Business

BERLIN — Furious farmers opposed to German government plans to cut tax breaks for agriculture used tractors to block roads across the country on Monday in an escalating dispute.

The coordinated nationwide demonstration targeted motorway access ramps in particular, snarling traffic and followed a smaller ill-tempered demonstration in Berlin last month.

"We are exercising our basic right to inform society and the political class that Germany needs a competitive agricultural sector," German Farmers Association President Joachim Rukwied told Stern magazine.

"That's the only way to ensure the supply of high-quality, homegrown food."

Police reported blockades and major traffic disruptions due to slow-moving tractor convoys from the early morning hours across Germany.

Authorities in the rural northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said all of its autobahn ramps were impeded. 

Farm equipment blocked the centres of cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Bremen, with up to 2,000 tractors registered for each protest.

In the capital, farmers began gathering on Sunday evening at the Brandenburg Gate landmark in the heart of the government quarter.

Farmers have been up in arms over government plans to withdraw certain tax breaks for the agricultural sector this year.

Thousands travelled to Berlin to protest against the move in December, blocking roads with their tractors and dumping manure on the street.

The protests prompted the government to partially walk back the planned subsidy cuts on Thursday. 

A discount on vehicle tax for agriculture would remain in place, while a diesel subsidy would be phased out over several years instead of being abolished immediately, the government said.

The agriculture sector, however, said the move did not go far enough and urged Berlin to completely reverse the plans, which were announced after a shock court ruling forced the government to find savings in the budget for 2024.

Late on Thursday, around 30 agitated protestors targeting the reforms trapped Economy Minister Robert Habeck and other passengers on a ferry, preventing them from disembarking. 

The demonstration was widely condemned across the political class for its implicit threat of violence. 

OTTAWA — Canada's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent in December, a figure slightly lower than analysts expected, the national statistical agency said recently.

Employment meanwhile held steady in December, after only small changes in November (+0.1 per cent) and October (+0.1 per cent), Statistics Canada said in a press release.

Last month, some 1.2 million Canadians were unemployed, up 202,000 (+19.3 per cent) compared to the year before.

"The employment rate has trended down in 2023, as population growth generally outpaced employment gains," Statistics Canada said.

The population aged 15 and older grew by 74,000 in December, according to the agency.

Employment increased in particular in the professional, scientific and technical services (+46,000) and in the healthcare and social assistance sector (+16,000).

It mainly fell in wholesale and retail trade (-21,000) and manufacturing (-18,000).

"Overall, job growth slowed significantly in the second half of last year," Desjardins analyst Royce Mendes said in a note, adding that the unemployment rate in December was "a touch lower than what the consensus had been anticipating".

Statistics Canada additionally noted that "the unemployment rate generally trended up from April to December for all major demographic groups", with biggest increases among those age 15 to 24.

The Statistics Canada communique additionally noted the more than 160,000 public sector employees in Quebec, including teachers and nurses, who lost work hours in December due to the strike they led last month.

WASHINGTON — Alaska Airlines grounded its Boeing 737-9 planes on Friday after a flight with 177 people onboard made an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon, with passengers reporting a plane window panel blew out after takeoff.

"Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft," Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.

"Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections," he said, anticipating checks would be finished in a few days.

Flight 1282 departed Portland International Airport at around 5:00 pm Friday (01:00 GMT Saturday) before returning safely "after the crew reported a pressurization issue", the Federal Aviation Administration wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Images posted on social media showed the window panel of a plane blown out, with emergency oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

Kyle Rinker, a passenger on the flight, told CNN that a window popped off soon after takeoff.

"It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn't notice it until the oxygen masks came off," he told the broadcaster.

Another passenger, Vi Nguyen, told The New York Times that a loud noise during the flight had woken her. 

"I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me," Nguyen told the newspaper. "And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone."

"The first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to die,'" she added.

The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and Alaska Airlines each said they were investigating the incident.

"The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members," the airline said in an earlier statement.

"While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation," it said.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 plane took off at 5:07 pm, heading to Ontario, California, before returning to the Portland airport around 20 minutes later, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The plane had been certified airworthy in October, according to the FAA registry website.

Boeing wrote on X that it was gathering more information and a technical team stood ready to support the investigation.

In his statement, Minicucci said Alaska Airlines was "working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred".

BEIJING — China's BYD has overtaken US electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla as the world's leading EV deliverer, according to recent sales figures.

Here's what you need to know about the Chinese electric vehicle firm with global ambitions.

'Build Your Dreams'

Known as "Biyadi" in Chinese — or by the English slogan "Build Your Dreams" — BYD was founded in 1995 in the southern industrial hub of Shenzhen.

It initially specialised in the design and manufacture of batteries before moving into the automotive sector in 2003.

Close government cooperation in Shenzhen — where the public bus fleet has already fully transitioned to electric models — gave it an important boost.

"They were thinking about this way before any country was even considering trying to clean or electrify their public transportation fleets," Tu Le, managing director of Sino Auto Insights, told AFP.

"I think that's paid off currently with how competitive (BYD) are in the global passenger vehicle EV space."

Last year BYD became the first manufacturer to pass the five million milestone in new energy production, crowning itself "the world's leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles".

Many foreign automotive giants — including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes and Audi — depend on BYD for their batteries.

State backing 

The firm has long benefited from generous subsidies from Beijing for electric vehicles — support that has angered other governments.

Beijing has spearheaded a targeted industrial strategy to boost its EV sector, pouring vast state funds into domestic firms as well as research and development.

