AFP
13875 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
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Toshiba to go private as board accepts $15 bn takeover bid: reports
Troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba on Thursday accepted a $15 billion takeover bid by a consortium led by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners, major local media outlets reported. The Nikkei and other media including public broadcaster NHK said a buyout by a consortium of around 20 Japanese companies had been approved at a Toshiba board meeting.
Even free transport can't shake Luxembourg's love of the car
Three years after Luxembourg declared all public transport free in a bid to clear its roads of jams and cut pollution, the car is still king of the congested Grand Duchy. So the wealthy country of just 650,000 people appeared the perfect place for a bold experiment -- making public transport on trains, trams and buses free nationwide.
After Fed, European central banks hike their rates
Switzerland and Norway hiked interest rates Thursday to tackle inflation despite banking-sector turmoil, with the UK's central bank next in line after the US Federal Reserve also lifted borrowing costs. A catalyst for SVB's demise was the Fed's shift from near-zero interest rates to higher borrowing costs aimed at taming decades-high inflation.
China holds 'upper hand' in Russian gas exports
A massive new gas pipeline to China could help reduce Russia's reliance on European buyers, but analysts say the project reveals a growing imbalance between the longtime strategic allies. Analysts say the lagging response shows an imbalance favouring Beijing in energy deals between the two countries -- as well as China's wariness of over-reliance on Russia for fuel.
French unions dig in after Macron defends pension reform
Trains were disrupted and a new day of nationwide protests expected in France on Thursday after a defiant President Emmanuel Macron pledged to implement a contentious pensions overhaul by year-end. Protests were planned across the country on Thursday in the latest day of nationwide stoppages that began in mid-January against the pension changes.
Frustrated Kenyans voice anger over economic crisis
Hempstone Monari's taxi business was just getting going when the wheels fell off his financial future and a Kenyan bank auctioned off his car over the non-payment of a $9,900 loan. "They took my car even though business was slow," the 29-year-old told AFP, his eyes red from tear gas and several days' stubble on his chin under an orange cloth mask.
People smugglers use TikTok to promote their services
A photo posted to TikTok shows a group of people dressed in camouflage, hoping to blend into the shadowy vegetation dotting the nighttime landscape of the Mexican desert. Another account offering to smuggle irregular migrants through the violence-wracked Mexican border state of Tamaulipas shows a photo of minors in an inflatable boat on a river.
TikTok chief faces US Congress as lawmakers mull ban
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will fight for the survival of the hugely popular video-sharing app in the United States on Thursday, as he faces skeptical Washington lawmakers over the company's alleged ties to the Chinese government. "TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government.
Cold shower for Hungary's famed hot baths
Hungary's grand thermal baths are struggling to stay afloat, buffeted by rocketing energy bills. Hungary's thermal bath culture was first developed 2,000 years ago by the Romans and continued under the Ottomans in the 16th century. mg-bg/anb/pmu/jza/fg
AFP
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