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BERLIN — Electric car manufacturer Tesla has announced it is suspending most production at its factory in Germany for two weeks, citing a shortage of parts due to shipping delays caused by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

The suspension was disclosed just hours before the United States and Britain announced recently they had carried out air strikes against the Iran-backed rebels over their repeated threats to vessels in the key waterway.

The Red Sea attacks had led to delays that created a "gap in the supply chains", resulting in production at the facility southeast of Berlin being suspended "with the exception of a few sectors", Tesla said in a statement sent to AFP.

"From February 12, production will resume in full," it added.

Meanwhile, Volvo said Friday that its factory in the Belgian city of Gand would close for three days next week due to a lack of transmissions due to deliveries being delayed by a change in shipping routes.

The factory produces the XC40 SUV as well as the electric C40 model.

Since the start of the Hamas-Israel war, the Iran-backed Houthis have stepped up attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

As a result, some shipping firms have opted to avoid the waterway, the gateway to the Suez Canal, forcing them to take much longer routes between Europe and Asia.

Early Friday morning, heavy US and British air strikes targeted an airbase, airports and a military camp in rebel-held Yemen, the Houthi's Al Masirah TV station said, with AFP correspondents and witnesses also reporting hearing bombardments.

US President Joe Biden called the strikes a "defensive action" after the Red Sea attacks and said he "will not hesitate" to order further military action if needed.

The Tesla factory outside Berlin opened in 2022 and employs around 11,500 people, turning out about 250,000 vehicles a year, according to the company, which plans to expand the facility to double production.

WASHINGTON — Consumer inflation in the United States rose more than anticipated in December, government data showed on Thursday, although underlying pressures still appear to be ebbing.

The Department of Labour's consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of inflation, was up 3.4 per cent from a year ago and higher than November's figure.

However, a "core" metric that strips out volatile food and energy prices cooled to 3.9 per cent in the last month of 2023.

While analysts do not expect Federal Reserve officials to base their rate-setting off of one month's data, accelerating inflation could add pressure to the central bank.

Policymakers rapidly lifted interest rates beginning in early 2022 and have held them at a high level, seeking to ease demand and sustainably lower inflation.

The aim is to ease demand by making it more appealing to save rather than spend.

Despite the CPI uptick in December, inflation has come down significantly from the 9.1 per cent peak in June 2022, while consumer spending and the jobs market remained resilient.

This has fuelled hopes of a so-called "soft landing" for the world's biggest economy, where inflation cools without a damaging recession.

From November to December, CPI rose 0.3 per cent, up from the prior month as well.

BERLIN — Nationwide strikes brought German transport to a near standstill Wednesday, with railway workers on a three-day stoppage and farmers on tractors blocking autobahns in a bitter protest over subsidy cuts.

The ill-tempered sector disputes mark the start of what is expected to be a challenging year for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unwieldy three-way government as it struggles with a weak economy and sinking popularity.

The GDL train drivers union called the strike on cargo as well as passenger routes after talks with public rail operator Deutsche Bahn hit an impasse. The company said 80 per cent of its long-distance trains weren't running. 

Deutsche Bahn warned of "massive" disruptions to service until Friday evening, urging travellers to "avoid any unnecessary journeys" during the strike.

At Berlin's eerily deserted central station, student Philipp Kolb, 22, said the strike had complicated his travel plans.

"I was supposed to take the train to Hamburg at 6 am," he told AFP. "Now I have to push the trip back by three hours."

However passenger Piotr Bulej said he sympathised with striking drivers in the face of high inflation eating into real wages.

"People work a lot more hours with less money. The prices rise every day, every week," he said. "One has to protest, one has to say that."

'Continue the fight' 

Following work stoppages in November and December, the current strike marks the longest in the protracted dispute over pay and working hours.

Beyond salary increases to offset inflation for the 10,000 employees it represents, the union is seeking a reduction to a 35-hour, four-day work week.

Deutsche Bahn said last month it had made an offer of an 11 per cent wage increase going into talks, as well as a bonus of up to 2,850 euros ($3,120).

The operator said Sunday it had come back last week with an improved offer representing a "major step forward". 

But GDL chief Claus Weselsky dismissed the latest overture on Wednesday as a "provocation".

While stressing he was "ready for compromise", Weselsky told public broadcaster ZDF that "if there is nothing by Friday, we will take a break and then continue the fight".

'Rotten compromises' 

The railway strike, which hit long-distance, regional and commuter lines, comes amid a week-long protest by angry farmers.

Travellers who hoped to beat the strike by taking their cars ran into further obstacles presented by tractor blockades across the country since Monday.

Some states gave pupils permission to stay home if their way to school was impeded while many office employees opted to work from home.

