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To reduce radiation across Japan’s northern Fukushima region after the 2011 nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land.Now, as young farmers seek to bring life back to the region once known for its delicious fruit, authorities are deliberating what to do with the mass of removed soil — enough to fill more than 10 baseball stadiums.Here are some key things to know:- Why was the soil removed? -On March 11, 2011, Japan’s strongest earthquake on record triggered a huge tsunami that hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing a devastating meltdown.Topsoil was collected as part of large-scale decontamination efforts that also included blasting buildings and roads with high-pressure jets of water.Almost all areas of Fukushima have gradually been declared safe, but many evacuees have been reluctant to return because they remain worried about radiation, or have fully resettled elsewhere.Fukushima has, however, welcomed new residents such as 25-year-old kiwi farmer Takuya Haraguchi.”I want people to become interested in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days,” he told AFP.- Where is the soil being stored? -A vast quantity of soil — 14 million cubic metres — is being stored at interim storage facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant.The government has promised residents of Fukushima region that it will find permanent storage for the soil elsewhere in the country by 2045.For now, the huge mounds are kept inside guarded grounds, protected by layers of clean soil and a manmade sheet to prevent runoff into the environment.- What will Japan do with it? – The government wants to use the soil for building road and railway embankments among other projects.It has vowed to do this outside Fukushima to avoid further burdening the region, where the crippled nuclear plant generated electricity not for local residents, but for Tokyo and its surrounding urban areas.So far few takers have been found in other parts of Japan, and some local officials suggest that realistically, a portion of the soil may need to stay in Fukushima.The prime minister’s office recently said it would symbolically recycle some of the soil to show it is safe, with reports saying it will be used in flower beds.- How safe is the soil? -Around 75 percent of the stored soil has a radioactivity level equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, according to the environment ministry.Asphalt, farm soil or layers of other materials should be used to seal in the radioactivity, said Akira Asakawa, a ministry official working on the Fukushima soil project.In a test, the government has constructed roads and fields in Fukushima by using the contaminated soil as filling material.Those locations did not show elevated levels of radioactivity, and there was no runoff of radioactive material to surrounding areas, Asakawa said.- What pushback has there been? -In 2022, local communities reacted angrily to plans floated by the national government to bring the Fukushima soil to a popular park in Tokyo and other areas near the capital.That plan has not moved forward and other locations have not yet been secured, despite public sympathy for the people of Fukushima.The environment ministry says it will step up efforts to explain the safety of its plan to the public from this year. 

Nintendo hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its levelled-up new console hits shelves Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price.Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third best-selling video game console of all time.But despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out.The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high” compared to the original device, company president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May.”So even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term,” he warned.Sales of the Switch, which can connect to a TV or be played on the go, were boosted by the popularity of games like “Animal Crossing” as a pandemic lockdown pastime.The Japanese company forecasts it will shift 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release.The new device costs $449.99 in the United States, over a third more than the Switch. A Japan-only version is cheaper, at 49,980 yen ($350).New Switch 2 games such as “Donkey Kong Bonanza” and “Mario Kart World” — which allows players to go exploring off-grid — are also more expensive than existing Switch titles.Most original Switch games can be played on the Switch 2, and some Switch blockbusters such as “Zelda: Breath of the Wild” will have enhanced editions released for the new incarnation.- ‘Super excited’ -“People were a bit shocked by the price of ‘Mario Kart World’, the first $80 game that we’ve ever seen,” said Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit & Krysta Podcast.While the company is “going to have to do some work” to convince more casual gamers that it’s worth upgrading, Nintendo fans are “super excited”, she told AFP.The Switch 2 will have eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse.Although the new console is not radically different, “a lot of people (are) saying, ‘this is what I wanted, I wanted a more powerful Switch — don’t mess with a good thing’,” said Yang, a former Nintendo employee.New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw, said David Gibson of MST Financial.”It’s a way to appeal to an audience which has got used much more to the idea of streaming games and watching games, as well as playing games,” he told AFP, predicting that the Switch 2 will break records in terms of early sales.And success is crucial for Nintendo.While the “Super Mario” maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.