US Business

The Disney+ streaming service saw its number of paying subscribers leap beyond expectations in the last quarter, as rival Netflix’s client count ebbed, results showed Wednesday.

The number of people subscribing to Disney+ topped 152 million, up some 31 percent from the same period a year earlier, the entertainment giant said in an earnings report.

Disney’s bottom line was also boosted by rising revenue from its theme parks, which showed signs of recovering from stifled attendance during the pandemic.

Better-that-expected earnings reported by Disney came as many of the tech titans that flourished during the pandemic curb costs in the face of inflation and people get back to living life in the real world instead of online.

Disney shares were up more than 6 percent in after-market trades that followed release of the earnings figures.

“We had an excellent quarter, with our world-class creative and business teams powering outstanding performance at our domestic theme parks, big increases in live-sports viewership, and significant subscriber growth at our streaming services,” said Disney chief executive Bob Chapek.

The 14.4 million Disney+ subscribers added in the recently ended quarter raised the overall number of subscriptions to its streaming services, which include Hulu and ESPN+, to 221 million, Chapek added.

The overall number of subscribers to Disney streaming services topped those of Netflix for the first time.

“Investors will breathe a sigh of relief from Disney’s robust fiscal (quarterly) earnings,” said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Paul Verna.

“The streaming figures will be seen as an indicator of the health of the market, especially after lackluster subscriber figures from Netflix and Comcast.”

Disney also announced that an ad-subsidized version of its streaming television subscription service will be offered in the United States starting December 8 at a monthly price $3 less than the ad-free offering.

– K-pop and superheroes –

Taking a page from Netflix’s playbook, Disney has been investing in shows created in places outside the United States.

The company plans to “step up” investments in such local original content, Chapek said, pointing out a film concert and docu-series focused on South Korean music sensation BTS.

He expressed confidence in Disney theater films in the works, including an eagerly anticipated “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” addition to its Marvel superhero line-up.

A trailer for the Black Panther film logged more than 170 million views in the 24 hours after its release, Chapek said.

“Disney still faces economic uncertainty and intense competition, but performance should at least temporarily put to rest some of Wall Street’s gloomier perceptions about the company, and more broadly about the entertainment industry,” said Paul Verna, an analyst at Insider Intelligence.

Rival Netflix has reported losing subscribers for two quarters in a row, as the streaming giant battles fierce competition and viewer belt tightening, though the firm assured investors of better days ahead.

The loss of 970,000 paying customers in the most recent quarter was less than expected, leaving Netflix with just shy of 221 million subscribers.

“Our challenge and opportunity is to accelerate our revenue and membership growth… and to better monetize our big audience,” the firm said in its earnings report.

After years of amassing subscribers, Netflix lost 200,000 customers worldwide in the first quarter compared to the end of 2021. 

Netflix said in its earnings report that it had expected to gain a million paid subscribers in the current quarter.

Netflix executives have made it clear the company will get tougher on sharing logins and passwords, which allow many to access the platform’s content without paying. 

In an effort to draw new subscribers, Netflix said it will work with Microsoft to launch a cheaper subscription plan that includes advertisements.

The ad-supported offering will be in addition to the three account options already available, with the cheapest plan coming in at $10 per month in the United States.

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of carrying out rocket strikes that killed 14 civilians in areas near a nuclear power plant, as the G7 warned that Russian control of the facility “endangers the region”.

Overnight strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine killed 13 people and injured 11, with five reported to be in a serious condition, regional governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.

Most of the casualties were in the town of Marganets, just across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest.

“It was a terrible night,” Reznichenko said, urging residents to shelter when they hear air raid sirens.

“I am asking and begging you… Don’t let the Russians kill you,” he wrote.

Another woman died after Russian missiles slammed into a village in the Zaporizhzhia region on Wednesday morning, local governor Oleksandr Starukh wrote on Telegram.

Regional council head Mykola Lukashuk said the strikes had hit a local power line, leaving thousands of people without electricity.

– G7 call over nuclear plant –

Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of recent shelling around the Zaporizhzhia plant, which has six reactors.

Ukraine says Russia has stationed hundreds of troops and stored ammunition at the facility since taking it over on March 4, shortly after starting its invasion.

