Major International Business Headlines Brief ::: 06 October 2025

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Major International Business Headlines Brief :::  06 October  2025 

 


 


 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


 

ü  Japan stocks hit record after ruling party names pro-business leader

ü  US pharmacy chain Rite Aid closes final stores

ü  The true extent of cyber attacks on UK business - and the weak spots that
allow them to happen

ü  India wants to lure back its best minds after H-1B visa chaos - but it
won't be easy

ü  How China is challenging Nvidia's AI chip dominance

ü  The indigenous weavers who aim for empowerment over exploitation

ü  House-buying shake-up plan aims to cut costs and time

ü  Conservatives to pledge £5,000 tax rebate for young homebuyers

ü  How the US got left behind in the global electric car race

ü  OPEC+ opts for modest oil output hike as supply glut fears mount

ü  Gold Powers Toward $4,000 as US Government Shutdown Drags On

ü  Aston Martin shares fall 10% as luxury carmaker issues fresh profit
warning on tariff turmoil

ü  Tesla teases new product reveal on October 7

ü  Eli Lilly to invest over $1 billion in India to expand manufacturing
capacity

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


Japan stocks hit record after ruling party names pro-business leader

Japanese stocks have hit a record high after the country's ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) named Sanae Takaichi as its new leader, positioning
the pro-business politician to be Japan's next prime minister.

 

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed 4.75% higher on Monday, ending the day
above 47,000 for the first time.

 

Takaichi, who has held senior government roles including minister for
economic security and internal affairs, is known for her support of higher
government spending and lower borrowing costs.

 

She is also a long-time admirer of former UK prime minister Margaret
Thatcher and her free market approach to economics.

 

Investors welcomed the announcement of her victory in the LDP leadership
race, with shares rising in real estate, technology and heavy industry
companies.

 

While the Japanese stocks rose, the yen hit a record low against the euro
and dropped by 1.7% against the US dollar.

 

Monday's market response was largely a "knee-jerk reaction" to the potential
appointment of Takaichi as prime minister, Japan economist Jesper Koll told
the BBC.

 

While her policy proposals to stimulate the economy through increased
government spending could benefit businesses, they may further weaken the
yen as Japan's debt rises, said Mr Koll.

 

If confirmed later this month as the successor to Shigeru Ishiba, Takaichi
will be Japan's first female prime minister.

 

Mentored by late Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, she has championed his economic
vision - known as Abenomics - of high public spending and cheap borrowing.

 

If confirmed in the role, Takaichi will have to navigate a challenging
US-Japan relationship and see through a tariff deal with US President Donald
Trump's administration, which was previously agreed by the Ishiba
government.

 

She would also have to contend with a sluggish economy and households
grappling with higher costs and slow wage growth.

 

With Trump expected to visit Japan later this month, Mr Koll said Takaichi
will be eager to negotiate a new agreement with the US president "to get the
dollar down and to get the yen up."-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

US pharmacy chain Rite Aid closes final stores

US pharmacy chain Rite Aid announced that it would close all remaining
stores.

 

The company's website was replaced on Saturday with a message announcing the
closure: "All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers
for their many years of support." The site included a link to allow
customers to request their pharmacy records.

 

Founded in 1962, the company was once one of the largest pharmacy chains in
the country. At its peak, Rite Aid counted 5,000 stores.

 

But in recent years, the chain faced financial struggles and a Justice
Department investigation. By Friday, data showed fewer than 100 stores
remained.

 

Rite Aid had filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 and May 2025.

 

The company also faced legal troubles over its role in the opioid epidemic.
In 2022, Rite Aid paid up to $30 million to settle lawsuits alleging it
contributed to the flow of opioids in the US, according to CBS, the BBC's
American news partner.

 

The following year, in the 2023 bankruptcy filing, the company said
restructuring would help it "resolve litigation claims".

 

Rite Aid also faced a Justice Department complaint in which officials
alleged the company's stores filled unlawful prescriptions for oxycodone and
fentanyl. The company agreed to settle in July 2024.

 

Other US pharmacy chains have also been closing retail locations across the
country, though different reasons have been cited.

 

Since 2021, CVS has closed more than 1,000 stores as part of a longer term
strategic move.

 

Separately, Walgreens, which was recently purchased by private equity firm
Sycamore Partners, closed 500 stores over the past year.

 

Experts have raised concerns about growing "pharmacy deserts" in the US,
where millions of people live without a pharmacy nearby and must travel to
get prescriptions filled.-bbc

 

 

 

 

The true extent of cyber attacks on UK business - and the weak spots that
allow them to happen

The first day of September should have marked the beginning of one of the
busiest periods of the year for Jaguar Land Rover.

 

It was a Monday, and the release of new 75 series number plates was expected
to trigger a surge in demand. At factories in Solihull and Halewood, as well
as at its engine plant in Wolverhampton, staff anticipated that they’d be
working flat out.

 

Instead, when the early shift arrived, they were sent home. The production
lines have remained idle ever since.

 

Though they are expected to resume operations in the coming days, it will be
in a slow and carefully controlled manner. It could be another month before
output returns to normal. Such was the impact of a major cyber attack that
hit JLR at the end of August.

 

It is working with various cyber security specialists and police to
investigate, but the financial damage has already been done. More than a
month's worth of worldwide production was lost.

 

Analysts have estimated its losses at £50m per week.

 

JLR's production lines were left idle after the firm faced a cyber attack at
the end of August

For a company that made a £2.5bn profit in the last financial year, and
which is owned by the Indian giant Tata Group, the losses will likely be
painful but not fatal. But JLR is not an isolated incident.

 

So far this year there has been a wave of cyber attacks targeting big
businesses, including retailers such as Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, as
well as a key airport systems provider. Other high profile victims have
included the children's nursery chain Kido, while last year incidents
involving Southern Water and a company that provided blood tests to the NHS
raised serious concerns about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure
and services.

 

In all, a government-run survey on cyber security breaches estimates 612,000
businesses and 61,000 charities were targeted across the UK.

 

So just how much are attacks like these costing businesses and the economy?
And could it be, as one expert analyst puts it, that this year's major
attacks are the result of a "cumulative effect of a kind of inaction" on
cyber security from the government and businesses that is now starting to
bite?

 

 

Pyramid of suppliers affected

What is significant about an attack on the scale of the one that hit JLR is
just how far the consequences can stretch.

 

The company sits at the top of a pyramid of suppliers, thousands of them.
They range from major multinationals, such as Bosch, down to small firms
with a handful of employees, and they include companies which are heavily
reliant on a single customer: JLR.

 

For many of those firms, the shutdown represented a very real threat to
their business.

 

In a letter to the Chancellor on 25 September, the Business and Trade
Committee warned that smaller firms "may have at best a week of cashflow
left to support themselves", while larger companies "may begin to seriously
struggle within a fortnight".

 

Industry analysts expressed concerns that if companies started to go
bankrupt, a trickle could soon become a flood – potentially causing
permanent damage to the country's advanced engineering industry.

 

 

 

Resuming production does not automatically mean the crisis is over either.

 

"It has come too late," explains David Roberts, who is the Chairman of
Coventry-based Evtec, a direct supplier to JLR, with some 1,250 employees.

 

"All of our companies have had six weeks of zero sales, but all the costs.
The sector still desperately needs cash."