- Tariff trouble? -Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the United States by two weeks as it assessed the impact from President Donald Trump’s global assault on free trade.But its pre-orders have since sold out in the US market and elsewhere, with the company boasting of particularly high demand in Japan.Furukawa said in May that Nintendo’s financial projections are based on the assumption of US tariffs of 10 percent on products produced in Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and 145 percent on China.”Hardware for North America is mainly produced in Vietnam,” he added.Trump’s hefty so-called “reciprocal” tariff of 46 percent on goods from Vietnam is on pause, while those on China have been slashed.Tariff uncertainty could in fact push consumers to buy a Switch 2 sooner, because they are worried that the price could go up, Yang said.Charlotte Massicault, director of multimedia and gaming at the French retail giant Fnac Darty, told AFP that pre-sale demand has been “well above what we imagined”.”For us, this will be a record in terms of first-day sales for a games console,” she said.The Switch 2 is “less of a family-focused product, and more of a ‘gamer’ product” compared to the Switch, she said.”That’s what Nintendo wanted, and it works.”

A short drive from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site, novice farmer Takuya Haraguchi tends to his kiwi saplings under the spring sunshine, bringing life back to a former no-go zone.Haraguchi was 11 years old when Japan’s strongest earthquake on record struck in March 2011, unleashing a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing.The wall of water crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant on the northeast coast, causing a devastating meltdown.At the time the bookish young Haraguchi, who grew up far away in Osaka, feared that radiation would make the whole country uninhabitable.But now, aged 25, the new resident of the rural town of Okuma says he believes in the future of Fukushima region.”Everyone knows about the nuclear accident. But not many people know about this area, and how it’s moving forward,” Haraguchi, tanned from working on his farm, told AFP.”By growing kiwis here, I want people to take an interest in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days.”The region of Fukushima is renowned for its delicious fruit, from pears to peaches, but the nuclear disaster led many people in Japan to shun produce grown there.Just over 14 years later, following extensive decontamination work including stripping an entire layer of soil from farmland, authorities say food from Fukushima is safe, having been rigorously screened for radiation.Last year Fukushima peaches were sold at London’s Harrods department store, while in Japan some consumers now choose to buy the region’s produce to support struggling farmers.”The safety has been proven,” said Haraguchi, who often sports a kiwi-print bucket hat. “I think it’s important that we do it here.”- Starting from ‘zero’ -Haraguchi studied software engineering at university but dreamed of becoming a fruit farmer.He first visited Okuma in 2021 for an event targeted at students, and met residents trying to bring back kiwi farming in an effort to rebuild their community.He also met a veteran farmer, who moved away after the disaster and whose kiwis’ rich flavour left him stunned.Inspired, Haraguchi returned many times for research before starting his venture, called ReFruits, with a business partner who recently graduated from university in Tokyo.They manage 2.5 hectares (six acres) of land, and hope to harvest their first kiwis next year.Haraguchi regards the destruction seen by the Fukushima region not as a blight, but an opportunity.”Because it went to zero once, we can try and test all sorts of challenging new ideas,” he said.After the disaster, nuclear fallout forced all of Okuma’s 11,000 residents to flee their homes.Overall across Fukushima region, around 80,000 people were ordered to evacuate for their safety, while the same number again left voluntarily, authorities say.Since then the stricken plant’s reactors have been stabilised, although decommissioning work is expected to take decades.Sections of Okuma, previously a no-go zone, were declared safe for residents to start to return in 2019.Only a fraction of its previous population has come back — but young outsiders like Haraguchi are moving there, taking advantage of government subsidies for things like housing and business assistance.Now, of around 1,500 people living in Okuma, more than 1,000 are newcomers, including hundreds who work on the plant but also agriculture and even tech start-ups.- Radiation tests -Today dozens of sensors monitor radiation levels in Okuma, which are within officially set safety limits, but still higher than in areas far from the nuclear plant.Some parts, such as unused hillsides, remain off-limits.On Haraguchi’s farm, soil tests show a slightly elevated level of radiation that meets an internationally accepted food standard.Tests on fruit from Fukushima have also shown that the radiation levels are low enough for consumption, the government says.Kaori Suzuki, who leads the non-profit citizen science group “Mothers’ Radiation Lab Fukushima – TARACHINE”, warns however that risks could remain now and in the future.Among other activities, her group conducts its own radiation tests on Fukushima’s soil and food to help residents who are choosing local products to consume.Although “it’s up to individuals to decide what to eat… it’s better to be cautious, because people have become more relaxed”, she said.Haraguchi, who is travelling internationally to share his story and that of the region, hopes his work could eventually ease concerns about Fukushima’s fruit.”We don’t need to force our products on people who are uneasy about this place and its crops,” he said, adding that he was committed to transparency.”We need to sell our products to people who understand.”

