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An Australian court fined Qantas Aus$90 million (US$59 million) on Monday for illegally laying off 1,800 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, ending a five-year legal battle over the workers’ rights.Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said he wanted the penalty to be a “real deterrence” to firms that might be tempted by the financial rewards of breaching employment law.Qantas decided to sack the workers and outsource their jobs in August 2020, a period of lockdowns and border closures when no Covid-19 vaccine was widely available.Australia’s Federal Court subsequently found that Qantas had acted illegally despite its stated “commercial imperatives” because it prevented staff from accessing their rights to collectively bargain or take industrial action.It later dismissed an appeal by the airline.Long-dubbed the “Spirit of Australia”, 104-year-old Qantas has been on a mission to repair its reputation, which was hit in recent years by the illegal sackings, soaring ticket prices, claims of sloppy service, and the selling of seats on already-cancelled flights.Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson took over in 2023, promising to improve customer satisfaction. She replaced Alan Joyce, who stepped down earlier than planned as Qantas endured criticism over its treatment of workers and passengers, despite delivering bumper profits for shareholders.- ‘We sincerely apologise’ -Qantas said it accepted the penalty.”The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families,” Hudson said.”We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result,” she said in a statement.Qantas had worked for 18 months to change the way it works and “rebuild trust”, the airline boss said.”This remains our highest priority as we work to earn back the trust we lost.”Qantas’ fine is to be paid in two parts, the court said, with Aus$50 million going to the Transport Workers Union and Aus$40 million being held for future payments to the former workers.The penalty is in addition to a compensation payment of Aus$120 million for affected former employees that Qantas agreed to last year.”It has been five long years. Today is a victory, not just for our colleagues but for all Australian workers,” said Anne Guirguis, who worked at Qantas for 27 years cleaning aircraft before being laid off.”We can close this chapter and move on now,” Guirguis told reporters outside court. Transport Workers’ Union National Secretary Michael Kaine described Monday’s decision as a “final win” for the Qantas workers.”Qantas was not sorry to workers when it illegally outsourced these workers, many finding out they’d lost their jobs over a loudspeaker in the lunch room,” Kaine said.”Qantas is only sorry now that it has to pay the largest penalty fine of any employer in Australian corporate history.” 

The global games industry gathers for the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne this week, with hopes that upcoming heavy-hitters like “GTA VI” can help the industry escape its doldrums.Tuesday’s opening night event will show off major releases slated for the months ahead, with the starring role going to “Black Ops 7” — the new instalment in the sprawling “Call of Duty” saga.Trade visitors will have Wednesday to peruse the stands and make connections, before tens of thousands of enthusiastic gamers are unleashed on the vast salon from Thursday to Sunday.Last year’s Gamescom drew almost 335,000 people to the Cologne exhibition centre, where studios lay on vast stands with consoles or PCs offering hands-on play with the latest releases.Nintendo is back in 2025 after staying away last year, surfing on record launch sales for its Switch 2 console.And Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division will show off new portable hardware expected to be released towards the end of the year.Sony, the Japanese giant behind the PlayStation, has opted out this time around.The mood is mixed for the roughly 1,500 exhibitors attending this year, as major publishers have recently steered back into profitability but the job cuts seen over the past two years continue.In early July, Microsoft said it would lay off around 9,000 people, with hundreds leaving game studios like “Candy Crush” developer King and several games cancelled, including “Perfect Dark” and “Everwild”.- Battle for attention -“The industry is consolidating quite a bit” after the bumper years when Covid-19 lockdowns created a captive audience, said Rhys Elliott of specialist games data firm Alinea Analytics.Around 30,000 workers have lost their jobs since early 2023, according to tracking site Games Industry Layoffs — more than 4,000 of them so far this year.Revenue in the global games market should hold steady at just under $190 billion this year, data firm Newzoo has forecast.The number of players and hours spent with the medium are stable while an ever-expanding number of titles are jostling for attention.And with leviathans like “Roblox” or “Fortnite” swallowing the attention of hundreds of millions of monthly users, “everyone’s fighting for a smaller share of that pie,” said Circana expert Mat Piscatella.The need to find new audiences has pushed Microsoft’s Xbox, the biggest games publisher in the world, to switch strategy, increasingly offering its titles on competing console makers’ hardware.”They’ve had really great success on the PlayStation platform. Sony is making a bunch of money on that too,” Piscatella said”It’s a little bit of a win-win all the way around.”Some PlayStation games are making the trip in the opposite direction, with “Helldivers 2” the first to be made available on Xbox as well as the traditional PC port.- Success on a budget -Shoring up sales is vital in an era where the cost of developing high-spec “AAA” games has mounted into the hundreds of millions of dollars — exposing studios to massive risk should their games not perform as hoped.But several breakout hits have recently shown that lower-budget games can still win over players with gameplay, story and art style, such as four-million-selling French turn-based battler “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33″.”There’s a realisation you don’t need to spend masses of money to deliver a high-quality game that can appeal broadly and so everyone is rushing towards that model,” said Christopher Dring, founder of industry website The Game Business.But “for every ‘Clair Obscur’ success story, there are 10 games that fail to find an audience at all,” Piscatella pointed out.”It’s hyper-competitive for those products outside of that big sphere” and smaller developers must fight hard for the funding they need to get games to market.Nor is the cult-hit trend likely to displace the mega-budget mastodons.Analysts predict that Rockstar Games’ vast “Grand Theft Auto VI” could notch up the biggest launch for any entertainment product in history.That might be the juice the flagging industry needs to regain some of its mojo.

Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday while oil dipped ahead of talks between Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and European leaders in Washington.US President Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, but the summit failed to yield any breakthrough on a ceasefire in Ukraine.Zelensky, who will be joined in Washington by European leaders, however called a US offer of security guarantees to Ukraine  “historic”.”Trump and Putin walked away without a ceasefire, without even the illusion of one,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”What they did offer was theatre: enough ‘progress’ for Trump to declare victory and quietly holster his double-barreled threat — tariffs on Beijing for buying Russian barrels and sanctions on Moscow’s crude,” Innes said.Before the Alaska talks, US stocks wavered on Friday after mixed economic data, with retail sales up but an industrial production index and a consumer survey both down.Oil prices, which have been volatile for several days — Russia is a major crude producer — fell back on Monday, adding to a drop on Friday.Japan’s Nikkei was up, posting a new record high and adding to gains on Friday after better-than-expected economic growth data.The Hang Seng, Shanghai, and Sydney were also higher while Taipei fell back.This week investor eyes will be on any clues on US interest rates at the Federal Reserve’s annual retreat at Jackson Hole.- Key figures at around 0130 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 43,678.12Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 25,293.34Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,704.76New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 44,946.12 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,138.90 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1699 from $1.1704 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN $1.3556 at from $1.3557Dollar/yen: UP at 147.47 yen from 146.85 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.30 pence from 86.34 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $62.69 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $65.65 per barrelburs-stu/fox

Stock markets wavered on Friday as investors digested mixed American economic data and monitored a landmark US-Russia summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.In choreographed drama, US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin each arrived in their presidential jets and greeted one another on the tarmac of a US air base, before walking a red carpet together to an honor guard salute.Trump, setting off for the Alaska meeting with Putin, had described his Russian counterpart as a “smart guy” and hailed a “good respect level” on both sides.The possibility of an end to a conflict that Putin began in 2022 had put the markets in optimistic mood, analysts said, although oil prices had been volatile owing to Russia’s status as a major producer and uncertainty over the summit’s outcome.After rallying about two percent on Thursday, oil prices gave back most of those gains Friday.Wall Street stocks finished mostly lower following a mixed round of economic data.London and Frankfurt ended lower while Paris rallied to finish in positive territory. Tokyo’s main stocks index extended a record-run higher following Japanese economic growth data that beat expectations.US retail sales climbed 0.5 percent in July to $726.3 billion from June, in line with analyst expectations and a solid performance after numerous tariff announcements by Trump.But the Federal Reserve’s index for industrial production edged down in July, while the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey fell for the first time in four months.Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers said Friday’s reports amounted to a “difficult combination” of data that the market took in stride.”When the news is good, (stocks) react really positively,” he said. “And when the news isn’t good, they just go down a little.”Trump continued his tariff campaign on Friday, saying he would soon announce massive import duties on semiconductors.Shares in chip giants Nvidia and AMD were down following the news.Markets were also waiting for the Trump-Putin meeting, with Russia’s foreign minister saying his country would not make guesses on the outcome.Putin, landing in Alaska, stepped onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a war that has killed tens of thousands of people.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.- Key figures at around 1540 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 44,946.12 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 at 6,449.80 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.4 percent at 21,622.98 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,138.90 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,923.45 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,539.30 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 43,378.31 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,264.47 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,696.77 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1704 from $1.1648 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3557 from $1.3532 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.85 yen from 147.76Euro/pound: UP at 86.34 pence from 86.07 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.8 percent at $62.80 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.5 percent at $65.85 per barrelburs-jmb/mlm

Outside Havana, a combine belonging to a private Vietnamese company is harvesting rice, directly farming Cuban land — in a first — to help address acute food shortages in the country.  The Cuban government has granted Agri VAM, a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Fujinuco Group, 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of arable land in Los Palacios, 118 kilometers (73 miles) west of the capital.Vietnam has advised Cuba on rice cultivation in the past but this is the first time a private firm has done the farming itself.The government approved the move after a 52 percent plunge in overall agricultural production between 2018 and 2023, according to data from the Center for the Study of the Cuban Economy at the University of Havana. The rice numbers are even worse. Total rice production dropped from 300,000 tons in 2018 to 55,000 tons in 2021, in the depths of the COVID pandemic. The number is slowly recovering, authorities say. Rice is a staple of the local diet, with Cubans consuming 60 kilos (132 pounds) of rice per person per year. – Promising yields and daunting obstacles -During a media visit to its rice fields in May, an Agri VAM representative said the harvest yield to date is seven tons per hectare, “but we want more.”  That number dwarfs the ton and a half yield-per-hectare of Cuban growers.Vietnam experienced the kind of food shortages that Cuba is going through now, in the 1980s. Today, the Southeast Asian country is the world’s third exporter of rice and a valued consultant to other rice-growing nations.”The climate and the temperature are very good for agriculture,” but Cuban growers lack necessary farming products such as fertilizers, the Agri VAM representative told reporters.Though Agri VAM can import some materials, it faces other obstacles such as fuel shortages, transportation problems and frozen assets, Cuban economist Omar Everleny Perez and other sources with knowledge of the situation told AFP.Agri VAM and other foreign firms in Cuba may be making profits but “they cannot transfer them abroad because the banks have no liquidity, no foreign currency,” Perez said.An independent Cuban media outlet, 14ymedio, recently published excerpts of a letter dated in May, in which Agri VAM asked the Cuban government to unfreeze $300,000 in its account at state-owned International Financing Bank. Vietnam’s state press in May quoted deputy agriculture minister Nguyen Quoc Tri asking the government in Havana “to eliminate investment barriers that Vietnamese companies encounter.” AFP contacted Agri VAM and Cuban officials but got no response.- Foreign investment: badly needed -Cuba is mired in an acute economic crisis and desperately in need of foreign investment. Vietnam and other allies have shown interest.In July, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz announced that Havana was taking measures “to energize foreign investment” as he authorized “wholly foreign-owned companies” in the hotel sector. After three years of promises, Russia’s deputy prime minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced in May that Russian businesses want to invest $1 billion in Cuba. Moscow will give them preferential financing rates, he said.But he cautioned that there is “still hard work to be done” and said it is “impossible to achieve things immediately, as if by magic.”

The first World Humanoid Robot Games began on Friday in Beijing with over 500 androids alternating between jerky tumbles and glimpses of real power as they compete in events from the 100-metre hurdles to kung fu.Hundreds of robotics teams from 16 countries are going for gold at the Chinese capital’s National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Events include traditional sports like athletics and basketball, as well as practical tasks such as medicine categorisation and cleaning.”I believe in the next 10 years or so robots will be basically at the same level as humans,” enthusiastic 18-year-old spectator Chen Ruiyuan told AFP. Human athletes might not be quaking in their boots just yet. At one of the first events on Friday, five-a-side football, 10 robots the size of seven-year-olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse. However, in a 1500m race, domestic champion Unitree’s humanoid stomped along the track at an impressive clip, easily outpacing rivals. The fastest robot AFP witnessed finished in 6min 29.37sec, a far cry from the human men’s world record of 3:26.00.One mechanical racer barrelled straight into a human operator. The robot remained standing while the human was knocked flat, though did not appear to be injured. – ‘National strategy’ -Robot competitions have been held for decades, but the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games is the first to focus specifically on robots that resemble human bodies, organisers said.The Chinese government has poured support into robotics hoping to lead the industry.Beijing has put humanoids in the “centre of their national strategy”, the International Federation of Robotics wrote in a paper on Thursday. “The government wants to showcase its competence and global competitiveness in this field of technology,” it added.Joost Weerheim, an operator with a Dutch five-a-side robot football team, told AFP he was impressed. “I think right now if they are not already the world leader, they are very, very quickly becoming it,” he said.Domestically, authorities are working to raise awareness of the sector across society. Cui Han, accompanying her 10-year-old, told AFP that her son’s school had organised and paid for the trip to the Games. “I hope it will encourage him to learn more about these new technologies,” she said.  In March, China announced plans for a one-trillion-yuan fund ($139 billion) to support technology startups, including those in robotics and AI.The country is already the world’s largest market for industrial robots, official statistics show, and in April Beijing held what organisers dubbed the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon.Chen, the 18-year-old, told AFP he was about to begin studying automation at university. “Coming here can cultivate my passion for this field,” he said. “My favourite is the boxing because… it requires a lot of agility and I can really see how the robots have improved from before.” At the kung fu competition area, a pint-sized robot resembling one from the popular Transformer series attempted to execute a move, but fell flat on its front. It spun around on the floor as it struggled to get back up, the crowd happily cheering. 