 

Russian cyber criminals or Western teens

A recent IBM report, which looked at data breaches experienced by about 600
organisations worldwide found that the average cost was $4.4m (or £3.3m).

 

But JLR is far from an outlier when it comes to high-profile cyber attacks
on an even greater scale. Marks & Spencer and the Co-op supermarket chain
this year are estimated to have cost £300 million and £120 million
respectively.

 

Over the Easter weekend in April, attackers managed to gain entry to Marks &
Spencer's IT systems via a third-party contractor, forcing it to take some
networks offline.

 

Initially, the disruption seemed relatively minor – with contactless payment
systems out of action, and customers unable to use its 'click and collect'
service. However, within days, it had halted all online shopping – which
normally makes up around a third of its business.

 

It was described at the time as "almost like cutting off one of your limbs",
by Nayna McIntosh, former executive committee member of M&S and the founder
of Hope Fashion.

 

 

Attackers managed to gain entry to Marks & Spencer's IT systems via a
third-party contractor

When the Co-op supermarket chain was hit, the same group of hackers claimed
responsibility.

 

It was, they suggested, an attempt to extort a ransom from the company by
infecting its networks with malicious software. However the IT networks were
shut down quickly enough to avoid significant damage.

 

As the criminals angrily described it to the BBC, "they yanked their own
plug - tanking sales, burning logistics, and torching shareholder value".

 

According to Jamie MacColl, a cyber expert at the security research group,
the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), it is no surprise to see major
businesses being targeted in this way.

 

He says it is the result of hackers being easily able to get hold of
so-called ransomware (software which can lock up or encrypt a victim's
computer networks until a ransom is paid).-bbc

 

 

 

 

India wants to lure back its best minds after H-1B visa chaos - but it won't
be easy

A hostile immigration environment is prompting some Indians in the US to
think of returning home

US President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to hike H-1B visa fees to
$100,000 has prompted policymakers in Delhi to woo skilled Indians back
home.

 

A bureaucrat, who works closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently
said that the government was actively encouraging overseas Indians to return
and contribute to nation-building. Yet, another member of the PM's economic
advisory council told a media conclave that H-1B visas have always served
the interests of the host nation, and so the hike in fee boded well for
India's ability to attract global talent.

 

The crux of these arguments is that the time is ripe for India to engineer a
reverse brain drain and lure some of the world's most talented professionals
in technology, medicine and other innovative industries, who'd left the
country in the past 30 years, back to the homeland.

 

There is some anecdotal evidence to suggest that an increasingly hostile
immigration environment in the US is prompting a few Indians to think along
these lines. But getting hundreds of thousands of people to ditch Bellevue
for Bengaluru will be easier said than done, several experts told the BBC.

 

 

Nithin Hassan Nithin Hassan wearing a powder blue blazer (L) with his two
daughters in the centre and his wife on the right wearing a traditional
Indian saree, pose for a photograph. Nithin Hassan

Nithin Hassan (left) gave up a $1m job at Meta in the US to return to India

Nithin Hassan is among the few Indians who had settled in the US for the
last 20 years but took a leap of faith and decided to move back to Bengaluru
- often called India's Silicon Valley - last year.

 

It wasn't an easy call. He quit a million-dollar job at Meta to plunge into
the uncertain world of start-ups.

 

"I've always wanted to start something of my own, but my immigration status
in the US limited that freedom," Mr Hassan told the BBC.

 

Since his return, Mr Hassan has launched two start-ups, including a platform
called B2I (Back to India) that helps other Indians settled in the US
"navigate the emotional, financial and professional challenges of returning
home".

 

He told the BBC that the US's immigration policy shifts in recent months had
led to a sharp spike in enquiries from people looking to relocate, and the
H-1B fracas could accelerate this trend.

 

"Many professionals now accept that a green card may never come, and queries
to B2I have surged - nearly tripling since Trump's second term began. In
just the last six months, more than 200 NRIs [non-resident Indians] have
reached out to explore return options," said Mr Hassan.

 

Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa shock: Why US may lose more than India

Other headhunters who scout for Indian talent from US universities
corroborate this change in sentiment.

 

"The number of Indian students from Ivy League universities looking to come
back to India after their studies has risen by 30% this season," Shivani
Desai, CEO of BDO Executive Search, told the BBC.

 

She added that the uncertainty is also making senior Indian executives
"think harder about their long-term careers in the US".

 

"While many are still anchored there, we see a noticeable uptick in CXO and
senior tech leaders exploring India as a serious option," Ms Desai said.

 

Such change in attitudes could also be aided by a massive boom in Global
Capability Centres (GCCs) - or remote offices of multinational companies in
India in recent years - that have thrown up viable work opportunities for
returning Indians.

 

These offshore operations could be where those from the tech industry
relocate to if the US closes its doors to them, making GCCs "increasingly
attractive to talent, especially as onsite opportunities decline", according
to asset management firm Franklin Templeton.

 

 

Countries such as Germany have welcomed skilled Indians after Trump hiked
H-1B visa fees

But driving reverse migration at scale will require a concerted and serious
effort by the government, and that's currently missing, says Sanjaya Baru,
former media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and author of
Secession of the Successful: The Flight out of New India - a book on India's
brain drain.

 

"The government will have to go out and actually identify individuals -
including top-of-the-line scientists, professionals and entrepreneurs - it
wants back. That requires effort, and it needs to come straight from the
top," Mr Baru told the BBC.

 

He said this was what Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, did
back in the day to get top minds in areas like space and nuclear technology
back home and build institutions like the premier Indian Institute of
Science.

 

"They were driven by a strong sense of purpose and nationalism. Where is the
incentive to come back now?" said Mr Baru.

 

On the contrary, there are both pull and push factors that have led to
highly qualified professionals consistently leaving the country, Mr Baru
said, and India has celebrated this trend, rather than arresting it.

 

The pull factors include a growing number of countries offering golden visas
and citizenship or residency by immigration programmes.

 

In fact, even as the US tightened its H-1B visa regime, countries such as
Germany immediately laid out the red carpet for Indian skilled migrants,
with its ambassador pushing the country's credentials as a "predictable and
rewarding destination".

 

 

Poor physical infrastructure and urban congestion are major problems in
Indian cities

The push factors, meanwhile, are long-standing bugbears - such as a poor
regulatory environment, tiresome bureaucracy and a poor ease-of-business
climate that has led to an exodus of wealthy, high-earning Indians over the
years.

 

The government's own data shows that over half a million Indians have
renounced their citizenship since 2020. Separately, India is among the top
five countries globally seeing a flight of millionaires, who are taking up
citizenship or residency elsewhere.

 

Mr Hassan says the government needs to work towards reducing "several
friction points simultaneously" if it is really serious about getting
overseas Indians to return.

 

This includes simpler tax laws, targeted incentives such as special start-up
visas and fixing other more fundamental problems such as poor physical
infrastructure and urban congestion.

 

It will also mean creating a better ecosystem for the highly educated to
thrive - "including elevating the scale of R&D [research and development]
and education back home", says Mr Baru - precisely the stuff that made the
US such a big draw for Indian talent over the past half a century.-bbc

 

 

 

 

 

 

How China is challenging Nvidia's AI chip dominance

The US has dominated the global technology market for decades. But China
wants to change that.

 

The world's second largest economy is pouring huge amounts of money into
artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Crucially, Beijing is also
investing heavily to produce the high-end chips that power these
cutting-edge technologies.

