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NEW YORK — US cybersecurity firm McAfee said on Monday it will be sold to a group of investors for more than $14 billion, just over a year after going public.

The consortium led by Advent International Corporation and Permira Advisers will pay about $12 billion in cash to acquire all of McAfee's outstanding shares, with the cost rising to more than $14 billion when the company's debt is added.

The investor group also includes Crosspoint Capital Partners, Canadian pension fund CPP Investments, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund.

The sale is the latest episode in the history of the company founded by John McAfee in 1987, the namesake of the antivirus software.

The firm once went public in 1992, then again in 1999 following a merger, before Intel bought it for about $7.7 billion and delisted it in 2011.

Following an integration process observers viewed as fraught, Intel in 2016 then spun McAfee off from its core business, keeping a large stake but handing control to investment company TPG Capital.

McAfee returned to the stock market again in October 2020, taking advantage of a buoyant atmosphere for the cybersecurity industry.

After several years of back-to-back losses, the company seems set to return to profitability this year.

The company's name remains associated with that of its founder John McAfee, who died last June at the age of 75 in a Spanish prison where he was awaiting extradition to the United States over tax fraud charges.

The entrepreneur and programmer, who before his death had become a kind of guru of cryptocurrencies, resigned from the company in 1994.

LONDON — World stock markets wobbled on Monday as investors balanced bright US jobs data against stubborn inflation concerns.

Nearing midday, London stocks turned flat while Frankfurt declined and Paris bobbed higher after a mixed showing in Asia.

The dollar diverged as dealers awaited vital US consumer price inflation data due Wednesday.

Bitcoin surged above $66,000 to near its record peak on feverish demand, as the combined value of all cryptocurrencies topped $3 trillion, according to data provider CoinGecko.

Oil rallied further after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers refused to heed US calls last week to ramp up output to meet a surge in demand.

"European [stock] markets have kicked off the week on a somewhat uninspiring note, with indices largely treading water off the back of a volatile week just gone," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.

Markets had surged on Friday on blockbuster US job creation data, which showed recovery was well underway in the world's top economy.

Wall Street's three main indexes clocked up records last week after figures showed more than half-a-million new US jobs were created last month, with hiring rebounding as new infections fall across the country. Figures for the previous two months were also revised up.

However, optimism continues to be held back by worries about inflation, which has surged this year owing to a pick-up in demand, a spike in energy prices and supply chain snarls — forcing central banks around the world to start rowing back their massive pandemic-era support measures.

Adding to inflation expectations is Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that finally passed through Congress on Friday, giving the president a much-needed boost in his plan to push through vast spending measures to support the economy.

However, another proposal to stump up another $1.9 trillion for social and environmental programmes continues to languish.

The US jobs report was followed on Sunday by China saying exports had soared by a better-than-expected 27.1 per cent in October as factories kept goods flowing out despite power outages in recent months caused by emission reduction targets, the surging price of coal and supply problems.

TUNIS — Proudly displaying her freshly picked pomegranates, Tunisian farmer Sarah Shili says going organic is "the future of farming" — and as demand surges in North Africa and beyond, the sector is blooming.

Shili runs Domaine Elixir Bio, a 94 hectare farm near Tunis that produces organic-certified vegetable, fruit and cereal crops in a way she said "respects nature".

The farm's revenues have surged thanks to strong demand and the growth of online sales, multiplying five times in as many years to hit 100,000 euros in 2020.

That is despite the higher price of organic products in a middle-income country where many people's wallets have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and years of economic crisis.

Indeed, with export demand also on the rise, Shili says the main challenges are on the supply side. 

"We lack water, like all farmers, and to get organic seeds and plants we have to do everything ourselves," she said.

Despite the challenges, the sector has surged in Tunisia since the turn of the millennium.

In 2001, just 16,000 hectares were dedicated to organic farming — a figure that has multiplied 20-fold over two decades.

The number of producers and venders has grown at a similar pace to some 8,000, said Samia Maamer, in charge of organic products at the agriculture ministry.

Maamer said the sector has helped diversify the country's economy and now makes up 13 per cent of food exports.

Out of 250 categories of organic products grown in Tunisia, around 60 are exported — mainly olive oil but also dates, aromatic and medicinal plants as well as some vegetables and fruit.

Despite its small size, Tunisia ranks 30th in the world and first in Africa in terms of area certified for organic farming.

Maamer said that apart from its chronic water shortages, "the climate in Tunisia is very favourable" to the trade.

She added that only 5 per cent of the country's 2 million hectares of olive groves had been treated with pesticides, meaning the remainder could potentially win organic certification.

"It's a sector with ongoing and growing international demand," said Maamer.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, people began increasingly looking for organic products "because... they don't contain [artificial] chemicals", she added.

While there is strong demand in the US and Europe for bio products, they are also gaining attention among 25-30 year-old Tunisians "who are well-informed" about their benefits, she added.

As the market grows, Tunisia hopes that by 2030 the sector will contribute to help develop tourism, renewables and handicrafts, she said.

Bio farming is also on the rise in Morocco, where the area of farmland certified for organic production has more than doubled since 2011 to reach over 10,300 hectares.

