EUROZONE
Spanish protest austerity
Thousands of people took part in a “march for dignity” in Madrid on Saturday to protest against austerity measures on the eve of a closely watched regional election in southern Spain. Yesterday’s vote in Andalusia, one of the poorest parts of the country, is seen as a test of the national mood ahead of Spain’s most unpredictable general elections in decades. The demonstrators were voicing their discontent with the painful austerity policies that have led the government to cut billions of euros from spending between 2012 and last year. Education, public health and social benefits have all been affected. Spain saw growth of 1.4 percent last year but after an economic crisis that lasted six years, the economy remains battered with an unemployment rate of 23.7 percent. Half of all young people between the ages of 16 and 25 are without jobs.
GEORGIA
Protests blame goverment
Tens of thousands of people marched on Saturday in one of the biggest anti-government rallies of recent years, blaming the authorities for an economic crisis and worsening crime. The former Soviet republic has been battered by a plunge in the Russian ruble and the conflict in Ukraine. Lower exports and remittances are also contributing to a rising current account deficit. A fall of nearly 30 percent in the lari over the past year has hurt many people, especially those with US dollar loans. Protesters, led by activists and leaders of the opposition United National Movement, marched down Tbilisi’s main avenue waving the national flag as well as the EU flag and holding posters saying “resign.”
FINANCE
Citigroup fires trader
Citigroup Inc fired a trader on Friday for allegedly mismarking an inflation-options book and dismissed his boss for lax oversight, according to a person familiar with the matter. Carl Bonde lost his job in New York after the bank determined he had inflated the value of his trading positions by less than US$30 million, the person said. Keith Price, head of US inflation trading, was dismissed for his failure to supervise Bonde, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing a personnel matter. Bonde, a director, and Price, a managing director, left the bank this week, Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos said in a telephone interview. Price reported to Citigroup managing director Roland Wikstrom.
PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK in UK talks to sell drug
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) said it wants to wrap up negotiations with the British Department of Health over the cost of its meningitis B vaccine so the medicine can be distributed in Britain.
The UK’s biggest drugmaker is engaged in “active discussions” with the government, GSK spokeswoman Catherine Hartley said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. British Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt told the BBC earlier that he had spoken with GSK chief executive officer Andrew Witty in the past week and hopes to strike a deal “soon.” GSK, based in Brentford, England, acquired the Bexsero vaccine from Swiss drug maker Novartis AG last year. It has been approved for use in the US and Europe, yet disagreement over the price per dose has prevented a widespread rollout in Britain. Bexsero’s list price is ￡75 (US$112) a dose, and Hunt told the BBC on Saturday “the right price is around ￡5 a dose.” About 1,700 people a year in the UK contract meningitis B, which kills one in 10 people affected.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would not produce its most advanced technologies in the US next year, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the comment during an appearance at the legislature, hours after the chipmaker announced that it would invest an additional US$100 billion to expand its manufacturing operations in the US. Asked by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) if TSMC would allow its most advanced technologies, the yet-to-be-released 2-nanometer and 1.6-nanometer processes, to go to the US in the near term, Kuo denied it. TSMC recently opened its first US factory, which produces 4-nanometer
PROTECTION: The investigation, which takes aim at exporters such as Canada, Germany and Brazil, came days after Trump unveiled tariff hikes on steel and aluminum products US President Donald Trump on Saturday ordered a probe into potential tariffs on lumber imports — a move threatening to stoke trade tensions — while also pushing for a domestic supply boost. Trump signed an executive order instructing US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to begin an investigation “to determine the effects on the national security of imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products.” The study might result in new tariffs being imposed, which would pile on top of existing levies. The investigation takes aim at exporters like Canada, Germany and Brazil, with White House officials earlier accusing these economies of
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
PROBE CONTINUES: Those accused falsely represented that the chips would not be transferred to a person other than the authorized end users, court papers said Singapore charged three men with fraud in a case local media have linked to the movement of Nvidia’s advanced chips from the city-state to Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm DeepSeek (深度求索). The US is investigating if DeepSeek, the Chinese company whose AI model’s performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using US chips that are not allowed to be shipped to China, Reuters reported earlier. The Singapore case is part of a broader police investigation of 22 individuals and companies suspected of false representation, amid concerns that organized AI chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of nations such
RSS