AFP

HBO announced Friday that the “House of the Dragon” fantasy drama would return for a second season, after the “Game of Thrones” prequel debuted to nearly 10 million US viewers.

Set years earlier in the same universe of George R.R. Martin’s books, “House of the Dragon” depicts the glory days of the ancestors of popular “Thrones” characters, such as Daenerys Targaryen.

It is based on his book, “Fire and Blood.”

HBO’s return to Westeros, and its prequel show’s addictive blend of scheming dynasties, gory violence and arguably gratuitous sex, has boasted solid numbers and drawn generally warm praise from critics.

The show’s premiere drew 9.98 million viewers in the United States, making it “the largest audience for any new original series in the history of HBO,” the television network’s owner, WarnerMedia, said in a statement earlier this week.

“Game of Thrones” ran for eight seasons between 2011 and 2019, and other spin-offs are in the works.

Some analysts noted that that title drew a whopping 17.4 million viewers to the debut of its final season.

Still, the “House of the Dragon” premiere represents a success for newly merged Warner Bros Discovery, which is under intense scrutiny as it tries to navigate the rapidly changing entertainment landscape dominated by the so-called “streaming wars.”

On September 2, fierce competition will arrive in the form of “The Rings of Power,” another swords-and-dragons-themed epic of the small screen, this time taking place in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and created by retail giant Amazon’s own streaming platform Prime Video.

Stock slumped on Friday after Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell pledged to act “forcefully” against soaring inflation in a battle that will be painful for American families and businesses.

The Fed has been on an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates — and Powell made it clear at the Jackson Hole gathering of global monetary policymakers that the fight against inflation is not over.

“Restoring price stability will take some time and requires using our tools forcefully to bring demand and supply into better balance,” he told the gathering, held against the backdrop of the majestic Grand Teton mountains.

Modest signs of slowing in the world’s largest economy and easing price pressures spurred hope in financial markets that the central bank might ease up on its aggressive interest rate hikes, and perhaps even start to reverse course next year.

But Powell doused those hopes, making it clear that Fed policy and the benchmark borrowing rate would have to remain “sufficiently restrictive” to return inflation to its two percent target.

“While higher interest rates, slower growth, and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses,” Powell said.

“But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”

Wall Street stocks moved higher as Powell wrapped up his speech, perhaps because he indicated the jury was out on making a third straight 0.75 percentage point hike in interest rates in September.

But then they promptly slid lower, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all dropping more than one percent.

The dollar was mixed, slumping against the euro, but rising against the yen and pound.

Sentiment had been boosted ahead of Powell’s speech by the latest readings of the US personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred yardstick for inflation, which dipped 0.1 percent from in July from June, and slowed to 6.3 percent from 6.8 percent on an annual basis.

– Electricity prices shock European stocks –

European equities also saw losses deepen after Powell’s speech, but stocks had been struggling after signs that energy prices are likely to keep fuelling inflation.

Sentiment in London had been dented by news that UK domestic energy bills will rocket even higher this year on surging wholesale gas prices as Britain’s cost-of-living crisis worsens.

Frankfurt and Paris stocks retreated amid fears of a eurozone energy crunch in the coming peak-demand winter as Russia curbs supplies.

Europe’s benchmark Dutch TTF gas contract dipped Friday one day after soaring to 324 euros per megawatt hour, not far from the record high struck in March after key gas producer Russia invaded Ukraine.

But German and French electricity futures prices soared to new records that are at least 10 times above last year.

Elsewhere, Asia was buoyed by signs of progress in talks between US and Chinese regulators that could see tech titans including Alibaba and JD.com avoid a delisting in New York.

More than 200 Chinese firms have for months had the threat of a New York delisting hanging over them as they are caught in a wide-ranging row between the world’s two biggest economies.

– Key figures at around 1435 GMT –

New York – Dow: DOWN 1.2 percent at 32,901.09 points

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.8 percent at 3,609.48

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 7,429.72 

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.9 percent at 13,023.47

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.7 percent at 6,270.92

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 28,479.01 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.6 percent at 19,968.38 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,246.25 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0049 from $0.9974 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1823 from $1.1832

Euro/pound: UP at 84.97 pence from 84.31 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 137.10 yen from 136.49 yen

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $91.75 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $98.69

burs-rl/lth

Moderna said Friday it is suing rival vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging the partners infringed on its patents in developing their Covid-19 shot administered to hundreds of millions around the world.