However, "that's far behind the potential of a farming country like Morocco", said Reda Tahiri, who heads a union for organic farmers.

The majority of the country's olive, citrus and almond groves are in the southern area around Marrakech and near the capital Rabat in the north-west.

But given the country's 300,000 hectares of aromatic and medicinal plants and the iconic argan tree, there is potential for going organic.

Moroccan authorities are trying to develop the sector with the Green Morocco Plan, which helps farmers cover the costs of getting certified.

For exports to the European Union to be labelled as organic, they must be inspected once a year by an EU-licenced certification agency.

Tahiri said certification for export to European or North American markets can cost up to 1,000 euros ($1,115) per hectare, annually.

"So the total cost of production is higher than in conventional agriculture, but without the producer getting any guarantees of higher prices for the products," he said.

As well as state help on these costs, Tahiri says that for the organics market to develop, "we need to raise awareness among consumers and ensure better profit margins for producers".

Morocco's agriculture ministry said it has prioritised organic agriculture and is hoping to reach 100,000 hectares of certified farmland by 2030, with 900,000 tonnes of produce per year — two-thirds of it for export.

By comparison, Algeria is trailing.

The semi-official economics and development think tank CREAD said that in 2013 just 1,200 hectares were being farmed organically.

Although there are no recent statistics, in the past few years some shops have been offering customers organic vegetable boxes delivered straight from small producers.

WASHINGTON — Democrats rescued US President Joe Biden's domestic agenda on Friday, passing a "giant" infrastructure package that is one of the pillars of his $3 trillion economic vision after rebel moderates had earlier blocked a vote on his social welfare expansion.

Despite hours of cajoling lawmakers, party leaders had risked seeing Biden's two-pronged legislative strategy collapse as they failed to unite the party's feuding progressive and moderate factions. 

But the breakthrough came as lawmakers rubber-stamped the Senate-passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on the House floor by a comfortable 228 votes to 206.

The passage of the infrastructure spending marks a legacy-making achievement for Biden, amid plunging personal approval ratings and a humiliating upset defeat for his Democratic Party in the Virginia gubernatorial election.

His spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the success was "proof that delivering for the American people is worth all the painful sausage making. 

"Clean drinking water for kids, broadband access, electric vehicles, biggest investment in public transit. It's happening. And more to come," she tweeted.

Party leadership in the House of Representatives began the day aiming to rubber-stamp the infrastructure bill, the biggest upgrade of roads, bridges and waterways in decades, after sending an even bigger social welfare deal, worth up to $1.85 trillion, to the upper chamber.

But six moderate Democrats refused to commit to the "Build Back Better" benefits package, arguing they first needed to see a full accounting of its economic impacts, which will not be available for at least a week.

With a majority of just three votes in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to postpone the vote on the Build Back Better package, which includes major investments in health, education, tackling climate change and expanding social welfare programmes.

Suspicion 

Progressives initially blocked the infrastructure vote amid suspicion that Senate centrists would reject the Build Back Better bill as soon as they got their transport upgrades signed into law.

But Pelosi refused to back down, insisting on the vote before the end of the day and offering an olive branch to the liberals — a procedural vote on the "rule" to at least get debate started on Build Back Better.

"I am urging all members to vote for both the rule for consideration of the Build Back Better Act and final passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill tonight," Biden had said in a late evening statement.

"I am confident that during the week of November 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act."

The victory will be a salve to Democratic leaders who have spent two days in meetings painstakingly trying to bring aboard holdouts over multiple sticking points in Build Back Better, from prescription drug pricing to immigration provisions.

Passing the infrastructure package into law required some tricky mathematics with several progressives, still smarting over the moderate rebellion, voting no — but Democrats were able to add 13 Republicans to their side of the ledger.

"After four years of failed 'infrastructure weeks' under Trump and Republican control, President Biden delivered on his promise to work across the aisle and shepherd through a historic investment in our nation's infrastructure," Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee said.

Biden, who spent much of Thursday and Friday on the phone corralling lawmakers, watched the vote in the official residence after strategising with his policy and legislative teams, including Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a White House official.

Immediate victory 

Pelosi had attempted twice in recent weeks to advance the twin mega-bills but was forced to postpone votes on infrastructure as progressives, unhappy about the lack of commitment to their priorities, refused to pledge their support.

Biden is banking on a bounce from the vote, 10 months after he swept to the White House promising the pandemic-devastated nation he would "build back better" — only to see his popularity plunge. 

The infrastructure package passing before the weekend marks an unambiguous, resounding and immediate victory for the 78-year-old former senator, who touts his ability to reach across the aisle.

By funding work on roads, bridges and ports and high-speed internet, the White House says it would create millions of high-paying jobs.

Build Back Better, on the other hand, does not have the Senate's blessing and is likely to be downsized significantly and put through further arduous votes in the upper chamber, even if it advances from the House.

"It will not be enacted as is. Everybody needs to sit with that and get comfortable with it," Montana's Democratic Senator Jon Tester told Politico.

The votes capped months of tense negotiations on Capitol Hill since the Senate approved the infrastructure package in August, giving it "rare" bipartisan support in Washington's polarised political atmosphere.

