Category: 3. Business

By&nbspAP with Eleanor Butler

Published on
17/11/2025 – 8:19 GMT+1

Japan’s economy sank at an annualised rate of 1.8% in the July to September period, government data showed on Monday, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs sent the nation’s exports spiralling.

The fall in the annualised rate was still smaller than the 0.6% drop that the market had expected.

On a quarter-by-quarter basis, Japan’s GDP, meaning the total value of a nation’s goods and services, slipped 0.4%. That marked the first contraction in six quarters.

A big decline during the quarter came in exports, which were 1.2% down from the previous quarter.

Where possible, some businesses sped up shipments to beat the tariff deadline, inflating some of the earlier data for exports.

On an annualised basis, exports dropped 4.5% in the three months through September.

Imports for the third quarter slipped 0.1%, while private consumption edged up 0.1% during the quarter.

Tariffs are a major blow to Japan’s export-reliant economy, led by powerful automakers like Toyota Motor Corp., although such manufacturers have over the years moved production abroad to avoid the brunt of tariffs.

The US now imposes a 15% tariff on nearly all Japanese imports, down from an earlier rate of 25%.

The new GDP data comes as a challenge for new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took on the role in October.

Takaichi is already contending with tensions between Japan and China related to disagreements over Taiwan. Earlier this month, the prime minister said that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked the self-governing island, which Beijing views as part of its territory.

Chinese and Japanese officials are expected to hold talks on Tuesday.

Baker McKenzie Switzerland acted as Swiss counsel to Schulthess Maschinen AG in relation to the Swiss legal aspects of financing its acquisition of Armstrong France SAS, a leader in the sale, rental and servicing of laundry equipment in France.

The Baker McKenzie team was led by Markus Wolf (partner, Banking & Finance) and included Tatiana Ayranova (senior associate, Banking & Finance) and Sadia Raja (trainee lawyer, Banking & Finance).

 

On 12 November 2025, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) Civil and Commercial Court delivered a landmark judgment in the case of Jonathan David Sheppard v Jillion LLC. The case has attracted significant attention due to the citation of ‘fake cases’ in submissions to the Court. The judgment not only addresses the specific conduct in question but also sets out broader guidance for legal professionals and clients alike, particularly regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and secondary sources in legal research.

Access the judgment

Background: the facts of the case

The dispute arose from an employment claim brought by Jonathan David Sheppard against Jillion LLC. During the proceedings, the defendant’s legal representative, an unnamed Dubai-based lawyer, submitted an application for an extension of time to file a defence. In support of the application, the lawyer cited several apparent cases, including “Al Khor International School v. Gulf Contracting Co. (QFC 2022)” and “Doha Bank v. KPMG (QFC App 2019)”.  

However, when the Court Registry ordered the legal representative to provide copies of the judgements, it became apparent that the cases did not exist. The lawyer initially claimed difficulty accessing the judgments on the Court’s website but later admitted, via a witness statement, that the references were included in error due to reliance on secondary sources.

The Court’s findings

The QFC Court concluded the lawyer’s conduct amounted to a breach of Article 35.2 of the Rules and Procedures of the Civil and Commercial Court, which prohibits providing false or misleading information to the Court. The Court determined that the conduct was intentional because the lawyer had persisted in referencing the fake cases even after being challenged by the Registry. The Court found the lawyer had committed a contempt of court.

However, the Court decided not to impose a penal sanction on the lawyer. Instead, it accepted the lawyer’s apology and determined that the publication of the judgment itself would serve as a sufficient deterrent to future conduct of this kind. The Court also chose to anonymise the lawyer’s identity, noting that public identification would be a disproportionately harsh penalty given the size of the legal profession practicing in the GCC.

The use of AI in litigation

The judgment situates the problem of ‘fake cases’ within a global context. The Court referred to the widely publicised US case of Mata v Avianca Inc (2023), where lawyers relied on AI-generated, non-existent cases in court submissions. Similar issues have arisen in England and Wales, Canada, and Australia, prompting courts and regulators to issue guidance on the responsible use of AI and the necessity of verifying legal authorities.

The QFC Court acknowledged that AI and digital tools can enhance legal research, reducing costs and increasing efficiency. However, it emphasised that lawyers have a professional duty to verify the accuracy of any authorities cited, whether found via AI, internet searches, or traditional research methods.

Practical implications for legal practitioners

• The key lesson from this case is the absolute necessity for lawyers to verify the existence and content of any case law or authority cited in court.
• Reliance on secondary sources, incomplete databases, or AI-generated content without proper verification is not acceptable and may result in findings of contempt or professional misconduct.
• The QFC Court announced that a draft Practice Direction would be published alongside the judgment. This Practice Direction will require all advocates before the Court to verify any case or authority cited, with sanctions, including public identification and disgrace, for breaches.
• The submission of fake cases can have serious consequences, not only for the lawyers involved but also for their clients. Courts may disregard arguments based on non-existent authorities, potentially weakening a client’s position.

