Japanese automaker Nissan reports 92% jump in profit as sales surge

( ) -q-22- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “sports-utility vehicle.”

Nissan’s profit for the fiscal year through March has jumped 92% to 426.6 billion yen, or $2.7 billion.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Nissan sold 3.44 million vehicles globally for the year, up from 3.3 million vehicles the year before. Nissan has said it will mass produce electric vehicles powered by next-generation batteries by early 2029, offering solid-state batteries in a range of models, including pickup trucks.

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VERBATIM: The Japanese automaker’s sales grew in all major global markets except China. Nissan reported annual sales surged nearly 20%. Quarterly profit edged down slightly, while quarterly sales rose 13%. Nissan hopes to maintain its leadership in electric vehicles in the Japanese market with its Ariya sports-utility vehicle.

Senator Graham: Trump Re-election Would Put End To Anti-Jewish Protests

Progressive Fetterman Breaks Ranks With Left, Defends Israel, Blames Hamas

Rep. Mike Waltz: Biden Mining Regulations Threaten U.S. Defense

Senator Braun Wins Indiana’s GOP Gubernatorial Primary

Senator Marshall Amendment Would Place Antisemitic Protestors on No Fly List

Trump Endorsement Of MAGA Utah Senate Candidate Worries GOP

Senators Marshall, Blackburn Propose No Fly List For Antisemitic Protestors

Senators Roger Marshall of Kansas and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have unveiled a bill they call the NO FLIGHTS FOR TERRORISTS ACT. It would place on the No Fly list any student, faculty member, professor or paid agitator if they have called for violence against Jewish people, been disciplined by a school for such activity, or for pledging allegiance to terrorist groups. Marshall says under the Biden administration the protestors are promoting terrorism with no fear of consequences. 

Workers at Michigan Stellantis plant authorize strike over health, safety

( ) -q-24- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “and Jeep Wagoneer.”

The United Auto Workers union says over 1,000 workers at a Stellantis metal stamping plant in Warren, Michigan, have voted to authorize a strike over health and safety issues.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Stellantis said it is committed to a safe work environment and to resolving the dispute without a work stoppage.

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VERBATIM: No word from the union on whether a deadline had been set. However, Stellantis says talks are ongoing and workers are still on the job. The UAW says grievances have been filed about problems with ventilation fans, personal protective equipment, flooding, oil leaks and other issues. The UAW says a strike could affect production of the Ram pickup, Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wagoneer.

Redfin to pay $9.25 million to settle real estate broker commission lawsuits

( ) -q-27- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “in recent months.”

Redfin has agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle several federal lawsuits.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The Seattle-based online brokerage and real estate services company disclosed the proposed settlement in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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VERBATIM: The lawsuits claim U.S. homeowners were saddled with artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their home as a result of longstanding real estate industry practices. The settlement would resolve pending class action lawsuits filed in federal court in the Western District of Missouri, and also shield the company and agents from similar cases around the country. Several other big brokerage operators and the National Association of Realtors agreed to settle the litigation in recent months.

Former CEO says Starbucks needs to refocus on coffee as sales struggle

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “support of Israel.”

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the company’s leaders should spend more time in stores and focus on coffee drinks as they work to turn around flagging sales.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Schultz left Starbucks’ board last fall but remains the company’s largest individual shareholder.

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VERBATIM: Schultz said many people had reached out to him after Starbucks reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings last week. Starbucks says it’s seeing slower traffic around the world as U.S. and Chinese customers pull back on spending. It’s also facing boycotts in some markets for its perceived support of Israel.

Lawsuit against Meta centers on Facebook users’ control of their feeds

( ) -v-34- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don’t see — on their feeds? Correspondent Jeremy House reports.

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VERBATIM: A lawsuit filed against Facebook parent Meta Platforms is arguing that a federal law often used to shield internet companies from liability also allows people to use external tools to take control of their feed — even if that means shutting it off entirely. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit last week against Meta Platforms on behalf of an Amherst professor. The professor wants to release a tool to let users un-follow all the content fed to them by Facebook’s algorithm.

Hungary and Serbia’s autocratic leaders to roll out red carpet for China’s Xi

( ) -q-16- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “President Vladimir Putin.”

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend the bulk of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing and Moscow’s reach on the continent. But the governments of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia have vigorously courted economic ties with China.

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VERBATIM: It’s a region Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe. After visiting Paris, Xi will travel to Hungary and Serbia. The two nations have autocratic leaders that are seen as China-friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Commercial jet maker Airbus stays humble even as Boeing flounders

( ) -q-18- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “its best-selling plane.”

Europe’s Airbus had established a clear sales lead over Boeing.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Aviation analysts say the European company is unlikely to extend its advantage much further despite having customers clamoring for more commercial aircraft. That’s because Airbus already is making planes as fast as it can and is sold out for the rest of the decade. Manufacturing constraints at both companies are bad news for travelers as well as airlines.

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VERBATIM: This development occurred even before the American company encountered more fallout from manufacturing troubles and ongoing safety concerns. Airbus has outpaced Boeing for five straight years in plane orders and deliveries. And now Boeing is facing a government-mandated production cap on its best-selling plane.

US employers scaled back hiring in April. How that could let the Fed cut interest rates

(   ) -q-25- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “pace of hiring.”

