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Wall Street Journal, March 13,
These are the top stories from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal has not'verified' these stories, and cannot vouch for the accuracy of their content. ByteDance's Chinese parent company, TikTok, is building computing power outside China using high-end Nvidia processors. Qantas Airways has agreed to pay over US$74m to settle a class-action lawsuit for its decision to not offer immediate cash refunds on flights that were canceled during the Covid-19 pandemic. Stryker stated that a cyber-attack related to the Iranian conflict continues to disrupt its operations including order processing and manufacturing. The nonprofit that produces the television show "Sesame" has filed a lawsuit against the parent company of 'SeaWorld,' alleging they haven't paid royalties or shortened the operations of an aquatic park themed 'Sesame' with little notice. Lululemon Athletica's founder Chip Wilson has warned prospective chief-executive candidate that the company's problems stem more from its board than its leadership vacancy. A?Qatari investment fund has made a bid for the privatization of pizza chain Papa John's International.
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The Taliban in Afghanistan claim that Pakistan has bombed a fuel depot near Kandahar Airport.
The Taliban said that Pakistan bombed a fuel depot near the Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan, which is operated by the private airline Kam Air. This was the worst conflict between the South Asian neighbors for years, despite attempts to calm tensions. Last month, Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan targeted what Islamabad claimed were militant strongholds. Afghanistan launched retaliatory strikes after calling the airstrikes a violation of its sovereignty. Zabihullah Mojahid, Taliban spokesperson, said that "the company (Kam air) supplies fuel to civil?airlines and to United Nations aircraft." He said that Pakistan also carried out bombings, including in the capital Kabul. Women and children were among those killed, as homes of civilians were targeted at some locations. Prior to the latest attack, neither Pakistani nor Afghan airstrikes on Afghanistan had been reported in recent days, and the ground fighting along the 2,600 km (1 600 mile) border has also decreased. The Pakistani military has not responded to a request for comment. Islamabad claims that Kabul is a'safe haven for militants who carry out attacks against Pakistan. The Taliban denies this accusation, and claims that militancy in Pakistan is a problem of its own. Reports on Thursday indicated that China's mediation efforts, which had been calling for an end to the violence, helped to ease tensions between the two countries. Tahir Andrabi, Pakistan's spokesperson for the foreign ministry, had said that Islamabad and Beijing were also engaged in a "dialogue" process on Afghanistan. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar from Kabul; Additional reporting by Shilpa jamkhandikar from Mumbai; Writing and editing by Sakshi dayal, Christopher Cushing, and Raju gopalakrishnan
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As Middle East trade routes are blocked by conflict, air freight rates have risen.
Data shows that air freight rates on some routes have risen up to 70% since the U.S./Israeli war against Iran began. The conflict has caused flights to be restricted, ocean shipments to be blocked, and jet fuel prices are on the rise. Experts say that the Middle Eastern airspace restrictions and security concerns have had the greatest impact on the rates for routes between South Asia and Europe. This is after more than 100 containers ships were stranded in the area surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil export corridor. Container ships are used to transport products like generic drugs from India that are destined for Europe, Africa, and certain Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. "The biggest shift I have heard is that companies are moving generic medicines from ocean freight to air freight," said Yadav. He's a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. Air cargo has become a major factor in global trade, accounting for about one-third of the total value. Rate spikes could have a negative impact on goods such as fresh foods, pharmaceuticals and electronic products. Steve Blough is the chief supply chain strategy at logistics software company Infios. He said that customers are moving freight from oceans to air. However, it's extremely expensive. It can be 5x-10x more expensive. And these costs are increasing as capacity tightens. Shippers often move a small quantity by air to fill a gap. JET FUEL PRICES DOUBLE The price of jet fuel has doubled in the last two years. Danish container shipping giant,?Maersk? announced this week that its air cargo service is now applying fuel surcharges as well as war risk levies. Airspace closures also resulted in a reduction of cargo capacity on passenger and freighter planes, as airlines took longer routes to avoid conflict zones. This further pushed up rates. The Middle Eastern conflict has severely restricted operations at Dubai and Doha, which are usually among the busiest air freight hubs in the world. Niall van de Wouw (chief air freight officer, transportation pricing platform Xeneta) attributed the higher air cargo prices to a "dramatic decrease" in capacity at major Middle East transshipment centers, rather than increased fuel prices. Ronald Lam, CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong, said that many of their freighter flights heading to Europe stop at Dubai to fuel up and to pick up additional cargo. He said this on a Wednesday earnings call. "But due to the situation in Dubai we're skipping that layover and are now flying direct from Hong Kong to Europe, with some payload restrictions, because we could not uplift fuel between," he explained. According to an air freight index published by Freightos (a platform for booking and paying freight), spot off-contract rates from South Asia into Europe are up 70% from $2.57 to $4.37 per kilogram just before the start of the war. South Asia to North America rates are now up 58% at $6.41 per kg. Europe to the Middle East rates have increased by 55%, to $2.79 a kg. According to Judah Levine of Freightos, the head of research, a significant portion of air cargo exports are routed through Gulf hubs, and others have had to be rerouted through East Asia. He said that the price increase on some of these lanes has slowed, leveled off, or even declined slightly over the past few days. These trends could be due to Asian and European carriers adding capacity on these long-haul routes to compensate for Gulf capacity. They may also be due to some Gulf carriers, most notably Emirates, having resumed operations and increased the number of flights leaving and arriving at important Gulf hubs.
