Tausi Insider

A pedestrian walks past a shop in Paris, on Nov. 25. EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images Europe’s retailers are hoping Black Friday discount day will get shoppers spending, though it is taking place against a backdrop of a worsening cost-of-living crisis and the distraction of the soccer World Cup. Retailers across Europe fear the overall Christmas trading season could be the worst in at least a decade as shoppers cut back, while the costs of doing business show no sign of abating, squeezing profit margins. Double-digit inflation has dented consumers’ purchasing power and their confidence is also at or close to the gloomiest on record as soaring energy bills add to the spiralling cost of living. But to help budget their finances, consumers have begun their Christmas shopping early this year and many are still shopping on Black Friday. Some consumers may, however, have other priorities, with Wales, England, the Netherlands and Poland all in action on Friday at the World Cup. Britons will...

The Cobre Panama copper mine in Donoso, Panama. Abraham Teran/The Associated Press Panama says it has no intention of seizing the Cobre Panama mine from First Quantum Minerals Ltd., FM-T despite excoriating the Canadian copper company for allegedly misrepresenting the tenor of their talks. Vancouver-based First Quantum and Panama have toiled for more than a year to try to come up with a new tax and royalties contract for the mine. Talks broke down last month, at which point Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo ordered the mine to cease operations. Other Canadian miners have seen their assets expropriated after clashing with foreign governments, including Centerra Gold Inc. in 2021. Its flagship Kumtor mine was nationalized by the Kyrgyz Republic. But there appears to be almost no chance of that happening in this case. “At no point has the government considered, or will it consider, expropriating any mine,” Federico Alfaro, Panama’s Minister of Commerce and Industries, said in an i...