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ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong military presence, the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power.

Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout would begin in January 2025. France has had up to 600 troops in Ivory Coast.

“We have decided on the concerted and organized withdrawal of French forces in Ivory Coast,” he said, adding that the military infantry battalion of Port Bouét that is run by the French army will be handed over to Ivorian troops.

Outtara’s announcement follows that of other leaders across West Africa, where France’s militaries are being asked to leave. Analysts have described the requests for French troops to leave Africa as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris.

France has suffered similar setbacks in several West African countries in recent years, including Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso, where French troops that have been on the ground for many years have been kicked out.

Several West African nations — including coup-hit Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — have recently asked the French to leave. Among them are also most recently Senegal, and Chad, considered France’s most stable and loyal partner in Africa.

The downscaling of military ties comes as France has been making efforts to revive its waning political and military influence on the continent by devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa.

France has now been kicked out of more than 70% of African countries where it had a troop presence since ending its colonial rule. The French remain only in Djibouti, with 1,500 soldiers, and Gabon, with 350 troops.

Analysts have described the developments as part of the wider structural transformation in the region’s engagement with Paris amid growing local sentiments against France, especially in coup-hit countries.

After expelling French troops, military leaders of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have moved closer to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel who have been accused of abuses against civilians.

However, the security situation has worsened in those countries, with increasing numbers of extremist attacks and civilian deaths from both armed groups and government forces.

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Ceremonies were held just before midnight Tuesday to mark Bulgaria’s and Romania’s full membership in Europe’s Schengen area, the culmination of years of negotiations by the Eastern European countries to join the ID check-free travel zone.

Identification checks at the land borders between Bulgaria and Romania and their neighboring European Union-member countries were officially ceased at midnight, providing travelers free access to the rest of the 27-member EU bloc. The two countries partially joined the Schengen area in March, but open travel was restricted to those arriving only by air or sea.

Late on Tuesday, the interior ministers of Bulgaria and Romania met at the Ruse-Giurgiu border crossing between the two countries to mark the opening of the frontier. Another short ceremony was held at a border crossing between Hungary and Romania with a meeting between Hungary’s national chief of police and the chief inspector of Romania’s border police.

The expansion of Schengen came after months of efforts to integrate Bulgaria and Romania into the zone by Hungary’s government as it held the six-month rotating presidency of the EU.

Some 1 million ethnic Hungarians live in the Transylvania region of Romania, a legacy of the partition of Hungary following World War I. Relations have been historically rocky between the two countries, but the opening of the border will ease travel and strengthen links between the regions.

The Schengen Area, one of the main achievements of the European project, was established in 1985 as an intergovernmental project between five EU countries — France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It has gradually expanded to become the largest free travel area in the world.

However, several Schengen member countries, including the Netherlands, Austria and Germany, this year reinstated some land border checks over concerns ranging from migration to security. Some EU officials warned the re-imposed checks could undermine the scheme’s goals.

Before Bulgaria and Romania’s partial admission, Schengen was comprised of 23 of the 27 EU member countries, along with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Around 3.5 million people cross an internal border each day, and more than 420 million people live within the Schengen area.

The two Balkan countries joined the EU in 2007 but were not integrated into the borderless zone until March, when border checks were lifted from maritime and air travel. Land border checks remained in place due to opposition, chiefly from Austria, over concerns that the two countries were not doing enough to prevent migrants from entering without authorization.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis earlier called Romania’s full membership in the Schengen area a “natural and necessary step” that will significantly reduce wait times at borders, lower logistical costs for businesses and attract foreign investors. Economists from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences calculated that with membership, the total positive financial effect for Bulgaria would amount to 800 million euro ($840 million) per year.

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(Reuters) – U.S. banks Citigroup and Bank of America said on Tuesday they are exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a group of global banks that have pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

They follow Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, which both left the alliance earlier this month.

Financial firms, historically criticized for their connections to the fossil fuel industry, have made efforts to incorporate net-zero standards more prominently into their operations. 

However, they have begun scaling back on some initiatives to avoid irking Republican policymakers who are opposed to limiting the financing of fossil fuels.

Citi said it had made progress toward its own net-zero goals and decided to leave the NZBA. 

BofA, in an emailed statement to Reuters, said: “We will continue to work with clients on this issue and meet their needs.”

The NZBA aims to bring down carbon emissions from the lending and investment portfolios of its members to zero on a net basis by 2050.

Last month, BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street were sued by Texas and 10 other Republican-led states, which said the large asset managers violated antitrust law through climate activism that reduced coal production and boosted energy prices.