Ecuador’s government apologized Saturday to some 300 people who worked as farmers for a Japanese textile firm in conditions which a court likened to modern-day slavery.These people worked on plantations that produced abaca, a fiber used in textiles and the auto industry.As of 2021, Furukawa’s plantations for abaca covered almost 23,000 hectares spread over three provinces on the Pacific coast, where the majority of the population is Black.Some workers gave birth to children in unsanitary and overcrowded camps, while others were denied proper medical attention after work-related injuries, according to testimony given at a news conference in Quito back in December.That month the Constitutional Court ordered Furukawa to pay $120,000 to each of 342 victims — a total of around $41 million. The company was also ordered to make a public apology to them. It has not complied with either order. The court said that over the course of five years Furukawa had people living in conditions of modern-day slavery in its abaca fields.It also ordered the government to apologize to the workers, and that is what happened Saturday.The company violated “national and international regulations that affected, in essence, human dignity,” Labor Minister Ivonne Nunez said.She said “the state, through the various ministries, as the sentence explains, turned a deaf ear” to the plight of the abused workers.Nunez spoke at a ceremony with other government ministers at Quito’s Independence Plaza, as ex-Furukawa workers chanted slogans such as “reparations, reparations” and “modern slavery, never again.”After the court ruling, Furukawa said it does not have the money to pay the damages ordered by the tribunal and called them disproportionate.Back in December, at a meeting at a human rights group’s headquarters, plantation workers told horror stories of their lives raising abaca.”We have been confronting the monster that is Furukawa,” Segundo Ordonez, a 59-year-old farmer, said at the meeting.

A top industry group had a stern rebuke Saturday for automakers fuelling a “price war”, a week after Chinese EV giant BYD announced sweeping trade-in discounts, with multiple competitors following suit.”Since May 23, a certain automaker has taken the lead in launching a substantial price drop campaign… triggering a new round of ‘price war’ panic,” the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement posted to its WeChat account.The group warned that such “disorderly” competition would “exacerbate harmful rivalry” and hurt profit.The statement, dated May 30, did not single out any company by name, but on May 23, BYD announced it was offering big trade-in discounts on nearly two dozen makes, offering discounts of up to 34 percent.Its cheapest model, the smart-driving Seagull, now goes for a starting price of 55,800 yuan ($7,800), down from 69,800 yuan, with a trade-in.Days later, Stellantis-backed Chinese EV startup Leapmotor announced similar discounts on two “entry-level” models through June 8.Geely Auto announced Friday limited-time trade-in subsidies for 10 models, with its X3 Pro going for the lowest starting price of 44,900 yuan.But there is growing domestic criticism against what the autos association called “involution” — a popular tag used to describe the race to outcompete that ends up nowhere.The CEO of China’s Great Wall Motor, whose annual revenue was roughly a quarter of BYD’s, compared it to the start of China’s years-long housing slump triggered by the 2021 default of property giant Evergrande.”Evergrande in the auto industry already exists,” Wei Jianjun said this month in an interview with Chinese outlet Sina Finance.”I hope that… all these years of hard work will not go to waste.”Beijing has poured vast state funds into the electric vehicle sector, supporting the development and production of less polluting battery-powered vehicles.But China’s automakers association on Saturday warned its goliaths to play fair.”Leading companies must not monopolise the market,” the CAAM statement said.It added that “with the exception of lawful discounting, companies must not sell products below cost nor engage in misleading advertising”.Such behaviour disrupted the market and harmed both consumer and the industry, it said.An unnamed official from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology added that price wars “produce no winners and no future”, the state-backed Global Times reported Saturday.