Stock markets wavered on Friday as investors digested mixed US economic data and awaited a landmark US-Russia summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.US President Donald Trump, setting off for the Alaska meeting with Vladimir Putin, described his Russian counterpart as a “smart guy” and hailed a “good respect level” on both sides.The possibility of an end to a conflict that Putin began in 2022 had put the markets in optimistic mood, analysts said, although oil prices had been volatile owing to Russia’s status as a major producer and uncertainty over the outcome of the Alaska meeting.Wall Street opened on a mixed note as data showed US retail sales rose in July in line with analyst expectations.Investors have been tracking US economic data for signs about the impact of Trump’s tariffs.The report comes as surveys point to a partial recovery in consumer sentiment compared with the spring when tariff worries were more acute.Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro trading platform, said “the conversation around the consumer remains upbeat and healthy”, adding that “consumers are still out there spending”.Separate data showed industrial production unexpectedly fell in July, though only slightly.Trump continued his tariff campaign on Friday, saying he would soon announce massive import duties on semiconductors.Shares in chip giants Nvidia and AMD were down following the news.Markets were also waiting for the Trump-Putin meeting, with Russia’s foreign minister saying his country would not make guesses on the outcome.”We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian state TV after landing in Alaska.Putin steps onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a war that has killed tens of thousands of people.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.After climbing Thursday, crude oil futures were lower Friday.”Oil prices have been somewhat volatile ahead of the summit as traders seek to work out if Russian exports to Western countries might resume,” said AJ Bell, investment director Russ Mould.Elsewhere, Tokyo’s main stocks index extended a record-run higher following Japanese economic growth data that beat expectations.Weak Chinese economic figures resulted in a mixed showing for Chinese stocks.- Key figures at around 1410 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 44,993.08 pointsNew York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 at 6,458.85New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.2 percent at 21,669.35London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,141.08Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 7,918.74Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,536.11Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 43,378.31 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,264.47 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,696.77 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1715 from $1.1657 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3568 from $1.3535 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.96 yen from 147.76Euro/pound: UP at 86.38 pence from 86.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.2 percent at $63.21 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $66.15 per barrelburs-jxb/lth

Stock markets mostly rose Friday with all eyes on a landmark US-Russia summit aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin meet in Alaska later in the day.After Asia’s main exchanges mostly closed higher, European markets were “gaining traction”, noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at traders Scope Markets, as the Trump-Putin meeting raised hopes of a “potential end to the war”.Russia’s foreign minister said his country would not make guesses on the outcome of Friday’s summit.”We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian state TV after landing in Alaska.Putin steps onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a war that has killed tens of thousands of people.Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.”Broadly, markets seemed in an optimistic mood,” said AJ Bell, investment director Russ Mould.”Oil prices have been somewhat volatile ahead of the summit as traders seek to work out if Russian exports to Western countries might resume.”After climbing Thursday, crude futures were lower Friday.Elsewhere, Tokyo’s main stocks index extended a record-run higher following Japanese economic growth data that beat expectations.Weak Chinese economic figures resulted in a mixed showing for Chinese stocks.Wall Street finished little changed on Thursday as US wholesale inflation data tempered optimism about the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. A quarter-point cut is still expected next month but a larger half-point rate cut is likely “off the table”, said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,185.95 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,926.17Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 24,438.63Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 43,378.31 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 25,264.47 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,696.77 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.692 from $1.1657 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3561 from $1.3535 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.92 yen from 147.76Euro/pound: UP at 86.22 pence from 86.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $63.59 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $66.53 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/jxb

