Nissan Motor is expanding its research ties with a leading Chinese university

Nissan Motor is expanding its research ties with a leading Chinese university as it and other foreign car companies try to claw back market share in the important Chinese market

VERBATIM: The Japanese automaker has announced it would launch joint research next year with Tsinghua University on reaching Generation Z. The research would also include the social responsibility of automakers in battery recycling, charging stations and other electric vehicle-related issues. The major auto companies were caught flat-footed by a boom in electric vehicles in China that has given rise to new Chinese competitors that have gobbled up market share…JH reporting.

Illumina to undo $7.1 billion purchase of cancer-screening company Grail

Biotech giant Illumina says it will undo its $7.1 billion purchase of the cancer-screening company Grail

VERBATIM: San Diego-based Illumina says it made its decision to divest after a U.S. appeals court recently ruled that the merger could violate antitrust laws. The European Union in October ordered the deal to unwind because it closed in 2021 without approval from regulators in the 27-nation bloc. Illumina says it will complete the divestment next year.

A decaying Pillsbury mill in Illinois is now getting new life

A decaying Pillsbury mill in Illinois that once churned flour into opportunity is now getting new life

VERBATIM:
Pillsbury Mills was a groundbreaking, history-making flour mill in central Illinois for most of the 20th century.
But its continued disuse prompted a nonprofit group to create a five-year plan for razing the empty plant on Springfield’s northeast side.
The group called Moving Pillsbury Forward has $6 million dollars in commitments.
The group also has plans for obtaining the balance of the $10 million dollars needed to raze the plant and redevelop the site.

Native-American tribe in Nevada gears up for different kind of fight against the U-S government

A Native-American tribe in Nevada is gearing up for a different kind of fight against the U-S government, while trying to build more public support for protecting sacred tribal sites

VERBATIM:

There’s concern that culturally significant areas will be in the path of a modern-day Gold Rush driven by mining claims and green energy projects.

Among those concerned is the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.

The tribe failed to stop a massive lithium mine at the site where more than two dozen Paiute (pron: pah-‘YOOT) and Shoshone (show-SHOW’-nee) tribes were massacred back in 18-65.
The goal NOW is to build a coalition to protect other sacred sites.

Weekly unemployment claims rise slightly but job market remains strong

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “high interest rates.”

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The Labor Department reports jobless claims were up by 2,000 to 205,000 for the week that ended on December 16. The four-week average of claims fell by 1,500 to 212,000. While the number of claims increase, they still remained at historically low levels despite high interest rates.

A look ahead for what could be in store for China next year

( ) -v-37- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

China’s prospects for 2024 look uncertain. Correspondent Jeremy House has the details.

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VERBATIM: A year that opened free of COVID-19 lockdowns winds down without the dreamed-of robust recovery for the world’s No. 2 economy. To counter a U.S.-led world order, China is pushing alternative visions for global security and development whose prospects depend partly on restoring its own economic vitality. Long-term, fundamental challenges lie ahead: a falling birthrate and aging population and Beijing’s rivalry with the United States over technology, Taiwan and control of the high seas. Relations with the United States have warmed, but deep divides remain…JH reporting.

20th century conflict between South Korea and Japan is at crux of court ruling

( ) -v-36- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

South Korea’s top court has ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate more of their wartime Korean workers for forced labor. Correspondent Jeremy House has more on the story.

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VERBATIM: South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel Corp. must give compensation to a total of 11 workers who were forced to work for the companies during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The ruling is in line with the court’s contentious 2018 verdicts that caused a huge setback in relations between the two countries. Observers say the ruling won’t likely hurt bilateral ties much because Seoul and Tokyo have been pushing hard to bolster their partnerships in the face of shared challenges…JH reporting.

AI systems can’t be named as the inventor of patents, UK’s top court rules

( ) -q-21- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “applications by Thaler.”

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that an artificial intelligence system can’t be registered as the inventor of a patent, denying machines the same status as humans.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The U.K.’s highest court says “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of American technologist Stephen Thaler’s long-running British legal battle to get his AI listed as the inventor of two patents. Tribunals in the U.S. and the European Union have rejected similar applications by Thaler.

UK rate cut speculation swells as inflation falls to 2-year low of 3.9%

( ) -q-21- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “time last year.”

Inflation in the U.K. as measured by the consumer prices index has eased back to its lowest level in more than two years.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The sharp fall has stoked speculation that the Bank of England may consider cutting interest rates sooner than anticipated.

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VERBATIM: Britain’s Office for National Statistics says inflation dropped to 3.9% in the year through November from 4.6% the previous month. That decline was bigger than anticipated in financial markets. The agency said the biggest driver for the decrease was a drop in fuel prices after an increase at the same time last year.