 

Last month, Jensen Huang - the boss of Silicon Valley-based AI chip giant
Nvidia - warned that China was just "nanoseconds behind" the US in chip
development.

 

So can Beijing match American technology and break its reliance on imported
high-end chips?

 

 

After DeepSeek

China's DeepSeek sent shockwaves through the tech world in 2024 when it
launched a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT.

 

The announcement by a relatively unknown startup was impressive for a number
of reasons, not least because the company said it cost much less to train
than leading AI models.

 

It was said to have been created using far fewer high-end chips than its
rivals, and its launch temporarily sank Silicon Valley-based Nvidia's market
value.

 

And momentum in China's tech sector has continued. This year, some of the
country's big tech firms have made it clear that they aim to take on Nvidia
and become the main advanced chip suppliers for local companies.

 

In September, Chinese state media said a new chip announced by Alibaba can
match the performance of Nvidia's H20 semiconductors while using less
energy. H20s are scaled-down processors made for the Chinese market under US
export rules.

 

Huawei also unveiled what it said were its most powerful chips ever, along
with a three-year plan to challenge Nvidia's dominance of the AI market.

 

The Chinese tech giant also said it would make its designs and computer
programs available to the public in China in an effort to draw firms away
from their reliance on US products.

 

Getty Images Two shoppers walk past an electronics shop advertising Deepseek
on a large banner at the storefront in Hong Kong.Getty Images

DeepSeek stunned the tech world in 2024 when it launched an AI model to
rival ChatGPT

 

Other Chinese chip developers have also secured major contracts with big
businesses in the country. MetaX is supplying advanced chips for the likes
of state-owned telecoms operator, China Unicom.

 

Another hotly-tipped potential challenger to Nvidia is Beijing-based
Cambricon Technologies.

 

Its Shanghai-listed shares have more than doubled in value over the last
three months as investors bet that it will benefit from Beijing's push for
Chinese firms to use locally produced high-end chips.

 

Tencent, which owns the super app WeChat, is another notable tech giant that
has heeded the government’s call to use Chinese chips.

 

There has also been no shortage of state-backed trade shows, promoting
Chinese technology companies in a bid to attract investors.

 

"The competition has undeniably arrived," a spokesperson for Nvidia told the
BBC in response to queries about the recent progress made by Chinese chip
firms.

 

"Customers will choose the best technology stack for running the world's
most popular commercial applications and open-source models. We'll continue
to work to earn the trust and support of mainstream developers everywhere."

 

Yet some experts have cautioned that claims made by Chinese chipmakers
should be taken with a pinch of salt due to a lack of publicly available
data and consistent testing benchmarks.

 

China's semiconductors perform similarly to the US in predictive AI but fall
short in complex analytics, said computer scientist Jawad Haj-Yahya, who has
tested both American and Chinese chips.

 

"The gap is clear and it is surely shrinking. But I don't think it's
something they will catch up on in the short-term."

 

Where China leads - and lags

On the BG2 technology and business podcast in September, Nvidia's Jensen
Huang highlighted the strengths of China's tech sector, crediting its
hardworking and vast talent pool, intense domestic competition and progress
in chipmaking.

 

"This is a vibrant entrepreneurial, high-tech, modern industry," he said,
urging the US to compete "for its survival".

 

His assessment is likely to be welcomed by officials in Beijing.

 

The country has long vied to become a global leader in tech, partly to
reduce its reliance on the West.

 

For years, China has invested heavily in what President Xi Jinping calls
"high-quality development", which covers industries from renewables to AI.

 

Even before US President Donald Trump's return to the White House, China had
spent tens of billions of dollars as part of its efforts to transform its
vast economy from the "world's factory" for basic products to a home of
cutting-edge industries.

 

An ongoing tariffs war with Trump's America has only made that mission more
urgent.

 

Xi has vowed to make his country more self-reliant and not depend on
"anyone's gifts".

 

 

What tariffs has Trump announced and why?

Trump's sweeping new tariffs take effect against dozens of countries

Mr Huang has also warned that the US should trade freely with China or risk
handing it the edge in the AI race.

 

This comes against a backdrop of Beijing applying more pressure on Nvidia as
it launched an anti-monopoly probe into the firm last month.

 

But China's state-led approach can also be an obstacle to innovation if
everyone in the sector only focuses on a "shared goal", said computing
professor Chia-Lin Yang from the National Taiwan University.

 

It can make it harder for disruptive ideas to break the mould, she added.

 

China's chip industry has also yet to overcome criticism that its products
can be less user-friendly than those of Western rivals like Nvidia.

 

Prof Yang believes these issues can soon be solved by China's huge number of
skilled tech industry workers.

 

"You cannot underestimate China's ability to catch up."

 

 

Getty Images The Huawei logo is seen prominently above a walkway near their
booth at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona in March, 2025.Getty
Images

Chinese tech giant Huawei unveiled its plans to rival Nvidia's dominance in
AI chips

'Bargaining chip' for China

She described China's recent announcements about the chip sector as a
"bargaining chip" in its months-long tariffs negotiations with the US.

 

Beijing aims to pressure Washington into selling its advanced equipment or
risk losing its position in such a large market, said Dr Jawad.

 

These announcements project strength on China's part, even though it is
likely to still want to buy American technology, he added.

 

Most experts agree that China is still reliant on the US for the most
powerful chips, at least for now.

 

Beijing needs access to some high-end American technology for its more
advanced projects and to ensure it isn't left behind, said semiconductor
engineer Raghavendra Anjanappa.

 

Realistically, China can reduce its dependence on American chips in
less-advanced tools, but doesn't have the "raw performance" of US chips to
train more complex AI systems, said Mr Raghavendra.

 

Despite a number of breakthroughs China still lacks the highly developed
supply chains that have been long established in the US, South Korea and
Taiwan.

 

The US has also deployed export restrictions as it tries to slow down
China's development of advanced technology, including Washington's decision
to block Beijing's access to high-end Nvidia chips.

 

The US has "hit China exactly where its dependency is deepest," said Mr
Raghavendra.

 

"But China's not far off in the grand scheme and they might only need five
more years to be independent from the US."-bbc

 

 

 

 

The indigenous weavers who aim for empowerment over exploitation

For every handwoven bag she sells on the palm-lined promenade of Riohacha, a
city on Colombia's Caribbean coast, Sandra Aguilar feels that she's sharing
a piece of her heritage.

 

Once used exclusively by the Wayuu, the largest indigenous group in the
South American country, the bags - known as mochilas - are now a staple
across Colombia, and popular with foreign tourists.

 

But these days the bags are also increasingly sold in global boutiques,
featured at fashion events around the world, and listed on platforms like
Etsy, Amazon, and Instagram - reaching buyers who may never have set foot in
Colombia.

 

"Thanks to online posts, international visitors are becoming very
knowledgeable about the mochila," Ms Aguilar says. "They recognise and
appreciate its ancestral value."

 

 

Weaving has long been central to the Wayuu people, who number around 380,000
in Colombia. They have lived for centuries on the semi-arid peninsula of La
Guajira in the northeast of the country, and extend into neighbouring
Venezuela.

 

Techniques are passed down through generations, with geometric patterns on
many mochilas reflecting clan identity, spirituality, and the natural world.

