The company also projected third-quarter monthly active users below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, blaming the weakness on product changes in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia that may help Spotify in raising prices

International News via Reuters:

Spotify said higher marketing and development costs would hurt its profit in the current quarter as the Swedish music-streaming giant bets heavily on features powered by AI to attract users.

The company also projected third-quarter monthly active users below Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, blaming the weakness on product changes in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia that may help Spotify in raising prices.

“So examples would be sign-up changes, deprecation of old lower-end Android devices, carefully introducing some friction in the ad load with respect to increasing ad load and some limitations on our free tier as well,” Co-CEO Alex Norström told Reuters.

Price hikes have become central in recent years to Spotify’s push to prove it can convert its huge user base into meaningful profit. The company has in recent months also leaned on AI to fend off startups built around the technology, such as Suno.

On Tuesday, it unveiled a deal with independent-label group Merlin for its coming paid tool for fan-made covers and remixes that would let artists on Merlin-affiliated labels opt in.

Spotify already signed a deal with Universal Music earlier this year and is looking to sign up more artists.

The company is also aiming to bolster its appeal through new AI features and offerings such as “Reserved,” which lets eligible subscribers buy up to two tickets to their favorite artist’s concert before they are offered to the public for sale.

“We continue to expect marketing and AI-related investments to drive approximately €200 million in incremental operating expense for the full year,” CFO Christian Luiga said on a conference call with analysts, adding he expects a moderation in expense growth in the fourth quarter.

Spotify shares were up 0.5% in volatile trading after falling as much as 5% earlier in the session.

EXPENSES TO WEIGH ON PROFIT

Spotify expects operating income of €670 million ($770.97 million) in the third quarter, below estimates of €677.8 million.

Its monthly active users forecast of 788 million for the third quarter was below Visible Alpha estimates of 793.6 million, while its outlook for a 5 million increase in premium subscribers to 305 million was in line with estimates.

In the second quarter, it added 16 million monthly active users.

Spotify said 25% of its users overall are already using its AI features, including its conversational assistant for audio discovery, “Talk to Spotify”, and AI app, “Studio by Spotify Labs”.

Its operating income totaled €655 million in the second quarter, beating estimates of €639.2 million. Revenue rose 14% to €4.78 billion, slightly below expectations.

Its revenue forecast of €5 billion for the third quarter was above estimates of €4.93 billion.

($1 = 0.8690 euros)

Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo

Dozens of health workers gathered outside Ebola treatment centres in Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu, all in Ituri province, on Sunday and Monday, calling for immediate payment of the salaries and allowances

International News via Reuters:

Ebola response workers in eastern Congo have staged protests this week to call for the government to pay salaries and allowances that they say are nearly three months overdue, as security incidents continue to hamper efforts to contain the outbreak.

• Dozens of health workers gathered outside Ebola treatment centres in Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu, all in Ituri province, on Sunday and Monday, calling for immediate payment of the salaries and allowances, protesters said.

• In the protest in Mongbwalu on Monday, police dispersed demonstrators after they caused a disruption outside a hospital, local authorities and a protester said.

• “We are facing an unjust situation that seriously jeopardizes the continuation of the response effort,” the health workers said in a letter addressed to President Felix Tshisekedi. He has not publicly responded.

• Congo’s communications ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

• Ebola response efforts also continue to be disrupted by security incidents amid persistent community mistrust.

• A group of young men in Niania, also in Ituri province, briefly blocked a U.N. World Food Programme helicopter from landing on Tuesday and threw projectiles at an Ebola treatment centre, prompting police to fire warning shots, according to local civil society leader Samuel Banapia.

• In neighbouring North Kivu province, rumours on social media that health authorities planned to impose a curfew sparked protests in Butembo on Monday, Katwa health zone chief Jean Mukoko told Reuters.

• An ambulance sent to evacuate a suspected Ebola case was vandalised in Beni on Saturday, a local health official said.

• The outbreak has infected 3,802 people and killed 1,707 since it was declared on May 15, according to the latest government data released on Monday, and is now the second-largest on record globally.

Reporting by Fiston Mahamba; Writing by Ayen Deng Bior and Clement Bonnerot; Editing by Jessica Donati and Alison Williams

Widespread job losses due to AI are also less of a threat to emerging economies, the report found, adding that developing economies have more to gain and less to fear than richer nations

International News via Reuters:

Artificial intelligence could enable developing countries to gain a century’s worth of development in a decade if they act quickly on power, connectivity and skills gaps, the World Bank said in a report on Tuesday.

Widespread job losses due to AI are also less of a threat to emerging economies, the report found, adding that developing economies have more to gain and less to fear than richer nations.

“AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s chief economist, said in a statement accompanying the report.

Companies worldwide are spending billions to harness an anticipated AI revolution, while governments are scrambling to ensure their nations reap the benefits.

For many companies and countries, the challenge will be to build power-hungry data centres and find the energy generation to support them. But Gill said emerging economies do not need vast resources or bespoke large language models to benefit.

“By adapting small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions, they can bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions,” Gill said.

Health workers may be able to use AI to speed diagnoses, teachers to improve lesson plans and farmers to determine what to plant and when.

The International Monetary Fund has said that AI could boost Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy by about 4% over the next decade under the right circumstances.

FEWER JOBS AT RISK, BUT STAKES ARE HIGH

Generative AI is three times more likely to threaten jobs in rich countries, where 14.2% are at risk, than in low- and middle-income countries, where 4.5% of jobs are exposed, the report found.

