Business

PARIS — Google will not pay French news companies to show excerpts of their articles, pictures or videos in search results, a top executive said on Wednesday, although it will not display the excerpts without their approval.

The move comes after France became in July the first EU country to adopt the bloc’s wide-ranging copyright reform, aimed at ensuring media firms are paid for original content offered online by Google, Facebook and other technology giants.

The new rules create a “neighbouring right” to ensure copyright protection — and compensation — for media firms using their content.

Richard Gingras, Google’s vice president for news, told journalists in Paris that a Europe-based news publisher would now have to decide if it would allow Google to show “snippets” of content or thumbnail images alongside search results in France.

If they accept, publishers will not receive any compensation from Google, he said.

But if they do not, only a headline and link to their content will appear in the results.

That could sharply reduce online audiences for some publishers, since Internet users are more likely to click on results containing excerpts and images.

The new EU directive was passed last March amid fierce resistance from tech companies which generate huge profits from advertising shown alongside search results and other content they host.

Google had warned after the European Parliament vote that it “will lead to legal uncertainty and will hurt Europe’s creative and digital economies”.

Critics also said the reform would effectively create a “link tax” that would restrict Internet discourse, and did not strike the best balance between free circulation of information and copyright protection.

News publishers, however, said the changes were urgently needed to help them cope with plummeting revenues as their readers migrated online from traditional media outlets.

AFP was among the media organisations that lobbied for the creation of neighbouring rights.

AMMAN — Jordan’s trade balance deficit for the first seven months of 2019 dropped by10 per cent compared to the figure recorded at the end of the same period last year, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The drop resulted from a 5.5 per cent increase in national exports, the new agency explained. According to the Department of Statistics figures, national exports were valued at JD2.749 billion during the January through July period of 2019, posting a 5.5 per increase compared to the figure recorded in the same period of the previous year. As for imports, they were valued at JD7.892 billion, registering a 4.4 per cent decrease.

LONDON — Sterling bounced briefly on Tuesday after Britain's Supreme Court ruled "unlawful" a decision by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend parliament in the run-up to Brexit.

The pound rallied to $1.2489 as traders mulled the prospect that Britain could avoid a no-deal departure from the European Union on October 31, analysts said. The euro also slid versus sterling.

House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said parliament must "convene without delay", adding that he will consult party leaders as a matter of urgency.

Johnson had insisted that the extended parliamentary recess was designed to allow time to bring forward a new legislative programme — but critics accused him of trying to avoid lawmakers' scrutiny ahead of Brexit.

"Sterling bounced higher following the judgement, as pound traders once again reassess the probability of a no-deal Brexit being avoided," City Index Fiona Cincotta told AFP.

"With ministers heading back to parliament imminently, still five weeks ahead of 31st October, there is time to prevent a damaging disorderly Brexit."

The 11 judges of the country's highest court were unanimous in their verdict, which they said meant parliament could now immediately reconvene.

Johnson, who took office on July 24, had advised Queen Elizabeth II as head of state to prorogue parliament.

Most members of the house of commons oppose Johnson's threat to leave the European Union next month even if he has not agreed exit terms with Brussels.

The pound later handed back some of its gains to stand at about $1.2440, up 0.1 per cent from late Monday.

"Sterling is bouncing around as traders are wondering: 'What is next for UK politics?'" said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

"A general election seems like the next move."

London's stock market bobbed into negative territory in late Tuesday morning deals, reversing earlier losses, but Frankfurt and Paris held onto gains.

"It's hard to see how this gets the UK and EU any closer to a deal that will be approved by MPs, but it does really deliver a massive blow to Boris Johnson," added Market.com analyst Neil Wilson.

"It's perhaps not fatal, but it's not going to make life any easier and we are now faced with significant uncertainty of a different hue.”

"I would simply suggest that the uncertainty is the norm now — we just have a different vector of uncertainty to contend with," Wilson added.

In Asia meanwhile, equities crept higher Tuesday but dealers remained on edge following contrasting global economic data as investors await developments in the China-US trade stand-off.

Top-level negotiations are due to start in Washington next month.

HONG KONG — Oil prices rallied on Monday after Iran warned the presence of US forces in the Gulf was causing instability in the region, while equities were mixed as US President Donald Trump said he did not want a partial trade deal with China.

While a loosening of monetary policy by central banks is providing support to investors, they remain on edge following last week's attack on Saudi oil facilities that was claimed by Houthi rebels in Yemen but blamed by the US on Iran.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday hit out at a US move to increase troop numbers in Saudi Arabia, saying: "Foreign forces can cause problems and insecurity for our people and for our region."

He called on outside powers to "stay away" and added Tehran would present a peace plan to the United Nations within days.

Investors are concerned about a possible conflict in the oil-rich Middle East after last week's attacks — which hammered Saudi Arabia's biggest crude plant — though both sides have said they do not want a war.