The nation’s employers pulled back on their hiring in April, adding a modest 175,000 jobs.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: It’s a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to take a bigger toll on the world’s largest economy. Last month’s hiring gain was down sharply from the increase of 315,000 in March. And it was well below the 233,000 gain that economists had predicted for April. Last month’s figure suggests that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive streak of rate hikes may finally be cooling the pace of hiring.

E-waste is overflowing landfills. At one sprawling Vietnam market, workers recycle some of it

( ) -q-28- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “could help both.”

The world is producing more electronic waste than ever.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. In Vietnam, an army of mostly women waste collectors collect discarded electronic devices from homes and bins on street corners.

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VERBATIM: 62 million metric tons in 2022 to be exact…and it’s growing faster than formal efforts to recycle it. Some gets picked up by a web of low-paid workers who pull apart old laptops, scarred mobile phones, television remotes and other items to get valuable materials inside. But informal waste workers face health risks and insecure livelihoods. Experts say collaborations between the informal and formal sector could help both.

Apple’s quarterly iPhone sales plunge 10%, but stock price surges on dividend, stock buyback news

(   ) -v-34- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

Apple has posted its steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the pandemic’s outset. Correspondent Jeremy House reports.

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VERBATIM: The results reflect a deepening slump that’s increasing the pressure on the trendsetting company to spruce up its products with more artificial intelligence. The 10% drop in year-over-year iPhone sales for the January-to-March period is latest sign of weakness in a product that generates most of Apple’s revenue. It marked the biggest drop in iPhone sales since July-to-September period in 2020. That’s when production bottlenecks caused by factory closures during the pandemic resulted in a delayed release of the new model that year…JH reporting.

Sony Pictures and private equity firm interested in buying Paramount for $26 billion, AP source says

( ) -q-22- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “for a deal.”

Sony Pictures and the private equity firm Apollo Global Management have expressed interest in buying Paramount Global for $26 billion.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Earlier this week, New York-based Paramount said that Bob Bakish would step down as CEO of the film, television and multimedia company, to be replaced by a trio of executives who will form a new “Office of the CEO.”

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VERBATIM: A person familiar with the details says Sony would be the majority shareholder and Apollo would have a minority stake. The Sony-Apollo offer was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper reported previously that Apollo had made an offer to buy Paramount on its own but Paramount’s board had concerns about the bid, including whether it could arrange financing for a deal.

Number of Americans applying for jobless claims remains historically low

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “the previous week.”

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week.

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VERBATIM: The Labor Department reports unemployment claims for the week ending April 27 was 208,000, the same as the previous week. That’s the fewest since mid-February. In total, 1.77 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended April 20. That’s also the same as the previous week.

Japan’s Kishida unveils a framework for global regulation of generative AI

( ) -q-25- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “for AI developers.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has unveiled an international framework for regulation and use of generative AI.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: It adds to global efforts on governance for the rapidly advancing technology. Kishida says generative AI has the potential to be a vital tool to further enrich the world, but its dark side must also be confronted. When Japan chaired the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations last year, it launched a Hiroshima AI process to draw up international guiding principles and a code of conduct for AI developers.

Change Healthcare cyberattack due to lack of multifactor authentication

The beginning of February’s Change Healthcare cyberattack happened when hackers entered a server that lacked multi-factor authentication. That’s according to UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty. He told U.S. senators during a hearing that his company was still trying to understand why the server did not have the additional protection that guards against hackers guessing passwords. Witty also says hackers gained access to Change Healthcare and unleashed a ransomware attack that encrypted and froze large parts of the company’s system.

Microsoft will invest $2.2 billion in cloud and AI services in Malaysia

( ) -q-21- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “center in Thailand.”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company will invest $2.2 billion over the next four years in new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Malaysia.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Last month, Nadella also announced investments in Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Microsoft runs one of the world’s largest cloud computing operations and has taken a leap into artificial intelligence through its partnership with OpenAI, developers of ChatGPT.

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VERBATIM: It marks Microsoft’s single largest investment in the country, as the tech giant seeks to bolster support for AI development in the region and worldwide. Nadella earlier this week, also announced a $1.7 billion investment in cloud and AI services in Indonesia. He also said Microsoft will build its first regional data center in Thailand.

Google and Apple threatened by antitrust laws

The U.S. Justice Department has launched a double-barreled antitrust attack on Google’s dominant search and Apple’s trendsetting iPhone. The legal offensive is reviving memories of the epic battle that hobbled Microsoft before it roared back to yet again become the world’s most valuable company. The parallels to the DOJ’s landmark antitrust case in 1998 could provide a window into the potential breakthroughs that could be unleashed and new empires built if regulators succeed in their current attempts to crack down on Google and Apple now. It’s conceivable Google and Apple may never have created so many popular products or become as powerful as they are now if Microsoft hadn’t been reined in a quarter century ago…JH reporting.

Amazon’s strong 1Q results driven by cloud-computing, Prime Video

Amazon has reported strong results for the first quarter. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant said it earned $143.31 billion in revenue in the first three months of this year. That’s a 13% jump compared to the same period last year. Net income came out to $10.43 billion, beating expectations from analysts surveyed by FactSet by more than a billion dollars.