The sector has been up in arms over government plans to axe certain tax breaks for agriculture this year, which were announced after a shock court ruling forced the government to find savings in the 2024 budget.

German Farmers' Association president Joachim Rukwied also threatened more protests if demands for a full government reversal on the cuts were not met, cautioning against accepting "rotten compromises".

"On Monday we are going to stage a big demonstration in Berlin and we will consider further steps," he told ZDF, stressing that they were fighting for "a level playing field and fairness in the EU". 

At a rally in the eastern city of Dresden, a few hundred demonstrators arrived on Theatre Square on farm equipment, brandishing signs reading "Without agriculture you'll go hungry" and, in a reference to beefed-up military spending, "You can't eat tanks".

Dairy farmer Luisa Hochstein, 26, told AFP that soaring costs put small farms like hers under huge pressure. "If it continues we'll end up importing more from abroad." 

The government partially walked back the subsidy cuts last week in response to the outrage.

Scholz, whose government's approval rating has plummeted in recent months, on Monday ruled out further concessions, calling the cuts "right and balanced" and urging "orderly" protests. 

A poll by independent institute Forsa found that 81 per cent expressed "understanding" for the farmers' protest.

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) has released its export figures for 2023, revealing a total export value of JD7.172 billion, marking a slight decrease compared to the previous year's figure of JD7.579 billion.

Statistical data obtained by the Jordan News Agency (Petra) indicated that six sectors experienced growth in their exports, ranging from a 3 per cent increase in the packaging, paper, cardboard and office supplies industries to an impressive 48 per cent surge in the construction sector.

Conversely, four sectors witnessed a decline in exports, with decreases ranging from 1 per cent in the leather and sewing industries to 19 per cent in the mining, wood, and furniture industries.

Arab and foreign countries accounted for more than half of the chamber's exports during the last year, with India, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq as the top destinations, totalling JD4.047 billion in export value.

The statistical data also revealed that exports to the US rose by 18 per cent, reaching JD1.153 billion in 2023, compared to JD977 million in 2022.

Export figures to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia increased by 6 per cent, reaching JD808 million, up from JD759 million in 2022. Similarly, exports to Iraq surged by 22 per cent, amounting to JD875 million in 2023, compared to JD714 million in the previous year.

However, exports to India experienced a decline of 16 per cent, totalling JD1.211 billion in 2023, as compared to JD1.483 billion in 2022. Despite this decrease, India remained at the forefront of the countries receiving the highest exports from the Amman Chamber of Industry.

Geographically, Arab countries accounted for the largest share of the chamber's exports, with a value of JD3.304 billion. Non-Arab Asian countries followed with JD1.900 billion, and African countries with JD65 million.

The breakdown of exports to different regions during 2023 includes JD1.215 billion to North American countries, JD104 million to South American countries, JD305 million to European Union countries, JD170 million to European countries outside the Union and JD109 million to other countries.

The chamber's exports were distributed across various sectors, with the mining industries sector leading at JD2.165 billion, followed by chemicals and cosmetics at JD1.255 billion, and engineering, electrical and information technology sectors at JD1.050 billion.

Additional sectors included catering, food, agricultural and livestock exports amounting to JD746 million, therapeutic and medical supplies at approximately JD686 million, and leather and knitwear at JD464 million.

The remaining exports from the chamber's industry in 2023 were allocated to the packaging, paper, cardboard, and office supplies industries (JD298 million), plastic and rubber industries (JD272 million), construction (JD218 million), and wood and furniture industries (JD18 million).

SEOUL — Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it expected fourth-quarter operating profit to drop by more than a third, as the company struggles with weak demand for consumer electronics.

The South Korean tech giant said in a statement that it forecast profit to come in at 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion) for October-December, down 35 per cent on-year.

Sales revenue was also seen falling 4.9 per cent to 67 trillion won.

Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker and the flagship subsidiary of Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

South Korean chipmakers, led by Samsung, have enjoyed record profits in recent years as prices of their products soared, but the global economic slowdown has dealt a blow to memory chip sales.

Demand swelled during the pandemic as consumers bought computers and smartphones during lockdowns, prompting chipmakers to ramp up production.

But appetite quickly diminished as lockdowns came to an end, and weakened further in the face of soaring inflation and rising interest rates.

Samsung said in October that it expected better conditions for the memory market in 2024, with PC and mobile demand likely to benefit from some replacement cycles for products sold during the pandemic.

The firm is expected to release its final earnings report for 2023 at the end of this month.

BERLIN — Furious farmers opposed to German government plans to cut tax breaks for agriculture used tractors to block roads across the country on Monday in an escalating dispute.

