitability driven by slowing demand for its ageing model portfolio”.

Fitch and S&P Global Ratings followed suit, downgrading the Nissan credit rating to a speculative category.

Oil companies greet Trump return, muted on tariffs


By AFP
March 11, 2025


Demonstrators protest against the Ceraweek by S&P Global energy conference, near the hotel where the conference is being attended, in Houston, Texas, on March 10, 2025 - Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN

John BIERS

Oil executives said Tuesday they are bullish on US petroleum investments in the emerging Trump era as some giants back away from renewable energy and beef up fossil fuel developments.

While there is still talk about decarbonization and climate change mitigation, speakers at this year’s CERAWeek conference in Texas have welcomed the more “realistic” approach gaining favor in industry and policy circles that includes a hefty emphasis on energy affordability and economic development.

The Trump administration’s unpredictable tariff announcements have pressured markets, but the lack of open criticism of the moves this week highlights an underlying affinity for the Trump White House after the Biden years.

TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the French company would continue to heavily invest to boost its US liquefied natural gas business.

He told an event panel that “maybe it’s the time to go back to exploring the Gulf of America,” employing the Trump administration’s term for the Gulf of Mexico.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance praised the Trump administration’s early moves to streamline permitting of new petroleum projects, pointing to a much-delayed Alaska oil project that was hindered by environmental challenges.

“We have to fix the system that we have here in the US,” Lance said. “That’s probably the biggest impediment to growing the energy system in the United States.”



– Benefit of the doubt –



The comments highlighted the optimism in oil industry circles generated by President Donald Trump, who has reset the tone from Washington after predecessor Joe Biden lambasted the industry for spending billions of dollars on share repurchases.

Tariffs are “getting talked about in back rooms and private conversations,” said Chris Treanor, executive director of the Partnership to Address Global Emissions, who described the industry as having “enough good will” to give Trump the benefit of the doubt.

“The US industry doesn’t feel like it’s being targeted by this administration, whereas it felt like it was targeted by the previous administration,” he said.

But tariff talk has dominated some public panels at CERA Week, including one Tuesday in which Canadian officials from across the region expressed incredulity at Trump’s latest tariff actions.

Potential US tariffs on Canadian crude would “very negatively” affect many consumers, said Brian Jean, energy and minerals minister of the oil-rich Alberta Province, who described widespread anger in Canada at Trump’s talk of annexing the country.

“People are very shocked and surprised, and it’s going to change people’s attitude about the United States,” Jean said.



– ‘Continuous growth’ for oil –



Begun in 1983 by Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize, a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the oil industry, CERAWeek is an annual Houston gathering that has expanded beyond its petroleum roots to include the power and renewable sectors.

Trump’s Secretary of Energy Chris Wright opened the conference on Monday, vowing to take steps to ease the path for fossil fuels to boost supplies of affordable energy and sharply criticizing the Biden administration’s focus on climate change.

One of the most dramatic shifts in orientation has been from BP, which announced last month that it was trimming its renewable energy efforts and retreating from carbon emissions targets as it ramps up investment in fossil fuels.

“We’re back to our roots,” BP Chief Executive Murray Auchincloss told the conference Tuesday, describing ramped up investments in exploration and production in the United States and the Middle East.

Biden’s administration enacted aggressive fuel economy standards designed to boost electric vehicles and generous tax credits to encourage EV battery projects and greater use of solar and wind power.

A couple of years ago, CERA Week was dominated by talk of “net zero” emission by the mid-century in line with the Paris Climate Agreement that challenges the future viability of crude oil and natural gas.

But at this year’s CERA, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser expressed confidence in oil, saying “we see continuous growth” of demand.

TotalEnergies’ Pouyanne shrugged off talk in Europe of phasing out natural gas, pointing to Germany’s needs after phasing out nuclear power, saying “this is a message, and then you have the reality.”

EU foreign affairs chief slams rise of the ‘rule of force’


By AFP
March 11, 2025


EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, pictured here in February, reaffirmed European support for Ukraine as she addressed the UN Security Council - Copyright AFP/File JOHN THYS

The EU’s foreign affairs chief told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just one of a rising number of cases where the “rule of force” has replaced international law.

Eighty years after its creation the United Nations now faces “unprecedented pressure,” Kaja Kallas told a council meeting on relations with the European Union.

“We see blatant violations of the UN Charter. We see attempts to replace the rule of law by the rule of force,” the former Estonian prime minister said.

“The EU calls for the respect of international law, international humanitarian law and human rights in every context they are at risk or actively violated. Be it in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Haiti or Ukraine,” she added.

Amid intense US pressure on Ukraine to make a deal to end fighting with Russia, Kallas reaffirmed EU support for Kyiv and its demands for a “just and lasting peace” in line with the UN Charter.

“Europe has learnt from its own history that giving in to aggressors’ demands leads to more violence,” the official told envoys including from the United States and Russia, two of the Security Council’s permanent members.

“This war can end instantly if Russia -– the only one responsible -– withdraws its troops and stops bombing Ukraine. Russia can stop this war any time –- but it has chosen not to, despite all the efforts so far,” Kallas said.

The EU high representative for foreign affairs also called on Israel to lift obstacles on aid entering Gaza.

“It is imperative that the delivery of humanitarian aid is not politicized or conditional. Any and all blockades to delivery of aid at scale must be lifted,” Kallas said.

Israel started blocking aid entering Gaza again on March 2, demanding that Palestinian militant group Hamas accept its terms for extending a ceasefire that came into force in January.

Facing Trump and Putin, are the EU’s defence plans enough?


By AFP
March 11, 2025


Finnish soldiers ride a Leopard 2 German main battle tank as part of a NATO exercise - Copyright AFP Paul ELLIS

Max DELANY

Faced by a menacing Russia and unreliable United States, the EU is pushing a mammoth plan to boost its defences that Brussels says could unlock up to 800 billion euros ($860 billion).

