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NEW YORK — Virgin Galactic skyrocketed on Wall Street on Friday after US officials approved the first commercial licence to take consumers to space.

Shares of the company founded by Richard Branson were up almost 35 per cent at midday at $53.98 as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said its approval of Virgin's license marked "a new chapter in the story of human space flight".

FAA approval came after the agency determined that company's hardware and software functioned well during a test flight.

Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Michael Colglazier cheered the decision, saying FAA approval gives "us confidence as we proceed toward our first fully crewed test flight this summer".

The company still plans three additional test flights, one of which is expected to include Branson himself.

Virgin Galactic is targeting early 2022 to begin commercial service. The company has sold some 600 tickets priced at between $200,000 to $250,000.

Earlier this month, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced plans to fly into space in July with his company, Blue Origin. A mystery bidder spent $28 million to join Bezos and his brother in the July 20 launch.

ABU DHABI — In the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Ibrahim Al Hammadi inspects a freight train on the UAE's first railway line. He climbs aboard the locomotive, does a final systems check and then it is full steam ahead.

Hammadi is the first Emirati to become a train driver — in a country which already has a space programme and two of the world's biggest airlines, but is only now developing a rail network to connect all seven of its emirates.

"I was intrigued when I saw the train operating," the 23-year-old said. "It was something new, and it pushed me to ask around about learning how to drive it."

The United Arab Emirates is well known for its audacious infrastructure and technology projects. It successfully sent a probe to Mars earlier this year, and the world's first superfast hyperloop system is planned to link its two main cities, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

When completed, Etihad Rail will operate 1,200 kilometres of track connecting all of the emirates — from Ghweifat in the western region of Abu Dhabi to the emirate of Fujairah on the eastern coast — and link with neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The long-term plan is to be part of a wider railway network that would connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

A spirit of competition between the emirates, which each have their own specialities and areas of interest, is credited with holding back the national rail project.

"There has been some hesitance from the federal government to spend on national economic integration projects... along with traditional issues on emirate-level sovereignty," Karen Young, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told AFP. 

"The UAE is a federal system and its centralisation of authority and economic and development policy within [the federal capital] Abu Dhabi are still relatively new." 

'Bigger goals' 

So far there has been little progress on the multibillion-dollar GCC railway, which has languished after a feasibility study was approved by the six countries back in 2004. 

"The rail projects within the GCC have been in a planning process for years, part of bigger goals of trade and economic integration within the regional organisation of the Arabian Peninsula," Young said.

"That integration has faced a number of obstacles, from a shared currency policy that is now moot, to the dispute with Qatar which severed basic investor rights, citizen travel and trade."

That dispute, which lasted for more than three years before being resolved in January, saw Saudi Arabia and its allies, including the UAE, sever ties with Qatar in June 2017 partly over allegations that Qatar was too close to Iran. Doha denied the accusations.

Hammadi works on Etihad Rail's first section of line, which covers 264 kilometres and has been operational since 2016.

He drives trains transporting granulated sulphur from Abu Dhabi's inland fields in Shah and Habshan to the port of Ruwais. 

Freight is currently the line's main focus but as it is extended through the mountains between the emirates of Dubai and Fujairah, the line is also set to offer passenger services that will run at speeds of up to 200kph. 

That will provide an alternative to the UAE's network of mega-highways, some more than a dozen lanes wide, which carry endless streams of motorists in a car-dependent nation, as they zip through canyons of skyscrapers or rocky mountains, and towering dunes.

'Safety and security' 

The UAE hopes the rail network's supply chain will help diversify its oil-dependent economy. 

"Railways have always been a vital component in the economic, social and strategic growth of countries around the world," Hammadi noted.

"It developed the infrastructure in the western region [of the UAE], increased security and safety on the roads and lessened congestion."

"The Etihad Rail project will connect the country's key centres of trade, industry and population."

For the project's first stage, Etihad Rail operates seven locomotives and 240 freight wagons, with each locomotive hauling up to 110 wagons as it crosses the country's vast desert.

In the Abu Dhabi control room, Maitha Al Remeithi, the first female Emirati train controller, walks from one section to another monitoring the dozens of screens in the room. 

For Remeithi — who started working with Etihad Rail in 2017 — it was her passion for something "unique, exciting and new" that drove her towards the rail industry. 

"The railway is growing every day, and as I am involved in the daily running of the operation, I can see its positive impact within the transport sector from safety, environmental and logistics perspectives," the 30-year-old said.

Etihad Rail says that one full freight train can replace 300 trucks, and cut CO2 emissions by 70-80 per cent. 

"Using rail as a mode of transport means fewer trucks on the roads; the need for road maintenance is less and CO2 emissions are less," Remeithi said.

LONDON — US stocks mostly pushed higher on Wednesday as interest rate hike fears faded, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq hitting a new-intra day record high.

