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SEOUL — Samsung Electronics said Friday it expected its fourth-quarter operating profits to plunge 69 per cent to an eight-year low as the global downturn hammers demand for memory chips and smartphones.

The South Korean tech giant said operating profits for the October-December period had likely slumped to 4.3 trillion won ($3.4 billion), a stinging year-on-year drop from 13.87 trillion won.

It would be the company's worst decline in quarterly profits since the third quarter of 2014.

In a statement, Samsung said fourth-quarter profits were "well below current market expectations", blaming the performance on macroeconomic issues, spurred by central banks around the world raising interest rates.

Weak demand for memory chips was "greater than expected as customers adjusted inventories... to further tighten finances", it said.

It added that this was "spurred by concerns over deteriorating consumer sentiment caused [by] continued high global interest rates and weak economic outlooks".

Against that backdrop, the Galaxy smartphone maker also "saw a significant drop in the memory business results due to lackluster demand and also weaker sales of smartphones", it added.

It was the first time in four years that Samsung issued an explanatory statement alongside their earnings predictions.

The firm is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy and one that is crucial to South Korea's economy.

"Samsung Electronics is extremely crucial to the South Korean economy," Kim Dae-jong, professor of business at Sejong University in Seoul, told AFP.

"Looking at today's announcement, this year will be a very difficult year. Not only Samsung, but the entire Korean economy seems to have to come up with a good survival strategy for the year ahead."

The widely expected fourth-quarter drop is the second consecutive margin squeeze for Samsung, which saw a 31.39 per cent fall in operating profits in the third quarter year-on-year.

Until the second quarter of last year, Samsung, along with other tech companies, had benefited significantly from strong demand for electronic devices — as well as the chips that power them — during the pandemic.

But the global economy is now facing multiple challenges, including soaring inflation, rising interest rates and a growing threat of a broad debt crisis.

The company is expected to release its final earnings report at the end of this month.

TUNIS — Dozens of Tunisian lawyers protested on Thursday against newly imposed taxes on legal services, part of a 2023 budget that seeks to boost revenues to the cash-strapped treasury.

Led by Bar Association head Hatem Mziou, lawyers gathered outside the Palais de Justice in Tunis as well as other sites, after the association called for a "day of rage".

The budget, unveiled last week, imposes new taxes to claw the North African country's deficit back to near 5 per cent of GDP, as it awaits an international bailout.

Among the measures are a hike in taxes on legal fees, from 13 to 19 per cent.

The Bar Association says its 9,200 members will only be liable for the new, higher rate when it is actually paid — along with their fees — by their clients.

It has also pointed out that the tax will hit legal service users from disadvantaged backgrounds hardest.

Mziou said in a speech that the new law "will help make citizens even poorer".

He also said Tunisian lawyers "will not stay idle in the face of attacks on rights and liberties".

He cited a controversial September decree by President Kais Saied which provides for jail terms against people found guilty of spreading false rumours "in order to undermine public security". 

A lawyer who is defending a group of judges sacked by Saied said earlier this week that he is facing investigation under the law.

Saied in July 2021 launched a dramatic power grab, sacking the government and freezing parliament, later moving to seize control of the judiciary and pushing through a custom-made constitution cementing his grip on the executive.

His moves have come with Tunisia mired in an economic crisis that has caused repeated shortages of essential goods as well as spiralling inflation.

On Wednesday evening, Saied told Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine that "freedom doesn't mean chaos and plotting against the state", according to a statement from Saied's office.

Without naming anyone, he accused "certain people supported by known lobbies" of "violating the law and undermining national security".

BAGHDAD — Iraqi telecommunications worker Youssef Ahmed is married with a five-year-old son, but lives with his parents because he is unable to afford his own home amid soaring property prices. 

"Even if your income increases, it will never be up to the exorbitant prices of houses or land", said 29-year-old Ahmed, who earns a "comfortable" monthly salary of $1,000, double the national average.

In oil-rich but corruption plagued Iraq, real estate has become a popular way to launder money, including stolen public funds.