“The time of illusions is now over,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

“We need a surge in European defence. And we need it now.”

But there are major questions over how the European Union will get anywhere near that eye-watering headline figure.

Even if Europe does put its money where its mouth is — would it be enough to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin and replace America’s military might?



– Why now? –



EU countries have upped military spending since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — but US President Donald Trump’s return has turbocharged the urgency.

Trump has shocked Europe by pulling support for Ukraine and fuelled fears he could impose a peace plan that leaves Moscow emboldened.

Even more unnerving are threats Washington may not stand by its NATO allies and the sense Europe can no longer count on the US protection it has enjoyed for decades.

If the United States withdraws from Europe, it could take with it vast amounts of key weaponry needed to fend off Moscow and crucial manpower.

The Bruegel think tank estimates that for Europe to deter Russia on its own it would need to spend 250 billion euros extra each year on defence and come up with 300,000 more troops.



– What’s the plan? –



The EU’s proposal, unveiled last week, is based on two main elements.

The first is loosening budget rules to let governments spend more on defence — a move that doesn’t in itself put any more money on the table.

Von der Leyen says, however, that this could generate up to 650 billion euros over the next four years, if EU countries use it to ramp up defence spending by 1.5 percent of GDP.

The second key part of the plan is more concrete in terms of funding, with Brussels proposing to provide member states with EU-backed loans of up to 150 billion euros.

Von der Leyen says that money should be spent together by EU states on key weaponry made by European producers as the continent looks to bolster its own industry.

Beyond this, the plan from Brussels would also allow member states to repurpose funds intended for poorer regions and lift curbs on defence investments by its lending arm.



– Can Europe deliver? –



Given that the vast bulk of the plan relies on EU governments to step up, it will be more down to national capitals than Brussels.

Key European power Germany has already signalled it wants to get serious — with likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz seeking to splash hundreds of billions on defence and infrastructure.

But that push has already hit political obstacles in Berlin, and other countries such as France and Italy are struggling with high debt levels.

“The big variable here is national decision making — most of the money is under the control of national governments,” said Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund think tank.

“That has evolved over the last weeks, and it’s becoming clear that governments are more committed.”

One hurdle to quick rearmament could be if Europe wants to spend its money only at home, as the perception grows the United States is no longer a trustworthy partner.

“The constraint may not be money, the constraint may be supply, as Europe still lacks the industrial capacity,” Lesser said.

“The quickest way to build up capabilities for now is still to buy US equipment off the shelf.”



– Is it enough? –



Three years after Russia unleashed Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, Brussels insists it is finally getting serious on defence.

But after numerous false dawns there is still a feeling that the bloc might be falling short of the sea change that is required.

Guntram Wolff from Bruegel called the EU’s plan so far “only a first step in the future discussion”.

“It goes into the right direction, but it’s not enough,” he told AFP.

Von der Leyen is set next week to put meat on the bones of her proposal ahead of an EU summit, and unveil further options to “substantially” boost financing.

“For now we only have the contours of an idea,” said one EU diplomat. “We’re still waiting for the details to pick over.”

Some countries are pushing for a more ambitious EU-wide joint borrowing similar to the vast recovery fund set up during the Covid pandemic — but so far it is a hard no from others.

“A real game changer would be a joint borrowing program focusing on capacities we don’t have, to fill the gap with the US,” Wolff said.

Italian defence firm Leonardo to focus on int’l alliances for growth


By  AFP
March 11, 2025


Leonardo boss Roberto Cingolani has sought alliances with other European defence groups since he took up the reins in 2023 - Copyright AFP/File ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Italian defence group Leonardo will use international alliances to help accelerate growth and face competition amid rising geopolitical tensions, its chief executive said Tuesday.

“In a complex environment,” the aerospace and defence group will aim for “strong alliances,” Roberto Cingolani said during a conference call with analysts, as he laid out the company’s new five-year industrial plan.

Those alliances will be particularly in the areas of “cybersecurity, space technology and artificial intelligence,” he said.

Leonardo’s 2025-2029 industrial plan anticipates overall annual revenue growth of 7 percent to reach 24 billion euros in 2029, with growth of about 9 to 10 percent in its newly created Space division.

It also sees orders rising by 5.8 percent annually to reach 26.2 billion euros ($28.66 billion) in 2029, compared with 20.9 billion euros in 2024, and an anticipated 21 billion euros in 2025.

The company on Tuesday reported a jump in annual net profit and orders, boosted by its joint space venture Telespazio.

Its results come against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions that have prompted European nations to step up military spending.

Defence budgets in Europe have risen following Russia’s 2022 all-out invasion of Ukraine, and are set to increase further as the EU responds to US President Donald Trump’s demands that allies pay more for their security.

Leonardo said its net profit rose 67 percent to 1.16 billion euros in 2024. Revenues rose 16.2 percent to 17.9 billion euros, with growth in nearly every segment.

Its joint space venture Telespazio contributed a capital gain of 366 million euros to its balance sheet.

Orders last year were 16.8 percent higher than in 2023, helped by its Electronics for Defence and Security (EDS) division, and its helicopters unit.

Since 2023 when he took over the helm of the group, which is 30 percent owned by the Italian state, Cingolani has worked to build alliances with other European defence groups to compete with US and Chinese rivals.

Leonardo and Turkish group Baykar, a drone manufacturer, signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday for a joint venture to produce drones.

In October, Leonardo and Germany’s Rheinmetall signed a joint venture to supply the Italian army with battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

Shares of Leonardo have risen 47 percent in the past month. On Tuesday, they closed up 1.7 percent to 43.75 euros on the Milan stock exchange.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY