TOPSHOT - Real Madrid's French forward #09 Kylian Mbappe shoots during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
MADRID (AFP) – With Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior injured for the Champions League clash at Liverpool on Wednesday, superstar summer signing Kylian Mbappe will become their key attacking weapon.
The France captain has endured a tough start to life in the Spanish capital, on and off the pitch, but found the net for the first time in five matches at Leganes on Sunday in La Liga.
Mbappe was started on the left wing in his favoured role by coach Carlo Ancelotti for the first time and rewarded the Italian by opening the scoring at Butarque.
However the chance was created by Vinicius and with the Brazilian out for over three weeks, Mbappe will be responsible for stepping up and providing Madrid’s attacking edge in the games ahead, starting at Anfield.
Real Madrid’s French forward #09 Kylian Mbappe shoots during the Spanish league football match between Club Deportivo Leganes SAD and Real Madrid CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque in Leganes on November 24, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
Liverpool lead the Champions League group table with holders Madrid down in 18th after surprise defeats by Lille and AC Milan in their first four matches.
Vinicius hit four Champions League goals in those games while Mbappe has found the net just once in Europe.
While seven La Liga strikes in 12 appearances is not a bad record, Mbappe’s performances have left something to be desired given his superstar status.
The French forward, left out of his country’s squad in the last two international breaks, believes he is finding his footing slowly but surely.
“I think I put in a good performance, I’m starting to get up to speed with my team-mates,” Mbappe told Real Madrid TV after the win over Leganes that took the Spanish champions second in La Liga.
“I can play in every position and I’m ready to help the team and give my all…
“I play on the right, on the left, in the middle and with two up top. It doesn’t matter to me. I want to help the team and score goals.”
Tactical question
Madrid coach Ancelotti had been resistent to giving Mbappe time on the left ahead of Vinicius, who also prefers to play on the flank than through the middle.
However with Mbappe finding the net just once in seven matches as a central striker before the Leganes game, the coach decided to tinker his plan by swapping the duo, although he said the decision was based on a fitness issue.
“Playing on the outside is more tiring than through the middle, Vinicius returned from international duty on Thursday and Mbappe was fresher than Vinicius,” said Ancelotti.
“He scored a goal with a fantastic assist from Vini Junior — they’re both improving bit by bit.”
Ancelotti will need to rethink his set-up for the trip to Merseyside to face the Premier League leaders.
Mbappe may be used as part of a two-man strike force with Jude Bellingham an option to play alongside him, after operating in a more withdrawn role this season.
The England star was vital for Madrid in attack last season, stepping into the hole left by Karim Benzema’s departure, but with Mbappe’s arrival Ancelotti moved Bellingham deeper in a bid to find some balance.
Injuries to Vinicius, Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez, along with long-term problems for Dani Carvajal, David Alaba and Eder Militao have left Madrid’s squad extremely thin.
Mbappe, linked to a rape investigation in Sweden, which he labelled “fake news”, and embroiled in a battle with former employers PSG over millions of euros in unpaid wages, is already under a lot of pressure.
Ancelotti said Saturday speculation over the striker’s mental health was “ugly” and insisted Mbappe’s form would turn.
A goal against minnows Leganes lightened the load on his shoulders, and Madrid are desperate for more of the same from him against Liverpool.
FILE - President-elect Donald Trump speaks at meeting of the House GOP conference, Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he intends to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada, along with a 10 per cent tariff on imports from China in response to the illegal drug trade and immigration.
In a series of posts to his Truth Social social media account, Trump vowed to hit some of the United States’ largest trading partners with sweeping tariffs on all goods entering the country.
“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders,” he wrote.
In another post moments later, the past and future president said he would also be slapping China with a 10 per cent tariff, “above any additional Tariffs,” on all of its products entering the US in response to its failure to tackle fentanyl smuggling.
Tariffs are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda, with the Republican president-elect vowing wide-ranging duties on allies and adversaries alike while he was on the campaign trail ahead of his November 5 victory.
Many economists have warned that tariffs would hurt growth and push up inflation, since they are primarily paid by importers bringing the goods into the US, who often pass those costs on to consumers.
But those in Trump’s inner circle have insisted that the tariffs are a useful bargaining chip for the US to use to push its trading partners to agree to more favorable terms, and to bring back manufacturing jobs from overseas.
The British High Commission in Brunei Darussalam hosted the UK-Brunei Business Forum and Networking Lunch at the Balai Khazanah Islam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Tuesday, fostering bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the two nations.
The event brought together UK trade representatives, businesses, and key stakeholders from Brunei’s public and private sectors to explore potential collaborations across pivotal sectors, including education, clean energy, digital technology, and maritime logistics, which align closely with Brunei’s development priorities.
Deputy Trade Commissioner for Southeast Asia Rhiannon Harries, led the UK Trade Mission to Brunei, which included representatives from renowned organisations such as Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Scottish Development International, Pearson, Newcastle University, and uTalk. The forum opened with welcoming remarks by Deputy British High Commissioner to Brunei Catherine Pochkhanavala-Cleeve, followed by an address by Harries.
Key sessions included a presentation on Brunei’s investment opportunities by Acting CEO of the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) Daniel Leong, an outline of Brunei’s Digital Masterplan by representatives from the Ministry of Transport and Info-Comms (MTIC), a discussion on opportunities under the CPTPP by Richard Colley, Director of Trade at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and an introduction to Scottish Development International (SDI) by Senior Trade Specialist Sanson Selvanathar.
Panel speakers during the UK-Brunei Business Forum. PHOTO: FADLEY FAISAL
Participants engaged in panel discussions and presentations highlighting Brunei’s potential as a strategic gateway to the ASEAN region. The forum concluded with a networking lunch, providing an opportunity for participants to establish connections and lay the groundwork for future partnerships.
Reflecting on the event’s success, Pochkhanavala-Cleeve said that the UK-Brunei Business Forum reflects the shared commitment to deepening economic collaboration, adding that the strong interest from both nations demonstrates the untapped potential to advance trade and investment in key sectors critical to sustainable development. The forum reaffirmed the UK’s dedication to strengthening trade relationships in Southeast Asia and underscored the importance of collaborative efforts in achieving sustainable economic growth for both nations. – Fadley Faisal
K-pop sensation BTS appears on NBC's "America's Got Talent" in September 2020. PHOTO: ANN/THE KOREA HERALD SOURCE
PARIS (AFP) – From the second stint in the White House for Donald Trump to a turbo-charged football calendar, here are five things to watch in 2025:
Trump 2.0
In the days after his convincing win in the US presidential election, Donald Trump named several of his nominees to form his future cabinet at the White House, ahead of his inauguration on January 20.
Apparel of US President-elect Donald Trump is seen in the inside of a car near the Mar-a-Lago Club on November 25, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. PHOTO: AFP
With a list including vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and Elon Musk co-heading a department of government efficiency, there is concern at what a second Trump term could mean for the United States, and the world.
His swearing-in ceremony in front of the US Capitol in Washington will see Joe Biden, 82, passing the mantle to Trump, who at two years his junior would become the oldest US president in history by the end of his four-year term.
Climate
Could 2025 be the year when our greenhouse gas emissions stop their steady climb around the world?
Researchers are pointing to signs from the world’s biggest polluter China, responsible for 30 per cent of global emissions, where fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions are projected to tick up only marginally this year.
This file photo shows a pipe installed as part of the Petra Nova Carbon Capture Project carries carbon dioxide captured from the emissions of the NRG Energy Inc WA Parish generating station in Thompsons, Texas, US on February 16, 2017. PHOTO: AP
Glen Peters, of the Global Carbon Project, says overall CO2 emitted by burning coal, oil and gas across the world could peak in the next few years.
This carbon pollution is the main driver of increasingly dangerous climate change.
But even if there is a peak, Ignacio Arróniz Velasco, of the E3G think tank, said countries cannot afford to “relax”, and should then quickly decrease their emissions to aim for carbon neutrality.