Global stocks finished mixed on Friday after President Donald Trump put US-China trade tensions back on the boil by claiming Beijing had “totally violated” an agreement with Washington.His social media post came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China aimed at putting to bed sky-high mutual tariffs — currently suspended — were “a bit stalled.”The development risks renewed trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher, while the S&P 500 index was flat, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3 percent.  “If it weren’t for the trade war, the market would be feeling pretty good,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.”Inflation is definitely moving in the right direction,” he added, referencing the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge, which cooled more than expected last month, according to fresh data published Friday.In Europe, London and Germany’s major indices ended higher, while France’s CAC40 closed lower, following declines in Asian markets earlier in the day. – ‘Undiplomatic approach’ -“If President Trump does slap tariffs back on Chinese imports to the US… we may see demand for US assets, and the dollar, severely impaired by a chaotic and undiplomatic approach to trade policy,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.Despite rumbling concerns about the US-China economic relationship, the markets were little changed by Trump’s criticism on social media, with investors appearing to be largely inured to the US president’s now-familiar cycle of making dramatic trade threats and then retreating.Investors, traders and analysts instead focused on the Commerce Department’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data, which rose 2.1 percent in the 12 months to April — cooling slightly more than expected. Despite the good news for the Fed, which is looking to bring inflation down to its long-term target of two percent, analysts warned that the fuller inflationary effects of Trump’s tariffs were yet to come, and could cause the Fed to maintain its watch-and-wait stance.”The true weight of these policies is likely to emerge more fully in the months ahead,” said FOREX.com market analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Investors were also assessing the impact of a US court ruling that invalidated most of Trump’s sweeping tariffs — though an appeals court suspended that order and the White House vowed that its tariffs goals would be pursued one way or another.The result leaves Trump’s tariff plans in something of “a legal limbo” said Stephen Innes, of SPI Asset Management, adding that this sort of legal impasse was “the kind that keeps traders awake at night.”In the eurozone, interest rates were in focus after official data showed inflation hovering around the European Central Bank’s two-percent target. Consumer prices in top EU economy Germany showed a 2.1 percent rise in May — the same as the previous month — while they fell to 1.9 percent in Spain, and to 1.7 percent in Italy.The ECB looks set to lower interest rates again on Thursday.The dollar gained against major currencies, while oil prices were down ahead of a Saturday meeting of eight key OPEC+ members to decide production quotas for July, with some analysts predicting that the cartel could make a larger-than-expected supply hike.- Key figures at around 2030 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 42,270.07 points (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 5,911.69 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 19,113.77 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,772.38 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,751.89 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 23,997.48 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 37,965.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 23,289.77 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,347.49 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1349 from $1.1368 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3463 from $1.3494Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.97 yen from 144.19 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.30 pence from 84.22 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $63.90 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $60.79 per barrel burs-da/bgs

