European firms fare better than expected through early trade pain
Companies on the MSCI Europe index are averaging earnings growth of 3.8% so far, outpacing preseason estimates of a 1.4% decline, with over half of the index's market value having reported. Sales growth for the basket of European firms is also currently ahead of estimates, Bloomberg Intelligence data shows.
"First quarter earnings look solid with blended EPS starting to inflect higher, but top-line beats have been tepid,' said Barclays strategists including Magesh Kumar Chandrasekaran and Emmanuel Cau. Still, they add that "guidance has been weak and sentiment on capex has turned cautious owing to tariffs,' citing exposed sectors including commodities, discretionary, industrials and utilities.
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The Mainichi
2 days ago
- The Mainichi
Air Canada suspends operations as flight attendants go on strike
TORONTO (AP) -- Air Canada suspended all operations as more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike early Saturday after a deadline to reach a deal passed, leaving travelers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike has started after no deal was reached, and the airline said shortly after that it would halt operations. A bitter contract fight between Canada's largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as the union turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Flight attendants walk off the job Flight attendants walked off the job around 1 a.m. EDT on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu met with both the airline and union on Friday night and urged them to work harder to them to reach a deal "once and for all." "It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts," Hajdu said in a statement posted on social media. Pouliot, the spokesman for the union, earlier said the union had a meeting with Hajdu and representatives from Air Canada earlier Friday evening. "CUPE has engaged with the mediator to relay our willingness to continue bargaining -- despite the fact that Air Canada has not countered our last two offers since Tuesday," he said in a email. "We're here to bargain a deal, not to go on strike." Travelers are in limbo A complete shutdown will impact about 130,000 people a day, and some 25,000 Canadians a day may be stranded abroad. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Now their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is on the line as they wait to hear from Air Canada about the fate of their Saturday night flight to Nice, France. How long the airline's planes will be grounded remains to be seen, but Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations once a tentative deal is reached. Passengers whose travel is impacted will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full "due to the summer travel peak." Laroche said he considered booking new flights with a different carrier, but he said most of them are nearly full and cost more than double the $3,000 they paid for their original tickets. "At this point, it's just a waiting game," he said. Laroche said he was initially upset over the union's decision to go on strike, but that he had a change of heart after reading about the key issues at the center of the contract negotiations, including the issue of wages. "Their wage is barely livable," Laroche said. Sides say they're far apart on pay Air Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years, that it said "would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada." But the union pushed back, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Trump Says No Agreement on Ending Russia's war in Ukraine as Putin Says There Was an ‘Understanding'
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — President Donald Trump said he and Vladimir Putin didn't reach a deal to end Russia's war in Ukraine after meeting on Friday — despite Putin saying they had come to 'an understanding' — as the two leaders offered scant details on what was discussed while heaping praise on each other. In brief remarks as they shared a stage after meeting for about 2 ½ hours in Alaska, Putin said he and Trump had reached an 'understanding' on Ukraine and warned Europe not to 'torpedo the nascent progress.' But Trump then said, 'There's no deal until there's a deal' and said he planned to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders soon, to brief them on the discussions. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump said. 'And there are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' He continued: 'We didn't get there.' The high-profile summit ended without a deal to end, or even pause, the brutal conflict — the largest land war in Europe since 1945 — which has raged for more than three years. The two were expected to hold a joint news conference but instead took turns giving brief remarks. Putin went first and then Trump, but both left without taking questions. Just getting back to the U.S. for the first time in a decade was a win for Putin, whom the U.S. and much of the world had long been attempting to isolate. Agreeing to come to Alaska to meet with Trump also stalled economic sanctions that Trump had promised unless Moscow worked harder to bring fighting to a close. The outcome could also benefit Russia's leader since Friday may simply lead to more meetings in the future. Russia's forces are making fair progress on the battlefield, and more discussions with Trump gives them more time to keep that up while avoiding sanctions. Putin thanked Trump for the 'friendly' tone of their conversation and said Russia and the United States should 'turn the page and go back to cooperation.' He praised Trump as someone who 'has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve and sincerely cares about the prosperity of his country, and at the same time shows understanding that Russia has its own national interests.' 'I expect that today's agreements will become a reference point not only for solving the Ukrainian problem, but will also mark the beginning of the restoration of businesslike, pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S.,' Putin said. Trump ended his remarks by thanking Putin and saying, 'we'll speak to you very soon and probably see you again very soon.' When Putin smiled and offered, 'next time in Moscow,' Trump said 'that's an interesting one' and said he might face criticism but 'I could see it possibly happening.'
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Israel's Smotrich launches settlement plan to 'bury' idea of Palestinian state
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and a woman hold a map that shows the long-frozen E1 settlement scheme, that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, on the day of a press conference near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun By Alexander Cornwell Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian government, allies and campaign groups condemned the scheme, calling it illegal and saying the fragmentation of territory would rip up peace plans for the region. Standing at the site of the planned settlement in Maale Adumim on Thursday, Smotrich, a settler himself, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development, though there was no immediate confirmation from either. "Whoever in the world is trying to recognize a Palestinian state today will receive our answer on the ground. Not with documents nor with decisions or statements, but with facts. Facts of houses, facts of neighborhoods," Smotrich said. Asked about his remarks, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: "A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace in the region," and referred reporters to Israel's government for further information. The spokesperson said Washington remained primarily focused on ending the war in Gaza. The United Nations urged Israel to reverse its decision to start work on the settlement. "It would put an end to prospects of a two-state solution," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. "Settlements go against international law … (and) further entrench the occupation." Israel froze construction plans at Maale Adumim in 2012, and again after they were revived in 2020, amid objections from the U.S., European allies and other powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some of its Western allies condemn its military offensive in Gaza and announce they may recognize a Palestinian state. Palestinians fear the settlement building in the West Bank - which has sharply intensified since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war - will rob them of any chance to build a state of their own in the area. In a statement headlined "Burying the idea of a Palestinian state," Smotrich's spokesperson said the minister had approved the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In Maale Adumim, Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition who has long advocated for Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, told Reuters the plan would go into effect on Wednesday. Breaking the Silence, an Israeli rights group established by former Israeli soldiers, said what it called a land grab "will not only further fragment the Palestinian territory, but will further entrench apartheid". Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian president's spokesperson, called on the United States to pressure Israel to stop settlement building. "The EU rejects any territorial change that is not part of a political agreement between involved parties. So annexation of territory is illegal under international law," European Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper said. British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the plan must be stopped. "The UK strongly opposes the Israeli government's E1 settlement plans, which would divide a future Palestinian state in two and mark a flagrant breach of international law," Lammy said in an emailed statement. HOUSE BUILDING 'IN A YEAR' Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank, said there were still steps needed before construction but infrastructure work could begin within a few months, and house building in about a year. 'The E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed," Peace Now said in a statement. Consecutive Israeli governments have initiated, approved, planned and funded settlements, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din. Some settlers moved to the West Bank for religious or ideological reasons, while others were drawn by lower housing costs and government incentives. They include American and European dual citizens. Palestinians are already demoralised by the Israeli military campaign which has killed more than 61,000 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and fear Israel will ultimately push them out of that territory. About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognized by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank. Most world powers say settlement expansion has eroded the viability of a two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territory. The two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel. Israel cites historical and biblical ties to the area and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security. Most of the global community considers all settlements illegal under international law. Israel rejects this interpretation, saying the West Bank is "disputed" rather than "occupied" territory. Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand imposed sanctions in June on Smotrich and another far-right minister who advocates for settlement expansion, accusing both of them of repeatedly inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