Football frenzy
Can there be too much of a good thing? In 2025 the question of football overkill and player burnout will likely dominate amid a supercharged calendar.
There is the expanded 32-club Club World Cup awaiting players in the summer, when usually they would have had time to recover from national leagues.
And this coming after a particularly busy season that sees a much-anticipated extended Champions League — the leading European club competition — in a new format.
All this is part of a trend in football to ramp up the number of high-profile matches — the next World Cup in 2026 will welcome a whopping 16 more countries, resulting in 104 games rather than 64.
The spectre of Saudi Arabia will also loom large as the host of the 2034 World Cup pumps more money into the game, with potentially transformative consequences.
Other controversies likely to cause sparks include the continued use of VAR technology, currently locked in a love-hate relationship with players, fans and pundits.
Kumbh Mela
The largest gathering of humanity on the planet will take place from January 13 to late February with tens of millions showered in rose petals and holy ash at a spectacular Hindu festival on India’s sacred riverbanks.
Classified by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, the mega-festival known as the Kumbh Mela takes place every three years.
The venue alternates between four holy places, in the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, considered among Hinduism’s most sacred.
In 2025 it will happen in the northern city of Prayagraj. The last time the festival took place there, in 2013, it drew 120 million people.
Oasis and BTS comebacks
On the one side, the grisly bad boys of Britpop, on the other the fresh-faced darlings of K-Pop.
Both Oasis and BTS are set to return in 2025, much to the delight of their fans, after stints off the stage for very different reasons.
Led by the Gallagher brothers Liam and Noel, Oasis will return after a high-profile bust-up in 2009 — one of many — led to a 15-year split.
K-pop sensation BTS appears on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in September 2020. PHOTO: ANN/THE KOREA HERALD SOURCE
The band behind “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”, songs that achieved anthem-like status in the 1990s, go on a world tour kicking off in Britain and Ireland then heading to North and South America.
In the initial scramble to buy tickets from official sites, many fans who missed out sought alternative sources — leading to a landslide of ticket scams.
File photo shows members from the British rock band Oasis during a photocall in Hong Kong on February 25, 2006. PHOTO: AFP
It will be a very different vibe in South Korea, where wildly popular K-Pop boy band BTS promises to reunite in June after its members finish their mandatory military service.
It is the comeback millions of fans and an entire multibillion dollar industry has been waiting for.
Experts say the megastars’ return to performance and public life could lift South Korea’s cultural exports juggernaut even higher.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on November 25, 2024 shows
former US President Donald Trump (left) on February 15, 2024 and special counsel Jack Smith (right) on August 1, 2023.. Donald Trump's team welcomed what it called a "major victory" Monday after Special Counsel Jack Smith moved to dismiss the case against the US president-elect for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY and SAUL LOEB / AFP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term.
Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning reelection despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country’s constitutional foundations.
“I persevered, against all odds, and WON,” Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on November 25, 2024 shows former US President Donald Trump (left) on February 15, 2024 and special counsel Jack Smith (right) on August 1, 2023. PHOTO: AFP
He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.”
The judge in the election case granted prosecutors’ dismissal request. A decision in the documents case was still pending on Monday evening.
The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters’ own verdict. In court filings, Smith’s team emphasised that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief.
“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings.
They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.”
In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded.
Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponisation of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.”
Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead.
The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters’ violent attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House.
The US Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial.
The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence it planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden.
In dismissing the case, Chutkan acknowledged prosecutors’ request to do so “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump when his term is over. She wrote that is “consistent with the Government’s understanding that the immunity afforded to a sitting President is temporary, expiring when they leave office.”
But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office.
The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency.
The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
The case quickly became snarled by delays, with US District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings.
In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort.
Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One of them, a New York case involving hush money payments, resulted in a conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime.
The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump’s lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be open to delaying sentencing until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict.”
Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there.
Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already was on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
FILE - Rapper Kendrick Lamar appears at the MTV Video Music Awards, on Aug. 27, 2017, in Inglewood, Calif., left, and Canadian rapper Drake appears at the premiere of the series "Euphoria," in Los Angeles on June 4, 2019. (AP Photo, File)
TORONTO (AP) — Drake has announced that his first tour of Australia in eight years will begin on the same date as rival Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance.
The Toronto rapper announced the tour during a livestream Sunday night with Félix Lengyel, a Quebec streamer.
Drake said the tour will begin on Feb. 9, the same date Lamar is due to take the stage at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, a connection Drake didn’t make in the video.
He said the tour will include stops in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast and will continue “until, like, March something.”
“I’m just going to go to Australia for now. It’s been eight years,” he said. “I love it there.”
Representatives for Drake did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the tour or when tickets would go on sale.
FILE – Rapper Kendrick Lamar and Canadian rapper Drake. PHOTO: AP
The tour follows a public diss battle between Drake and Lamar, which saw them attack the other in songs including “Taylor Made Freestyle” by Drake, and Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Lamar’s track is nominated for five Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year.
Drake was not nominated for any Grammys this year, but his representatives did not immediately respond to questions about whether he submitted any work for consideration. In previous years he has opted not to.
Liverpool's manager Arne Slot walks on the pitch at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Brentford at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Arne Slot can seemingly do no wrong as Liverpool manager but uncertainty over the futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold is casting a shadow over a spectacular season.
Liverpool head into Wednesday’s heavyweight Champions League clash against Real Madrid top of the table in Europe and eight points clear in the Premier League thanks to a near flawless start from Slot.
The Dutchman has won 16 of his 18 matches to make light of a predicted hangover after Jurgen Klopp’s emotional farewell at the end of last season.
Liverpool’s manager Arne Slot. PHOTO: AP
Salah, 32, has spearheaded the flying start with 12 goals and 10 assists in all competitions.
Yet the Egyptian further fuelled speculation over where he will be next season after scoring twice to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday, saying he is “more out than in”.
Salah, captain Van Dijk and homegrown hero Alexander-Arnold, 26, are out of contract at the end of the season and can begin speaking to foreign clubs in just over a month’s time.
Van Dijk, 33, revealed last month he has started talks about extending his deal.
Alexander-Arnold could be facing his future employers in midweek, with Madrid understood to be keen on making him their next big-name signing to arrive for free.
Score to settle
Rather than destabilising Slot’s start to life at Anfield, the chance for potentially one last shot at glory has galvanised Liverpool’s old guard.
“I’m just playing, focusing on the season and I’m trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well,” said Salah.
The Egypt international is among those with a score to settle with the Spanish giants, who have won the competition 15 times compared with Liverpool’s tally of six.
Liverpool have failed to win in their past eight meetings with Madrid, including two Champions League finals, in 2018 and 2022.
Salah was forced off with his arm in a sling after being wrestled to the ground by Sergio Ramos in the 2018 final and denied several times by the brilliance of Thibaut Courtois in Paris four years later.
This time Liverpool appear primed to exact their revenge against a Madrid side beset by injuries and struggling to find the right balance since the arrival of French superstar Kylian Mbappe.
A hamstring injury to Vinicius Junior has added to Carlo Ancelotti’s woes, with defenders Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao ruled out for the season.
The European champions are far more desperate for the points after losing two of their four games so far.
Liverpool are sitting pretty with a perfect return of 12 points.
Madrid’s visit may not even be the biggest game at Anfield this week for the hosts as struggling Premier League champions Manchester City are next up on Sunday with the chance for Slot’s men to land a fatal blow in the title race.
Yet there is a thirst on Merseyside for their new manager to do what Klopp failed to achieve in six matches against Madrid and get one over on Real’s superstars.
“We indeed have incredible fixtures coming up,” said the former Feyenoord boss on facing Madrid and City over the course of five days.
“They are two teams who have dominated football the last few years.”
With an uncertain future, Liverpool are thriving off living in the moment.
rocket leaves the launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, on Feb 17, 2024. Japan's space agency halted an engine combustion test of its Epsilon S rocket on Nov 26, 2024, after a fire broke out at the test site. (File photo: JIJI Press via AFP
TOKYO (AFP) – A major fire erupted Tuesday at a Japan space agency site as it tested a solid-fuel Epsilon S rocket, television footage showed.