Compounded by housing planning failures and an increasing demand, it has pushed prices in the capital Baghdad rapidly out of reach for many ordinary Iraqis.

Iraq's banking system remains underdeveloped: only one in five have bank accounts, according to the World Bank.

"Real estate transactions are done in cash", said economist Ali Al-Rawi, meaning that property sales are a way to "easily and quickly hide money in land and buildings".

Baghdad's municipality is blunt about the cause of property price rises.

"The increase in real estate prices is not linked to the market, it is linked to the mafias and money laundering," spokesman Mohammed Al Rabie said.

"Poor planning" by previous governments and a lack of investment in housing were also factors, he added.

'Staggering' 

The violence that devastated Iraq following the US-led 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein meant real estate prices in Baghdad tumbled, or at best stagnated.

Many investors preferred to purchase property in the autonomous Kurdish areas of the country's north, or even in neighbouring Turkey.

But in recent years, the metropolis of nine million inhabitants has returned to relative stability. Baghdad's property market is now on the rise.

In the commercial district of Karrada, where old crumbling brick villas stand beside gleaming new buildings, the price per square metre once stood at around $1,200 to $1,700, said estate agent Samer Al Khafagi.

Today, it goes for $3,000 — and sometimes as high as $5,000, Khafagi said. 

"The market is growing," he said, noting prices have accelerated over the past year.

In the neighbouring Jadriya district, popular among Iraq's economic and political elite, estate agent Hussein Al Safar said price increases have been "staggering".

"Strong demand" has pushed per metre prices in the area up to $4,000, and as high as $8,000 for commercial properties, he said.

Billions stolen 

A corruption scandal in November, where it was announced $2.5 billion had been stolen from Iraq's tax authorities, shone a light on the usually opaque dealings of laundered funds.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said recovery of the stolen cash was complicated by the fact it had gone into "the purchase of significant real estate in prestigious areas of Baghdad".

Sajad Jiyad, a fellow at the Century International think tank, reported that "more than $1 billion" had been used to buy 55 properties in Baghdad, while another $1 billion funded "other property, land and other assets".

The government recently announced ambitions to build low-cost housing for Iraq's poorest citizens, with around 1 million Baghdad residents estimated to live in informal settlements.

On the outskirts of Baghdad, the lush farmland and palm groves that were once the pride of Iraqis are vanishing under concrete — as real estate profits prove more lucrative than agriculture.

But ordinary Iraqis like Ahmed, dreaming of their own home, see little chance of change.

Ahmed considered taking out a bank loan to secure a home. Yet with high interest rates of up to 10 per cent, the finances do not add up, he said. Moving to the suburbs isn't an option either.

"If you move away from the centre, there is the problem of transport — and even so, the prices do not drop that much," Ahmed said. "I thought a lot, there is no solution".

SINGAPORE — Singapore's economy grew more than expected last year but much slower than in 2021, official data showed on Tuesday, as analysts warned of weaker growth ahead owing to an expected recession in key markets.

While the 3.8 per cent on-year expansion was welcome, it was weighed by a 3 per cent contraction in the key manufacturing sector in the final three months.

Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 2.2 per cent, sharply down from 4.2 per cent in July-September, according to advance estimates by the trade ministry.

Exports for computer chips and other products have been hit by softer global demand caused by surging inflation and sharp increases in interest rates.

The city-state's economic performance is often seen as a useful barometer of the global environment because of its reliance on trade with the rest of the world.

Last year's growth beat the 3.5 per cent expected by the government but was half the 7.6 per cent rise enjoyed in 2021.

"While the slight outperformance suggests some resilience in economic activities for now, the overall trend remains on the downside," Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at online trading firm IG, said in a note.

Research house Capital Economics said it expects exports to fall further on expectations the global economy would enter a recession this year.

"Elevated interest rates, declining household savings and high inflation are likely to drag on domestic demand," it added.

Song Seng Wun, a regional economist with CIMB Private Banking, told AFP: "The Singapore economy, though faced headwinds, did well enough. But the outlook is cautious given that we are such a trade-dependent economy."

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned in his New Year's message that growth this year is expected to ease to 0.5-2.5 per cent.

"The international outlook remains troubled. The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, with no good outcome in sight," he said.

"US-China tensions are likely to persist. How quickly China recovers from COVID-19 remains to be seen, while the US and EU may well enter recession. Our economy will be affected."

TUNIS — Tram and bus workers in the Tunisian capital staged a strike over delays in salaries and the lack of an end-of-year bonus Monday, creating traffic jams across Tunis.

The strike is the latest in a string of similar actions as Tunisia grapples with a grinding economic crisis, with frequent shortages of basic goods from petrol to cooking oil.

The North African nation is struggling with debts of more than 100 per cent of gross domestic product and is in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a nearly two billion-dollar bailout.

On Monday, staff from state-owned public transport firm Transtu walked out and hundreds demonstrated outside the prime minister's office, responding to a call by the transport section of the powerful UGTT trade union federation. 

The strike froze "the majority" of transport services across the capital of almost three million people, Transtu said.

Transtu, which runs around 250 bus routes and 15 tram lines, was also shut down by a strike during school holidays in November, a peak time for families using public transport.

The IMF has called for the implementation of a string of politically sensitive measures, including gradually removing subsidies on basic goods and the restructuring of public firms, which include Transtu as well as monopolies in water, energy and cereals.

The birthplace of the Arab Spring has also been mired in political divisions since President Kais Saied staged a dramatic power grab in July 2021.

New York — Tesla lost a staggering two-thirds of its market value in 2022, a victim of fears about demand for electric vehicles, dismay at Elon Musk's tribulations as head of Twitter and the end of easy money on Wall Street.

On paper, everything was going well for the iconic electric vehicle maker that overcame supply problems and made nearly $9 billion in profit in the first three quarters of the year despite soaring costs.

But this is slower than the furious pace of growth that CEO Musk demands of his company with his stated ambition that Tesla unseat Apple as the world's most valued company.

Even if the share price is subject "to a lot of emotional elements... Tesla will be by my best guess the most valuable company in the world in less than five years," a defiant Musk told a forum on Twitter this month.

Blaming problems on "macroeconomic conditions" and high interest rates, Musk said he "can't say enough good things" about Tesla, asking his listeners to ignore his misadventures at Twitter where the mercurial CEO has captured headlines since taking over in October.

But to some analysts, the problems at Tesla are more serious and unrelated to Twitter — mainly because the days where it was the sole player on the electric vehicle market are over.

The new year "is shaping up to be a "reset" year for the EV market" with supply flooding the market, analyst Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley said in a note.

"There are hurdles to overcome," added Jonas — citing increasing competition and a worsening economy, with living costs sent soaring by inflation.

Rare discounts 

In 2023, the quiet hum of EV motors will be coming from vehicles other than Teslas as traditional automakers roll out models at an unprecedented pace. 

In Tesla's luxury car category, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Polestar and Rivian have entered the fray and the change is coming fast for Tesla.

While Musk's Texas-based company still captured 65 per cent of market share in the first nine months of the year, S&P Global analysts predicted

Tesla's market share will shrink to just 20 per cent by 2025.

The situation in China is also not helping matters: according to press reports, production is currently suspended in Tesla's Shanghai factory due to COVID-related issues.

To ramp up sales, Tesla has offered a rare $7,500 discount to US customers on the new Model 3 or Model Y, along with 10,000 miles of free fast charging.

Twitter 'storm' 

Tesla, partly due to its superstar CEO, still has its diehard fans and Tesla is still seen as undisputed in terms of technology, cost management and scale in the fast-growing market.

The investment firm Robert W. Baird believes that the group is the "best positioned in the automotive market" and still recommends buying Tesla stock despite the crash.

Looming over everything is the shadow of Twitter, the influential social network bought in October by Musk — who fired more than half its staff, inviting controversy.

Tesla needs "a CEO to navigate this Category 5 storm" and not a boss "focused on Twitter," said Wedbush's Dan Ives in a note published Tuesday.

