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WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday approved a $2.5 billion loan for Sudan, and with the World Bank sealed a landmark deal that unlocks nearly $50 billion in debt relief for the impoverished African nation.

The announcement came after the IMF finalised an agreement with 101 donor countries allowing Sudan to clear roughly $1.4 billion in arrears to the Washington-based lender — the key hurdle to allow access to fresh aid.

"We congratulate the Sudanese government and people for their commendable hard work and progress toward this remarkable milestone," IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass said in a joint statement.

Payment of the arrears is the "decision point" that allows access to debt relief under the Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative which the officials said will cover $50 billion or about 90 per cent of the country's foreign debt.

Sudan will receive $1.4 billion immediately under the 39-month IMF loan programme.

'Historic' agreement 

Washington welcomed the announcement that Sudan is now eligible to receive debt relief from the international lending institutions.

"This is a historic moment for Sudan and its people," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. 

"These steps will unlock much-needed financing and will help build the foundation for poverty reduction, inclusive development, and economic growth."

Yellen also praised the efforts of Sudan's civilian government to stabilise the economy.

The new aid comes amid a rapprochement between the United States and Sudan following the ouster of strongman Omar Al Bashir, who was toppled amid street protests in April 2019 after three decades of rule marked by economic hardship, deep internal conflicts, and biting international sanctions that curtailed investment.

In the past two years, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, a seasoned UN economist-turned-premier, has pushed to rebuild the crippled economy and end Sudan's international isolation.

Washington in December removed Sudan from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, removing a major hurdle to foreign investment.

President Joe Biden has continued the thaw in relations since taking office in January, and his administration has taken a leading role in encouraging other governments to join in the effort to provide debt relief.

The US Treasury in March announced $1.15 billion in bridge financing to help clear Sudan's arrears at the World Bank, after Khartoum's civilian-backed government announced a series of reforms.

Treasury said the United States also committed to contribute up to $120 million in grant resources to fund IMF debt relief for Sudan under the first phase of HIPC.

Continued reform

Sudan is the last country to clear arrears with the IMF, which now faces no repayment arrears from its members for the first time since early 1974.

Georgieva praised the government's "strong policy commitment" that has shored up public finances "while channeling assistance to the most vulnerable". 

But she said "continued reform commitment will be critical to achieve the programme's objectives, as well as to reduce poverty and secure higher and more inclusive growth".

The government moved to a market-based exchange rate and removed fuel subsidies in its efforts to secure the deal with the crisis lenders.

In an interview with AFP last month, Hamdok said the widely unpopular moves were needed to secure debt relief and the government was calling on foreign investors to "explore the opportunities for investing in Sudan".

WASHINGTON — A US judge on Monday dismissed the blockbuster antitrust action against Facebook filed last year by federal and state regulators, helping lift the value of the social media giant above $1 trillion for the first time.

Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court of Washington, DC dismissed the cases filed in December by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and more than 40 states, which could have rolled back Facebook's acquisition of Instagram and the messaging platform WhatsApp.

The federal lawsuit "failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish a necessary element... that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for personal social networking services", the judge said in a 53-page opinion, while allowing authorities the opportunity to refile the cash.

In lawsuits filed in December that were consolidated in federal court, US and state officials called for the divestment of Instagram and WhatsApp, arguing that Facebook had acted to "entrench and maintain its monopoly to deny consumers the benefits of competition".

"The judge issued a separate opinion dismissing the case by the states, saying attorneys general had waited too long to bring the case for the acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014."

The judge said the FTC complaint "says almost nothing concrete on the key question of how much power Facebook actually had... it is almost as if the agency expects the court to simply nod to the conventional wisdom that Facebook is a monopolist".

The federal agency based its case on a "vague" assertion that Facebook controlled more than 60 per cent of the social networking market, but the FTC "does not even allege what it is measuring".

Boasberg wrote that "the market at issue here is unusual in a number of ways, including that the products therein are not sold for a price... the court is thus unable to understand exactly what the agency's '60 per cent-plus' figure is even referring to, let alone able to infer the underlying facts that might substantiate it".