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South Korea Police raid Transport Ministry to expand Jeju Air crash investigation
South Korean police investigating the 2024 Jeju Air crash announced on Friday that they had raided the?transport ministry? as part of an extensive investigation into whether regulatory failures contributed to disaster at Muan International Airport. The raid comes after a'reinvestigation' of wreckage by the Ministry and the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board. This has revealed additional human remains and personal belongings, more than a year after the crash. Authorities have already combed regional aviation offices, as well as contractors involved in airport construction. This is part of an effort to establish responsibility for the crash that killed 179 people. The?police declined to comment on the raid that took place Friday, but Yonhap News Agency reported an official saying the goal was to?security additional material?needed for the ongoing investigation into the cause of disaster. (Reporting and editing by Ed Davies.)
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Honda shares fall more than 6% after automaker suffers first annual loss
Honda Motor shares fell by more than 6% on Friday in Tokyo after the automaker announced its first loss as a publicly listed company in nearly 70 years. The automaker was hit with up to $15.7 Billion in restructuring costs related to its electric vehicle business. Honda's stock price was down?6.7% to 1,352 yen at 0040 GMT. This made it the largest decliner in the Nikkei 225 benchmark index. If the decline is sustained, it would be the biggest one-day drop for the company since early February 2025. The second largest automaker in Japan said it expected a loss of up to 2.5 trillion yen (about $15.7 billion) if it cancels the production of three EVs planned for the U.S. The cost of these costs is likely to reach 1.3 trillion yen this fiscal year, and 1.2 trillion in the following fiscal year. Honda has also written down the value its China business where it has struggled to compete with rivals such as BYD, which offers more advanced software-driven cars.
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Recent incidents of violence against Jews in the United States
Rights advocates have noted a rise of antisemitism, antisemitism, and anti-Muslim hatred in the United States since the beginning of Israel's war in Gaza after an attack on October 7, 2023 by Palestinian Hamas militants. On February 28, the United States and Israel launched a war against Iran. The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group in the U.S., tallied 9,354 incidents of antisemitism in 2024. This is a 5% rise over 2023. It's also a record since the group began tracking in 1979. The Anti-Defamation League said that the number represented a 344% rise over the last five years, and an 893% jump over the last decade. The following are U.S. incidents that took place before a man drove his truck into a Detroit area synagogue on Thursday, where preschoolers were present. He was then shot by security staff. This is the only death in what the FBI calls "a targeted attack against the Jewish Community." 28 JANUARY A car crashed through the entrance of the New York City headquarters of a Jewish Religious Order. No injuries ?were reported. The police are investigating this incident as a hate-crime. May 22, 2025: Two Israeli diplomats are shot and killed in Washington D.C., outside of an event sponsored by the American Jewish Committee. It is believed that the gunman was motivated by Israel-Gaza's conflict. According to the charges, he told the police that he did it "for Palestine" and "for Gaza". After he was arrested, witnesses reported hearing him chant "Free Palestine". FEBRUARY 18TH, 2025 Authorities in Florida opened a 'hate crime investigation' after a man shot two men whom he mistakenly believed to be Palestinians but turned out to actually be Israeli visitors. The victims were rescued. The victims survived. NOVEMBER 6, 2024 Two Jewish students were injured by masked men who attacked them while they were protesting in support of Israel at Chicago’s DePaul University. The suspect who had been charged with hate crimes pleaded guilty later to?battery' and causing bodily injury. OCTOBER 26th, 2024 A 39-year old Jewish man in Chicago, Illinois, wearing a religious skullcap, was shot as he walked towards a synagogue. The suspect was arrested 30 minutes after the shooting and charged with attempted homicide, among other crimes.