Final thoughts

The judgment in Jonathan David Sheppard v Jillion LLC serves as a timely warning to the legal profession and clients alike. The use of fake cases, whether intentional or through careless reliance on AI and secondary sources, will not be tolerated by the QFC Court. Legal practitioners must ensure that all authorities cited are genuine and properly verified.

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Geely Automobile Net Profit Rises Sharply on Robust Sales

China’s second-largest electric-vehicle maker reported a rise in its net profit supported by strong sales with 76,100 vehicles sold in the third quarter, up 43% from the previous year.

—-

Tesla Wants Its American Cars to Be Built Without Any Chinese Parts

This year’s U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports pushed the EV maker to accelerate its strategy of cutting China-made components out of its U.S. production.

—-

Korean Conglomerates Pledge Billions in Domestic Investments

Samsung Electronics said it and its affiliates will invest more than $300 billion over the next five years.

—-

Layoff Tactics Keep Changing, and the Blunders Keep Coming

Amazon informed staffers via a text-email combo. Target asked them to stay home. Does any of it make job cuts less painful?

—-

Nvidia Helped Spark the AI Rally. Its Earnings Could Revive It.

The chip maker blew the AI trade wide open in the spring of 2023. It might need to do it again.

—-

Meta Opens Pop-Up Stores to Build Buzz for Its AI Glasses

The stores, in New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, have coffee stations and full-length mirrors for customers to take selfies in their Ray-Bans.

—-

Disney and YouTube TV Reach Deal, Ending 15-Day Standoff

ESPN, ABC and other Disney networks return to roughly 10 million YouTube TV customers.

—-

AIG Hit by More Executive Churn as Incoming President Will No Longer Join

Former Lloyd’s executive John Neal was recently hired to fill in as AIG’s No. 2. He was slated to start in two weeks.

—-

Walmart Picks Insider to Take Over as Next CEO

Doug McMillon is handing the top job to John Furner, who spent six years running the U.S. business.

—-

China-U.S. Robotaxi Race Kicks off in U.K.

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car company, has partnered Uber-backed ride-hailing company Moove to enter the U.K. market next year.

—-

JBS Boosts Ground Beef, Wagyu Steak Production to Stem Beef Losses

Meatpackers like JBS and Tyson Foods are being squeezed by the lowest U.S. cattle supply since the 1950s. It is driving their beef costs to record levels, and leading to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as a result.

—-

Purdue Pharma Wins Court Approval for $7.4 Billion Opioid Settlement

The move clears a path for the OxyContin maker to exit its six-year bankruptcy and resolve mass lawsuits.

—-

Charlie Javice Billed Hotels and Cellulite Butter as Legal Fees, JPMorgan Says

JPMorgan is seeking to get out of paying her and a co-executive’s legal defense, which has cost more than $142 million.

—-

Enbridge $1.4 Billion Project Aims to Boost Canadian Oil Flow to U.S. Refineries

Pipeline operator Enbridge will push ahead with a $1.4 billion expansion of its core network to boost deliveries of Canadian heavy oil and reach key refining markets in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast.

—-

BHP Liable for Deadly Brazilian Dam Disaster, Court Rules

The ruling potentially exposes the mining company to billions of dollars in compensation claims.

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  November 17, 2025 01:15 ET (06:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Artificial intelligence (AI)
initiatives have come thick and fast in the travel industry over the course of 2025.

Consumer-facing solutions covering all parts of the traveler experience and B2B tools helping companies show-up on the AI platforms are all vying for attention.

In the background, travel
technology providers are scrabbling to create solutions to help travel brands drive
efficiency as well as be seen on AI platforms

With consumers getting more comfortable using the technology for trip planning, the pace of experimentation
is unlikely to let up. Phocuswright Research’s U.S. Consumer Travel report revealed
48% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z are more or much more comfortable with using
AI to help them plan trips compared to a year ago.

In its latest research, “How
AI is reshaping every step of the traveler journey,” Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH) has
laid out some of the most interesting use cases
announced so far across eight stages. The study looks at recent AI developments
across stages, including inspiration and planning, booking and purchase, in-flight experience
and in-destination activities.

Developments from online
giants, including Expedia with its AI-powered Trip Matching feature and
Booking.com using AI to gain a better view of traveler intent, often grab the
most headlines. 

The two companies are also among
the first partners named to have apps in the recently announced ChatGPT
initiative.