(This story has been refiled to add dropped words in the quote in paragraph 6)

(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava, Disha Mishra and Harshita Meenaktshi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Leslie Adler)

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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s peso weakened nearly 23% this year to close the final day of trading at 20.82 pesos per U.S. dollar on Tuesday, the currency’s deepest drop against the greenback since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The peso’s volatile year kicked off with months of steady gains until the days following June’s general election, which swept the leftist coalition led by the ruling Morena party to a resounding victory in the presidential race as well as large congressional majorities.

Ahead of the election, the Mexican currency traded in April at about 16.26 pesos per dollar to reach a nine-year high.

The election win for Morena paved the way for passage of constitutional reforms in September, including a major overhaul of the judiciary that critics argue will undermine the independence of the courts in Latin America’s second-biggest economy.

The election of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in November exacerbated the peso’s rocky ride, amid his fresh tariff threats against Mexico, which sends around 80% of its exports to its northern neighbor.

Mexico’s main stock index also shed value during the year, dipping nearly 14% to close on Tuesday at 49,513 points, its steepest fall since 2018.

(Reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Rod Nickel)

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Stock indexes closed mostly lower on Wall Street on the final day of another record-setting year. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% Tuesday, but still managed to rack up a gain of 23.3% for the year, its second straight year with gains of more than 20%. The last time it had back-to-back yearly gains that big was 1998. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.9%. Big Tech stocks led this year’s rally, pushing the Nasdaq composite to a yearly gain of 28.6%. The Dow, which is far less weighted with tech, rose 12.9% for the year.

Value-seekers drove 2024’s retail trends and dead ends

Value was in vogue in 2024. Shoppers and restaurant patrons in the U.S. were choosy about where and how to spend their money as they wrestled with high housing and food prices. Well-heeled shoppers traded down to Walmart and Aldi. Diners opted for fast food or home cooking instead of sit-down restaurants. Department stores struggled as people shopped online or at less-expensive chains like H&M. The behavior shifts changed the buying and eating landscape. Consumer research company Coresight Research tracked 48 retail bankruptcies as of Dec. 20 compared with 25 last year. And at least 22 restaurant chains — including Red Lobster and TGI Fridays — filed for bankruptcy, the highest number since 2020.

In 2024, artificial intelligence was all about putting AI tools to work

Just over two years after the debut of ChatGPT, the world is getting a little savvier about what artificial intelligence technology can do for us and what it’s not so great at. The first 100 million or so people who experimented with ChatGPT upon its release two years ago actively sought out the chatbot, finding it amazingly helpful at some tasks or laughably mediocre at others. Now such generative AI technology is baked into an increasing number of technology services whether we’re looking for it or not — for instance, through the AI-generated answers in Google search results or new AI techniques in photo editing tools.

US and Boeing investigators examine the site of a deadly South Korean plane crash

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing have examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea. Authorities meanwhile are conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. The plane was seen having an engine trouble and preliminary examinations also say the pilots received a bird strike warning from the ground control center and issued a distress signal as well. But many experts say the landing gear issue was likely the main cause of the crash.

Small businesses brace themselves for potentially disruptive TikTok ban

A looming TikTok ban could affect the millions of small businesses that use the short-video social media app to grow their business. Though TikTok has been around only since 2016, small business owners are using the platform in a variety of ways, from growing a customer base to advertising and marketing, as well as selling goods directly from the site. The Justice Department ordered the app’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban by Jan. 19, citing security concerns. The Supreme Court will take up the matter in January.

US stock markets to remain closed in honor of Jimmy Carter on National Day of Mourning

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock markets will close on Thursday of next week in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, continuing a long-held Wall Street tradition in mourning the nation’s leaders. Both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq announced this week that they plan to close their equity and options markets on January 9 in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the 39th U.S. president and global humanitarian. Carter died on Sunday. He was 100 years old. The suspension of trading following the death of a U.S. president dates back years. According to the NYSE, for example, surviving records indicate that the first time the centuries-old exchange closed to honor a deceased president was likely in April 1865, following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

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By Curtis Williams

HOUSTON (Reuters) – U.S. natural gas demand from LNG plants hit a record on Tuesday, the last day of the year, climbing to 15.2 billion cubic feed (bcf) in a sign of a strong year ahead from the startup of two new gas-processing plants, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG showed.

U.S. natural gas demand for LNG plants is forecast to rise to 17.8 bcfd next year with the commissioning of Venture Global LNG’s 20 million tones per annum (MTPA) Plaquemines plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion in Texas.

Demand for natural gas by LNG export plants could spur higher production in the U.S. and increase prices at the country’s main gas exchange in Louisiana, called Henry Hub, according to analysts. Gas prices were up 48 cents in midday trading on Tuesday, at $3.94 per million cubic feet (mcf), according to LSEG data.

The U.S. is the world’s largest exporter of the superchilled gas and a major supplier to Europe and Asia. LNG exports and feedgas demand also tend to be higher in the cooler months in the Northern Hemisphere as it improves the plants efficiency.