Still he ruled that "this defect could conceivably be overcome by re-pleading", allowing the federal agency the possibility of refiling the action.

Facebook shares surged after the decision, lifting the company's market valuation above $1 trillion for the first time.

'We compete fairly'

In a statement, the company said, "We are pleased that today's decisions recognise the defects in the government complaints filed against Facebook. We compete fairly every day to earn people's time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services."

The ruling comes a week after a US congressional panel advanced legislation that would lead to a sweeping overhaul of antitrust laws and give more power to regulators to break up large tech firms, specifically aiming at Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.

The actions come amid growing concerns on the power of major tech firms, which have increasingly dominated key economic sectors and have seen steady growth during the pandemic.

Critics of Facebook said the rulings highlight the need to revise antitrust laws for the internet age.

"This is a setback — not the end — in the FTC's fight against dominant Big Tech monopolies like Facebook," said Charlotte Slaiman of the consumer group Public Knowledge.

"The FTC should continue this important work, as the judge has indicated the agency can still file a new complaint if it can address these concerns. At the same time, Congress' ongoing work to pass new laws and rules to address the power of Big Tech, as well as broader antitrust reforms, is now especially important and urgent."

LAMBRES-LEZ-DOUAI, France — President Emmanuel Macron visited northern France on Monday to applaud plans for a Chinese-owned battery factory that will supply the automaker Renault as Europe steps up its shift toward electric vehicles.

The 2 billion-euro ($2.4 billion) project by China's Envision is being saluted as an example of Macron's efforts to encourage foreign firms to "Choose France" for investment, in particular in cutting-edge technologies.

"With this project, we're going to invest more than 200 million euros alongside the companies, investors and local governments," Macron told executives and local officials at the site.

"It's this united France, that knows how to work together... that will allow us to advance and win back our industry, win back our strength, and be both productive and fair," he said.

It will be the second so-called battery "gigafactory" in France, after the plant planned by rival automaker Stellantis and energy giant TotalEnergies.

Around 1,000 jobs will be created over the next three years by a project that aims to revive three Renault factories that have struggled for years.

The company hopes to build 500,000 vehicles annually at the sites by 2025.

"We see this as a win-win relationship between Renault, Envision and the French government," Envision's chief Lei Zhang said on Sunday.

"This wouldn't have been possible two years ago. It's the right time now thanks to the French recovery plan," he said.

Europe has been ramping up efforts to build gigafactories, with a report by Transport & Environment, a non-government organisation, showing there are some 40 projects so far.

Later on Monday, Macron, a former investment banker, was due to host his annual gathering of foreign executives at the Palace of Versailles, where 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion) of projects would be unveiled.

He will then attend Tuesday the inauguration of the Paris headquarters for the US bank JP Morgan, which will house its European market operations post-Brexit.

"France is organising and hosting the first major international business summit in 18 months," Trade Minister Franck Riester said.

“It's a sign of confidence from the participants in our country's future," he said.

NEW YORK — Virgin Galactic skyrocketed on Wall Street on Friday after US officials approved the first commercial licence to take consumers to space.

Shares of the company founded by Richard Branson were up almost 35 per cent at midday at $53.98 as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said its approval of Virgin's license marked "a new chapter in the story of human space flight".

FAA approval came after the agency determined that company's hardware and software functioned well during a test flight.

Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Michael Colglazier cheered the decision, saying FAA approval gives "us confidence as we proceed toward our first fully crewed test flight this summer".

The company still plans three additional test flights, one of which is expected to include Branson himself.

Virgin Galactic is targeting early 2022 to begin commercial service. The company has sold some 600 tickets priced at between $200,000 to $250,000.

Earlier this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced plans to fly into space in July with his company, Blue Origin. A mystery bidder spent $28 million to join Bezos and his brother in the July 20 launch.

ABU DHABI — In the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Ibrahim Al Hammadi inspects a freight train on the UAE's first railway line. He climbs aboard the locomotive, does a final systems check and then it is full steam ahead.

Hammadi is the first Emirati to become a train driver — in a country which already has a space programme and two of the world's biggest airlines, but is only now developing a rail network to connect all seven of its emirates.

"I was intrigued when I saw the train operating," the 23-year-old said. "It was something new, and it pushed me to ask around about learning how to drive it."

The United Arab Emirates is well known for its audacious infrastructure and technology projects. It successfully sent a probe to Mars earlier this year, and the world's first superfast hyperloop system is planned to link its two main cities, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

When completed, Etihad Rail will operate 1,200 kilometres of track connecting all of the emirates — from Ghweifat in the western region of Abu Dhabi to the emirate of Fujairah on the eastern coast — and link with neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The long-term plan is to be part of a wider railway network that would connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

A spirit of competition between the emirates, which each have their own specialities and areas of interest, is credited with holding back the national rail project.

"There has been some hesitance from the federal government to spend on national economic integration projects... along with traditional issues on emirate-level sovereignty," Karen Young, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told AFP. 

"The UAE is a federal system and its centralisation of authority and economic and development policy within [the federal capital] Abu Dhabi are still relatively new." 

'Bigger goals' 

So far there has been little progress on the multibillion-dollar GCC railway, which has languished after a feasibility study was approved by the six countries back in 2004. 

"The rail projects within the GCC have been in a planning process for years, part of bigger goals of trade and economic integration within the regional organisation of the Arabian Peninsula," Young said.

"That integration has faced a number of obstacles, from a shared currency policy that is now moot, to the dispute with Qatar which severed basic investor rights, citizen travel and trade."

That dispute, which lasted for more than three years before being resolved in January, saw Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the UAE, sever ties with Qatar in June 2017 partly over allegations that Qatar was too close to Iran. Doha denied the accusations.

Hammadi works on Etihad Rail's first section of line, which covers 264 kilometres and has been operational since 2016.

He drives trains transporting granulated sulphur from Abu Dhabi's inland fields in Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais. 

Freight is currently the line's main focus but as it is extended through the mountains between the emirates of Dubai and Fujairah, the line is also set to offer passenger services that will run at speeds of up to 200kph. 

That will provide an alternative to the UAE's network of mega-highways, some more than a dozen lanes wide, which carry endless streams of motorists in a car-dependent nation, as they zip through canyons of skyscrapers or rocky mountains, and towering dunes.

'Safety and security' 

The UAE hopes the rail network's supply chain will help diversify its oil-dependent economy. 

"Railways have always been a vital component in the economic, social and strategic growth of countries around the world," Hammadi noted.

"It developed the infrastructure in the western region [of the UAE], increased security and safety on the roads and lessened congestion."

"The Etihad Rail project will connect the country's key centres of trade, industry and population."

For the project's first stage, Etihad Rail operates seven locomotives and 240 freight wagons, with each locomotive hauling up to 110 wagons as it crosses the country's vast desert.

In the Abu Dhabi control room, Maitha Al Remeithi, the first female Emirati train controller, walks from one section to another monitoring the dozens of screens in the room. 

For Remeithi — who started working with Etihad Rail in 2017 — it was her passion for something "unique, exciting and new" that drove her towards the rail industry. 

"The railway is growing every day, and as I am involved in the daily running of the operation, I can see its positive impact within the transport sector from safety, environmental and logistics perspectives," the 30-year-old said.

Etihad Rail says that one full freight train can replace 300 trucks, and cut CO2 emissions by 70-80 per cent. 

"Using rail as a mode of transport means fewer trucks on the roads; the need for road maintenance is less and CO2 emissions are less," Remeithi said.

LONDON — US stocks mostly pushed higher on Wednesday as interest rate hike fears faded, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a new-intra day record high.

However, eurozone stocks fell after report showed the economy booming, reinforcing interest rate hike fears there.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose further as reopening economies are set to drive demand higher, with some analysts saying hitting $80 a barrel for crude is increasingly possible.

Wall Street opened the day higher, adding to gains racked up on Tuesday after Fed chief Jerome Powell sought to ease concerns over the timing of higher interest rates in testimony before lawmakers.