The US has ramped up sanctions on Tehran, targeting its central bank.

Both main oil contracts saw prices rise more than 1 per cent on Monday and traders are keeping tabs on Riyadh's progress in repairing the facilities.

"You can never say never, but with an Iranian delegation apparently due to attend the UN session opening week in New York, it is hard to imagine too many fireworks in the gulf this week," said OANDA senior markets analyst Jeffrey Halley.

NEW YORK — The past week's sudden surge in oil prices brought to mind the nightmare of shortages, but it is not too likely motorists will be queuing to fill up around the world, analysts say.

All it took was a September 14 strike on key oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia to abruptly leave the world's main supplier producing just half its normal amount. 

That sent the price of Brent crude flying 15 per cent higher in a single day.

The price on a barrel of crude has come back down since then and by Friday was trading around $65. 

Given the slowdown in the global economy and the abundance of crude produced worldwide, the prospect of a $100 barrel, for now, does not seem to be going to happen.

"In essence, the world is far better equipped to handle oil shocks than it was in the '70s," explained Harry Tchilinguirian, the head of commodity research at BNP Paribas.

In 1973, after an embargo by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) against Israel's allies in the midst of the Yom Kippur War, and in 1979, after the Iranian revolution, crude oil prices soared in just a few months, bringing developed economies to their knees.

 Reduced dependence 

"Currently, an oil shock would hardly have the same devastating effects" because countries grew accustomed to such events, economists at Commerzbank said in a note.

On top of that, "central banks would not react to a supply shock with massive interest rate hikes to combat rising inflation", they said.

Most importantly, however, economies have reduced their dependence on oil.

Consumption in the United States, for example, rose from 17.3 million barrels per day (mbd) in 1973 to 20.5mbd in 2018, an increase of only 18 per cent even as the country's real gross domestic product jumped 230 per cent. 

In Germany, households spent only 2.6 per cent of their budget on fuel in 2018.

Many economies have taken strides away from heavy oil consumption, thanks to transport and energy-efficient industries, and alternative sources such as natural gas or renewable energy.

When oil prices held well above $100 a barrel between 2011 and 2014, it did not lead to economic collapse. The world has also now become less dependent on a few huge producers.

The first oil crisis led to the creation in 1974 of the International Energy Agency, which requires OECD countries to keep in reserve the equivalent of at least 90 days of their net imports of crude.

On top of that, oil production has branched far beyond the Middle East, said Tchilinguirian, referring to North Sea oil exploited since the 1980s, deep-sea exploitation off the coast of west Africa and Brazil, and the oil sands of Canada.

The United States, long deeply dependent upon imports, has become a major producer and exporter thanks to shale oil and new technologies.

Such factors help smooth things out in the event of a major disruption like the attack on Saudi facilities.

As such, a country like Saudi Arabia would probably no longer decide to voluntarily suspend its exports "because it could lose its status as a reliable supplier", says Alan Gelder, refined products specialist for Wood Mackenzie.

Even if an oil shock is unlikely, "you can never say there is zero risk", said Andrew Lebow, oil market specialist for Commodity Research Group.

"Especially", he added "if there is a major war that closes the Strait of Hormuz", which a third of all petroleum products shipped by sea pass through.

The effects of a possible oil shock, however, "should not be underestimated", the Commerzbank economists warned. 

"Many economies are currently struggling with problems anyway and the central banks have little room for maneuver [...] to help the affected economies," they said.

WASHINGTON — The former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, warned on Thursday that global growth is "fragile" and "under threat" and policymakers should work to reduce manmade vulnerabilities.

Policymakers should work together to "try to reduce the fragility and... resolve the uncertainty", facing the global economy, she told AFP in an interview.

Lagarde, who officially stepped down as IMF managing director last week, decried certain self-inflicted wounds, saying that issues like Brexit and trade frictions "are manmade and can be man-fixed".

But Lagarde, who was the first woman to lead the crisis-lender and is set to become the first woman to take over the leadership of the European Central Bank (ECB) later this year, said, "a bit of woman wouldn't hurt".

Her comments came on the day the OECD said trade tensions are eroding world growth, prompting it to cut its forecast for this year to the slowest rate since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008, just 2.9 per cent down from the 3.2 per cent expansion previously forecast.

President Donald Trump's trade war with Beijing has undermined business investment and exports at a time when China's economy already is shifting to slower growth.

"What we have at the moment is a rather mediocre growth" which is "fragile and it is under threat", Lagarde said.

She said central banks have done much of the heavy lifting, preventing the financial crisis from becoming a depression, but officials handling government policies and purse strings now must step up.

"I think central bankers have done an awful lot and were for many years regarded as the only game in town," she said. 

In her new post leading the ECB, she said she would focus on job creation and stability, but stability alone may not be enough in the lives of real people.