The lawsuits set up a high-stakes showdown between the leading manufacturers of Covid-19 shots that are a key tool in the fight against the disease.

“Moderna believes that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty infringes patents Moderna filed between 2010 and 2016 covering Moderna’s foundational mRNA technology,” the US-based biotech firm said in a statement.

“Pfizer and BioNTech copied this technology, without Moderna’s permission, to make Comirnaty,” Moderna said.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they have not fully reviewed the complaint, but expressed surprise over the litigation.

“The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology,” a statement said. “We will vigorously defend against the allegations of the lawsuit.”

The mRNA technology used in the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots differs from that in traditional vaccines, which rely on injecting weakened or dead forms of a virus to allow the immune system to recognize it and build antibodies.

Instead, mRNA vaccines deliver instructions to cells to build a harmless piece of the spike protein found on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19. 

After creating this spike protein, cells can recognize and fight the real virus, hailed as a major advancement in development of vaccines.

– Key tool against deadly pandemic –

The shots have repeatedly been the subject of inaccurate claims that they are dangerous, but health authorities say they are both safe and effective.

The lawsuits — in US district court in Massachusetts, and in regional court in Dusseldorf, Germany — are not seeking the removal of the rival vaccine or an injunction on future sales.

Moderna said it had begun building up the technology in 2010 and patented work on coronaviruses in 2015 and 2016, which allowed for rollout of its shots in “record time” after the pandemic struck. 

The virus has killed at least 6.48 million people worldwide since 2020 and made nearly 600 million ill, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

In addition to death and suffering, the disease has led to a re-shaping of life ranging from a change in norms on working from home to a scrambling of supply chains and workforces.

Moderna said it pledged in October 2020 not to enforce its Covid-19-related patents while the pandemic continued, but less than two years later changed that stance as the fight shifted gears.

“Moderna expected companies such as Pfizer and BioNTech to respect its intellectual property rights and would consider a commercially reasonable license should they request one for other markets,” it said. 

“Pfizer and BioNTech have failed to do so,” the firm added.

These types of lawsuits are not unheard of in the pharmaceutical industry, where patents can be worth billions of dollars, and can take years to resolve.

Taming high US inflation will inflict “pain” on American families and businesses, but failure to wrestle prices down from their current 40-year high would be even more harmful, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday in a hotly-anticipated speech to global policymakers.

Addressing the annual gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell did not hold back or leave room for doubt about the central bank’s course, pledging to act “forcefully.”

He warned the world’s largest economy is likely to slow for a sustained period, and the strong US job market will suffer in order to get prices down — which he called the “unfortunate costs of reducing inflation.”

The Fed has been on an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates — and Powell made it clear in Jackson Hole that the fight against inflation is not over.

“Restoring price stability will take some time and requires using our tools forcefully to bring demand and supply into better balance,” he told the gathering, held against the backdrop of the majestic Grand Teton mountains.

“While higher interest rates, slower growth, and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses,” Powell said.

“But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”

Modest signs of slowing in the world’s largest economy and easing price pressures spurred hope in financial markets that the central bank might ease up on its aggressive rate hikes, and perhaps even start to reverse course next year.

But Powell doused those hopes, making it clear that Fed policy and the benchmark borrowing rate would have to remain “sufficiently restrictive” to return inflation to its two percent target.

– Improving data –

Supply chain issues have continued, worsened by a series of Covid lockdowns in China, and have combined with Russia’s war in Ukraine, to send prices soaring worldwide.

In the battle to contain red-hot US inflation, which topped nine percent in June, the Fed has hiked rates four times, including massive, three-quarter-point increases in June and July — steep moves unheard of since the early 1980s — to the current level of a range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent.

Powell repeated that another three-quarter point increase could be appropriate at the September policy meeting.