Most House Republicans withheld their support, however, after former president Donald Trump threatened reprisals for helping to hand Biden a political win.

TOKYO — Toyota upgraded its full-year profit forecast on Thursday after a strong quarter that saw it weather production cuts caused by a chip crunch and supply chain issues in pandemic-hit Southeast Asia.

The automaker has recovered quicker than its competitors from some of the impact of Covid, but has been unable to avoid the twin pain of the semiconductor shortage and a supply bottleneck caused by factory disruption.

Although the Japanese company lifted its annual net profit forecast, its Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon sounded a note of caution, saying raw material costs were rising.

He also apologised for delays experienced by buyers after the chip shortage forced Toyota to cut output by some 550,000 units in the July-September period.

"We're very sorry we're making many customers wait for the delivery of their cars due to production cuts. We're making efforts to deliver cars as soon as possible," Kon told reporters.

The global shortage of microchips -- essential components of modern cars -- has forced many automakers to slow or temporarily halt production.

Toyota will continue reducing output during the current quarter, and has lowered its annual production target for 2021-22 to nine million vehicles from the 9.3 million previously planned.

The company now forecasts net profit of 2.49 trillion yen ($21.8 billion) for the fiscal year to March 2022, up from an earlier estimate of 2.3 trillion yen.

It left unchanged its annual sales estimate of 30 trillion yen.

The forecast hike came on the back of a jump in net profit in the three months to September of 33.2 per cent to 626.7 billion yen.

Battery investment 

Kon said the strong results in the past two quarters came as a result of cost-cutting and making efficient use of fixed costs, while improving the appeal of products and investing for growth.

"Due to tightening demand in the new car market, the price of used cars is much higher and the residual value situation has been favourable," he added.

Satoru Takada, an auto analyst at Tokyo-based research and consulting firm TIW said there was a "good chance" Toyota will "retain the crown of the world's number one carmaker".

"Operations began slowing down from the first quarter as Toyota faced difficult conditions in terms of its parts procurement in Asia," he said before the earnings release.

"But its business environment is improving as the impact of the chip shortage appears to be easing," Takada said, calling a weaker yen a "tailwind" for Toyota and noting that its recently launched models are "all selling well".

But analysts warned that the chip shortage may actually be far from over as pandemic recovery further boosts demand for semiconductors in many sectors.

Last week, General Motors and Ford reported lower profits as the semiconductor crunch dented sales, and both US auto giants cautioned that shortages would persist into 2022.

Volkswagen also said underlying profits tumbled in the third quarter as the chip shortage left it unable to meet demand for its vehicles.

Honda is to announce its quarterly earnings on Friday ahead of Nissan's next week.

Analysts are also focusing on the recent shift to electric vehicles among leading automakers, driven by growing concerns over emissions.

Toyota, which pioneered hybrid cars, has announced plans for its first global line-up of battery-powered electric vehicles as other carmakers have pulled ahead in the sector.

Last month, the firm said it will invest $13.6 billion in batteries for electric vehicles by 2030, including the construction of a factory in the United States.

In June, Toyota said it aimed to make its production carbon-neutral by 2035, replacing the previous target date of 2050.

But despite its efforts, a list published by Greenpeace this week ranked Toyota as one of the worst major automakers for emission efforts.

GLASGOW — Nineteen countries, including the United States, vowed on Thursday to end direct funding for all unabated overseas fossil fuel projects by 2022, though major coal, oil and gas funders China, Japan and South Korea were absent from the pledge. 

Last month, G-20 nations agreed to end financial support for new unabated coal plants abroad, but Thursday's commitment is the first of its kind to include oil and gas projects. 

The British-led initiative saw countries and financial institutions agree to "end new direct public support for the international unabated fossil fuel energy sector by the end of 2022".

"Investing in unabated fossil-related energy projects increasingly entails both social and economic risks... and has ensuing negative impacts on government revenue, local employment, taxpayers, utility ratepayers and public health," signatories said a joint statement.

Unabated fossil fuel projects are those that do not deploy technology to absorb the carbon pollution they produce.

Announcing the initiative, Britain's business minister Greg Hands said: "We must put public finance on the right side of history."

"Ending international funding for all unabated fossil fuels is the next critical frontier we must deliver on if we are to keep 1.5C within reach," he said, referring to the most ambitious Paris Agreement climate goal.

The International Energy Agency says that to keep 1.5C in play there must be no new fossil fuel projects -- domestic or overseas -- from today.

Recent research by Oil Change International showed that between 2018 and 2020, the G-20 funded overseas fossil fuel projects to the tune of $188 billion, mainly through multilateral development banks.

These institutions were not covered by Thursday's pledge, which was cautiously welcomed by environmental groups.

China, Japan and South Korea, all major backers of overseas fossil fuel projects, also did not sign on. 

"Last year at this time I would not have thought we would see countries commit to ending billions of dollars in support for international fossil fuel projects," said Kate DeAngelis, international finance program manager at Friends of the Earth US.

"While this is welcome progress, countries, especially the US, must hold firm to these commitments, shutting off the spigot to fossil fuel companies."