The tensions have revived memories of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Soviet Ukraine, which killed hundreds of people and spread radioactive contamination over much of Europe.

The Group of Seven industrialised nations condemned Russia’s occupation and called on Moscow to immediately hand back full control of the plant.

Ukrainian staff operating the plant must be able to work “without threats or pressure” and Russia’s control of the plant “endangers the region”, the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Thursday to address the crisis at the nuclear plant, diplomatic sources said.

The UN nuclear safety watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement that its Director General Rafael Grossi would brief the Security Council meeting “about the nuclear safety and security situation” at the plant as well as his “efforts to agree and lead an IAEA expert mission to the site as soon as possible”.

The strikes came a day after major blasts at the Saki airfield, a key military base on the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.

Moscow insisted that the explosions were caused by detonating ammunition rather than Ukrainian fire, and Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.

– ‘There is a lot of shooting’ –

Fighting also ground on in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are gradually advancing.

Strikes on the city of Bakhmut killed at least six people and injured three others, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram, adding that 12 residential buildings were damaged.

The city of Soledar was under constant shelling, AFP reporters saw, as Russian troops attempted to drive out Ukrainian forces and seize a foothold towards Bakhmut.

The echoes of cluster bombs and artillery bounced off apartment buildings with their windows shattered, while roads were cratered and shops boarded up or destroyed.

The city was shrouded with black and white smoke arising from artillery and air strikes.

Some of those who remain now live underground in cellars ill-suited as bomb shelters.

“Most have left. It’s very scary. There is a lot of shooting,” said 62-year-old Svitlana Klymenko.

“I just want to leave to grow old in a normal way, die a normal death, not be killed by a missile.”

– EU ban on Russian coal –

The war has severely hampered grain supply from Ukraine, leading to an international food crisis as it is one of the world’s biggest producers.

Some ships have been able to leave Ukrainian ports in recent days after a deal with Russia brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.

The first exports of wheat should start next week under the agreement, top UN official Frederick Kenney said on Wednesday.

The first grain shipment to leave on the Sierra Leone-flagged vessel Razoni departed the Ukrainian port of Odessa on August 1 and had been expected to dock in the Lebanese port of Tripoli at the weekend.

But the Ukrainian embassy said a new buyer for the shipment was being sought after the original Lebanese buyer cancelled the order.

Marine traffic sites showed the Razoni docked in Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Mersin, following reports a new buyer had been found for its cargo.

Spain on Wednesday launched a pilot project to import Ukrainian grain by train to avoid blocked maritime routes, with a freight train leaving Madrid for the Polish town of Chelm late on Tuesday.

Western countries have meanwhile imposed increasingly stringent sanctions on Moscow, raising fears that Russia may cut off gas supplies.

EU countries have started putting into place different measures to save energy, with air conditioning curbs coming into force in Spain on Wednesday and Vienna dimming street lighting.

A total EU ban on imports of Russian coal was due to come into force overnight. 

A court case brought by Kobe Bryant’s widow over graphic photographs taken by first responders at the site of the helicopter crash that killed him got under way in the United States on Wednesday.

The basketball superstar and his teenage daughter were among nine people who died when their chopper smashed into a hillside near Los Angeles in January 2020.

Vanessa Bryant alleges she suffered emotional distress because personnel from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and firefighters snapped pictures of the scene, which they later shared with friends and first responders.

“At least 11 (sheriff’s) personnel and a dozen firefighters shared the photos within 24 hours of the crash,” Bryant’s attorneys wrote in court papers.

“In the following weeks, one (sheriff’s) deputy flaunted photos of remains at a bar, another texted photos to a group of video game buddies, and (county fire) personnel displayed photos at an awards gala.”

Lawyers for Los Angeles County do not dispute that the photos were taken, but insist they have never been made public and have now been deleted.

Mira Hashmall, representing the county in the civil litigation, said the case hinged on this issue of public dissemination.

“From the time of the crash to now, the county has worked tirelessly to prevent its crash site photos from getting into the public domain,” she said.

“Over two and a half years later, no county photos have appeared in the media, none can be found online, and the plaintiffs admit they’ve never seen them.”