But recent data has shown signs of a slowing in price increases. 

The Fed’s preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, fell 0.1 percent in July a dramatic slowdown from the 1.0 percent surge in June, largely reflecting the recent sharp retreat in global oil prices.

Over the last 12 months, the PCE price index slowed to 6.3 percent, the Commerce Department reported.

But Powell did not take much comfort in the figures.

“While the lower inflation readings for July are welcome, a single month’s improvement falls far short of what the Committee will need to see before we are confident that inflation is moving down,” he said.

Powell pointed to the experience of one of his predecessors, famed inflation dragonslayer Paul Volcker — who used aggressive measures to quell runaway prices — and said officials cannot retreat from their responsibility.

“We must keep at it until the job is done,” he said, warning against any “premature” easing of policy.

Former Bank of England board member Adam Posen, who leads the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, said he expects the benchmark lending rate will reach four percent by February, and but the Fed will be “willing to go further if needed, with the chances of a reversal in 2023 year “very, very low.”

France’s record heat and drought have not spared the majestic pastures under the snow-capped Alps, where cows are struggling to find enough grass to produce milk for reblochon and other prized cheeses.

“Everything’s yellow and parched, so we’ll have to bring them down from the pastures a month early,” said Theo Bargetzy, 28, as cowbells rang out in a field some 1,600 metres (5,250 feet) above sea level.

Crowds of tourists in search of cooler climes have flocked to the Alps this summer where buying local raw-milk reblochon and other hand-made cheeses directly from local producers is a cherished ritual. 

But this year, some heading to Bargetzy’s Lorettes farm perched above La Clusaz are coming away empty-handed — cows are not getting their usual fill of fresh grass, and their milk is less rich as a result.

July was the driest month on record for France overall since 1961, and heat waves pushed temperatures near La Clusaz above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) on several days, unheard-of on the steep slopes.

“We’re losing one reblochon per cow per day, so in a week that’s 300 fewer cheeses,” Bargetzy says later, while molding fresh curds into discs that will be carefully aged on wooden planks in a cellar until the distinctive orange-gold rind forms.

It takes four litres of milk (just over a gallon) to make each cheese that weighs some 450 grammes (just under a pound) — within the guidelines set by the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO), the guardian of France’s strict food and wine appellations.

“The worst thing is that this is when we have lots of tourists wanting to buy, and we don’t have enough for everyone — we run out, and can’t sell to all the people coming to visit,” he said. 

– Raise prices again? –

Dozens of farmers have already dipped into their winter feed stocks, but overall dairy production in the region is down 15 percent from last year’s levels, according to the AFTAlp cheese producers’ association.

“The situation is difficult — we’ve had droughts in the past but this is going on everywhere in France, Italy and elsewhere in Europe,” said the association’s president Jean-Luc Duclos.

Duclos and his family manage a farm with more than 200 cows for making emmental as well as meat near Frangy, with an app-controlled milking system that would astonish his grandfather, who had “four cows and four hectares to feed 11 children.”

He worries that rising costs of feed, gas and electricity since the outbreak of the Ukraine war will create a vicious circle of price speculation and hoarding that could hurt farmers for months to come.

“We’ve already had to raise the prices of our Savoy products… but I think we’ll have to raise them again, by around five to eight percent, to cover the impact of this drought,” he said.

What for generations was subsistence farming has become a thriving Alps industry, though most operations are still family affairs that rely on both local and national networks to distribute their stocks.

Felix Gallet, 46, plays a key role as technical director of the reblochon cooperative in nearby Thones, ensuring the strict hygiene protocols required to sell raw-milk cheeses many countries do not allow because of bacterial risks.

“Our output is down around four or five percent. It’s not a complete catastrophe because some farms are higher up, and temperatures were a little lower than in the valleys,” Gallet said.

“But it’s true that it’s going to have an impact on our volumes, we’re hoping to recover this winter but it’s going to be hard to make up for what we’ve already lost,” he said.

Gallet also warned that in response, producers can increase prices only so much.

“It’s hard to go much higher, even for high-quality cheese. You have to bear in mind what consumers can pay,” he said.