The multi-billionaire sold several billion dollars of Tesla shares to finance his new venture, and has offloaded billions more since the $44-billion buyout — in breach of pledges to stop selling the stock.

He also provoked critics by inviting Donald Trump and hundreds of other banned users back to Twitter and suspended certain journalists in an apparent fit of pique.

It has become "untenable" to separate the future of Tesla from Musk's erratic management of Twitter, said Colin Rusch, of Oppenheimer.

The events at Twitter are "too much for a majority of consumers to continue supporting Musk and Tesla", said Rusch, predicting the billionaire's antics would drive at least some buyers towards other EV options — untainted by controversy.

The stock debacle comes after Tesla shares jumped by more than 700 per cent in 2020 and 50 per cent in 2021.

They have recovered nearly 12 per cent in the last two days, but were still down 65 per cent on Thursday evening compared to the beginning of the year.

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter users around the world reported errors accessing it for several hours, web monitors said Wednesday, in one of the biggest outages since Elon Musk bought the platform.

Twitter has been riven by chaos since the controversial billionaire completed his $44 billion acquisition in October and quickly moved to cut costs.

Thousands of employees — including engineers — have since been fired or quit, raising concerns about Twitter's ability to quickly fix outages and technical problems.

DownDetector reported a spike in issues with Twitter starting around 7 pm Eastern time (midnight GMT), with users unable to see their main feed, check notifications or use other functions such as lists.

"Can anyone see this or is Twitter broken," tweeted one user.

"Works for me," replied Musk.

At the peak of the outage — which appeared to be resolving as of 0400 GMT — DownDetector clocked more than 10,000 complaints in the United States, as the hashtag #TwitterDown trended on the platform.

The number of reports logged by the monitor from other countries ranged from a few hundred to several thousand.

According to DownDetector's breakdown, the outage appeared to mainly affect people using Twitter on the web interface. Around 10 per cent of complaints logged by the monitor were from mobile app users.

The cause of the outage was not immediately clear.

Web monitor NetBlocks said the outages were international and "not related to country-level internet disruptions or filtering".

Twitter is one of the world's most influential social media platforms, used by world leaders, media, businesses and celebrities.

In addition to worries about its technical operations, fears have also grown about user safety on the platform after the mass layoffs hit content moderation and misinformation teams.

There was further controversy when Twitter allowed banned users to return to the platform, including former US President Donald Trump, who was kicked out following the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Twitter also suspended — and then restored — the accounts of journalists critical of Musk.

The South African-born billionaire has said his severe cost cuts at Twitter have saved the company, and announced last week that he would step down as CEO once he finds "someone foolish enough to take the job".

DHAKA — Bangladesh's sprawling capital inaugurated its first ever metro rail line on Wednesday as authorities work to ease congestion that has throttled growth and inflamed tempers in the gridlocked metropolis.

Dhaka is one of the world's most densely populated cities, and daily commutes along its car-clogged roads are a source of constant frustration for its 22 million people.

Local researchers say the capital's economy loses upwards of $3 billion each year in lost work time due to traffic jams, often worsened by regular street protests and monsoonal downpours.

The new elevated train network has been in development for nearly a decade and is slated to grow to over a hundred stations and six lines criss-crossing the city by 2030.

Wednesday saw the start of operations on a section of the first line connecting a neighbourhood on Dhaka's periphery with the city centre, built with a $2.8 billion price tag and largely funded by Japanese development funds.

"This metro rail is also another matter of pride for us," said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a ceremony to mark the first service.

"We promised to eradicate traffic jams from Dhaka," she added. "With the six metro rail lines, we will be able to do so."

The line is expected to carry 60,000 people each hour when it is fully operational and its opening has been keenly anticipated by commuters.

"We are counting on it. It will reduce public suffering," Mostafizur Rahman, who spends nearly three hours riding a bus to work each morning, told AFP.

Hasina used the opening ceremony to commemorate six Japanese rail engineers working on the project who were killed during an attack on a Dhaka cafe by Islamist extremists in 2016.