 

Weaving is also a vital source of income in La Guajira, Colombia's
second-poorest province, where two-thirds of the population live in poverty.

 

For Ms Aguilar, both domestic mochila sales and exports have improved
conditions in her rural Wayuu community of 11 families, and enabled her
daughter and niece to attend university.

 

But while the growing global demand has improved opportunities for some, it
has also brought challenges. Many artisans face exploitation, and there are
concerns that traditional craftsmanship is being sacrificed for speed and
commercial gain.

 

Some Wayuu women - supported by socially-conscious entrepreneurs - are
working to access fairer export markets and promote the mochila's cultural
value.

 

Prices for Wayuu mochilas vary considerably. A medium-sized lower quality
bag - made with simpler designs and weaving techniques - can be found across
Colombia for around $20 (£15) - sometimes less.

 

Higher-end bags typically start at around $80 and can rise to several
hundred pounds, depending on the weaving time, complexity of the design.

 

Traditionally, mochilas were crafted over weeks, but rising demand led many
weavers to develop faster techniques, producing simpler designs in two or
three days.

 

Sandra Aguilar stands above the mochilas she sells. She is wearing a
patterned dress and holding a stripy mochila

Sandra Aguilar sells mochilas made by women in her extended Wayuu family

 

For Colombian entrepreneur Laura Chica, compliments on the Wayuu bag she was
using during a trip to Europe sparked a business idea. She founded mochila
company Chila Bags back in 2013. "Instagram was just starting, and the brand
began to take off," she says.

 

Ms Chica says she focuses on high-quality bags incorporating traditional
patterns and elements. The bags reflect the artisans' skills, time, and
heritage, for which they receive a fair wage, she says.

 

Her brand has been featured in magazines, such as Vogue China, and showcased
at international fashion weeks and high-end retail spaces from Hawaii to
London, Paris and Shanghai.

 

But does she think the flourishing popularity of mochilas has been
beneficial for the Wayuu? For Ms Chica, that very much depends on which
market you look at. She says two have developed.

 

"There are brands, and those interested in the story behind how the bag is
made, that want to keep sharing it with the world," she says. She adds that
these provide a market for customers who value indigenous arts,
sustainability and fair trade, and are willing to pay more.

 

But not all weavers have been able to access ways to work with such
companies that pay decent prices, says Ms Chica. Instead she says that that
many have to rely on a parallel market where quick production, sales and
profits are prioritised, which undermines pay and the quality of the work.

 

In Riohacha's Mercado Nuevo - a maze-like market bursting with colourful
stalls selling yarn, chinchorros (traditional Wayuu hammocks) and mochilas -
a group of women crouches on the concrete floor, weaving.

 

They explain that intermediaries, or middlemen, may offer them as little as
$5.50 per bag, but after paying for thread and transport, they often earn as
little as $1.50 - excluding the time spent weaving.

 

Many such Wayuu weavers come from rural, isolated communities where only
Wayuunaiki - the Wayuu language - is spoken. This makes it difficult for
them to access a broader customer base and navigate economic opportunities.
As a result, they sell to the middlemen.

 

"Some Wayuu women are being forced to accept whatever price, benefiting
everyone except the women themselves," says Paula Restrepo, director of
Fundación Talento Colectivo.

 

Her organisation supports female weavers, whom she and many others recognise
as skilled artisans, through education and training.

 

She is keen to stress that not all intermediaries are harmful. Instead, she
says that the reputable ones, which she calls "solidarity intermediaries"
help establish an equitable system for purchasing mochilas, ensuring fair
wages and safe working conditions through fair trade principles.

 

Her foundation has partnered with mochila brand and non-profit organisation
One Thread Collective to provide the weavers with leadership workshops. "The
idea is that the artisans prepare themselves to be autonomous, to be
entrepreneurs, to be capable in the future of being in contact with other
clients," says Ms Restrepo.

 

A weaver working as she sits on the floor in the Mercado Nuevo market

The weavers in Riohacha's Mercado Nuevo work on the concrete floor

One of the weavers who has taken part in the workshops is Yamile Vangrieken.
Sitting on a bright orange chinchorro at her home on the outskirts of
Riohacha, she explains she leads a group of eight relatives from the rural
community where her family is from.

 

She acts as a bridge between them - many of whom don't speak Spanish and
haven't ever been to the city - and One Thread Collective, which helps them
export their bags, while providing stable income, thread and microloans.

 

Ms Vangrieken's weaving has helped support her teenage daughter, who herself
began weaving at just four-years-old. Ms Vangrieken hopes she'll finish
school, go to university, and keep weaving by choice - not out of financial
necessity.

 

While mochilas are gaining international recognition, that doesn't always
translate into higher sales for every business.

 

Brandon Miller is an American entrepreneur based in Riohacha. He runs
Wayuumarket.com, a platform that helps Wayuu artisans sell directly to
international buyers.

 

He says his orders have slumped, not due to a lack of interest, but because
more foreign businesses are travelling to La Guajira to source the bags
directly, communicating through AI tools like ChatGPT and translation apps.

 

Yamile Vangrieken works on making a bag as she sits in an orange and red
coloured hammock

Yamile Vangrieken earns enough money to support her daugther

But buying online has changed too. Mr Miller says influencers - especially
from China and Thailand - started streaming live from La Guajira on
platforms like TikTok, offering real-time purchases to their followers.

 

Shifts in demand, and how mochilas are sold, have raised concerns about
control over the bags' design, narrative, and profits.

 

Back on Riohacha's promenade, Ms Aguilar says the bag's fashion rise has led
artisans to adapt or add elements, such as elaborate beading, religious
icons, or even football club logos. She worries that these sales strategies
are eroding cultural norms.

 

But she remains positive. Recognition is increasing - not only of the Wayuu
bags - but of the indigenous group and the weavers themselves.

 

"We are also artists, even if we don't have a title that says so," she says.

 

"Our essence is in our designs, in our products and we mustn't let that go.
When we lose our customs and traditions, we are left with nothing."-bbc

 

 

 

House-buying shake-up plan aims to cut costs and time

Plans for a major reform of the house-buying system, which aim to cut costs,
reduce delays and halve failed sales, have been unveiled by the government.

 

Under the new proposals, sellers and estate agents will be legally required
to provide key information about a property up front, and binding contracts
introduced to stop either party walking away late in the deal.

 

The government estimates the overhaul could save first-time buyers an
average of £710 and cut up to four weeks off the time it takes to complete a
typical property deal.

 

"Buying a home should be a dream, not a nightmare. Our reforms will fix the
broken system," said Housing Secretary Steve Reed.

 

 

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of families and first-time buyers
could benefit from the reforms.

 

Those in the middle of a chain could also potentially gain a net saving of
£400 as a result of the increased costs from selling being outweighed by
lower buying expenses.

 

The consultation draws on other jurisdictions, including the Scottish system
where there is more upfront information and earlier binding contracts.

 

This will include being up front about the condition of the home, any
leasehold costs, and details of property chains.

 

The government says this transparency will reduce the risk of deals
collapsing late in the process and improve confidence among buyers,
particularly those purchasing a home for the first time.

 

The planned introduction of binding contracts is intended to halve the
number of failed transactions, which currently cost the UK economy an
estimated £1.5bn a year.

 

The Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Miatta Fahnbulleh,
told BBC Breakfast the plans to get sellers to arrange the house survey
means buyers would get all the information "upfront".

