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Stock markets dropped on Monday with tech shares leading the plunge as investors fretted over the risk that US President Donald Trump’s trade policies could nudge the United States into recession.On Wall Street the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 3.6 percent after Trump himself declined to rule out the risk of a US recession.”I hate to predict things like that,” he told Fox News on Sunday when asked directly about a possible recession this year.”There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big — we’re bringing wealth back to America,” he said, adding: “It takes a little time.”Trump’s on-off tariff threats against Canada, Mexico, China and others have left the US financial markets in turmoil and consumers unsure what the year might bring.”President Trump seems to have abandoned the US stock market and is willing to put his political vision above the near-term outlook for the US economy,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, in a note.The Nasdaq was bogged down by retreats in the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks, which include Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Nvidia.Stocks in electric carmaker Tesla, owned by Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk, slumped by more than 11 percent.”Unease about the effect of Trump’s tariffs hangs over financial markets at the start of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.”The prospect of a recession in the US is lurking, with consumer confidence falling, companies facing increasing trade complexity and investors turning more nervous.”David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation, added: “Risk sentiment has soured as investors react to President Trump’s various tariff announcements and as the US economic outlook begins to cloud over.”- German spending plan -The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets all closed lower.The European Union’s trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic complained that “the US administration does not seem to be engaging to make a deal” to avoid tariffs against the 27-nation bloc.Brooks of XTB said investors were also reacting to news that Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, could face opposition to a massive spending plan that boosted markets last week.Germany’s Green party said Monday it would not give the votes necessary for Merz’s proposals to partially lift spending limits on defence and establish a 500-billion-euro ($540-billion) infrastructure fund.Tokyo earlier finished higher, but Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets fell after weekend data from China showed that consumer prices fell 0.7 percent in February, the first drop in 13 months.”The data only reinforces what’s been clear for months — deflationary pressures remain firmly entrenched in the world’s second-largest economy,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.Beijing’s retaliatory duties on certain US agricultural goods came into force on Monday after Chinese products were hit with 20 percent US tariffs.- Key figures around 1645 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.2 percent at 42,283.47 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 2.3 percent at 5,639.72New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 3.6 percent at 17,534.77London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 8,600.22 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 8,047.60 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.7 percent at 22,620.95 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,028.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,783.49 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,366.16 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0833 from $1.0844 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2893 from $1.2925Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.22 yen from 147.97 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.03 pence from 83.87 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $69.58 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.16 percent at $66.26 per barrel

Stock markets slipped on Monday as investors fretted over the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policy on the economic growth of the United States and China, the world’s biggest economies.Wall Street’s three main indexes opened in the red, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling two percent, after Trump himself declined to rule out the risk of a US recession.”I hate to predict things like that,” he told a Fox News interviewer on Sunday when asked directly about a possible recession in 2025.”There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big — we’re bringing wealth back to America,” he said, adding: “It takes a little time.”Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats against Canada, Mexico, China and others have left the US financial markets in turmoil and consumers unsure what the year might bring.”Unease about the effect of Trump’s tariffs hangs over financial markets at the start of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.”The prospect of a recession in the US is lurking, with consumer confidence falling, companies facing increasing trade complexity and investors turning more nervous,” she added.The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets were all lower in afternoon deals, with German shares also hit by concerns that the country’s next chancellor may struggle to push through a massive spending plan.”Risk sentiment has soured as investors react to President Trump’s various tariff announcements and as the US economic outlook begins to cloud over,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.”The president appears to be taking a scatter-gun approach in terms of targets, while teasing the markets with last minute reprieves, delays or softening in scope. All in all, it’s proving difficult to price all this in,” Morrison said.- German spending plan -The European Union said on Monday the Trump administration did not appear to want to make a deal that could avoid tariffs against the 27-nation bloc.Beijing’s retaliatory duties on certain US agricultural goods came into force on Monday after Chinese products were hit with 20-percent US tariffs.Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading platform, said investors were also reacting to news that Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, could face opposition to a massive spending plan that boosted markets last week.Germany’s Green party said on Monday it would not give the votes necessary for the constitutional changes proposed by Merz.These partially lift spending limits in defence and establish a 500-billion-euro ($540-billion) infrastructure fund.”The news that Germany’s soon-to-be chancellor might not have free reign over Berlin’s purse strings has limited euro upside for now,” Brooks said.Traders also reacted to weekend data from China showing that consumer prices fell 0.7 percent in February, the first drop in 13 months.”The data only reinforces what’s been clear for months — deflationary pressures remain firmly entrenched in the world’s second-largest economy,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets fell, while Tokyo finished higher.