Between 2014 and the end of 2022, the Chinese government said it had spent more than 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) on subsidies and tax breaks for EV purchases alone.

The approach has given Chinese firms a critical edge in the race to provide cheaper, more fuel-efficient EVs over leading US automakers, which have not always enjoyed such state largesse.

Demand for electric vehicles has soared in recent years in China, which is the world's biggest emitter of polluting greenhouse gasses.

BYD, whose investors include US investment titan Warren Buffett, wants electric and hybrid vehicles to lead its sales by 2035.

That push saw it announce sales of 526,409 all-electric cars in the fourth quarter of 2023 — surpassing Tesla's 484,507 in the same period.

That has been helped by the fact BYD's electric vehicles are cheaper, with its cars selling for less than $30,000 on average, while Tesla's go for north of $40,000, according to financial magazine Barron's.

It also sold more than 400,000 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the fourth quarter.

But despite its dominant position in the Chinese market, a number of growing domestic brands, including XPeng, Nio and Geely, are nipping at its heels. 

XPeng said a total of 141,601 vehicles were delivered in 2023, while Nio reached 160,038 — both up from the year before.

Under intense pressure to outdo each other, China's auto makers are engaging in a price war, especially with consumer spending slowing as the country's post-pandemic recovery stutters.

All electric, with global ambitions

BYD ceased production of gasoline-powered vehicles in 2022 and now focuses exclusively on hybrid and electric models.

It launched a European offensive in 2022 at the Paris Motor Show.

Last month, it said it would build a new EV plant in Hungary — in a move described by the country's foreign minister as "one of the largest investments in the history of the Hungarian economy". 

That builds on its existing operations in the central European nation, including an electric bus factory. 

It has said it hopes the factory will "accelerate the entry of new energy passenger vehicles into the European market" as well as deepen its global footprint. 

But not everyone is happy with BYD's westward expansion.

Last year, the European Union launched an investigation into Chinese subsidies for its EV sector, saying that Chinese state support has squeezed its own firms in local markets and threatening to impose tariffs in retaliation.

PARIS — After more than two years HSBC transferred on Monday for an undisclosed amount its retail banking network in France to My Money Group, controlled by US private equity fund Cerberus.

The operation will see HSBC France's nearly 250 retail branches with their 800,000 clients and 3,500 staff become CCF, a brand that HSBC shelved when it began operations in France some two decades ago.

The move is part of London-headquarters HSBC's efforts to simplify and refocus operations on its major region of Asia.

When announcing the planned sale in June 2021, HSBC said the transfer for a nominal one euro would see it incur a hefty charge.

But the rise in global interest rates complicated negotiations, with HSBC finally booking a charge of $2.4 billion against third quarter 2022 over the French unit.

The terms of the final deal were not disclosed.

In a statement released Monday the groups said CCF would seek to cater to professionals.

My Money Group traces its history in France back more than a century, originally helping people finance their purchases of Citroen cars, then spending two decades under General Electric's control before the US conglomerate pulled out of finance activities. Cerberus acquired the group in 2018.

NEW YORK — Boeing shares fell Thursday after the US aviation giant said its 737 MAX aircraft should be inspected to check for loose hardware on plane rudder control systems.

The airplane maker recommended airlines undertake the inspection after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance, said a spokesperson for the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

"The FAA will consider additional action based on any further discovery of loose or missing hardware," said the FAA spokesperson, adding that Boeing had also found an undelivered aircraft with a bolt not properly tightened.

The Boeing plane "has been remedied", said a company spokesperson.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending operators inspect their 737 MAX airplanes and inform us of any findings. We informed the FAA and our customers and will continue to keep them aware of the progress."

The inspection only lasts about two hours, but the issue comes on the heels of other manufacturing and production problems that forced the company to lower its delivery targets for the 737 MAX this year.

Shares of Boeing were down 1.2 per cent at midday.

SAN FRANCISCO — Google has agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked the data of users who thought they were browsing the internet privately.

The object of the lawsuit was the "incognito" mode on Google's Chrome browser that the plaintiffs said gave users a false sense that what they were surfing online was not being tracked by the Silicon Valley tech firm.

But internal Google emails brought forward in the lawsuit demonstrated that users using incognito mode were being followed by the search and advertising behemoth for measuring web traffic and selling ads.

In a court filing, the judge confirmed that lawyers for Google reached a preliminary agreement to settle the class action lawsuit — originally filed in 2020 — which claimed that "millions of individuals" had likely been affected. 

Lawyers for the plaintiffs were seeking at least $5,000 for each user it said had been tracked by the firm's Google Analytics or Ad Manager services even when in the private browsing mode and not logged into their Google account.

This would have amounted to at least $5 billion, though the settlement amount will likely not reach that figure, and no amount was given for the preliminary settlement between the parties. 

Google and lawyers for the consumers did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

The settlement came just weeks after Google was refused a request that the case be decided by a judge. A jury trial was set to begin next year.

The lawsuit, filed in a California court, claimed Google's practices had infringed on users' privacy by "intentionally" deceiving them with the incognito option. 

The original complaint alleged that Google and its employees had been given the "power to learn intimate details about individuals' lives, interests, and internet usage".

"Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it," it added. 

A formal settlement is expected for court approval by February 24, 2024.

Class action lawsuits have become the main venue to challenge big tech companies on data privacy matters in the United States, which lacks a comprehensive law on the handling of personal data.

In August, Google paid $23 million to settle a long-running case over giving third-parties access to user search data.

In 2022, Facebook parent company Meta settled a similar case, agreeing to pay $725 million over the handling of user data.