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Exports of Used Cars Aggravate Air Pollution, Finds New UN Report

A depleting supply of new Chrysler vehicles sit on a lot outside of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois, March 24, 2020. AFP Photo
A depleting supply of new Chrysler vehicles sit on a lot outside of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois, March 24, 2020. AFP Photo
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Exports of Used Cars Aggravate Air Pollution, Finds New UN Report

A depleting supply of new Chrysler vehicles sit on a lot outside of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois, March 24, 2020. AFP Photo
A depleting supply of new Chrysler vehicles sit on a lot outside of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois, March 24, 2020. AFP Photo

Millions of used vehicles exported from Europe, the United States and Japan to the developing world contribute significantly to air pollution, according to a report by the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) published this week.

The exported cars, vans and minibuses are of poor quality and as a result, hinder efforts to mitigate climate change, UNEP said in the report, based on an in-depth analysis of 146 countries.

"Over the years, developed countries have increasingly exported their used vehicles to developing countries. The lack of effective standards and regulation is resulting in the dumping of old, polluting and unsafe vehicles," said Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director.

According to the German News Agency, between 2015 and 2018, 14 million used light-duty vehicles were exported worldwide, showed the report. Some 80% went to low- and middle-income countries, with more than half going to Africa.

UNEP is calling on developed countries to stop exporting vehicles that fail environmental and safety inspections and are no longer considered roadworthy there.

African countries imported the largest number of used vehicles (40%) in the period studied, followed by countries in Eastern Europe (24%), Asia-Pacific (15%), the Middle East (12%) and Latin America (9%).

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Gilead's Breast Cancer Drug Fails to Meet Main Goal of Late-stage Study

Gilead Sciences Inc pharmaceutical company is seen in Oceanside, California, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
Gilead Sciences Inc pharmaceutical company is seen in Oceanside, California, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
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Gilead's Breast Cancer Drug Fails to Meet Main Goal of Late-stage Study

Gilead Sciences Inc pharmaceutical company is seen in Oceanside, California, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
Gilead Sciences Inc pharmaceutical company is seen in Oceanside, California, US, April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Gilead Sciences said on Friday its breast cancer drug Trodelvy did not significantly lower the risk of disease progression in patients when used as a first-line treatment, failing to meet the main goal of a late-stage study, Reuters reported.

Gilead said an early trend for extending overall survival, a key measure of treatment efficacy, was observed favoring patients treated with Trodelvy, compared to chemotherapy.

The data for overall survival, however, was not mature at the time of the primary analysis, the company said, adding that the study will continue to assess this secondary goal.

Trodelvy was being tested in patients with HR+/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, the most common subtype of the cancer, as a first-line treatment following hormone therapy.

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Dubai Hookah Maker AIR to Go Public in US

Smoking paraphernalia is seen during the "Expocannabis" fair on its opening day in Leganes, outside Madrid, January 26, 2007. REUTERS/Susana Vera
Smoking paraphernalia is seen during the "Expocannabis" fair on its opening day in Leganes, outside Madrid, January 26, 2007. REUTERS/Susana Vera
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Dubai Hookah Maker AIR to Go Public in US

Smoking paraphernalia is seen during the "Expocannabis" fair on its opening day in Leganes, outside Madrid, January 26, 2007. REUTERS/Susana Vera
Smoking paraphernalia is seen during the "Expocannabis" fair on its opening day in Leganes, outside Madrid, January 26, 2007. REUTERS/Susana Vera

Dubai's AIR, the owner of hookah brand Al Fakher, said on Friday it had agreed to go public in the US through a merger with blank-check firm Cantor Equity Partners III, in a deal valuing the combined company at $1.75 billion.

The special purpose acquisition deal comes as this unconventional route to the public markets has regained popularity in the United States after years of subdued activity, following poor share performance and regulatory roadblocks.

Hookah use has grown in the US in recent years as lounges and cafes offering flavored smoking become more common, frequented by younger consumers in urban areas.While the product is often marketed as a social or cultural activity, US health agencies continue to warn that hookah smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals found in cigarettes.

A SPAC is a shell firm that raises money through an IPO to merge with a private business and take it public, offering companies an alternative route to the market bypassing the longer and costlier traditional IPO process.

Dubai-based AIR said it generated $375 million in revenue and $150 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for its core products in 2024.

It has eight production facilities across the United Arab Emirates, the European Union and third-party partners, supporting more than 90 markets globally with established distribution networks, the company said.

Al Fakher, its most valuable business, makes flavored hookah and had 14 million consumers worldwide as of 2024.American financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald is the backer of the SPAC taking AIR public.

A total of 116 SPACs have completed initial public offerings so far this year, according to SPAC Research, compared with 57 in 2024.

The companies expect the deal to close in the first half of 2026, after which the combined entity, AIR Global Limited, will trade on the Nasdaq under the "AIIR" ticker symbol.

Varieties

James Bond Fantasist Jailed for 7 Years in UK for Trying to Spy for Russia

Actor Daniel Craig poses for photographers on the red carpet at the German premiere of the new James Bond 007 film "Spectre" in Berlin, Germany, October 28, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Daniel Craig poses for photographers on the red carpet at the German premiere of the new James Bond 007 film "Spectre" in Berlin, Germany, October 28, 2015. (Reuters)
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James Bond Fantasist Jailed for 7 Years in UK for Trying to Spy for Russia

Actor Daniel Craig poses for photographers on the red carpet at the German premiere of the new James Bond 007 film "Spectre" in Berlin, Germany, October 28, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Daniel Craig poses for photographers on the red carpet at the German premiere of the new James Bond 007 film "Spectre" in Berlin, Germany, October 28, 2015. (Reuters)

A British man who would "dream about being like James Bond" was jailed Friday for seven years after trying to spy for Russia.

Howard Phillips, 65, was found guilty in July for trying to pass information about former Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, who he knew, to two men who he believed were Russian intelligence agents. However, the ‘agents’ were undercover British intelligence agents, The AP news reported.

“You were prepared to betray your country for money,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Phillips at his sentencing hearing at Winchester Crown Court, in the south of England.

The judge said that Phillips had “a personality with narcissistic tendencies and an overblown sense of his own importance."

The trial heard that Phillips intended to assist Russian agents between the end of 2023 and May 2024 — Shapps was defense secretary between August 2023 and July 2024 when his Conservative Party was ousted from power and he lost his seat in Parliament at the general election.

Specifically, the trial heard how Phillips had tried to hand over Shapps’ contact details as well as the location where he kept his private plane to “facilitate the Russians in listening on British defense plans.”

The defendant’s ex-wife told the court that Phillips “would dream about being like James Bond,” and watched films about the British secret services because he was “infatuated with it.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Shapps expressed his shock at learning of Phillips’ activities. He recalled going to dinner at Phillips' home in 2002.

“What is unacceptable is one individual’s reckless behavior exposing my entire family to the extremely serious risks that come from a foreign intelligence service’s activities," he said.

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said the conviction sends “a clear message to anyone considering spying for or assisting Russia.”