- Key figures around 1335 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 42,417.69 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.4 percent at 5,689.63 New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 2.1 percent at 17,813.25 London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,624.09Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,108.21Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.1 percent at 22,762.85Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,028.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,783.49 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,366.16 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0841 from $1.0844 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2935 from $1.2925Dollar/yen: DOWN 147.02 yen from 147.97 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.80 pence from 83.87 penceBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $70.33 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $67.09 per barrel

European and Asian stock markets mostly fell Monday, as investors feared the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policy on the economic growth of the United States and China, the world’s biggest economies.A weak reading on Chinese consumer prices, showing they slipped back into deflation, added to growth concerns.The London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets were all lower nearing the half-way stage, tracking losses in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Tokyo ended higher.”Unease about the effect of Trump’s tariffs hangs over financial markets at the start of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.”The prospect of a recession in the US is lurking, with consumer confidence falling, companies facing increasing trade complexity and investors turning more nervous,” she added.Trump raised worries about a recession Sunday when asked by Fox News if a downturn was possible this year by replying: “I hate to predict things like that.”He added: “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big — we’re bringing wealth back to America,” noting: “It takes a little time”.Traders kept tabs also on Beijing as Chinese leaders wrap up their annual gathering where they set a 2025 annual growth target of around five percent, vowed to make domestic demand their main economic driver, and unveiled a rare hike in fiscal funding.The need for more measures to boost China’s faltering economy was highlighted at the weekend by figures showing consumer prices fell 0.7 percent in February, the first drop in 13 months.”The data only reinforces what’s been clear for months — deflationary pressures remain firmly entrenched in the world’s second-largest economy,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The property sector remains stuck in the mud, domestic demand is weak, and despite a bounce in tech stocks, the broader wealth effect just isn’t filtering through to consumers.”- Key figures around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,637.70 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 8,084.09Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.9 percent at 22,810.93Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,028.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,783.49 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,366.16 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 42,801.72 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0862 from $1.0844 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2924 from $1.2925Dollar/yen: DOWN 146.99 yen from 147.97 yenEuro/pound: UP at 84.06 pence from 83.87 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $70.45 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $67.12 per barrel

Food delivery firm Deliveroo said Monday that it would end operations in Hong Kong next month after striking a deal with local competitor foodpanda.The Chinese city has seen growing competition in the food-delivery services market following the 2023 entry of KeeTa, an app by Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan, which surpassed Deliveroo in order volume within a year.The British company said Monday it had “nominated liquidators to manage closure of the Hong Kong business and the remainder of its assets in the most efficient way possible”, with the platform remaining live until April 7.The firm said its “commitment to disciplined capital allocation”, along with “several dynamics specific to the Hong Kong market”, led the board to determine that it would not serve shareholders’ interests to keep doing business in the city.Deliveroo will close its operations by selling some assets to Singaporean firm foodpanda and by closing other assets, the company said in a statement.”We have been proud to serve so many people such amazing food over the past nine years,” Deliveroo chief operating officer Eric French said.Delivery Hero, the Berlin-based parent of foodpanda, confirmed that it closed an agreement to acquire “selected assets” from Deliveroo.”Deliveroo customers and couriers in Hong Kong will be redirected, and certain vendors will be onboarded to the foodpanda platform,” the firm said.- Hong Kong ‘was a laggard’ -Customers of foodpanda will be able to pick from a broader range of restaurants and grocery businesses, and vendors will benefit from access to a larger customer base, Delivery Hero said.Founded in London, Deliveroo entered the Hong Kong market in 2015 as part of its first wave of international expansion a year after foodpanda landed in the city.Deliveroo said in its 2024 interim results that Hong Kong “was a laggard amongst our major markets”, citing “a more difficult market and competitive environment”.The company said Monday that Hong Kong represented five percent of the group’s gross transaction value in 2024, and had a five percentage point negative impact on international gross transaction value growth.In contrast, Delivery Hero said in a trading update last month that it saw “strong customer growth” in Hong Kong in December.In 2021, Uber Eats ended its five-year run in Hong Kong after years of struggling to gain market share.Hong Kong’s online food delivery market is projected to reach $4.4 billion in revenue this year and $5.8 billion by 2029, according to data platform Statista.The sector has faced a steady stream of labour disputes, and the three major platforms were accused of inadequate labour protections by striking workers in March 2024.”What the delivery workers have experienced is dropping wages faster than ever” after KeeTa established market dominance, the Riders’ Rights Concern Group said in December.

Shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai sank Monday on a mixed day for equity markets after data showing Chinese consumer prices slipped back into deflation stoked fresh concerns over the world’s number two economy.The reading compounded uncertainty on trading floors as investors struggle to keep up with Donald Trump’s trade policy tinkering, while his refusal to rule out a US recession this year further rattled confidence.The president’s on-again, off-again tariff threats against Canada, Mexico, China and others have left financial markets in turmoil and consumers unsure what the year might bring.Traders are also keeping tabs on Beijing as Chinese leaders wrap up their annual rubber stamp parliament gathering where they set a 2025 annual growth target of around five percent, vowed to make domestic demand its main economic driver, and unveiled a rare hike in fiscal funding.The need for more measures to boost the faltering economy was highlighted at the weekend by figures showing consumer prices fell 0.7 percent in February, the first drop in 13 months.”The data only reinforces what’s been clear for months — deflationary pressures remain firmly entrenched in the world’s second-largest economy,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The property sector remains stuck in the mud, domestic demand is weak, and despite a bounce in tech stocks, the broader wealth effect just isn’t filtering through to consumers.”Chinese retail investors might be riding the market rally, but the fact that household spending remains subdued suggests most are either tapped out or too cautious to dive into equities. A stock market pop doesn’t fix a sluggish economy overnight.”Hong Kong stocks, which have surged 20 percent this year to a three-year high, lost almost two percent and Shanghai ended off 0.2 percent.There were also losses in Singapore, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta, though Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Mumbai and Manila rose.London, Paris and Frankfurt rose in early trade.The mixed start to the week followed a positive day on Wall Street where investors welcomed soothing comments on the economy from Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell, which offset a slightly below par jobs data.However, there is a growing worry about the growth outlook owing to Trump’s tariffs, federal job cuts and still-high inflation.Analysts described the jobs report as unspectacular, but good enough to suggest the labour market is not weakening precipitously.The reading “shows private-sector demand for labour stayed strong just prior to the spike in economic policy uncertainty which has produced a sharp fall in business and consumer confidence”, said Ray Attrill at National Australia Bank.”As Pantheon Economics notes, it is the government sector, which added just 11,000 to payrolls last month compared to a prior six-month average of 35,000 that accounts for the modestly below-trend overall February result.””The hit to payrolls from layoffs of federal employees instigated by DOGE lies in the near future,” he added, referring to the Department of Government Efficiency run by Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk.Trump raised worries about a recession Sunday when asked by Fox News if a downturn was possible this year by replying “I hate to predict things like that”.He added: “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big — we’re bringing wealth back to America,” he said, adding: “It takes a little time.”- Key figures around 0800 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 37,028.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.9 percent at 23,783.49 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,366.16 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,686.98Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0823 from $1.0844 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2895 from $1.2925Dollar/yen: DOWN 147.57 yen from 147.97 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.92 pence from 83.87 penceWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $67.05 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $70.39 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 42,801.72 (close)

Chinese tariffs on a range of US fruit, vegetables and other pantry staples took effect on Monday but locals at a lively Beijing market largely shrugged off the escalating trade war.The levies of 10 and 15 percent on American agricultural products, which also include meat, grains and cotton, were imposed after US President Donald Trump raised a blanket tariff on all Chinese goods to 20 percent last week.Vendors in a downtown market said they weren’t worried about sales despite the potential for higher prices at the check-out.”If prices go up, folks won’t eat imported stuff,” a fruit seller, surnamed Shi, told AFP.”There will be more domestic goods sold, and I think this is something folks can accept.”Shi’s offerings — from bananas and strawberries to durian and mangosteen — come from all around the world, but he said fruit grown within China typically sells better.”The freshness of our domestic products is greater than imported stuff,” the 31-year-old said.Shi said he might sell fewer US varieties while offering more options from other countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia.A steady stream of shoppers, mostly retirees, carried bags of meat and produce as they meandered through the market’s stalls. He Yulian, who was visiting her daughter in Beijing, said she was indifferent about the trade war.She said she cared only about quality, not where a product was from.”For regular folks, if we can tell something is imported from the United States, we can try to buy less of it — or not at all,” the 65-year-old from Shanxi said.- ‘Responsibility to ourselves’ -However, He said that for certain products such as milk and infant formula, she preferred imports to their Chinese versions.The Chinese public is no stranger to domestic food safety scandals.One of the most notorious involved milk adulterated with the chemical melamine, which killed six infants and poisoned hundreds of thousands of others in 2008.Beijing has pledged to do more to tighten food safety regulations in recent years but distrust lingers.In 2022, pork-processing giant Henan Shuanghui apologised after unhygienic work practices such as packaging meat that had dropped on the floor were exposed.”It’s not that we’re not patriotic,” He said. “It’s because we have a responsibility to ourselves.”Beijing’s tariffs took effect on Monday, although they will not apply to goods that left before March 10 as long as they arrive in China by April 12.Fruit seller Shi said that, while levies were being put in place by both sides, the fight would be “better for China” because domestic goods would “become more powerful”.In the short term, though, he acknowledged that everyday budgets might be hit.”You still need to buy what you need at home,” he said.”Indeed, it’s regular people who suffer the most.”