There were no reports of any injuries in the incident in the remote Kagoshima region of southern Japan.
Towering balls of fire and white fumes rose from the Tanegashima Space Center, according to the footage from national broadcaster NHK.
“There was an abnormality during today’s combustion test. We are trying to assess what happened,” the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told AFP in a statement.
“No injuries have been reported at this point. The cause is also under investigation.”
A rocket leaves the launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, on Feb 17, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
NHK says the fire happened during a combustion test that began at around 8:30 am (2330 GMT), with media stationed around 600 metres (yards) away.
About 30 seconds later, a large explosion was heard, and what appeared to be something on fire flew toward the sea, NHK said.
The Sankei Shimbun reported that orange flames burst out from the rocket engine placed on a horizontal platform before the explosion.
Tuesday’s fire is not the first time JAXA has experienced setbacks in its rocket programmes.
In July 2023 one engine of an Epsilon S exploded during a test around 50 seconds after ignition.
That was one in a string of failures for the country’s space agency JAXA, including launch attempts for its next-generation H3 rocket.
JAXA managed a successful blast-off in February this year for the H3, its new flagship rocket that has been mooted as a rival to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
That followed Japan successfully landing in January an unmanned probe on the Moon — albeit at a crooked angle — making it just the fifth country to achieve a “soft landing” on the lunar surface.
In March a rocket made by a private Japanese company exploded seconds after launch.
Tokyo-based Space One’s 18-metre (60-foot) Kairos rocket blasted off in the coastal Wakayama region of western Japan, carrying a small government test satellite.
But around five seconds later, the solid-fuel rocket erupted in fire, sending white smoke billowing around the remote mountainous area as orange flames raged on the ground, live footage showed.
Burning debris fell onto the surrounding slopes as sprinklers began spraying water, in dramatic scenes watched by hundreds of spectators gathered at public viewing areas including a nearby waterfront.
Space One said at the time that it had taken the decision to “abort the flight” and details were being investigated.
(AP) – Bath & Body Works fiscal third-quarter performance topped analysts’ estimates thanks to strong sales, and the retailer boosted its full-year outlook.
The owner of Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and other chain stores earned USD106 million, or 49 cents per share, for the period.
A year earlier the Columbus, Ohio-based company earned USD119 million, or 52 cents per share. The prior-year period’s results were helped by a USD12 million pretax gain related to the early payment of debt.
A Bath & Body Works store front. PHOTO: AP
The performance beat the 46 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research predicted.
Revenue totaled USD1.61 billion, up 3 per cent from USD1.56 billion a year earlier. The results topped Wall Street’s forecast of USD1.58 billion.
“We are capitalising on our agile business model and predominantly US-based supply chain, and we believe we are well-positioned to navigate a volatile retail environment and shorter holiday calendar,” CEO Gina Boswell said in a statement. “As we enter the critical holiday period, I am pleased with our strong execution and the momentum we are building, as we drive towards sustainable, long-term profitable growth.”
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, was pleased that Bath & Body Works saw increased sales both in stores and online during the quarter.
“One of the areas where Bath & Body Works has excelled is in trying to reinvigorate its core product categories,” Saunders said. “There has been a significant amount of innovation around scents, product design, and in-store displays to capture consumer imaginations and drive volume. This includes selective collaborations with franchises like Stranger Things to create limited-time collections which drive both interest and urgency when it comes to consumer purchases.”
Going forward, Bath & Body Works now anticipates fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings in a range of USD3.15 to USD3.28 per share and revenue between a decline of 2.5 per cent to a decline of 1.7 per cent, relative to USD7.43 billion in fiscal 2023. The company previously forecast adjusted earnings between USD3.06 and USD3.26 per share and revenue to range between a decline of 4 per cent to a decline of 2 per cent.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect full-year earnings of USD3.20 per share.