US President Donald Trump signaled renewed trade tensions with China Friday, arguing that Beijing had “totally violated” a tariff de-escalation deal, while saying he expects to eventually speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.Trump’s comments came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that trade talks with China were “a bit stalled,” in an interview with broadcaster Fox News.Top officials from the world’s two biggest economies agreed during talks in Geneva this month to temporarily lower staggeringly high tariffs they had imposed on each other, in a pause to last 90 days.But on Friday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US,” without providing further details.The impasse came as China’s slow-walking on export license approvals for rare earths and other elements needed to make cars and chips fueled US frustration, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Key to the tariff de-escalation pact was a demand that China resume rare earth exports, the report added, citing sources familiar with the matter.Earlier Friday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC: “The Chinese are slow-rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable.”While Greer did not go into specifics, he noted reports that Beijing continues to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals and rare earth magnets,” adding that the US trade deficit with China is still “enormous.”Greer said that Washington was not seeing major shifts in Beijing’s behavior.Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters that with China failing to fulfill its obligations, “that opens up all manner of action for the United States to ensure future compliance.”On Thursday, Bessent suggested that there could be a call between Trump and Xi eventually.Trump told reporters Friday afternoon: “I’m sure that I’ll speak to President Xi, and hopefully we’ll work that out.”US stock markets closed mixed, after fluctuating in the day on jitters that Trump could return to a more confrontational stance on China.- Forthcoming deals? -Washington is also in “intensive talks” with other trading partners, Greer told CNBC, saying he has meetings next week with counterparts from Malaysia, Vietnam and the European Union.The meetings come as he heads to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) talks in Europe.”The negotiations are on track, and we do hope to have some deals in the next couple of weeks,” Greer said.Washington and Tokyo are making progress towards a deal, Kyodo News reported, citing Japan’s tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa.Akazawa, who met with Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington, expects another round of talks before mid-June.But Trump’s tariff plans are facing legal challenges.A US federal trade court ruled this week that the president overstepped his authority in tapping emergency economic powers to justify sweeping tariffs.It blocked the most wide-ranging levies imposed since Trump returned to office, although this ruling has been stayed for now as an appeals process is ongoing.The decision left intact, however, tariffs that Trump imposed on sector-specific imports such as steel and autos.Greer said it was important to get through the legal process so partners have a “better understanding of the landing zone.”Since Trump returned to the presidency, he has slapped sweeping tariffs on most US trading partners, with especially high rates on Chinese imports.New tit-for-tat levies on both sides reached three digits before the de-escalation this month, where Washington agreed to temporarily reduce additional tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent.China, meanwhile, lowered its added duties from 125 percent to 10 percent.The US level is higher as it includes a 20 percent levy that Trump imposed on Chinese goods over the country’s alleged role in the illicit drug trade — an accusation that Beijing has pushed back against.The high US-China tariffs, while still in place, forced many businesses to pause shipments as they waited for both governments to strike a deal.