The value of art sold at auctions globally fell by a third last year compared to 2023, with the Chinese market crashing by 63 percent, auction data published on Monday showed.Artprice, a France-based consultancy which aggregates auction data from around the world, said the value of art sold in 2024 slumped to $9.9 billion (9.1 billion euros), the lowest level since 2009.All the major art hubs recorded steep falls, with New York down 29 percent, London down 28 percent and Paris down 21 percent as collectors turned cautious given global economic uncertainty.The Chinese market shrank to just $1.8 billion from $4.9 billion in 2023, underlining the weakness of the world’s second-biggest economy.”Major collectors have grown hesitant including for major artists such as Mark Rothko, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly or Jean-Michel Basquiat,” Thierry Ehrmann, founder of Artprice, told AFP.The value of Pablo Picasso sales — a leading indicator for the rest of the market — totaled $223 million in 2024, around a third of the $597 million spent on the Spanish master the previous year, the data showed.Gone are the days of endless record-breaking bids at art auctions, with the once-booming market spurred by speculator cash in decline since 2021.  That has meant some high-end sellers have postponed or cancelled planned sales, making fewer works available.In a sign of the changed climate, leading auction house Sotheby’s laid off 100 staff members — six percent of its global workforce — in December.- Cutbacks – Experts say the steep fall last year was linked to wars in Ukraine and Gaza, major elections across the globe, and higher interest rates, which raised the cost of borrowing. The Chinese economy has slowed dramatically since the Covid-19 pandemic, facing headwinds caused by a debt crisis in its real estate industry and tariffs from its trading partners. For high-net-worth buyers, “art is the first luxury that you stop buying when you need to consolidate, which is why positive economic news feeds back into the art market quite quickly”, said Lindsay Dewar from the London-based ArtTactic art market consultancy. Industry insiders are now wondering how the global market will react to Donald Trump’s presidency. Initial optimism about a “Trump bump” on stock markets has faded fast as he introduces tariffs and rows with allies.Weakening demand at the global art collector level also feeds through to primary sales — sales of work through galleries — which affect artists’ prices and income.Dewar said that her conversations with gallery owners indicated they had a “tough year” in 2024.Nevertheless, she sees reasons for optimism.The overall number of auction sales increased last year — up five percent to 800,000, according to Artprice figures — with activity at the lower end of the market for works at $50,000 or under showing robust health.And some sales are still outperforming, including a Magritte which fetched a record $121 million for the surrealist artist in November, far above the guide price of $95 million. “People do still want to trade, to buy and sell artwork. The desire is still there,” Dewar said.A portrait by an AI-powered robot of the English mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the fathers of modern computing, also raised a million dollars at Sotheby’s in November, 10 times higher than expected.Two major upcoming auction sales will give a sense of conditions at the top-end of the market. Sotheby’s is set to sell works belonging to late New York banker Thomas A. Saunders and his wife in May, while Christie’s will put part of book mogul Leonard Riggio’s modern-art collection under the hammer in the next few months.