The share of jobs expected to benefit from meaningful productivity gains is also similar: 16.2% in developing economies and 18.7% in high-income countries.

The report said governments must improve electricity and internet access, boost digital skills and expand access to smartphones and computing devices.

It warned, however, that AI could bring “greater income inequality, stealthier misinformation, and political repression.”

But the cost of missing out would be severe, according to the World Bank.

“Today’s developing economies missed the first Industrial Revolution and spent the next two centuries paying the price,” Gill said. “They cannot afford to miss this one.”

Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Paul Simao

The eruption sent pyroclastic flows — fast-moving mixtures of volcanic gas, ash and rock — down five ravines

International News via Reuters:

Guatemalan authorities ordered the preventive evacuation of two communities near the Fuego volcano late on Monday as it entered a more intense eruptive phase, spewing ash and sending pyroclastic flows down its slopes.

The eruption sent pyroclastic flows — fast-moving mixtures of volcanic gas, ash and rock — down five ravines, disaster management officials said.

• The evacuations were ordered in the areas of El Porvenir and Las Lajitas, both in the municipality of San Juan Alotenango.

• Officials on Tuesday warned the flows could travel further if activity intensifies.

• Ash cloud dispersal could affect areas up to 100 km (62 miles) west and northwest of the volcano.

• Authorities on Tuesday declared an “orange alert” and stepped up monitoring of the volcano.

• A major eruption in 2018 of the Fuego volcano, about 30 km (19 miles) south of Guatemala City, buried an entire community and killed more than 200 people.

Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Eiditing by Iñigo Alexander

Vietnam and North Korea maintain diplomatic ties dating back to the Cold War, but Pyongyang’s direct involvement in the Vietnam War remains little known

International News via Reuters:

Vietnam will build a memorial and renovate a cemetery dedicated to North Korean servicemen killed fighting during the Vietnam War, state media reported, in a rare public acknowledgement of Pyongyang’s military role in the conflict.

North Korea sent fighter pilots to North Vietnam in the 1960s, where some flew Soviet-made MiG-17 jets in combat missions against U.S. aircraft, according to Vietnamese and North Korean state media.

Vietnam and North Korea maintain diplomatic ties dating back to the Cold War, but Pyongyang’s direct involvement in the Vietnam War remains little known.

The memorial project was discussed at a meeting chaired by Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Truong Thang in Hanoi on Monday and attended by North Korean Ambassador Ri Sung Guk, the Defence Ministry’s Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper reported. 

“The Party, State, people, and People’s Army of Vietnam always cherish and remember the effective assistance of North Korea and the sacrifices of North Korean martyrs in its struggle for national independence in the past,” Quan Doi Nhan Dan quoted Thang as saying. 

The memorial will be built as part of restoration work at the North Korean martyrs’ cemetery in northern Bac Ninh province, the report said.

The cemetery was established for 14 North Korean air force personnel killed in 1967 and 1968, aged between 19 and 40, according to online newspaper VnExpress. Their remains were repatriated to North Korea in 2002.

Reporting by Khanh Vu;Editing by Alison Williams

Brent crude futures fell $3.30, or 3.9%, to $80.47 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. ET (1519 GMT), and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped $3.67, or 4.6%, to $76.67 a barrel

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices fell on Tuesday to a three-week low after comments by Qatari and U.S. officials raised hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the Iran war that could improve oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures fell $3.30, or 3.9%, to $80.47 a barrel by 11:19 a.m. ET (1519 GMT), and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dropped $3.67, or 4.6%, to $76.67 a barrel. Both contracts fell more than 5% to their lowest since July 13 earlier in the session.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday there was progress in talks with Iran and Oman about moving more ships through the strait, but a final agreement was yet to be reached. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said earlier on Tuesday that a deal with Iran to reopen the strait could come as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said efforts to secure a diplomatic resolution to the Iran war were continuing.

The prospect of a diplomatic solution to the Middle East conflict has helped remove some of the geopolitical risk premium in oil prices after the U.S. resumed bombing Iran last month, said Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at brokerage XS.com.

“If negotiations between the United States and Iran make meaningful progress, the market could continue pricing in a lower probability of supply disruptions, further reducing the geopolitical risk premium embedded in crude prices,” Massabni said.

GULF SHIPPING TRAFFIC LITTLE CHANGED

Disruptions to shipping through the strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flowed before the war, have forced Middle Eastern nations to cut oil output sharply.

The world has lost more than 2.6 billion barrels of oil since the Iran war began in February, the head of Saudi oil company Aramco said.

The oil market will, therefore, remain highly sensitive to political developments, Massabni said.

Oil prices gained earlier in Tuesday’s session after a senior Iranian source told Reuters that Iran wants control over inbound shipping and visibility over outbound traffic through the strait, with the ability to intervene if necessary, as part of a plan being discussed with Oman to reopen the strategic waterway.

“Gulf exports remain under pressure, with Strait of Hormuz transits only marginally improving from extremely depressed levels. The export disruption story is intact, with Iranian attacks on vessels constraining flows,” ANZ analysts said.

Shipping traffic at the key Gulf waterways of Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz held largely unchanged at the start of the week.

Goldman Sachs expects Brent crude to trade in an $80-$90-a-barrel range until there is either confirmation of a new U.S.-Iran agreement or a significant escalation in attacks and targets.

Reporting by Shariq Khan in New York, Anushree Mukherjee and Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru and Trixie Yap in Singapore; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Louise Heavens, Susan Fenton, Rod Nickel