 

"You know what you're getting, you don't have this thing that every time,
for example, there is a new buyer because the transaction failed and you
need to do another survey," she said.

 

"In Scotland, where they do this, you see that it drives down the number of
failed transactions."

 

The reforms also aim to boost professional standards across the housing
sector.

 

A new mandatory Code of Practice for estate agents and conveyancers is being
proposed, along with the introduction of side-by-side performance data to
help buyers choose trusted professionals based on expertise and track
record.

 

The government said a full roadmap for the changes would be published in the
new year, forming part of its broader housing strategy, which includes a
pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.

 

Conservative shadow housing minister Paul Holmes said: "Whilst we welcome
steps to digitise and speed up the process, this risks reinventing the last
Labour government's failed Home Information Packs - which reduced the number
of homes put on sale, and duplicated costs across buyers and sellers."

 

 

 

Conservatives to pledge £5,000 tax rebate for young homebuyers

Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch spoke at the party's conference in
Manchester as it began on Sunday

The Conservatives will set out plans to "reward work" by giving young people
a £5,000 tax rebate towards their first home when they get their first full
time job.

 

In his speech to the party's conference in Manchester, shadow chancellor Mel
Stride is expected to announce proposals for a "first-job bonus" that would
divert national insurance payments into a long-term savings account.

 

The party says the plans will be funded by cuts to public spending worth
£47bn over five years in areas such as welfare, the civil service and the
foreign aid budget.

 

Sir Mel's speech on Monday is expected to say that there is "no more
pretending we can keep spending money we simply do not have".

 

 

Proposals include stopping welfare claims for people with "low-level mental
health problems" and reducing the number of civil servants by around
132,000, a reduction of around a quarter.

 

Sir Mel will also say his party would reduce aid spending by £7 billion to
0.1% of national income.

 

The conference in Manchester marks almost one year since Kemi Badenoch was
elected party leader.

 

In the last 12 months, the party has struggled to counter the political
threat posed by Reform UK and suffered heavy defeats in this year's local
elections.

 

During their conference, which began on Sunday, the Conservatives are hoping
to portray themselves as more competent and more credible - particularly on
public spending - than their political rivals.

 

It comes as the Labour government has unveiled major housing market reform
plans which will aim to cut costs, reduce delays and halve failed sales.

 

Hundreds of thousands of families and first-time buyers could benefit from
the reforms, in what the government claims would be the biggest house buying
shakeup in decades.

 

The battle is on for the Conservatives to show they matter

My approach will pay off eventually, says Kemi Badenoch

Tories pledge to remove 750,000 migrants under borders plan

 

In his conference speech on Monday, Sir Mel will say: "We must get on top of
government spending.

 

"We cannot deliver stability unless we live within our means.

 

"We're the only party that gets it. The only party that will stand up for
fiscal responsibility."

 

His proposals include saving:

 

£23bn from the welfare bill

£8bn by bringing civil servant numbers from 517,000 down to 2016 levels of
384,000

£7bn from the overseas aid budget

£3.5bn by ending the use of hotels to home asylum seekers

£4bn by ensuring benefits and social housing are reserved for UK nationals

£1.6bn by scrapping environmental policies, including cutting subsidies for
heat pumps and electric vehicles.

Earlier this year, the Labour government sought to cut nearly £5bn from the
disability and health-related benefits bill but had to backtrack after a
rebellion by its own MPs.

 

Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has suggested the government will
return to the issue, telling the BBC that changes to the welfare system
"must happen".

 

Last year, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that total spending
on health and disability benefits would rise from £64.7bn in 2023-24 to
£100.7bn in 2029-30.

 

The Tories argue they can reduce the bill by reviewing exemptions for the
Household Benefit Cap, limiting the VAT subsidy for Motability - which
allows claimants to lease vehicles - and changing obligations for
job-seekers.

 

It says it would stop claims for people suffering from "low-level health"
mental health problems arguing that "what is really needed is treatment and
support, not cash".

 

It also says it would keep in place the two-child benefit cap, which
prevents households on universal or child tax credit from receiving payments
for a third or subsequent child born after April 2017.

 

The Labour government has been under pressure to remove the cap, with many
of its backbenchers arguing the limit has increased the number of children
in poverty.

 

The Resolution Foundation says axing the cap would lift 470,000 children out
of poverty and would cost around £3.5bn.

 

Badenoch has previously defended the cap saying it was a matter of
"fairness" and Conservatives believed people on benefits "should have to
make the same choices on having children as everyone else".

 

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he would cut the
UK's aid budget from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% in 2027 in order
to pay for an increase in defence spending.

 

The Conservatives say further reducing spending to 0.1% would save nearly
£7bn.

 

Currently, a portion of the existing aid budget is used to pay for hotels to
accommodate asylum seekers.

 

 

The Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank welcomed some of the
proposals but warned the Conservatives not to ignore "elephant in the room"
of age-related spending such as pensions.

 

Tom Clougherty, IEA executive director, said: "Ultimately, no political
party is going to be able to balance the books only by cutting things their
supporters don't like.

 

"Without that, other cuts are likely to amount to running to stand still."

 

The Conservatives have not committed to changing the triple lock, which
guarantees that the state pension will go up each year in line with either
inflation, wage increases or 2.5% - whichever is the highest.

 

Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the network of international
development organisations, said the proposed aid budget cuts were "reckless,
short-sighted, and morally indefensible".

 

The Conservative conference comes six weeks before Chancellor Rachel Reeves
delivers her Budget on 26 November.

 

During the election, Labour promised not to increase income tax, National
Insurance or VAT for working people.

 

However, there has been speculation that Reeves will need to raise taxes in
order to meet her self-imposed rules for public spending and debt.

 

In a report in March, the Office for Budget Responsibility said the
chancellor only had a "very small margin" - £10bn buffer - in which to
operate.-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

 

How the US got left behind in the global electric car race

You could be forgiven for thinking that electric cars might finally be
gaining momentum in the US.

 

After all, sales of battery cars topped 1.2 million last year, more than
five times the number just four years earlier. Hybrid sales have jumped by a
factor of three.

 

Battery-powered cars accounted for 10% of overall sales in August - a new
high, according to S&P Global Mobility.

 

And in updates to investors this week, General Motors, Ford, Tesla and other
companies all reported record electric sales over the past three months.

 

This marked a bright spot in an industry wrestling with the fallout from
still high interest rates and buyers on edge over inflation, tariffs and the
wider economy.

 

 

But analysts say the boom was caused by a dash to buy before the end of a
government subsidy that helped knock as much as $7,500 (£5,588) off the
price of certain battery electric, plug-in hybrid or fuel cell vehicles.

 

With that tax credit gone as of the end of September, carmakers are
expecting momentum to shift into reverse.

 

"It's going to be a vibrant industry, but it's going to be smaller, way
smaller than we thought," Ford chief executive Jim Farley said at an event
on Tuesday.

 

"I expect that EV demand is going to drop off pretty precipitously," the
chief financial officer of General Motors, Paul Jacobson, said at a
conference last month, adding it would take time to see how quickly buyers
would come back.

 

 

 

Even with the recent gains, the US, the world's second biggest car market,
stood out as a laggard in electric car sales compared to much of the rest of
the world.

 

In the UK, for example, sales of battery electric and hybrid cars made up
nearly 30% of new sales last year, according to the International Energy
Agency (IEA). Latest industry figures suggest that number is even higher.