Scraping opium resin off a seedpod in Myanmar’s remote poppy fields, displaced farmer Aung Hla describes the narcotic crop as his only prospect in a country made barren by conflict.The 35-year-old was a rice farmer when the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, adding pro-democracy guerillas to the long-running civil conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups.Four years on, the United Nations has said Myanmar is mired in a “polycrisis” of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and environmental damage.Aung Hla was forced off his land in Moe Bye village by fighting after the coup. When he resettled, his usual crops were no longer profitable, but the hardy poppy promised “just enough for a livelihood”.”Everyone thinks people grow poppy flowers to be rich, but we are just trying hard to get by,” he told AFP in rural Pekon township of eastern Shan state.He says he regrets growing the substance — the core ingredient in heroin — but said the income is the only thing separating him from starvation.”If anyone were in my shoes, they would likely do the same.”- Displaced and desperate -Myanmar’s opium production was previously second only to Afghanistan, where poppy farming flourished following the US-led invasion in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.But after the Taliban government launched a crackdown, Myanmar overtook Afghanistan as the world’s biggest producer of opium in 2023, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).Myanmar’s opiate economy — including the value of domestic consumption as well as exports abroad — is estimated between $589 million and $1.57 billion, according to the UNODC.Between September and February each year, dozens of workers toil in Pekon’s fields, slicing immature poppy seedpods, which ooze a small amount of sticky brown resin.Aung Naing, 48, gently transfers the collected resin from a small trough onto a leaf plate.Before the coup, which ended a brief experiment with democracy, Aung Naing was areformed opium farmer. But wartime hardship forced him back to the crop.”There is more poppy cultivation because of difficulties in residents’ livelihoods,” he says.”Most of the farmers who plant poppy are displaced,” he said. “Residents who can’t live in their villages and fled to the jungle are working in poppy fields.”In Myanmar’s fringes, ethnic armed groups, border militias and the military all vie for control of local resources and the lucrative drug trade.Aung Naing says poppy earns only a slightly higher profit than food crops like corn, bean curd and potatoes, which are also vulnerable to disease when it rains.Fresh opium was generally sold by Myanmar farmers for just over $300 per kilo in 2024, according to the UNODC, a small fraction of what it fetches on the international black market.And the crop is more costly to produce than rice — more labour intensive, requiring expensive fertilisers and with small yields.Aung Naing says he makes just shy of a $30 profit for each kilo. “How can we get rich from that?” he asks.- ‘Unsafe’ -The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates there are more than 3.5 million people displaced in Myanmar.But fleeing conflict zones to farm opium does not guarantee safety. “Military fighter jets are flying over us,” said Aung Naing. “We are working in poppy fields with anxiety and fear. We feel unsafe.”Opium cultivation and production in Myanmar decreased slightly between 2023 and 2024, according to the UNODC — in part due to ongoing clashes between armed groups.”If our country were at peace and there were industries offering many job opportunities in the region, we wouldn’t plant any poppy fields even if we were asked to,” says farmer Shwe Khine, 43.Aung Hla agreed. With the war, he said, “we don’t have any choice”.

Indonesian private tutor Patricia has been learning German for two years, armed with a dream of leaving for Europe and driven by a lack of opportunities, economic stagnation and little hope at home.She is one of thousands of Indonesians on social media promoting a popular hashtag that translates as “let’s just escape for now”.Anger at the quality of life in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy — a nation of 280 million known for pervasive corruption and nepotism — has stirred student protests and driven young and middle-aged professionals to seek jobs abroad.”After working for so many years, my income remains about the same… meanwhile my needs are increasing,” said the 39-year-old in the capital Jakarta, who declined to give her last name.”I don’t own a house or car… if I keep working like this, it will probably never be enough.”In the last month, the hashtag has picked up steam. It has racked up thousands of mentions and reached more than 65 million accounts on X, formerly Twitter, analytics firm Brand24 said.The outpouring has coincided with student-led protests against wide-ranging government budget cuts by new President Prabowo Subianto.Savings have been channelled into a new multi-billion-dollar sovereign wealth fund — that reports to the ex-general.