The world’s first-ever humanoid robot games began Friday in Beijing, with over 500 androids alternating between jerky tumbles and glimpses of real power as they compete in events from the 100-metre hurdles to kung fu.Hundreds of robotics teams from 16 countries are going for gold at the Chinese capital’s National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The games include traditional sports like athletics and basketball, as well as practical tasks such as medicine categorisation and cleaning.”I believe in the next 10 years or so, robots will be basically at the same level as humans,” enthusiastic 18-year-old spectator Chen Ruiyuan told AFP. Human athletes might not be quaking in their boots just yet. At one of the first events on Friday morning, five-aside football, 10 robots the size of seven-year-olds shuffled around the pitch, often getting stuck in a scrum or falling over en masse. However, in a 1500-metre race, domestic champion Unitree’s humanoids stomped along the track at an impressive clip, easily outpacing their rivals. The fastest robot AFP witnessed finished in 6:29:37, a far cry from the human men’s world record of 3:26:00.One mechanical racer barrelled straight into a human operator. The robot remained standing, while the human was knocked flat, though did not appear to be injured. – ‘National strategy’ -Robot competitions have been held for decades, but the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games is the first to focus specifically on robots that resemble human bodies, organisers said.The Chinese government has poured support into robotics hoping to lead the industry.Beijing has put humanoids in the “centre of their national strategy”, the International Federation of Robotics wrote in a paper on Thursday. “The government wants to showcase its competence and global competitiveness in this field of technology,” it added.Authorities are working to raise awareness of the sector across society. Cui Han, accompanying her 10-year-old, told AFP that her son’s school had organised and paid for the trip to the Games. “I hope it will encourage him to learn more about these new technologies,” she said.  In March, China announced plans for a one-trillion-yuan fund to support technology startups, including those in robotics and AI.The country is already the world’s largest market for industrial robots, official statistics show, and in April, Beijing held what organisers dubbed the world’s first humanoid robot half-marathon.Chen, the spectator, told AFP he was about to begin studying automation at university. “Coming here can cultivate my passion for this field,” he said. “My favourite is the boxing, because… it requires a lot of agility and I can really see how the robots have improved from before.” Meanwhile, at the kung fu competition area, a pint-sized robot resembling one from the popular Transformer series attempted to execute a move, but fell flat on its front. It spun around on the floor as it struggled to get back up, the crowd happily cheering. 

Asian stocks were mixed Friday after better-than-expected Japanese growth and weak Chinese data, while oil slipped back ahead of a US-Russia summit on Ukraine.On Thursday Wall Street finished little changed as strong wholesale inflation data tempered optimism about the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.A quarter-point cut is still expected but a larger half-point rate cut is likely “off the table”, said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital Management.Intel surged 7.4 percent following a Bloomberg News report that US President Donald Trump is considering an investment in the beleaguered chip company in exchange for a government stake.Japan’s economy grew 0.3 percent in the three months to June, while output for the previous period was revised upwards, averting a possible technical recession for the world’s number four economy.The expansion came despite tariffs imposed by Trump on Japanese imports, including on cars — an industry accounting for eight percent of Japanese jobs.In morning trade in Asia, the Nikkei was up almost one percent while Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney also moved higher.But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell for the second straight day after Chinese retail sales and industrial production grew at a slower rate than expected last month.A long-term crisis in the real estate sector and high youth unemployment have been weighing on Chinese consumer sentiment for several years.The situation has worsened with the heightened turmoil sparked by Trump’s trade war.Oil prices dipped, reversing gains on Thursday ahead of Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war.Oil traders are worried “that if the meeting doesn’t go well, we’ll see stronger sanctions on Russian oil thereby depriving the world of or making it much difficult for this oil to get to the market”, said Stephen Schork of the Schork Group.- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 43,036.46Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 25,236.62Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,675.05Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1658 from $1.1657 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3543 from $1.3535 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.28 yen from 147.76Euro/pound: UP at 86.06 pence from 86.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $63.84 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $66.76 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 44,911.26 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,177.24 (close)burs-stu/dhc