Stocks largely slid on Friday after President Donald Trump put US-China trade tensions back on the boil by claiming Beijing had “totally violated” an agreement with Washington.His social media post came hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China aimed at putting to bed sky-high mutual tariffs — currently suspended — were “a bit stalled”.The development risks renewed trade pugilism between the world’s two biggest economies.”If President Trump does slap tariffs back on Chinese imports to the US… we may see demand for US assets, and the dollar, severely impaired by a chaotic and undiplomatic approach to trade policy,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.New York shares dipped into the red, as did Asia’s markets, though their close came before Trump posted his message. Paris also closed down while London and Frankfurt ended higher.The movements were relatively limited, with investors appearing to be largely inured to Trump’s now-familiar cycle of making dramatic trade threats then retreating. Economic data informed a lot of the trades. A key US inflation indicator released Friday showed April core price rises had slowed to 2.1 percent, milder than expected. Analysts warned that the fuller inflationary effects in the United States of Trump’s tariffs were yet to come and could cause the Fed to maintain its watch-and-wait stance.”The true weight of these policies is likely to emerge more fully in the months ahead,” said FOREX.com market analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Investors were also assessing the impact of a US court ruling that invalidated most of Trump’s sweeping tariffs — though an appeals court suspended that order and the White House vowed the tariffs goal would be pursued one way or another.”The ruling didn’t mean that all tariffs were off the table, it could affect trade negotiations going forward,” noted David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, adding that it only injected “ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade policy”.Stephen Innes, of SPI Asset Management, said the result was “a legal limbo… the kind that keeps traders awake at night”.In the eurozone, interest rates were in focus after official data showed inflation hovering around the European Central Bank’s two-percent target. Consumer prices in top EU economy Germany showed a 2.1 percent rise in May — the same as the previous month — while they fell in Spain, to 1.9 percent, and in Italy, to 1.7 percent.The ECB looks set to lower interest rates again on Thursday.The dollar gained against major currencies, while oil prices were down ahead of a Saturday meeting of eight key OPEC+ members to decide production quotas for July, with some analysts saying the cartel could make a larger-than-expected supply hike.- Key figures at around 1545 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,145.57 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.4 percent at 5,890.11New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 19,055.88London – FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 8,766.98 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,751.89 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 23,997.48 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 37,965.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 23,289.77 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,347.49 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1356 from $1.1368 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3479 from $1.3494Dollar/yen: DOWN at 144.10 yen from 144.19 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.26 pence from 84.22 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.5 percent at $62.41 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.15 percent at $60.23 per barrel 

Stock markets and dollar trades diverged Friday as investors assessed the outlook for US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which are under scrutiny by US courts.In the latest turn, a US appeals court on Thursday allowed Trump to temporarily keep his aggressive tariffs in place, a day after the US Court of International Trade barred most of the levies launched since he took office.That news saw Asian markets reverse gains as analysts warned that legal wrangling could add to volatility and throw uncertainty into trade talks between Washington and other governments.Hong Kong and Tokyo stocks were down more than one percent each by the close, while Shanghai also sank.European markets fared better, with London, Paris and Frankfurt all rising near the day’s half-way mark.”When it comes to global trade right now the only certainty is uncertainty,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown. “Just a day after US courts halted the lion’s share of Trump’s recent tariff increases, judges have temporarily reinstated the new border taxes. Little wonder markets are struggling for direction,” he added.The dollar gained against the euro and pound but fell versus the yen.The Japanese currency strengthened after figures showed May inflation in Tokyo — a barometer for the rest of Japan — came in above forecasts, ramping up expectations the country’s central bank will hike interest rates in July.Oil prices rose Friday as traders turned their focus to Saturday’s meeting of eight OPEC+ members, which are set to decide production quotas for July. Elsewhere in Europe, data showed that inflation in Spain dipped below the European Central Bank’s two percent target, bolstering the case for more interest rate cuts in the eurozone.Investors are also looking ahead to the latest figures for the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the PCE, for signs of the health of the world’s largest economy amid tariffs.While the tariffs are set to go through the courts — and possibly end up at the Supreme Court — there are expectations the US president will find other means to implement them.The US Court of International Trade ruling on Wednesday barred most of the tariffs announced since Trump took office, saying that he had overstepped his authority — a decision he labelled “horrible” and said should be “quickly and decisively” reversed.A separate ruling by a federal district judge in Washington also found some levies unlawful as well, giving the administration 14 days to appeal.Observers said the latest developments have led to speculation about trade negotiations, including those between the United States and European Union, and a deal it has already struck with Britain.Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News that negotiations with China were “a bit stalled” and Trump might need to speak to President Xi Jinping, weeks after the economic superpowers agreed a detente in their trade war.All three main indices on Wall Street ended slightly higher on Thursday, with sentiment also dented by data showing the US economy contracted in January-March, albeit at a slower pace than first thought.Disappointing readings on jobless benefits and pending home sales added to the more downbeat mood, with investors also on edge over elevated bond yields and Trump’s plans to ramp up the budget deficit.- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 8,783.89 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,805.49Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.9 percent at 24,157.61Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 37,965.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 23,289.77 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,347.49 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 42,215.73 (close on Thursday)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1324 from $1.1368 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3475 from $1.3494Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.94 yen from 144.19 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 84.02 pence from 84.22 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $64.46 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.8 percent at $61.44 per barrel 

Airline bosses meet from Sunday in New Delhi at their annual industry conference, battling to mitigate the impact of Donald Trump’s policies that have hit travel to the United States and potentially raised costs for aviation.Trump’s bid to impose tariffs on the United States’ trading partners have upended commercial flows, with legal challenges against his plan adding to uncertainties.The tense atmosphere in the United States, from Trump’s plans to revoke foreign students’ visas to reports of travellers detained at US borders, has also put a dampener on tourism.”The airline sector is always sensitive to the economic and political climate,” Paul Chiambaretto, professor of strategy and marketing at France’s Montpellier Business School, told AFP.”Any form of uncertainty will reduce traffic,” he added, noting it “especially” impacted business travellers, the most profitable segment.The influential International Air Transport Association (IATA) is due to update its traffic and profitability projections as the delegates from the group gathering 350 airlines hold their talks.In December it forecast a record 5.2 billion air journeys in 2025 — up 6.7 percent from an already unprecedented 2024. It predicted carriers would generate $36.6 billion in cumulative net profit, on revenue exceeding $1 trillion.However, the US president’s “Liberation Day” tariff blitz and his administration’s stance on issues from immigration to education could throw a spanner in the works.- Putting up the ‘closed’ sign -As early as March, the North American air transport market, which represents 23 percent of global traffic, began to decline and several US-based airlines warned they would not meet their financial targets. A study released this month by the World Travel and Tourism Council and Oxford Economics found that the United States was on track to lose some $12.5 billion in revenue from foreign tourists this year owing to worries about travelling to the country.The group, made up of leading travel firms, said this “represents a direct blow to the US economy overall, impacting communities, jobs, and businesses from coast to coast”.”While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the US government is putting up the ‘closed’ sign,” WTTC president Julia Simpson said.Didier Brechemier, an airline industry expert at Roland Berger, said: “Today, bookings for the North Atlantic are lower than they were at the same time last year.”IATA Director General Willie Walsh noted on Thursday “some signs of fragility of consumer and business confidence with continued weakness in the US domestic market and a sharp fall in North American premium class travel”.Air transport has for decades benefited from the removal of import taxes, rising living standards — particularly in Asia — and open borders, with the number of air trips tripling since 2000.But the return of protectionism is endangering the industrial model of aircraft manufacturers, whose assembly lines mobilise suppliers worldwide, with costs likely to increase, putting more of a burden on carriers.- Lower energy costs -There’s good news for carriers, though, with oil prices falling owing to an anticipated slowdown in economic growth.That could help firms reduce their fuel bills — representing between a quarter and a third of their operational costs — by hundreds of millions of dollars.Washington’s new Republican administration is also fully supporting the development of fossil fuels, in contrast to that of Democratic former president Joe Biden, who subsidised Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).Sustainable development “has largely disappeared from the airline industry’s immediate priorities”, says Jerome Bouchard, a partner at consultants Oliver Wyman.Also likely on the agenda for IATA will be the impact of geopolitical tensions on the industry.India is experiencing explosive growth, with the number of airports and passengers in the world’s most populous nation doubling over the past decade, while major airlines IndiGo and Air India have hundreds of aircraft on order.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address delegates on Monday, organisers said.The country’s recent deadly spat with neighbour Pakistan, which saw the two sides impose airspace bans on each other, highlighted the fragility of civil aviation in the face of such upheavals.The row poses an additional complication for connections to Asia, as Russia has banned US and EU aircraft overflights in retaliation for sanctions linked to its invasion of Ukraine.