Vanessa Bryant’s case has been combined with a similar case brought by Chris Chester, whose wife and 13-year-old daughter also died in the crash.

A jury of six women and four men were selected Wednesday, CNN reported.

Relatives of several other victims were last year granted $2.5 million in compensation over the photo-taking.

An investigation into the crash found the pilot had probably become disorientated after flying the Sikorsky S-76 into fog.

Bryant is widely recognized as one of the greatest basketball players ever, a figure who became the face of his sport during a glittering two decades with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He was a five-time NBA champion in a career that began in 1996 straight out of high school and lasted until his retirement in 2016, after which he began building a lucrative business portfolio.

He was also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, helping the US squad of NBA stars to titles in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.

Boeing delivered a 787 Dreamliner to American Airlines on Wednesday, the first of that aircraft to be sent to a customer in over a year due to defects discovered in the plane.

US air safety regulators on Monday cleared the aviation giant to resume deliveries of the top-selling widebody after Boeing made changes to its production process.

“We have resumed 787 deliveries, following our thorough engineering analysis, verification and rework activities to ensure all airplanes conform to Boeing’s exacting specifications and regulatory requirements,” a company spokesperson confirmed to AFP.

It was the first delivered to a customer since June 2021. 

But for American the wait was longer.

“Today is an exciting day! We’re thrilled to welcome our first BoeingAirplanes 787-8 delivery since April 2021,” the company said on Twitter.

The 787’s travails date to late summer 2020, when the company uncovered manufacturing flaws with some jets, and subsequently identified additional issues, including with the horizontal stabilizer.

The difficulties curtailed deliveries between November 2020 and March 2021. Boeing suspended deliveries later in spring 2021 after more problems surfaced.

However, the company said none of the issues posed “an immediate safety of flight concern for the in-service 787 fleet.”

The news will be welcomed by US airlines and travelers who have suffered from massive delays and canceled flights in recent weeks, partly due to the shortage of aircraft.

American said it currently has 47 of the planes in its fleet, and has ordered another 42.

Inability to deliver the Dreamliner has dragged down Boeing’s profits, which plunged 67 percent in the second quarter. And the manufacturing changes have led to billions in additional costs for the company.

The firm has delivered just over 1,000 of the planes since it was first introduced in 2004.

Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions under oath about alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile up for the former president whose house was raided by the FBI just two days ago.

Trump said he had “no choice” but to invoke the Fifth Amendment — which allows individuals to remain silent under questioning — during hours of deposition at the New York attorney general’s office in Manhattan.

“I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” Trump said in a statement.

“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”

After about six hours, Trump emerged from the office building where the deposition took place, waving through the closed windows of his vehicle at a small crowd of onlookers as his motorcade pulled away.

“A very professional meeting,” he wrote his Truth Social site. “Have a fantastic company with great assets, very little debt, and lots of CASH. Only in America!”

The deposition followed a Federal Bureau of Investigation search earlier this week at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, signaling an escalation of legal woes for the 45th president.

– ‘Pursue the facts’ –

Trump on Wednesday again took aim at the search, decrying what he called a lack of “moral and ethical bounds of decency.”

He said his team had complied with an official request to install an extra lock on a storage area at the residence.

“Then on Monday, without notification or warning, an army of agents broke into Mar-a-Lago, went to the same storage area, and ripped open the lock,” he said on Truth Social.

Trump had arrived in a convoy of cars guarded by Secret Service agents at the offices of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James suspects the Trump Organization fraudulently overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans, while understating them with tax authorities to pay less in taxes.

If James, a Democrat, finds any evidence of financial misconduct, she can sue the Trump Organization for damages but cannot file criminal charges, as it is a civil investigation.

“Attorney General Letitia James took part in the deposition during which Mr Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right,” her office said in a statement.

“Attorney General James will pursue the facts and the law wherever they may lead.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office, meanwhile, is running a parallel probe into the Trump Organization that does have the potential for criminal charges.

That investigation could be a reason Trump’s legal team advised him to remain silent, as his deposition could energize the case.