Tuesday is the third time in two weeks that U.S. LNG feedgas demand has crossed 15 bcfd but the first time it has gotten to 15.2 bcf, according to LSEG data.

In December, Venture Global and Cheniere announced first LNG from their expansion projects with Venture Global’s Plaquemines plant making its first shipment to Germany.

U.S. gas demand for LNG is expected to increase to 20.3 bcfd in 2026 as the new plants ramp up output, and climb to 24.2 bcfd in 2028 according to US EIA data. The gains will follow the start of Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture of QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil being constructed on the Texas coast with first gas due in late 2025 or early 2026.

(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)

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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department intends to release guidance on how to access tax credits for hydrogen production under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act later this week, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The long-awaited guidance will provide a pathway for hydrogen produced using nuclear power to access the credits, the sources told Reuters, though the details of that plan were not immediately clear.

The question of whether existing nuclear plants should be eligible for the hydrogen subsidy has been a major sticking point for the rule, with environmentalists saying that only hydrogen produced with new clean energy sources should be granted the perks.

One of the sources said the guidance would likely be released on Friday.

A spokesperson said the Treasury Department was working to finalize the guidance and that the agency was considering various requests related to the rules.

“Finalizing rules that will help scale the clean hydrogen industry while implementing the environmental safeguards established in the law remains a top priority for Treasury,” said spokesperson Michael Martinez. “In that process, we are carefully considering the numerous comments we have received on the proposed regulations.”

In December 2023, the Treasury Department unveiled its proposed rules governing how energy companies would qualify for the credits under the act.

In its draft guidance, the agency said the credit would range from 60 cents to $3 per kilogram and be based on the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from the power-generating source used in hydrogen production.

The country’s producers of nuclear power, which is virtually carbon free, have since lobbied the Biden administration to include existing reactors in the program.

The level of any inclusion of nuclear power in the final rules will determine whether it’s commercially viable to invest in hydrogen production, one source said.

Some possible guidelines could include a limit on the number of credit-qualifying megawatts allowed from existing nuclear power plants used in hydrogen production, one source said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Laila Kearney and Nichola Groom; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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BOSTON (AP) — The Dartmouth men’s basketball team on Tuesday dropped its attempt to unionize, abruptly ending a push to become the first college athletes to bargain for a contract in order to avoid a potentially damaging precedent from a National Labor Relations Board that soon will be controlled by Republicans.

Service Employees International Union Local 560 filed a request to withdraw the NLRB petition rather than take its chances with an unfriendly labor board likely to take over in the new presidential administration. The board’s regional director approved the request later Tuesday.

“While our strategy is shifting, we will continue to advocate for just compensation, adequate health coverage, and safe working conditions for varsity athletes at Dartmouth,” local president Chris Peck said in a statement that called collective bargaining “the only viable pathway to address issues” facing college athletics today.

Although the NCAA considers players “student-athletes,” the Dartmouth players petitioned the labor board in 2023 for the right to unionize, saying the New Hampshire school exercised so much control over their schedules and working conditions that they met the legal definition of employees. A regional official agreed, and the team voted 13-2 in March to join SEIU Local 560, which already represents some Dartmouth workers.

The school said it would refuse to bargain with the players, a strategy designed to force the case into federal court. Before sitting down at the bargaining table, the players would need favorable decisions from an NLRB that currently has two openings that will be filled by President-elect Donald Trump after his Jan. 20 inauguration.

In a statement, the school maintained that the decision to classify the players as employees was “incorrect and not supported by legal precedent.”

“Dartmouth has built productive relationships with the unions that are part of our campus community and have deep respect for our 1,500 union colleagues. In this isolated instance, however, we did not believe unionization was appropriate,” the school said. “We will continue to support our men’s basketball team and all our students in their athletic endeavors which complement and enhance their academic experience at Dartmouth.”

Cade Haskins and Romeo Myrthil, the two Dartmouth players who initiated the union effort, did not immediately respond to text messages from The Associated Press seeking comment. But the union praised them for their efforts.

“By filing a request to withdraw our petition today, we seek to preserve the precedent set by this exceptional group of young people on the men’s varsity basketball team,” Peck said. “They have pushed the conversation on employment and collective bargaining in college sports forward and made history by being classified as employees, winning their union election 13-2, and becoming the first certified bargaining unit of college athletes in the country.”

The Dartmouth case threatened to upend the NCAA’s amateur model, in which players remain unpaid even as college sports have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry that richly rewards coaches and schools.

Recent court decisions have chipped away at that framework, with players now allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness and earn a still-limited stipend for living expenses beyond the cost of attendance. The NCAA has been lobbying Congress to preserve the amateur model, an approach that becomes more likely with Republican control.