"The markets appear to be finding relief from yesterday's dovish testimony on Capitol Hill by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell," said analysts at Charles Schwab brokerage.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare noted that Wall Street has pretty much recovered from the losses it suffered last week, when fears that the Fed would hike rates and wind down stimulus support to ward off inflation saw the market turn in its worst weekly performance since last October.

The Dow had dipped into the red by late morning, but the Nasdaq composite index struck a fresh record high after having set one on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 is also sitting just below its record high.

O'Hare said the market is back to trading on expectations of rises in commodity prices and gravitating towards sectors that will benefit from the reopening of economies.

Oil climbs 

Oil prices extended gains to sit around multiyear highs on increasing optimism over demand as the world economy reopens and governments talk about easing quarantine measures, allowing easier overseas travel.

Analysts said the lack of progress on the Iran nuclear deal was also providing support as it puts off the return of supplies to the global market from the major producer.

Brent oil hit $76.02 per barrel, the highest level since late October 2018.

"With no prospect of an Iran oil deal in the coming weeks, talk of looser travel restrictions will inevitably provide an upward bias for prices, and a move towards $80 a barrel," said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

BURGESS HILL, United Kingdom — A lone worker kneels among the vines at the Ridgeview winery in southern England, as a dozen or so visitors sample the estate's sparking wine.

Demand for British wine is up domestically but at the same time, Brexit has led to a shortage of seasonal workers, increased costs and red tape.

Across the country, similar problems have disrupted businesses since Britain fully left the European Union in January.

But it is not yet clear whether the issues are just teething troubles or more long-lasting.

Tamara Roberts, chief executive of the family run wine estate, said finding labour had never been a problem in the past.

"It's only really been this year we have seen real shortages," she said.

"It's really tricky with the pandemic and the travel restrictions to see where the pressure is coming from. 

"We think Brexit pushed people to stay home because we haven't made it easy for them to come."

The political and economic repercussions from Britain's vote five years ago to leave the European Union are far from over.

The British wine industry did not take a stand at the time but is now struggling with the consequences. 

"We have time to consider our options, work with agencies" to find around 20 seasonal workers, "but we don't have a solution", said Roberts.

"We're looking for a chef, we haven't been able to push our offer in that area as we would have hoped," she added.

"There is definitely a pressure to increase pay if we're all competing for the same people."

At the same time, "we've seen logistics costs tripling" because the red tape for exporting product and importing machines and bottles has become so complicated that Ridgeview now goes through middlemen, she added. 

"Whether it's Germany or France or Holland, the interpretation of rules are quite different so it's quite hard to navigate."

'Existential threat' 

For small businesses, costs are rising quickly and squeezing margins. 

"We'll probably have an idea by the end of the year of what's short-term, what's long-term," said Roberts.

On the up side, domestic demand has jumped given the difficulties of importing foreign wine, especially online.

"The hospitality industry hasn't fully reopened. We hope to see a recovery in that, we think that will happen before the recovery in exports," added Roberts.

She also noted that the impact of Brexit remains vague.

Much will depend on the bilateral trade agreements signed by Britain and other countries, such as those that have just been agreed with Norway or Australia, or the one under negotiation with the United States.

Further north, in Boston, which had the highest number of pro-Brexit votes in 2015, Ian Collinson's flower growing business has reported the same difficulties in finding seasonal workers for times of peak demand, such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. 

Brexit has been a positive in that "demand is high because of the extra friction on imports", he said.

But if the labour issue is not solved, it is "an existential threat to the industry in the UK", he added.

Collinson is considering scaling back production and ending it in certain varieties that require more manual labour, in favour of more mechanised blooms such as lilies.

No timber 

In London, Sanjay Nairi, complained that Brexit had compounded existing difficulties in sourcing materials for his construction company "Refurb-it-all" because of high demand.

"Cement, timber... materials that are coming across from the continent, these have got delay times, the supply chain is unreliable, materials prices are going up practically on a daily basis," he said. 

And he too is struggling with labour shortages. 

"I lost about seven guys," out of a staff of around 20, he said. 

Yet demand, particularly from individual homeowners who have saved money during the crisis and want to renovate their homes, is high.