 

In Europe, they accounted for roughly one in five sales, while in China, the
world's biggest car market, sales of such cars accounted for almost half of
overall sales last year, according to the IEA, and they are expected to
become the majority this year.

 

Take-up in some other countries, like Norway and Nepal, is even greater.

 

Electric vehicles (EVs) tend to account for a smaller share of sales in
Latin America, Africa and other parts of Asia - but growth there has been
surging.

 

Policy differences

Analysts say adoption in the US has been slowed by comparatively weak
government support for the sector, which has limited the kinds of subsidies,
trade-in programmes and rules that have helped the industry in places such
as China, the UK and Europe.

 

Former President Joe Biden pushed hard to increase take-up, aiming for
electric cars to account for half of all sales in the US by 2030.

 

His administration tightened rules on emissions, boosted demand through
purchases for government fleets, nudged carmakers to invest with loans and
grants for EV investments, spent billions building charging stations and
expanded the $7,500 tax credit as a sweetener for buyers.

 

Supporters cast those efforts in part as a competitive imperative, warning
that without these US carmakers would risk losing out to competitors from
China and other countries.

 

But President Donald Trump, who recently called climate change a "con job",
has pushed to scrap many of those measures, including the $7,500 credit,
arguing that they were pushing people to buy cars they would not otherwise
want.

 

"We're saying ... you're not going to be forced to make all of those cars,"
he said this summer, while signing a bill aimed at striking down rules from
California, which would have phased out sales of petrol-only cars in the
state by 2035. "You can make them, but it'll be by the market, judged by the
market."

 

 

Bloomberg via Getty Images A row of BYD Dolphin compact hatchback electric
vehicles illuminated by fluorescent lights at a manufacturing plantBloomberg
via Getty Images

Electric cars have become more affordable in the US in recent years - but
they still cost more than comparable petrol-powered vehicles.

 

And Chinese carmakers like BYD, which have made rapid inroads in other
markets thanks to low prices, have been effectively shut out of the US, due
to high tariffs targeting cars made in China, backed by both Biden and
Trump.

 

As of August, the average transaction price of an electric car in the US was
more than $57,000, according to auto industry research firm Kelley Blue
Book, about 16% higher than the average for all cars.

 

The least expensive battery car on offer, a Nissan Leaf, costs about $30,000
(£22,000). By comparison, several models can be found for under £20,000 in
the UK.

 

Analysts say what buyers do next hinges on how carmakers set prices in the
months ahead, as they contend not only with the end of the tax credit but
also tariffs on foreign cars and certain car parts that Trump introduced
this spring.

 

Hyundai said this week it would offset the loss of the tax credit by
lowering the price for its range of Ioniq EVs. But Tesla said the cost for
monthly lease payments of some of its cars would rise.

 

Stephanie Brinley, associate director of S&P Global Mobility, said she did
not expect to see many firms follow Hyundai's example, given the pressures
from tariffs.

 

While some buyers may opt for EVs anyway, "next year is going to be hard,"
she warned, noting that her firm is calling for overall car sales to fall by
roughly 2% in 2026.

 

"It would have been difficult enough if all you had to deal with is new
tariffs, but with new tariffs and the incentive going away, there's two
impacts."

 

Carmakers had already been scaling back their investments in electric cars.

 

Researchers say Trump's policy changes could reduce those investments even
more.

 

"It's a big hit to the EV industry - there's no tiptoeing around it," said
Katherine Yusko, research analyst at the American Security Project

 

"The subsidies were initially a way to level the playing field and now that
they're gone the US has a lot of ground to make up."

 

However Ms Brinley said she was hesitant to declare the US behind in an
industry still testing out technology alternatives.

 

"Is [electric] really the right thing?" she said. "Saying that we're behind
assumes that this is the only and best solution and I think it's a little
early to say that."-BBC

 

 

 

 

 

Kremlin-backed crypto coin moves $6bn despite US sanctions

 

A Kremlin-backed cryptocurrency operation appears to have succeeded in
circumventing US sanctions, moving at least $6bn since August when some of
its entities were blacklisted — highlighting the limits of western efforts
to curb Russia’s financial flows.

 

More than 80 per cent of A7A5, a stablecoin at the heart of Russia’s growing
cross-border payments empire, was swiftly destroyed and recreated to be
cleared of links to a crypto exchange that had been just sanctioned by
Washington, according to a Financial Times analysis.

 

A7A5 is part of A7, a growing cross-border payments system built as an
alternative to the US-led financial system, from which Russian lenders were
cut off after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

 

Washington added Grinex, a Kyrgyzstan-based exchange, to its sanctions list
in August, the latest step in its attempt to curb Russia’s crypto
infrastructure. Grinex is an alleged successor of Garantex, which US law
enforcement took down in March for “hacking, ransomware, terrorism and drug
trafficking”.

 

Grinex denies any connection to Garantex.

 

According to the FT analysis, starting the day after the August designation
A7A5 administrators deleted the contents of two wallets connected to Grinex,
which were carrying a total of 33.8bn tokens worth $405mn. That represents
more than 80 per cent of the total number of A7A5 in circulation.

 

The wallets’ account balances were set to zero using an instruction called
“destroyBlackFunds” that designates their tokens as “dirtyShares”.

 

But soon after, tokens worth the same amount were created in a new wallet,
in effect moving the funds and giving them a clean slate.

 

Unlike a regular transfer, this method breaks the link between the old and
new accounts, making it harder to establish a connection between the tokens
that had been targeted by sanctions and the newly-minted ones.

 

This wallet was involved in $6.1bn worth of transactions since August, the
FT found.

 

Activity on the new wallet mirrors patterns observed on its predecessors.
The wallet has shared 11 counterparties and executed transfers during Moscow
working hours. Activity peaks between 10am-12pm local time, with little
movement overnight or on weekends.

-ft

 

 

OPEC+ opts for modest oil output hike as supply glut fears mount

OPEC+ will raise oil output from November by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd),
it said on Sunday, opting for the same fairly modest monthly increase as in
October amid persistent worries over a looming supply glut.

 

The group comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
plus Russia and some smaller producers has increased its oil output targets
by more than 2.7 million bpd this year, equating to about 2.5% of global
demand.

 

The shift in policy after years of cuts is designed to regain market share
from rivals such as U.S. shale producers.

 

Supply glut seen in fourth quarter

Oil prices settled higher on Friday but posted a weekly loss of 8.1% after
news of potential increases to OPEC+ supply.

 

Brent

crude futures closed up 42 cents, or 0.7%, at $64.53 a barrel by, while U.S.
West Texas Intermediate

crude was up 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $60.88.

 

For the week, Brent fell 8.1%, the largest weekly loss in over three months.
WTI tumbled 7.4% in the week.

 

Prices are trading below this year’s peaks of $82 per barrel but above $60
per barrel seen in May.

 

In the run-up to the meeting, Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two biggest
producers in the OPEC+ group, had different views, sources have said.

 

Russia was advocating for a modest output increase, the same as in October,
to avoid pressuring oil prices and because it would struggle to raise output
owing to sanctions over its war in Ukraine, two sources said this week.

 

Saudi Arabia would have preferred double, triple or even quadruple that
figure — 274,000 bpd, 411,000 bpd or 548,000 bpd, respectively — because it
has spare capacity and wants to regain market share more quickly, sources
said ahead of the meeting.