However, eurozone stocks fell after report showed the economy booming, reinforcing interest rate hike fears there.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose further as reopening economies are set to drive demand higher, with some analysts saying hitting $80 a barrel for crude is increasingly possible.

Wall Street opened the day higher, adding to gains racked up on Tuesday after Fed chief Jerome Powell sought to ease concerns over the timing of higher interest rates in testimony before lawmakers.

"The markets appear to be finding relief from yesterday's dovish testimony on Capitol Hill by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell," said analysts at Charles Schwab brokerage.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare noted that Wall Street has pretty much recovered from the losses it suffered last week, when fears that the Fed would hike rates and wind down stimulus support to ward off inflation saw the market turn in its worst weekly performance since last October.

The Dow had dipped into the red by late morning, but the Nasdaq composite index struck a fresh record high after having set one on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 is also sitting just below its record high.

O'Hare said the market is back to trading on expectations of rises in commodity prices and gravitating towards sectors that will benefit from the reopening of economies.

Oil climbs 

Oil prices extended gains to sit around multiyear highs on increasing optimism over demand as the world economy reopens and governments talk about easing quarantine measures, allowing easier overseas travel.

Analysts said the lack of progress on the Iran nuclear deal was also providing support as it puts off the return of supplies to the global market from the major producer.

Brent oil hit $76.02 per barrel, the highest level since late October 2018.

"With no prospect of an Iran oil deal in the coming weeks, talk of looser travel restrictions will inevitably provide an upward bias for prices, and a move towards $80 a barrel," said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

BURGESS HILL, United Kingdom — A lone worker kneels among the vines at the Ridgeview winery in southern England, as a dozen or so visitors sample the estate's sparking wine.

Demand for British wine is up domestically but at the same time, Brexit has led to a shortage of seasonal workers, increased costs and red tape.

Across the country, similar problems have disrupted businesses since Britain fully left the European Union in January.

But it is not yet clear whether the issues are just teething troubles or more long-lasting.

Tamara Roberts, chief executive of the family run wine estate, said finding labour had never been a problem in the past.

"It's only really been this year we have seen real shortages," she said.

"It's really tricky with the pandemic and the travel restrictions to see where the pressure is coming from. 

"We think Brexit pushed people to stay home because we haven't made it easy for them to come."

The political and economic repercussions from Britain's vote five years ago to leave the European Union are far from over.

The British wine industry did not take a stand at the time but is now struggling with the consequences. 

"We have time to consider our options, work with agencies" to find around 20 seasonal workers, "but we don't have a solution", said Roberts.

"We're looking for a chef, we haven't been able to push our offer in that area as we would have hoped," she added.

"There is definitely a pressure to increase pay if we're all competing for the same people."

At the same time, "we've seen logistics costs tripling" because the red tape for exporting product and importing machines and bottles has become so complicated that Ridgeview now goes through middlemen, she added. 

"Whether it's Germany or France or Holland, the interpretation of rules are quite different so it's quite hard to navigate."

'Existential threat' 

For small businesses, costs are rising quickly and squeezing margins. 

"We'll probably have an idea by the end of the year of what's short-term, what's long-term," said Roberts.

On the up side, domestic demand has jumped given the difficulties of importing foreign wine, especially online.

"The hospitality industry hasn't fully reopened. We hope to see a recovery in that, we think that will happen before the recovery in exports," added Roberts.

She also noted that the impact of Brexit remains vague.

Much will depend on the bilateral trade agreements signed by Britain and other countries, such as those that have just been agreed with Norway or Australia, or the one under negotiation with the United States.

Further north, in Boston, which had the highest number of pro-Brexit votes in 2015, Ian Collinson's flower growing business has reported the same difficulties in finding seasonal workers for times of peak demand, such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. 

Brexit has been a positive in that "demand is high because of the extra friction on imports", he said.

But if the labour issue is not solved, it is "an existential threat to the industry in the UK", he added.

Collinson is considering scaling back production and ending it in certain varieties that require more manual labour, in favour of more mechanised blooms such as lilies.

No timber 

In London, Sanjay Nairi, complained that Brexit had compounded existing difficulties in sourcing materials for his construction company "Refurb-it-all" because of high demand.

"Cement, timber... materials that are coming across from the continent, these have got delay times, the supply chain is unreliable, materials prices are going up practically on a daily basis," he said. 

And he too is struggling with labour shortages. 

"I lost about seven guys," out of a staff of around 20, he said. 

Yet demand, particularly from individual homeowners who have saved money during the crisis and want to renovate their homes, is high. 

BRUSSELS — The EU launched a wide-ranging antitrust probe against Google on Tuesday over concerns that it is using its technology to keep out rivals in the lucrative online advertising market.

The case opens yet another front by the European Commission against the search engine giant, which has already received 8 billion euros ($9 billion) in fines for its anti-competitive practices.

The investigation will "assess whether Google has violated EU competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology services", a statement from the EU executive said.

The probe narrows in on an important component of Google's profit-making machine: More than 80 per cent of the giant's revenue in 2020 came from advertising, or $147 billion.