If confirmed, she will step into her new post in an environment where Trump has maintained a relentless campaign against the US Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates aggressively to stimulate growth.

Trump has also accused outgoing ECB President Mario Draghi of deliberately seeking to weaken the euro to gain unfair trade advantages, something Draghi has refuted.

Others in Europe have criticised Draghi for cutting rates further into negative territory to juice a sluggish EU economy.

But Lagarde said that experience shows that, in cases where politicians meddle with central bank independence, it "doesn't pan out very well".

But she also said central bankers should strive to be "predictable".

"There is enough uncertainty around the world, not to add the uncertainty of what a central banker is going to do."

Central bankers "should deliver on their mandate and", she said, "They should stick to facts and data so that they could be predictable."

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Despite last month's receipt from Israel of funds it owed, the Palestinian Authority (PA) still faces a financing gap that could top $1.8 billion, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's PA has been in deep financial crisis since February when Israel froze transfers of VAT and customs duties it collects on the Palestinians' behalf.

His administration had to impose austerity measures, cutting almost half the salaries of its employees.

The cuts hit hard on the Palestinian territories, already suffering unemployment of around 26 per cent in the second quarter of 2019, the bank said in its latest report on the Palestinian economy.

Israel collects around $190 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through its ports, and it is supposed to transfer the money to the PA.

In February, it decided to deduct around $10 million a month from the revenues — the sum the PA paid inmates in Israeli jails or their families — prompting the Palestinians to refuse to take any funds at all.

Last month, Israel's debt was reduced with the retroactive payment of more than $560 million (506 million euros) in fuel taxes.

But that part-payment of arrears has not fixed the liquidity crisis, the report said.

"The Palestinian Authority faces a financing gap that could exceed $1.8 billion for 2019, driven by declining aid flows and the unresolved transfer of taxes and import duties collect by Israel on behalf of the PA," it wrote.

"The outlook for the Palestinian territories is worrisome," Kanthan Shankar, World Bank country director for the West Bank and Gaza, said in a statement accompanying the report.

"The severe liquidity squeeze has started to affect the PA's ability to fulfill its responsibilities of paying its civil servants and providing public services."

The bank's report will be presented to the international donor group for Palestinians, known as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, at its meeting next week in New York.

"If the clearance revenue stand-off is not resolved, the PA would embark on the year 2020 after largely exhausting its domestic sources of financing, including borrowing from domestic banks, which will put it in a much worse position than in 2019," it said.

PARIS — Airbus on Wednesday increased its estimate of the number of new aircraft needed over the coming two decades as airlines seek more fuel-efficient planes even as it trimmed its forecast for the increase in demand for air travel.

In its latest Global Market Forecast for the next 20 years, the European aircraft maker said it expects air traffic to grow by 4.3 per cent annually, a drop from the 4.4 per cent annual growth it forecast last year.

Nevertheless, Airbus now expects even higher demand for new aircraft than it did last year thanks to airlines increasingly retiring older planes for new ones that offer lower operating costs as they consume less fuel.

Airbus anticipates demand for new aircraft over the coming two decades at 39,210 planes, a rise of nearly 2,000 from its forecast last year, due a sharp increase in replacements. Unlike last year, it did not provide a cost estimate.

"Developments in superior fuel efficiency are further driving demand to replace existing less fuel efficient aircraft," said Airbus in a statement.

However, it scaled back the number of planes it expects airlines to acquire to meet growth in demand for air travel by more than 1,500 aircraft to 25,000.

"Economies thrive on air transportation. People and goods want to connect," said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International. 

"Globally, commercial aviation stimulates GDP growth and supports 65 million livelihoods, demonstrating the immense benefits our business brings to all societies and global trade," he added.

At a news conference in London, Scherer said air traffic had "more than doubled since 2000" and was likely to continue, fuelled by increased urbanisation, growth of the middle classes, particularly in the Asia, and the liberalisation of the airline sector. 

"Not only are the existing mature markets continuing to grow, but the fundamental huge growth is coming from where the demography of the world sits: Asia, India and the People's Republic of China," he said. Domestic air traffic is expected to increase more than three-fold in China and nearly five-fold in India, Airbus calculates. 

Despite geopolitical uncertainty and the current trade war between China and the United States, which is braking the global economy, "annual growth of 4 per cent shows the resilient nature of the aviation sector," Scherer said. 

"Yes, we are concerned by protectionism, that's obvious. But we hope and do believe it will be of short-lived nature," he said. 

The firm also stressed that with its latest more fuel efficient models it will help the airline industry limit its environmental impact.

"Airbus believes it will largely contribute to the progressive decarbonisation of the air transport industry and the objective of carbon neutral growth from 2020 while connecting more people globally," it said.

The airline industry aims to freeze its carbon footprint at its 2020 level thanks to more fuel efficient aircraft and through offsets like planting trees.