Both sides agree that the current paradigm is in jeopardy.

A college athletes union would be unprecedented in American sports. A previous attempt to unionize the Northwestern football team failed because opponents in the Big Ten Conference include public schools that aren’t under the jurisdiction of the NLRB. A separate NLRB complaint is asking that football and basketball players at Southern California be deemed employees of their school, the Pac-12 conference and the NCAA.

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Jimmy Golen covers sports and the law for The Associated Press.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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BEIJING (Reuters) – Tesla will fix software in 77,650 China-made Model 3 and Model Y cars over safety hazards, China’s market regulator said on Tuesday.

The action, due to software issues that may fail to display the monitored tyre pressure immediately after the vehicle starts, is described as a product recall under Chinese regulations, the regulator said. It was not immediately clear if drivers might need, or would be eligible, to return vehicles to Tesla for refunds.

The U.S. electric vehicle maker is also recalling 63 imported Model S and Model X cars in China over issues with the driver’s frontal airbag.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh)

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By Naveen Thukral and Florence Tan

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Cocoa and coffee are poised to close 2024 as the biggest gainers among commodities for a second year on a global supply deficit, while steel-making coal will end as the worst performer, hit by slow growth in China.

Looking ahead, global trade tensions are likely to dominate the commodities landscape in 2025 as Donald Trump returns to the White House threatening hefty tariffs, analysts said.

A strong dollar and gold’s appeal as a safe haven for investors are likely to support precious metals prices, while ample supply could depress oil for a third year, they added.

In bad news for chocolate lovers, cocoa nearly tripled in price over 2024, far outpacing gains in other commodities. It hit a record high of $12,931 a metric ton in New York earlier this month on forecasts of lower supply for a fourth successive season in West Africa following dry weather.

“The softs sector, led by cocoa and coffee, has been the main winner amid adverse weather in key growing regions, highlighting the risk to prices when products like these are produced and sourced from relatively small geographical areas,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

Top cocoa producers Ivory Coast and Ghana have suffered crop losses due to adverse weather, bean disease, smuggling and reduced plantations in favour of illegal gold mining.

Dryness has strained coffee supplies as well. ICE Arabica coffee prices soared to their highest in more than 40 years amid fears that severe drought earlier this year damaged the upcoming crop in top producer Brazil.

CHINA GROWTH WORRIES HIT OIL, IRON ORE

Crude oil and bulk metals faced headwinds in 2024 as China, the world’s second-biggest economy and top commodities buyer, struggled mainly due to a property crisis.

Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude could post a third consecutive annual decline in 2025 as supply outstrips a rebound in demand growth, analysts said, although Trump’s policies on major producers Russia and Iran could curb supply.

Spare capacity in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached an unprecedented 5 million barrels per day (bpd), analysts estimated, with the group having extended production cuts to March.

“The bleak inventory path next year suggests that OPEC+ will be challenged to bring back barrels into the market,” Harry Tchilinguirian, head of research at Onyx Capital Group, said in a note.

Iron ore prices in China recouped some losses in recent months but are still headed for a 15% decline in 2024. Prices could fall again next year as iron ore supply grows and Chinese steel demand falls, analysts said, despite Beijing’s stimulus measures.

“We expect the increase in iron ore supply from major miners will be higher than that in 2024, but steel output in China will likely slide,” Pei Hao, senior analyst at brokerage Freight Investor Services, said, forecasting an average price of $100 a ton in 2025, down from an average of $110 in 2024.

Gold and silver rose more than 25% in 2024 and could climb further in the year ahead depending on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts and Trump’s tariff, tax and foreign policies, analysts said.

“Gold is the standout for us in 2025,” ING’s head of commodity research Warren Patterson said, adding that strong gold purchases by central banks will support demand.

Copper and aluminium prices are set to end 2024 higher, driven by tight supplies, the energy transition and hopes that China’s stimulus measures will boost demand.

PALM OIL, RUBBER AND GRAINS

For agricultural products, Malaysian palm oil futures jumped around 20% in 2024, snapping two consecutive years of losses, lifted by Indonesia’s biodiesel mandate and adverse weather in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Crop-threatening weather also drove a 42% gain in Tokyo rubber futures.

In contrast, soybeans, corn and wheat were in plentiful supply, all on track for losses in 2024. However, wheat prices could find some support in 2025 as warmer weather in Russia, the biggest exporter, threatens to reduce output.

Top soybean exporter Brazil is poised to deliver record supplies in 2025, positioning it to meet a rise in Chinese demand if a Washington-Beijing trade war erupts.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral, Florence Tan and Gabrielle Ng in Singapore; Additional reporting by Amy Lv in Beijing, Violet Li in Shanghai, Ashitha Shivaprasad and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru and Ashley Tang in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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