- ‘Want to fight’ -There were nearly 7.5 million unemployed people in Indonesia, according to the latest figures from the country’s statistics agency, dating to August 2024.That has stoked anger against a perceived poor quality of life, as the divide between the emerging nation’s rich and poor grows wider and the middle class is squeezed.”After many strange policies and the change of president, I have shifted to feeling like I have to move abroad. It has become a primary necessity,” said Chyntia Utami, a 26-year-old tech worker in Jakarta.”I really feel it. I don’t get social assistance, and I have limited money to spend. Working is just about surviving day by day, month by month, not working with passion.”Some Indonesians are taking more physically demanding jobs abroad to escape.Randy Christian Saputra, 25, left an office job at a multinational consulting firm to do manual labour on a tomato farm in Australia.”I’m tired of the system in Indonesia. If we look abroad, they usually have a better system,” he said.Poor living standards in the megacity Jakarta encourage others to leave.”The longer I stay in Jakarta, the harder it is because of pollution or traffic jams. It has more to do with the living standard,” said Favian Amrullah, a 27-year-old software engineer, who is leaving for a tech startup in Amsterdam in April.”I am exhausted, and feeling hopeless.”Some foreign companies are trying to capitalise on the trend, including Japanese recruitment firms posting online seeking to attract the most talented.Experts said social media offers Indonesians an outlet where they feel heard.”This showed the public’s emotion,” said Ika Karlina Idris, associate professor at Monash University Indonesia.She said the hashtag highlighted “the public’s concerns about jobs and nepotism” as well as at “haphazard public policies”.- ‘Don’t come back’ -The uproar sparked criticism from some government ministers. One even told those who wish to leave should not return.”Just run away, if necessary, don’t come back,” Deputy Manpower Minister Immanuel Ebenezer told a reporter last month. He did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.Pro-Prabowo influencers have also spread disinformation, aiming to undermine the credibility of protesters.In recent weeks, AFP’s Fact Check team found more than a dozen TikTok videos pushing the baseless claim that student protesters are “paid”, which attracted more than eight million views.Pro-government and pro-Prabowo content creators then posted reaction videos amplifying the misinformation on YouTube and TikTok, garnering more than two million views, AFP Fact Check found.Patricia remains undeterred, applying for a volunteer post in Germany in the hope she can find a paid job once there.”I want to fight there for a better job, life, a better income,” she said. “When I have a place there… no, I won’t be returning to Indonesia.”

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said Monday it had agreed to jointly explore store sell-offs with a Canadian rival to address antitrust concerns ahead of a potential merger.It comes just days after Seven & i — which for two decades has wholly owned 7-Eleven, the world’s biggest convenience store brand — announced measures including a huge share buyback to fend off a takeover from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT).Seven & i last year rebuffed ACT’s initial buyout offer worth nearly $40 billion, saying it had “grossly” undervalued its business and could face regulatory hurdles.It would be the biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm — merging the 7-Eleven, Circle K and other franchises to create a global convenience store behemoth.Japanese media reported last week that a special committee scrutinising a raised offer by ACT of reportedly around $47 billion had decided to reject that too.But Seven & i said merging with ACT was still on the table, and on Monday gave details of how they are working together.The pair will “map out the viability of a divestiture process” by discussing “the group of stores to be sold and identifying potential buyers”, a Seven & i statement said.This would give a sense of how likely US antitrust regulators were to be satisfied, it said, adding that “joint outreach” by financial advisors to potential buyers had begun.”We can now make progress towards determining whether a credible and actionable… divestiture package can be achieved that would allow a realistic assessment of ACT’s proposal,” it said.- ‘Hostile’ bid -Seven & i operates some 85,000 convenience stores worldwide.Around a quarter of 7-Eleven outlets are in Japan where they sell everything from concert tickets to pet food and fresh rice balls, although sales have been flagging.On Thursday, Seven & i had said it planned to buy back two trillion yen ($13.2 billion) of its own shares.It also announced an IPO of its US unit and named Stephen Dacus as its first foreign CEO.ACT, which began with one store in Quebec in 1980, runs nearly 17,000 convenience store outlets worldwide, including Circle K.”We believe there is a clear path to obtaining regulatory approvals,” ACT said Friday, adding that it had “identified a potential divestiture portfolio of US stores”.Roy Larke, co-founder of analysis firm JapanConsuming, told AFP that “I think Seven & i still plans to fight what is in practicality a hostile takeover bid from ACT”.”To avoid this, Seven & i may agree to sell all or part of 7-Eleven in order to be allowed to continue its rebuilding in Japan alone,” he said.”The antitrust issues raised by Seven & i are likely to be genuine problems and prove to be a significant barrier,” Larke said.But “I would not be surprised if a deal was done to merge the US operations (subject to government approval)”.