Shares jumped more than 19 per cent before the market open on Monday.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte talks to reporters while a hearing she is attending is suspended at the House of Representative in Quezon City, Philippines Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday described a public threat by the vice president to have him killed by an assassin as a criminal plot and vowed to fight it, in a looming showdown between the country’s two top leaders.
Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday in an online news conference that she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the speaker of the House of Representatives if she herself is killed, in a threat she warned was not a joke.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte talks to reporters while a hearing she is attending is suspended at the House of Representative in Quezon City, Philippines Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. PHOTO: AP
The national police and military immediately boosted the security of the president, and the justice department said it would summon the vice president for an investigation. The National Security Council said it considered the threat a national security concern.
The vice president, a lawyer, later tried to walk back her remarks by saying it was not an actual threat but an expression of concern about her own safety over an unspecified threat.
“Why would I kill him if not for revenge from the grave? There is no reason for me to kill him. What’s the benefit for me?” Duterte told journalists.
“That criminal plot should not be allowed to pass,” Marcos said in a televised statement, without mentioning Duterte by name. “I’ll fight it.”
“As a democratic country, we need to uphold the rule of law,” Marcos said.
Marcos ran with Duterte as his vice-presidential running mate in May 2022 elections and both won landslide victories on a campaign call of national unity. In the Philippines, the two positions are elected separately.
The two leaders and their camps, however, soon had a bitter falling out over key differences, including in their approaches to China’s aggressive territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. Duterte resigned from the Marcos Cabinet in June as education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body.
On Monday, Justice Undersecretary Jesse Andres said in a news conference that Duterte would be subpoenaed to face an investigation.
Andres called the vice president the “self-confessed mastermind” of a “premeditated plot to assassinate the president.” All government resources and law enforcement agencies would be mobilized to identify the alleged assassin and determine criminal accountability, he said.
“We have to maintain order in a civilised society by adherence to the rule of law and we will apply the full strength and force of the law on this,” Andres said.
Under Philippine law, such public remarks may constitute a crime of threatening to inflict a wrong on a person or their family and are punishable by a jail term and fine.
The Philippine Constitution says that if a president dies, sustains a permanent disability, is removed from office or resigns, the vice president takes over and serves the rest of the term.
Duterte said she was ready to face investigators or an impeachment complaint in Congress, but added she would also demand answers to her allegations against Marcos and his allies.
“I will also not allow what they did to me to pass,” she told reporters.
The vice president is the daughter of Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, whose police-enforced anti-drug crackdown when he was a city mayor and later president left thousands of mostly petty drug suspects dead in killings that the International Criminal Court has been investigating as a possible crime against humanity.
Like her equally outspoken father, the vice president became a vocal critic of Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president’s cousin, accusing them of corruption, incompetence and politically persecuting the Duterte family and its supporters.
Last month, the vice president told reporters her relationship with Marcos had “gone so toxic” that she has imagined “cutting his head.
Romualdez told the House of Representatives that the vice president was trying to distract attention from her alleged misuse of public funds, which Congress is investigating. Several legislators reaffirmed their trust in the House speaker and condemned Duterte’s remarks.
Her latest tirade was set off by the decision by House members allied with Romualdez and Marcos to detain Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, who was accused of hampering a congressional inquiry into the possible misuse of Duterte’s budget as vice president and education secretary. Lopez has been detained in a hospital after being traumatised by a plan by legislators to temporarily detain her in prison.
In a pre-dawn online news conference on Saturday, an angry Duterte accused Marcos of incompetence as president and of being a liar along with his wife and the House speaker, in expletive-laden remarks.
When concerns over her security were raised, Duterte, 46, suggested there was an unspecified plot to kill her. “Don’t worry about my security because I’ve talked with somebody. I said ‘if I’m killed, you’ll kill BBM, Liza Araneta and Martin Romualdez. No joke, no joke,'” the vice president said, without elaborating and using the initials that many use to refer to the president.
“I’ve given my order, ‘If I die, don’t stop until you’ve killed them.’ And he said, ‘yes,'” the vice president said.