"We are concerned that Google has made it harder for rival online advertising services to compete" in display ad technology, said EU Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager.

At issue is Google's largely unnoticed, but highly dominant technologies that serve as an intermediary or broker between advertisers and publishers online.

Google owned technologies include services such as AdX, Doubleclick or AdSense that power much of the EU's display advertising market for web pages and apps, which the commission estimated to be worth about 20 billion euros in 2019.

The business was at the heart of a recent case in France — brought by News Corp., French daily Le Figaro and Belgium's Groupe Rossel — that saw Google fined 220 million euros ($267 million).

It is also central to blockbuster cases in the US where state prosecutors accuse the company of rigging the ad-tech market and snuffing out rivals.

As in the other cases, the EU will try to determine whether Google gave preferential treatment to its own ad inventory technologies AdX and Doubleclick, but will also look at other aspects of the ad-tech business.

Crucially, the probe will look into Google's announced plans to prohibit the placement of third party "cookies" on its Chrome browser, a move that has angered some publishers and advertisers.

Critics fear that the project — known as the "Privacy Sandbox" — will only increase Google's dominance since the giant holds mountains of data on consumer behaviour that will be denied to others.

The probe will also look into ads on Youtube, Google's video platform, and whether advertisers there are forced to channel their business through Google's ad technology.

'Benefits' 

A Google spokesperson said the company "will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission to answer their questions and demonstrate the benefits of our products to European businesses and consumers".

The in-depth look into Google's online ad-tech is not unexpected as it follows a broader inquest launched in 2019.

The investigation comes as the EU is preparing new laws to better oversee tech giants by giving them special "gatekeeper" rules that would more tightly regulate how they can operate, but those will not be implemented for years.

There is no time limit on the investigation, which could lead to formal accusations, fines or an order that Google change its market behaviour.

STOCKHOLM — Volvo and Sweden's Northvolt have joined forces to build a new battery factory in Europe as the automaker aims to sell only fully electric cars by 2030, the companies said on Monday.

Swedish automaker Volvo and the battery start-up said that, through a joint venture, they will build a gigafactory with a potential capacity of 50 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, with production expected to start in 2026.

This would allow Volvo, which is owned by Chinese automaker Geely, to equip around 800,000 vehicles per year.

Europe has been ramping up efforts to become more autonomous in the battery sector, as it is still very dependent on production from Asia.

Europe has projects to build nearly 40 gigafactories with a combined annual output of 1,000GWh and an estimated cost of 40 billion euros ($48 billion), according to a report by Transport & Environment, a non-government organisation.

Volvo and Northvolt also plan to open a research and development centre in Sweden next year that will develop "next-generation, state-of-the-art battery cells and vehicle integration technologies", according to their joint statement.

"Batteries are one of the most important parts in a fully electric car, and by partnering with Northvolt we ensure an efficient and cost-effective supply chain of high-quality and sustainable batteries," said Javier Varela, Volvo's director of industrial operations.

Volvo is to buy 

15 GWh of battery cells per year from Northvolt's Swedish plant in Skelleftea from 2024.

The partnership will contribute to Volvo's effort to make half of its cars fully electric by mid-decade and all of them 100 per cent electric by 2030.

The deal has yet to be signed and approved by the boards of Volvo and Northvolt.

Northvolt, which wants to become Europe's largest producer of electric car batteries, has also set up partnerships with Volkswagen, BMW and Scania.

Northvolt chief executive Peter Carlsson told the FT his company was now looking at "specifically the US, possibly also Asia" for expansion after previously saying the battery maker had more than enough to do in Europe.

JAKARTA — Indonesia's stock exchange halted trading in flagship carrier Garuda's shares on Friday after it missed a key bond payment, fanning fears that the virus-hit airline was headed for bankruptcy.

The Jakarta-based bourse cited Garuda's default on a $500 million Islamic bond, known as sukuk, for suspending share trading "until further notice".

"[The missed payment] indicates that there are problems in the company's business continuity," the Indonesia Stock Exchange said in a statement Friday.

On Thursday, Garuda closed at 222 rupiah (0.01 cents), down by about half since the start of the year.

Garuda Chief Executive Irfan Setiaputra said late Thursday the missed bond payment was a "difficult and inevitable measure that the corporation must take amid efforts to improve its performance".

The debt-swamped airline had hired an outside financial advisor to get its books in order, he added.

Garuda's chief warned last month that the airline may halve its fleet to survive.

The COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the global aviation sector, sparking heavy losses, job cuts, bankruptcies and state rescue plans.

State-controlled Garuda has been posting mounting losses as it grounded dozens of its 142 jets due to travel restrictions and slumping demand. 

It received a government rescue package last year and has been offering early retirement to its employees as it scrambles to restructure.

The airline posted a loss of more than $1 billion in the nine months to September. It has yet to report its full-year financial results for 2020.