 

OPEC views the global economic outlook as steady and market fundamentals as
healthy because of low oil inventories, it said in a statement on Sunday.

 

Walking a tightrope

Scott Shelton at TP ICAP Group said oil prices may rise on Monday by up to
$1 per barrel as the November production increase turned out to be modest.

 

Jorge Leon at Rystad Energy said: “OPEC+ stepped carefully after witnessing
how nervous the market had become ... The group is walking a tightrope
between maintaining stability and clawing back market share in a surplus
environmen.”

 

OPEC+ output cuts had peaked in March, amounting to 5.85 million bpd in
total. The cuts were made up of three elements: voluntary cuts of 2.2
million bpd, 1.65 million bpd by eight members and a further 2 million bpd
by the whole group.

 

The eight producers plan to fully unwind one element of those cuts - 2.2
million bpd — by the end of September. For October, they started removing
the second layer of 1.65 million bpd with the increase of 137,000 bpd.

 

The eight producers will meet again on Nov. 2.-ft

 

 

 

 

Gold Powers Toward $4,000 as US Government Shutdown Drags On

Gold rose to a record, nearing $4,000-an-ounce, as looming US interest rate
cuts and the prospect of a prolonged federal government shutdown lifted
demand.

The precious metal rallied as much as 1.5% to top $3,945 an ounce in the
week’s opening session, with prices lifted about 50% this year.

 

Gold-backed exchange-traded funds swelled again last week, with private
investors contributing to the latest leg in the rally and total holdings
expanding the most in more than three years last month.

Gold rose to a record, nearing $4,000-an-ounce, as looming US interest rate
cuts and the prospect of a prolonged federal government shutdown lifted
demand.

 

The precious metal rallied as much as 1.5% to top $3,945 an ounce in the
week’s opening session. The upswing, which follows a run of seven weekly
gains, has lifted prices about 50% this year. Gold-backed exchange-traded
funds swelled again last week.

 

The US shutdown has delayed key data, making a murky economic outlook more
unclear. With a lack of official figures, traders are depending on private
reports for signals, while the US central bank is also finding it
challenging to assess changing conditions. Traders are still pricing in a
quarter-point cut this month, which would benefit gold further as it doesn’t
pay interest.

 

Gold Hits Record as Shutdown Persists

Bullion has more than doubled over the past two years

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

 

 

Bullion has pushed higher this year, spurred by central-bank purchases as
they diversify away from the US dollar. Economic and geopolitical
uncertainties triggered by the Trump administration, as well as Federal
Reserve rate cuts, have also provided tailwinds. Investors have flocked to
assets like gold, silver and Bitcoin, in what’s been dubbed the “debasement
trade,” fueled by concerns about fiat currencies.

 

Private investors piling into gold-backed exchange-traded funds have
contributed to the latest leg in the rally, with total holdings expanding
the most in more than three years last month. Strong flows continued in the
first few days of October.

 

Read More: Gold, Bitcoin Surge as ‘Debasement Trade’ Weighs on Currencies

 

Fund flows have “been nothing short of remarkable,” said Priyanka Sachdeva,
an analyst at Phillip Nova Pte. It’s “a testament to how deeply embedded the
‘buy-the-dip-in-gold’ mindset has become,” she said.

 

Gold rose 1.4% to trade at $3,943.89 an ounce at 8:58 a.m. in London. The
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.5%. Silver, platinum and palladium
all climbed.

 

The “backdrop is intact with the Fed on path to cut rates further, alongside
the weakening labor market,” said Ahmad Assiri, an analyst at Pepperstone
Group Ltd. However, “it feels like the risk-reward dynamics are shifting and
a tactical pullback would be viewed as a healthy phase within an extended
rally,” he said.

 

 

 

Aston Martin shares fall 10% as luxury carmaker issues fresh profit warning
on tariff turmoil

The Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger Edition is pictured during the 007 takeover
of Burlington Arcade on October 29, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Jed
Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Burlington Arcade)

The Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger Edition during the 007 takeover of
Burlington Arcade on Oct. 29, 2024, in London, England.

 

 

Shares of Aston Martin  fell as much as 10% on Monday morning after the
British luxury carmaker issued a fresh profit warning, citing a challenging
industry outlook and uncertainties over tariffs.

 

The company, which is famed for both its role in the James Bond movies and
its history of financial ups and downs, said it expects its 2025 total
wholesale volumes to fall by a “mid-high single digit percentage” compared
to last year’s 6,030 units.

 

Aston Martin also said it no longer expects positive free cash flow
generation in the second half of the year and initiated an immediate review
of future cost and capital expenditure.

 

Analysts had expected the company to log an earnings before interest and
taxes (EBIT) loss of £110 million ($147.8 million), according to estimates
compiled by the company.

 

“The global macroeconomic environment facing the industry remains
challenging,” the automaker said in a release Monday. “This includes
uncertainties over the economic impact from U.S. tariffs and the
implementation of the quota mechanism, changes to China’s ultra-luxury car
taxes and the increased potential for supply chain pressures.”

 

Shares of Aston Martin were trading around 7.6% lower at 9:15 a.m. London
time (4:15 a.m. ET). The stock is down around 24% year-to-date.-cnbc

 

 

 

Tesla teases new product reveal on October 7

The company released two short videos on the social media platform X– one
featuring a spinning wheel or turbine, and the other featuring the
illuminated headlights of a vehicle– touting the date October 7.

 

The tease comes amid growing focus on an affordable model from the electric
vehicle maker, as it struggles with declining sales, an aging lineup, and
heightened competition from Chinese players. 

 

Tesla had last week reported record-high deliveries in the September
quarter. But the figure was seen as largely driven by increased purchasing
before the expiration of U.S. tax credits on EVs, with the company now set
to face increased sales pressure in the coming quarters.

 

Tesla was also seen losing ground in Europe and China, amid heavy
competition from local automakers in both regions. China’s BYD Co (HK:1211)
has been a major competitor for Tesla in recent quarters, and had outsold
the EV maker in several markets outside the United States.

 

CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly touted self-driving, artificial intelligence,
and robotics as the next major growth drivers for Tesla. 

 

 

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Eli Lilly to invest over $1 billion in India to expand manufacturing
capacity

(Reuters) - Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab will invest more than $1
billion in India in the coming years to boost manufacturing and supply
through local drugmakers, the company said on Monday, as it seeks to tap
into skilled workforce to bolster its global manufacturing expansion.

The collaborations aim to increase the availability of Lilly's key drugs,
including those for obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer and autoimmune
conditions, the company said.

 

Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the
Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.

 

 

"We are making significant investments to increase manufacturing and
medicine supply capacity around the world," Patrik Jonsson, president of
Lilly International, said, adding, India is a hub for capability building
within its global network.

The company, which launched its blockbuster weight-loss drug Mounjaro in
India this year, currently does not operate its own manufacturing facility
in the country, which hosts several firms that develop and manufacture
complex drugs, vials, injectables for larger pharmaceuticals on a contract
basis.

"Lilly is actively engaging with contract manufacturers in India," the
company told Reuters, but did not divulge any further details.

 

 

Lilly's investment plans in India come at a time when global drugmakers are
rushing to bolster U.S. manufacturing capacity after the Trump
administration imposed a 100% tariff on imported branded and patented drugs
from October 1.