The coordinated nationwide demonstration targeted motorway access ramps in particular, snarling traffic and followed a smaller ill-tempered demonstration in Berlin last month.

"We are exercising our basic right to inform society and the political class that Germany needs a competitive agricultural sector," German Farmers Association President Joachim Rukwied told Stern magazine.

"That's the only way to ensure the supply of high-quality, homegrown food."

Police reported blockades and major traffic disruptions due to slow-moving tractor convoys from the early morning hours across Germany.

Authorities in the rural northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania said all of its autobahn ramps were impeded. 

Farm equipment blocked the centres of cities including Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Bremen, with up to 2,000 tractors registered for each protest.

In the capital, farmers began gathering on Sunday evening at the Brandenburg Gate landmark in the heart of the government quarter.

Farmers have been up in arms over government plans to withdraw certain tax breaks for the agricultural sector this year.

Thousands travelled to Berlin to protest against the move in December, blocking roads with their tractors and dumping manure on the street.

The protests prompted the government to partially walk back the planned subsidy cuts on Thursday. 

A discount on vehicle tax for agriculture would remain in place, while a diesel subsidy would be phased out over several years instead of being abolished immediately, the government said.

The agriculture sector, however, said the move did not go far enough and urged Berlin to completely reverse the plans, which were announced after a shock court ruling forced the government to find savings in the budget for 2024.

Late on Thursday, around 30 agitated protestors targeting the reforms trapped Economy Minister Robert Habeck and other passengers on a ferry, preventing them from disembarking. 

The demonstration was widely condemned across the political class for its implicit threat of violence. 

OTTAWA — Canada's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent in December, a figure slightly lower than analysts expected, the national statistical agency said recently.

Employment meanwhile held steady in December, after only small changes in November (+0.1 per cent) and October (+0.1 per cent), Statistics Canada said in a press release.

Last month, some 1.2 million Canadians were unemployed, up 202,000 (+19.3 per cent) compared to the year before.

"The employment rate has trended down in 2023, as population growth generally outpaced employment gains," Statistics Canada said.

The population aged 15 and older grew by 74,000 in December, according to the agency.

Employment increased in particular in the professional, scientific and technical services (+46,000) and in the healthcare and social assistance sector (+16,000).

It mainly fell in wholesale and retail trade (-21,000) and manufacturing (-18,000).

"Overall, job growth slowed significantly in the second half of last year," Desjardins analyst Royce Mendes said in a note, adding that the unemployment rate in December was "a touch lower than what the consensus had been anticipating".

Statistics Canada additionally noted that "the unemployment rate generally trended up from April to December for all major demographic groups", with biggest increases among those age 15 to 24.

The Statistics Canada communique additionally noted the more than 160,000 public sector employees in Quebec, including teachers and nurses, who lost work hours in December due to the strike they led last month.

WASHINGTON — Alaska Airlines grounded its Boeing 737-9 planes on Friday after a flight with 177 people onboard made an emergency landing in the US state of Oregon, with passengers reporting a plane window panel blew out after takeoff.

"Following tonight's event on Flight 1282, we have decided to take the precautionary step of temporarily grounding our fleet of 65 Boeing 737-9 aircraft," Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said in a statement.

"Each aircraft will be returned to service only after completion of full maintenance and safety inspections," he said, anticipating checks would be finished in a few days.

Flight 1282 departed Portland International Airport at around 5:00 pm Friday (01:00 GMT Saturday) before returning safely "after the crew reported a pressurization issue", the Federal Aviation Administration wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Images posted on social media showed the window panel of a plane blown out, with emergency oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

Kyle Rinker, a passenger on the flight, told CNN that a window popped off soon after takeoff.

"It was really abrupt. Just got to altitude, and the window/wall just popped off and didn't notice it until the oxygen masks came off," he told the broadcaster.

Another passenger, Vi Nguyen, told The New York Times that a loud noise during the flight had woken her. 

"I open up my eyes and the first thing I see is the oxygen mask right in front of me," Nguyen told the newspaper. "And I look to the left and the wall on the side of the plane is gone."

"The first thing I thought was, 'I'm going to die,'" she added.

The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and Alaska Airlines each said they were investigating the incident.

"The aircraft landed safely back at Portland International Airport with 171 guests and 6 crew members," the airline said in an earlier statement.

"While this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation," it said.

The Boeing 737 Max 9 plane took off at 5:07 pm, heading to Ontario, California, before returning to the Portland airport around 20 minutes later, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The plane had been certified airworthy in October, according to the FAA registry website.

Boeing wrote on X that it was gathering more information and a technical team stood ready to support the investigation.

In his statement, Minicucci said Alaska Airlines was "working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred".