By Adriaan du Toit | Elizabeth Bakarich, CFA | Christian DiClementi

The rise of artificial intelligence could redefine leaders and laggards in emerging markets.

Artificial intelligence (AI) leadership is no longer a developed-market monopoly. Emerging markets (EM) now have their

The operator of a Village Inn restaurant in Oldsmar, Florida, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after reporting more than $554,000 in liabilities, according to court filings obtained by FOX Business.

VI Oldsmar LLC filed its Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida on Sept. 18, electing to proceed under Subchapter V, which is a streamlined bankruptcy process for qualifying small businesses.

Court filings show the company listed about $72,335 in assets and $554,076 in liabilities, with between one and 49 creditors.

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Its assets included about $5,235 in cash, $15,000 in food and paper inventory, $50,000 in kitchen equipment and roughly $2,100 in office furniture and equipment.

The company’s largest creditors include 3682 JAGS LLC, which is owed $250,000, the Florida Department of Revenue at $120,400, the Internal Revenue Service at $78,500, US Foods at roughly $40,301 and Sysco at $30,000, according to court filings.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, the franchisee has struggled with the lingering effects of the 2024 hurricanes that struck the Tampa Bay region, along with declining restaurant sales and rising operating costs.

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The Oldsmar restaurant remains open and has no plans to close, an employee at the location told The Street on Tuesday.

The Oldsmar filing marks the fifth Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Village Inn franchisees operated by managing member Lloyd D. Lehan IV since June, according to The Street.

The latest filing follows Bay Pines Group LLC’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition last month, court filings show. 

Bay Pines Group, which also is owned by Lehan, operates the Village Inn on Bay Pines Boulevard in Seminole, Florida, The Street reported.

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Village Inn, which was founded in Denver in 1958 as Village Inn Pancake House, now operates more than 100 company-owned and franchised restaurants across several states, including Colorado, Florida, Texas and Arizona, according to its website.

Village Inn, franchise operator Lloyd D. Lehan IV and the Oldsmar restaurant could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

Quantum computing could give the U.S. and its allies a new tool in their effort to reduce reliance on China for critical rare earth elements, with one technology company betting the emerging technology can make extracting and processing limited Western supplies more efficient.

Pasqal is partnering with USA Rare Earth and Riven Systems to explore how quantum computing, artificial intelligence and rapid chemical testing can improve the separation and processing of rare earth elements.

Pasqal CEO Wasiq Bokhari told FOX Business that the goal is essentially to get more usable rare earth material out of the resources already available outside China.

China, Bokhari explained, has significant control over global rare-earth supply and processing, while the U.S. and its allies are seeking to develop alternative supply chains for materials used in magnets, electronics, defense systems and advanced manufacturing.

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“When we have smaller reserves, then it becomes even more important to be more efficient at finding that element,” he said.

Because rare earth elements generally aren’t sitting underground by themselves, and are mixed with other minerals, chemically separating them can be a complicated process.

Bokhari said quantum computing can model the molecules and compounds containing rare earths at a deeper level, potentially helping researchers identify properties that can be exploited to separate the valuable material more efficiently.

“What we can do is we can create models of the molecules or the compounds that these rare earth elements occur in… be able to identify their specific properties that we can exploit to then separate them more effectively from other things that are not so rare,” he said.

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Pasqal is partnering with USA Rare Earth, which brings rare-earth resources and processing expertise to the project, and Riven Systems, which specializes in rapid chemical experimentation and testing.

Bokhari said the effort highlights how the U.S. and its allies can combine advanced technologies to reduce their dependence on foreign-controlled critical supply chains.

The implications could extend well beyond mines and processing facilities, Bokhari said, because rare earths are used in critical technologies ranging from defense systems to advanced electronics.

“There are these elements, these specific materials, and currently we have to buy them from China. Now suppose if we get into a sensitive situation in which we still need those materials, but now somebody else has control over them,” he said.

“They can constrict supply, which means we will not have access to those materials for our defense-related or non-defense-related applications,” he continued.

“During the COVID era, we saw what collapse of a supply chain could do globally. This is even more important because these are highly leveraged supply chains and going into very high-value components.”

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Even relatively small improvements at individual stages of the separation process could compound into significantly greater yields, Bokhari said.

“For every ton of rock that I put in, I want to get certain amounts of rare earth elements. And if I can improve that by a factor of two, factor of three, factor of 10, that matters a lot.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
PSQL	PASQAL HOLDING SA	6.99	-0.35	-4.77%

While traditional computers are superb at many tasks, Bokhari said quantum systems can have advantages when modeling materials, chemicals and molecules or searching through enormous numbers of possible solutions.

Bokhari compared quantum computing today to artificial intelligence (AI) before ChatGPT and other generative AI tools pushed the technology into mainstream consciousness.

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“It was working under the radar for the longest time,” he explained. “And then suddenly, there’s this aha moment, ‘Oh, this has something that I can relate to.’”

“I would say as a comparison, quantum computing is only a few years behind,” he added. “I think we will see in terms of the kind of impact we can generate from quantum computing, it is the same size of impact that you will see from Gen AI. We’re just a few years behind.”

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Bokhari pushed back on the perception that practical quantum computing remains the stuff of science fiction.

“Please don’t think of quantum computing as something that might be in the future. For Pasqal, it is here today,” Bokhari said. “In the end, it’s solving real business problems today.”

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BUENOS AIRES — Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni revealed he personally pushed to bring Lionel Messi back for one final appearance with the national team, arranging a farewell match against Benin at Monumental Stadium on October 6, despite Messi having already announced his international retirement following this summer’s World Cup.

Messi announced his retirement from international football after Argentina’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup final, closing out a career with the national team that stands as one of the most decorated in the sport’s history. He retires as Argentina’s all-time leading appearance-maker with 207 caps and its all-time leading scorer with 125 goals, while having captained the team to the 2022 World Cup title and two Copa America championships.

Messi’s World Cup record stands alone across several statistical categories. The 39-year-old has played more World Cup games, 34, and registered more World Cup goal involvements, 33, including 12 assists, than any other player in the tournament’s history. Only Kylian Mbappe, with 22 goals, has scored more World Cup goals than Messi’s own tally of 21. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner also leads the all-time World Cup charts in shots, with 140, shots on target, with 64, chances created, with 99, and dribbles completed, with 250.

Despite his retirement announcement, Messi was called up to Scaloni’s most recent Argentina squad and will make one final appearance for his country against Benin. Scaloni explained the reasoning behind bringing Messi back for the occasion. “I believe that a player like him deserves this. Personally, I did my part because I wanted to be at his farewell,” Scaloni told reporters.

Scaloni acknowledged uncertainty about his own future with the national team factored into the urgency of arranging the match now rather than waiting. “Since I don’t know if I would be here later, we pushed hard so that he could be in this match,” Scaloni said. He described Messi’s willingness to participate despite the demands already placed on him this year. “We knew everything he was going through and even so, he put in the desire and effort to want to come and be able to say goodbye to the people who love him so much.”

Scaloni framed the timing of the tribute as essential, given the uncertainty of arranging a similar occasion in the future. “If we have to pay tribute, we have to do it at this moment,” he said. “With him, it will never stop, but later, the magic might not be the same.”

Messi’s on-field legacy with Argentina includes delivering the country’s first World Cup title since 1986, scoring twice in the penalty shootout that decided the 2022 final against France following a 3-3 draw after extra time. He followed that triumph with what Scaloni and others have described as a similarly sensational performance at this summer’s tournament, scoring eight goals, including his first-ever World Cup hat-trick, which came against Algeria.

Reflecting on the experience of coaching Messi throughout his tenure, Scaloni offered an emotional assessment of what the partnership had meant to him personally. “For me, getting to coach him was the ultimate experience. It was a dream. I told him so, and I’ll say it for the rest of my life. There will never be anyone like him,” Scaloni said. He went on to describe what he sees as the rarity of a talent like Messi’s. “It’s very rare for a player like that to come along, not just because of what he does on the pitch, but because of everything he conveys off it. Let’s enjoy this.”

Scaloni also weighed in on Messi’s case for individual recognition following this summer’s tournament, suggesting the statistical record speaks for itself. “After the World Cup he just played, there isn’t much more to add. If the award is for the best player, there’s no doubt. It’s already spoken for, the statistics prove it,” Scaloni said. “As long as he’s on a football pitch, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve it.”

While Messi’s international future is now settled with the announced farewell match, the same cannot be said for Scaloni himself, whose contract as Argentina’s head coach is set to expire this December. Asked whether he had received any update on his own future with the federation, Scaloni said he planned to meet with Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia in the coming days to discuss the matter. “It is a dream come true, but that doesn’t mean I have to cling to the job forever,” Scaloni said. “There are certain conditions we need to discuss with the president, and we’ll see if we can reach an agreement.”

With Messi’s farewell match now set for October 6 at Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentine football fans will have one final opportunity to see the sport’s most decorated World Cup performer represent the national team, closing out a international career that Scaloni and others have suggested may never be matched by another player in the sport’s history.

Likely regulatory intervention helped the Indian rupee gain 15 paise to close at 95.81 against the US dollar on Friday, bouncing back from the intra-day low of 95.94 and the previous close of 95.96, while the benchmark bond yield rose to 7.14%, the highest level seen in the past four months.

Market participants said large public sector banks were seen selling dollars at the behest of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a market with thin volume, helping the local currency recover from the near the 96 level despite global crude price hovering near $105 a barrel and raising the risk of imported inflation.

The RBI was active in the market even before the opening of the day’s trade, boosting the rupee to a stronger opening of 95.90 per dollar, traders said.

During the day, the RBI used dollar-rupee sell-buy swaps to absorb rupee liquidity from the inter-bank system, two people said.

Exporters also sold dollars while the one-year forward premium increased to 3.5%, a level not seen since the last week of May.

“RBI deputy governor Poonam Gupta’s remark that the rupee was overcorrected, making a case for appreciation, should stabilise the rupee,” the treasury head of a private bank said on condition of anonymity. “At least the pace of depreciation should moderate.”
The rupee had been weakening for the past couple of days due to these concerns and high dollar demand from importers, who were mopping up the US currency ahead of a likely bank strike to secure month-end payments.”The rupee remains under pressure from external financing requirements, changing capital flows and a higher global cost of capital,” said Siddharth Chaudhary, head- fixed income at Bajaj Asset Management.

“In this environment, a significant decline in domestic interest rates could work against currency stability. This may reduce the room for monetary accommodation and require real yields to remain higher than domestic inflation conditions alone would otherwise suggest,” he said.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield hit 7.14% earlier in the day before the auction, its highest intraday level since May 20, before easing a tad. The yield closed at 7.11% on Thursday.

This is in line with the global yield tightening. The US 10-year treasury yield rose above 5.20%, its highest since 2007. Japan’s 10-year yield rose to 3.115%, a level last seen in August 1996, while

Germany’s 10-year yield, a benchmark for the euro zone, hit a 17-year high of 3.5798%, Reuters reported.