Beyond the U.S., online travel agencies (OTAs) such as MakeMyTrip and Trip.com Group have also unveiled their own initiatives. And many travel startups and smaller companies, including many in
PhocusWire’s Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2026 and some of the class of 2025,
also have skin in the game.

In the planning and inspiration
stage, LIH also calls out large and small players: AI trip planner Mindtrip, for
example, alongside Google, which announced earlier this year that it is using
Gemini to identify location place names from screenshots.

There is no shortage of developments
in the travel booking stage. LIH highlights a move from Indian airline Indigo,
which enables travelers to search, book and manage flights within a chat interface,
while Turkish Airlines has announced a Modern Context Protocol (MCP) server,
which enables AI platforms to access live airline data. Another worth mentioning is Kiwi’s development of an MCP server enabling AI assistants to trawl its
platform for flights.

For the airport experience, Lufthansa
highlights use cases for helping passengers during disruptions. United Airlines,
for example, provides personalized messages via text or email to passengers
during disruptions. There are also initiatives to get passengers through the
airport terminal more efficiently, such as AI-powered walk-through security scanners
at Frankfurt Airport.

Beyond consumer developments

While the Lufthansa study
looks at recent traveler-facing initiatives, there have also been many
announcements around B2B developments. Airlines are increasingly using AI for
route and aircraft optimization and to help them recover operations more
efficiently during disruptions.

United has also announced an
investment in and collaboration with voice and conversation AI specialist AiOla
with what it has described as “limitless applications.” Examples include safety
reporting and maintenance.

Further
recent examples of more behind the scenes developments include Apaleo’s launch
of an MCP server enabling AI agents to perform tasks across hotel operations, including
checking availability and modifying reservations.

More
recently, Boom unveiled its Business Agentic Manager for the short-term rental
industry. The agent makes decisions across functions such as marketing, guest
communications and financial reporting.

And,
Mirai has unveiled Sarai, enabling hotels to offer guests natural language
search and booking in text and voice in numerous spoken and written languages. The
initiative is part of a wider strategy to provide a “direct-sales ecosystem,”
according to the company.

It’s
too early to predict who might win the AI race in travel. Many executives are
concerned about the power the OTAs wield and the deals they have struck with AI
platforms. Others feel more confident that the companies who own the inventory, such as airlines and hotels, could have the upper hand.

What
is clearer is that the rapid pace of innovation will not subside; new models will emerge, and
everyone from supplier-direct to intermediaries and metasearch somewhere in
between will be disrupted.    

“ The capability curve: Building the next generation digital enterprise” report reveals how to bridge worker optimism and leadership caution by aligning systems, governance and human oversight to scale AI responsibly to unlock enterprise value.

ZURICH, Nov. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Akkodis, a global digital engineering consulting company, today announced the release of its latest report, The capability curve: Building the next generation digital enterprise. Drawing on insights from more than 2,000 business leaders (including 500 CTOs) and 37,500 workers worldwide, the report explores how leaders and employees can co-create AI-confident enterprises that combine human oversight with scalable, responsible AI systems.

The report reveals a defining paradox: while workers are growing more confident in their ability to work with AI, many leaders remain cautious about scaling, governance, and skills.

“AI transformation isn’t just about technology—it’s about people, trust, structure and shared capability,” said Jo Debecker, President and CEO, Akkodis. “This report shows that optimism from the workforce must be matched with system-level confidence from leadership. That’s how enterprises turn experimentation into enduring performance.”

Key findings

• Confidence gap: 75% of workers say their leaders have sufficient AI knowledge (up from 46% in 2024), while only 62% of leaders are confident in their AI implementation strategies—a 20-point decline from last year.
• Capability challenge: CTOs cite skills gaps as their biggest barrier to transformation, yet just 20% use technology to track or support employee skill growth.
• Productivity and purpose: Workers report saving two hours per day through AI—time reinvested into creativity and strategy—signalling real productivity potential that leaders aim to embed sustainably across enterprise systems.
• Resilient scaling: 57% of CTOs expect AI to reduce workforce size over the next five years, but 59% plan to redeploy employees internally, underscoring a shift toward sustainable workforce adaptation.

From insight to action

The report outlines six actions to build AI-confident enterprises:

1. Turn optimism into alignment
2. Redesign skills as a partnership
3. Elevate AI as a leadership tool
4. Embed trust in hybrid workflows
5. Scale systems with confidence
6. Build a culture of shared accountability

By following these actions, organizations embed humans in the loop at every stage of AI adoption. This is the essence of an AI-confident enterprise and the next frontier of digital transformation.