Last month, Lilly announced a $5 billion investment in a new facility in
Virginia, part of a $27 billion expansion plan to build four new U.S. plants
over the next five years.

 

Meanwhile, the India launch of Mounjaro, alongside Danish drugmaker Novo
Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO), opens new tab Wegovy, has increased patient awareness
of obesity treatments in a country projected to have the world's
second-largest obese population by 2050.

Sales of both drugs doubled within months of their launch.

 

Lilly is also preparing for increased competition from India's generic
drugmakers, who are racing to launch cheaper versions of Wegovy once its
main chemical ingredient, semaglutide, goes off patent next year.

Patients flock daily to a clinic in this part of Srinagar in India's Jammu
and Kashmir territory.

 

Separately, Lilly is setting up a manufacturing and quality facility in the
southern Indian city of Hyderabad to expand its presence beyond the city's
global capability center.

The new hub will oversee the firm's contract manufacturing network across
India and provide technical capabilities.

Recruitment for the new site "will begin immediately", Lilly said, with
plans to hire engineers, chemists, analytical scientists, quality control
and assurance experts and managers.

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

 

 

 

China bets on Europe for self-driving tech expansion

(Reuters) - Blocked from the U.S. market, Chinese self-driving technology
firms are accelerating their push into Europe, setting up headquarters,
striking data deals, and road-testing - prompting alarm from local rivals
over competition concerns.

In China, the world's largest car market, more than half of cars sold -
including many entry-level models - now offer autonomous driving technology,
sometimes as standard.

 

The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global
trade and tariff news. Sign up here.

 

 

Beijing is pushing its companies to dominate autonomous-vehicle development
globally while crafting national regulations to provide a clear roadmap at
home.

That expansion is already underway. Reuters spoke to a dozen company
executives who described how Chinese firms are using Europe as a beachhead
for global expansion, mirroring the push with electric vehicles.

"We're focusing on Europe for our global future," said Dong Li, chief
technology officer of QCraft, which announced plans for a new German
headquarters at last month's Munich auto show, citing a more open
environment than in the United States.

 

 

"There are barriers in the U.S. market," he said, referring to U.S. national
security concerns over the data that autonomous driving systems collect.

Europe offers a more open regulatory environment, the companies said,
although driver-assistance systems there are currently limited to a few
luxury models and developers complain about patchwork regulation.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Friday for a
continent-wide push to develop self-driving cars, acknowledging they were
already a reality in the United States and China.

 

"The same should be true here in Europe," she said.

 

CHINESE FIRMS TARGET EUROPE FOR GROWTH

QCraft, a Beijing-based startup that supplies driver-assistance systems, is
working with Chinese and European automakers and expects to sell its
technology in Europe within two years.

Buses in 26 Chinese cities operate QCraft's Level-4 autonomous technology,
meaning they can drive for extended periods without human intervention.

 

 

Deeproute.ai, another Chinese firm focused on supplying Level-4 technology
to automakers, plans to build a European data center once it secures deals
now under discussion with European and Chinese automakers.

Leading Chinese autonomous-tech developer Momenta, which supplies systems to
automakers including Toyota and General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab, has
partnered with Uber (UBER.N), opens new tab to start testing Level-4
technology in Germany next year.

Momenta announced in September it will supply driver-assistance technology
for Mercedes-Benz in China, starting with the electric CLA sedan. Mercedes
has started testing the same technology in Europe, two sources familiar with
the matter told Reuters.

Momenta "has its eye on that prize: Europe", one of the sources said.

EUROPEAN STARTUPS WANT FAIR COMPETITION

Other leading Chinese self-driving players including WeRide, Baidu and
Pony.ai are also expanding in Europe, said Yvette Zhang, automotive
consultant with research firm AlixPartners.

 

Like Chinese EV makers, they see an opportunity to generate higher profits
than they can make in China's overcrowded market.

"Investors expect growth," she said. "They are looking for other markets to
grow."

Some European rivals want subsidies and protectionist trade policies while
others recognise that Chinese competition could sharpen technology
industry-wide and accelerate Europe's lagging development.

Jim Hutchinson, CEO of British startup Fusion Processing, which plans
Level-4 driverless bus tests next year, argues for stricter oversight,
citing national-security and competitive concerns.

 

"If we want to have this technology, we need higher levels of regulation and
a bit of intervention for a level playing field," Hutchinson said.

'EUROPE IS THE ONLY MARKET THEY CAN COME TO'

Advanced driver-assistance systems that remain pricey in Europe are being
offered cheaply – even free – in China by automakers looking to
differentiate themselves in the price war.

 

According to research firm Canalys, about 15 million cars sold in China this
year - more than 60% - will have Level-2 technology, which allows automated
driving under certain conditions but requires human drivers' attention.

Chinese regulators in June approved nine automakers for public-road testing
of Level-3 systems that allow drivers to look away in most circumstances.

Following a U.S. ban on China connected-car technology under President Joe
Biden, European governments have been seen as more accommodating to Chinese
cars and technology, said Tu Le, founder of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.

"Europe is the only market they can come to," he said. "They have to make
their move."

Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of European autonomous-tech firm Wayve,
advocates for an open market with streamlined regulations. Chinese
competition, he told Reuters, will accelerate growth in a fledgling
industry.

"How many autonomous vehicles are there in the world today? Not many,
right?" Kendall asked. "Even if you're in some subset of the world, there's
acres of space to grow."

 

At September's Munich auto show, Chinese self-driving firms including
Momenta, QCraft, Horizon Robotics (9660.HK), opens new tab and DeepRoute.ai
showed up in force for the first time, alongside Chinese EV makers, to tout
their low-priced systems.

Momenta's Level-4 testing with Uber will start in Munich, the hometown of
BMW (BMWG.DE), opens new tab, which partners with Momenta in China. The Uber
partnership is the "starting point for a broader rollout across Europe,"
Momenta's European chairman Gerhard Steiger said at the show.

DeepRoute.ai CEO Maxwell Zhou echoed that ambition in an interview: "Europe
is a huge market," he said. "It's very important for us."

 

EU SEEKS UNIFIED RULES TO COMPETE GLOBALLY

Europe's self-driving technology firms are testing their own systems but
most European countries do not allow public deployment of anything beyond
basic Level 2 systems that require drivers to maintain control at all times.

The European Commission is aiming to harmonize a fragmented regulatory
landscape for testing and eventual deployment of more sophisticated systems.
For now, such testing is limited to a few markets including Britain and
Germany.

 

Berlin-based startup Vay is currently testing self-driving technology for
robotaxis and buses in Germany and runs a remotely-driven rental car service
in Las Vegas and with D'leteren's (IETB.BR), opens new tab car rental unit
Poppy Mobility.

Vay co-founder Fabrizio Scelsi supports the EU push for simplified regional
regulations and calls for more government backing to bolster domestic
players while embracing foreign innovation.

 

He said Chinese competition will force "European players to sharpen their
strategies very quickly," as the race for autonomous dominance shifts gear.

Reporting by Nick Carey; Additional reporting by Rachel More and Norihiko
Sihrouzu; additional reporting by Daniel Leussink in Tokyo. Editing by Adam
Jourdan, Brian Thevenot and Elaine Hardcastle

 

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


 Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2025

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


Padenga

Econet

RTG

 


Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


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for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.

 


 

 


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