The brash billionaire, 76, did not mince words in attacking James, calling her a “failed politician who has intentionally colluded with others to carry out this phony years-long crusade.”

The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing. Trump and his eldest children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, had been due to start testifying under oath in July, but the depositions were postponed due to the death of the former president’s first wife.

– Possible White House return –

Trump’s myriad legal battles have the potential to complicate any bid for another run for the White House in 2024.

The FBI declined to provide a reason for the raid on Trump’s Florida home.

But US media outlets said agents were conducting a court-authorized search related to the potential mishandling of classified documents that had been sent to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House in January 2021.

White House officials say President Joe Biden did not have any advance notice about the raid and respected the independence of the Justice Department.

Since leaving office, Trump has remained the country’s most divisive figure, continuing to sow falsehoods that he won the 2020 presidential vote.

He also has faced legal scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.

Red-hot US inflation cooled slightly in July, which could open the door for the Federal Reserve to dial back its aggressive interest rate hikes while bringing a much-needed boost to President Joe Biden just months before crucial midterm elections.

Helped by the drop in energy costs dropping in recent weeks, the annual consumer price index dipped to 8.5 percent last month, the Labor Department reported Wednesday, lower than markets were projecting.

That 12-month increase soared 9.1 percent in June, the highest in 40 years, fueled by aggressive consumer spending of pandemic savings, global supply chain snarls, domestic worker shortages and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

But the big surprise was that the latest data showed the key inflation index was flat compared to June, a dramatic shift from the steep jump the prior month. Other than the drop in prices seen at the start of the pandemic, it was the first time monthly CPI was unchanged since June 2019.

“Today we received news that our economy had zero percent inflation in the month of July. Zero percent,” Biden said at a White House event.

“We are seeing signs that inflation may be beginning to moderate,” he said, although he acknowledged that the global challenges remain and the economy could face “additional headwinds.”

When volatile food and energy prices are excluded from the calculation, the so-called core CPI rate rose just 0.3 percent in the month — the smallest in four months — according to the report. But the annual increase remained stuck at the same level as June.

Soaring prices have squeezed family budgets — and by extension Biden’s popularity — with many costs still rising, especially food and housing.

Biden’s opponents accuse the president of precipitating the inflationary spike with a gigantic $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, enacted in March last year shortly after assuming office.

Republicans have renewed their criticism of Biden’s economic policy, warning that Sunday’s passage in the Senate of his massive climate and health care bill titled the “Inflation Reduction Act,” would do the opposite of its stated purpose.

But the president said his plan is working.

In addition to cooling inflation “jobs are booming” and wages are rising, he said. “That’s what happens when you build an economy from the bottom up from the middle out.”

“Our work is far from over… (but) the economic plan is working.”

– Devil in the details –

Still, the devil is in the details. 

Economists caution against taking too much solace from a single good report, or betting the Fed will ease up on its anti-inflation campaign.

The US central bank has increased borrowing costs four times this year, to a range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent, including two consecutive 0.75-point hikes.

Fed officials have made it clear that a third jumbo rate increase remains on the table at next month’s policy meeting.

Neel Kashkari, head of the Minneapolis Fed Bank, said while the latest data is welcome “this is just the first hint that maybe inflation is starting to move in the right direction.”

Policymakers are “far, far, far away from declaring victory,” he said at a conference Wednesday, and they remain committed to bringing inflation back down to the 2 percent goal.

But investors did not let the comments spoil their optimism. Wall Street shares soared, with the benchmark Dow gaining more than 500 points, even as economists say the Fed is likely to produce another big rate hike next month.

The question now facing Washington is whether it will be possible to bring inflation down without plunging the world’s largest economy into recession, after two quarters of economic contraction in the first half of the year.

Spending has remained resilient and the US enjoys a robust jobs market, which pushed the July unemployment rate to the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent. 

But that has a downside: There are still nearly two job openings for every available worker, and labor costs have risen sharply, which pushes wages up and fuels more inflation.

Rubeela Farooqi of High-Frequency Economics cautioned that “prices remain uncomfortably high.”

“Coupled with strength in job growth and wages, the data support the case for another aggressive rate hike in September,” she said in an analysis.