Bridging the human and technical divide

Case studies featured in the report demonstrate how organizations are embedding AI into real-world operations—from healthcare manufacturers optimizing supply and demand in seconds to engineering teams connecting digital twins and model-based systems for traceable, scalable innovation.

Together, these examples illustrate the report’s central theme: the future of digital transformation depends on technology amplifying human potential and capability, rather than replacing it.

This report was developed from three major studies—Adecco Group’s Global Workforce of the Future and Business Leaders 2025 reports (Humanity at work: How to thrive in the AI era and Leading in the Age of AI: Expectations versus reality), along with Akkodis’ 2025 What CTOs Think: Using digital transformation to scale skills and unlock enterprise potential.

“The capability curve: Building the next digital enterprise” report is available here.

Editor Notes:

The comprehensive recommendations and actions can be found on page 14 of the report.

Media contacts

Anne Friedrich
SVP, Global Head of Communications, Akkodis
E. [email protected]

Lisa Bushka
VP, External Communications, Akkodis
E. [email protected]

About Akkodis 

Akkodis is a global digital engineering consulting company that enables organizations to innovate and accelerate by applying technology to redefine how processes and products are developed, powered and optimized. With deep expertise across AI, data, cloud, edge and software engineering, we combine technology and talent to deliver end-to-end solutions, from strategy and consulting to talent development and implementation. Our commitment to Akkodis Intelligence helps businesses connect the exponential power of technology with the irreplaceable strengths of human thinking and collaboration. Part of the Adecco Group and headquartered in Switzerland, Akkodis brings together 50,000 engineers and tech consultants in over 30 countries with services that span Consulting, Talent, Solutions, and Academy. With a cross-sector view and strong delivery capabilities, Akkodis empowers businesses to solve complex challenges and achieve sustainable impact. akkodis.com | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook| X 

About the Adecco Group
The Adecco Group is the world’s leading talent company. Our purpose is making the future work for everyone. Through our three global business units – Adecco, Akkodis and LHH – across 60 countries, we enable sustainable and lifelong employability for individuals, deliver digital and engineering consulting solutions to power transformation and empower organisations to optimise their workforces. The Adecco Group leads by example and is committed to an inclusive culture, fostering sustainable employability, and supporting resilient economies and communities. The Adecco Group AG is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN). www.adeccogroup.com

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2823671/The_Addeco_Group_Capability_Curve.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2823670/Akkodis_Logo.jpg

By Kimberley Kao and Jihye Lee

  South Korean technology stocks rose after the nation's largest conglomerates pledged billions of dollars in new domestic investments, in a push to shore up the country's manufacturing base as Seoul works to ease trade frictions with Washington. 

  Shares of Samsung rose more than 3% as of midday on Monday and SK Hynix rose 7%. LG Electronics traded 1.2% higher, HD Hyundai rose 5.6%, while Hyundai Motor edged 0.1% lower. Shares of Hanwha Group rose 2.0%. 

  The conglomerates' announcements come after South Korea struck a trade deal with the U.S. last month and committed to investing $350 billion in U.S. industries as part of the agreement. 

  Samsung Electronics unveiled the biggest investment plan, saying it and its affiliates will invest 450 trillion Korean won, equivalent to $310.66 billion, nationwide over the next five years. The plan includes spending on AI data centers, research and development, as well as a new chip production line in Pyeongtaek, scheduled to begin full-scale operations in 2028. 

  Hyundai Motor Group committed to investments of 125.2 trillion won over the same period, with funds allocated to robotics, autonomous driving and setting up dedicated electric-vehicle production facilities. 

  Hyundai Motor Group Chair Chung Euisun, speaking at a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday, said the company is preparing for the impact of U.S. trade measures. 

  "We're well aware of the U.S. tariff rate of 15% and how this can lead to a drop in exports as well as weighing on domestic productivity," Chung said at the meeting. 

  "We plan to diversify export regions, expand exports from domestic plants, and--via a new EV-dedicated domestic plant--more than double vehicle exports by 2030," he said. 

  LG said it plans to invest around 100 trillion won over the next five years, with 60% directed toward technology development and expansion for the materials, components and equipment segments. 

  SK Group reiterated its earlier pledge to invest about 128 trillion won through 2028, noting a rise in demand for memory chips and rapid process upgrades driving up investment needs. 

  SK Group Chief Executive Chey Tae-won said SK's planned fab in Yongin will require roughly 500 trillion won over time, and that the pace of injecting capital will depend on market demand. 

  "It's difficult to estimate the exact scope for now... but what we can say is that our range of capability in investment is significantly large, and we plan on allocating closely aligned with demand trends," Chey said. 

  Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com and Jihye Lee at jihye.lee@wsj.com 

  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  November 17, 2025 00:25 ET (05:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.