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Amazon withdraws its drone unit from the trade group and raises safety concerns
Prime Air, Amazon.com's drone division, has withdrawn from the Commercial Drone Alliance. The group was opposed to a proposed regulatory change that would have allowed drones to avoid collisions with crewed aircraft by using 'detect and avoid' systems. The Amazon unit stated that the alliance's "positions on the most consequential safety issues facing the commercial drone sector are incompatible with Prime Air’s core safety principles." Prime Air stated in a letter sent late Wednesday that its detect-and avoid system had performed "successful?maneuvers for collision avoidance on two potential midair collisions that could have resulted in catastrophic safety consequences including the loss or life." Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed that drones be equipped with systems to detect and avoid aircraft who are not broadcasting their positions. This could be due to equipment failure. The Commercial Drone Alliance was against the requirement. The requirement was included in proposed federal rules that aimed to accelerate the deployment of drones outside of their operators' line of vision. The Washington-based group said that the FAA should instead require aircraft below 500 feet (152 meters), to be able?to broadcast their?position using satellite-based technologies, which allow them to automatically broadcast their exact location, speed, and other data or other electronic devices. The proposed rules are not finalized. Commercial Drone Alliance members include Skydio's Wing Aviation and Alphabet’s Wing Aviation. The group expressed regret on Thursday at Prime Air's departure, but noted that its members had conducted millions of safe drone missions, "demonstrating that performance-based frameworks, rather than prescriptive technology requirements, (enable) safe operations, while fostering innovation and competition." Prime Air stated in its letter that it is the highest priority for Prime Air to ensure the safe integration and use of drones within the national airspace. In its letter, it stated that "this requires rigorous capability-based standards - including requirements mandating drone technologies capable to detect non-cooperative crewed airplanes." Non-cooperative crewed aircraft refers to aircraft or helicopters which do not communicate or transmit position or identification signals. Prime Air said one of the two ?potential mid-air collisions it cited involved a helicopter that was not broadcasting a safety system known ?as the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast as required, and without Amazon's detect-and-avoid system "would have led to a catastrophic outcome." The company stated that the risk of a drone colliding with an aircraft crewed by humans is not hypothetical. The?crash that killed 67 people near Washington, DC last year highlighted the problem of congested airspace in some parts of the United States. However, the incident was not caused by a drone. In January 2025, a mid-air collision between a U.S. Army chopper and an American Airlines passenger plane killed 67 people. The incident prompted recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board for reforms.
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Executive director: Los Angeles' busiest seaport is largely protected from disruptions caused by the Iran War, according to its executive director.
Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Los Angeles container port, said that it was largely insulated from disruptions in supply chains caused by U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran. These attacks have escalated into a conflict within the region. The Iran War has caused container shipping to be snarled in the Middle East. It has increased costs, left ships and their cargoes stranded, and posed fuel shortages. Seroka stated that "we, right now, do not see any congestion occurring" on the lucrative Transpacific Ocean Trade that is the lifeblood of Port Los Angeles. China and Asia are important trading partners for Port Los Angeles. Seroka stated that the majority of container ships services at the Port?of Los Angeles are direct routes, and not connected to the Middle East trade. He said that manufacturing flows to the United States, Europe, and Latin America continue to move. Data released on Thursday revealed a 5% increase in imports in February, compared to the same month last year, as retailers and manufacturers imported cargo in advance of the Lunar New Year, when many Asian factories close down for the holiday. Seroka stated that the total volume in February was the second highest ever recorded by a port. The Southern California trade portal?also handled nearly 7% more exports compared to the previous year. According to port data, the Port of Los Angeles handled 824,323 TEUs in total during February. This included?433,812 imports, 116,633 exports, and 273,878 empty TEUs. A TEU is the standard volume measurement for ocean cargo. The standard shipping container measures 40 feet. The port, which is a key economic engine for the region, is entering its traditional slow season. Seroka anticipates that the first-quarter volume of the port will be down by mid-single digit percentages from the same period last year when importers rushed in goods in order to beat the new tariffs coming into effect. He said that the U.S. importers have not cancelled orders for seasonal clothing because of uncertainty over the Iran War or other economic reasons. Seroka stated, "That is a very positive sign."
BofA defers the BoE rate cut to June due to rising energy prices
BofA Global Research has pushed back its call for the Bank of England to begin cutting rates to June. It says that rising energy prices are reviving 'inflation risk and have clouded policy outlook.
Wall Street brokerages, who had previously penciled in a reduction in March and in June, are now expecting a quarter-point cut in both June and September of this year.
Higher energy prices, driven largely by geopolitical tensions, in the Middle East have increased uncertainty about?inflation, and the BoE rate-cutting trajectory.
The conflict has thrown off expectations for inflation in the near term. Inflation had slowed to 3.0% in January, and was expected to move towards the BoE's target of 2% in the months ahead.
Brent crude has returned to $100 per barrel after almost reaching $120 earlier in the week.
BofA stated that "we could see an earlier reduction in April if prices of energy revert by then. However, there are risks for further delays this year and a lesser number cuts if the conflict continues."
It added that the BoE will likely maintain its easing bias, but would also stress that uncertainty is increasing, and that policy tightening still has a high bar.
Goldman Sachs Standard Chartered, and Morgan Stanley also delayed their Bank of England easing predictions, now expecting the initial cut?into the second quarter, as the Iran War lifts energy 'prices and inflation -risks.
BofA's note on Thursday said that the central bank will be able to make a more accurate decision about whether or not it should ease policy further. The key factors influencing this decision are the downside risks of growth and the weakening labour market.
An official from the Office for Budget Responsibility stated that Britain's inflation could end the year at a rate of around 3% rather than the roughly 2 percent assumed by fiscal forecasters. This is if the current energy prices are maintained. (Reporting by Akriti Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
(source: Reuters)