Toyota’s Daihatsu unit to suspend all vehicle shipments over widespread safety cheating

( ) -q-29- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “problems reported earlier.”

Toyota Motor says its subsidiary Daihatsu will suspend shipments of all its vehicles in and outside Japan.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The suspension in is response to a damaging safety scandal after an investigation found improper testing involving 64 models. The safety test irregularities earlier this year prompted an independent panel investigation, which found widespread and systematic problems. Toyota said its probe found 174 new cases of irregularities in safety test and other procedures in 25 test categories, in addition to the problems reported earlier.

Musk and Tesla are battling unions across Scandinavia

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “collective bargaining rights.”

Tesla has found itself locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with union workers in Sweden and neighboring countries.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Musk is staunchly anti-union. He has said that unions try to create negativity in a company. Musk denies that Tesla has a wealth hierarchy largely because the company awards everyone stock options.

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VERBATIM: The showdown pits the electric car maker’s CEO Elon Musk against the strongly held labor ideals of Scandinavian countries. None of Tesla’s workers anywhere in the world are unionized. That raises questions about whether strikes could spread to other parts of Europe where employees commonly have collective bargaining rights.

4 years in prison for Nikola Corp founder for defrauding investors

( ) -q-24- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “with heavy losses.”

The founder of Nikola has been sentenced to four years in prison for his conviction for exaggerating claims about his company’s production of zero-emission 18-wheel trucks.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: Trevor Milton was sentenced in a Manhattan federal court, where the judge also ordered him to pay a $1 million fine. In a statement, Milton claimed big companies in the industry followed his lead in trying to create environmentally cleaner vehicles. Milton resigned in 2020 after reports of fraud sent Nikola’s stock prices into a tailspin, leaving investors with heavy losses.

Google to pay $700M in antitrust settlement reached with states

( ) -q-23- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “for Android apps.”

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The settlement includes $630 million to compensate U.S. consumers funneled into a payment processing system that state attorneys general alleged drove up prices.

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VERBATIM: It’s the same issue that went to trial in another case that could result in even bigger changes. Although Google struck the deal with state attorneys general in September, the settlement’s terms weren’t revealed until this week. The disclosure came a week after a federal court jury rebuked Google for deploying anticompetitive tactics in its Play Store for Android apps.

UK, France reiterate that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must end in failure

( ) -q-23- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Moscow’s war machine.”

Britain and France are reiterating their determination that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must end in failure.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Cameron said that Ukraine’s allies can make sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin loses “and it’s essential that he does lose.”

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VERBATIM: The two nations’ foreign ministers said that Russia shouldn’t be rewarded for its aggression in Ukraine. It comes as U.S. wartime aid for the Ukrainian defense is faltering. U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said after talks in Paris with his French counterpart that the economic might of Ukraine’s Western partners vastly outmatches Moscow’s war machine.

German farmers protest against government tax breaks for diesel

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “so has discontent..”

German farmers have gathered in Berlin to protest against planned cuts to tax breaks for diesel used in agriculture.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The cuts are part of a deal reached by the government to plug a hole in the country’s budget. Leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition last week agreed on measures to fill an 18.5 billion dollar hole in next year’s budget. As more details have emerged of what the deal entails, so has discontent, notably over a plan to cut tax breaks for agricultural diesel and scrap an exemption from car tax for farming vehicles.

BP halts Red Sea shipments over fears of Houthi attacks

( ) -q-23- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “trade passes through.”

Oil and natural gas giant BP has joined the growing list of companies that have halted their shipments through the Red Sea because of the risk of attack from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Oil prices rose partly over market nerves about attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthis.

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VERBATIM: London-based BP says it has “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies. They have targeted container ships and oil tankers passing through a narrow waterway that connects to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. That’s where an estimated 10% of the world’s trade passes through.

Nippon Steel to aquire storied US Steel for more than $14 billion

( ) -q-27- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Asia Pacific region.”

U.S. Steel, is being acquired by Nippon Steel in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $14.1 billion.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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The transaction involving the Pittsburgh steel producer that played a key role in the nation’s industrialization, is worth about $14.9 billion when including the assumption of debt. Nippon, which will pay $55 per share for U.S. Steel, says the deal will bolster its manufacturing and technology capabilities. It will also expand Nippon’s production in the U.S. and add to its positions in Japan, India and the Asia Pacific region.

US announces new sanctions on Russia’s weapons suppliers as Zelenskyy visits Washington

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “to Russia’s economy.”

The Biden administration is hitting hundreds of people and firms around the globe with new economic and diplomatic sanctions.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The latest round of sanctions landed as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington to make an appeal for more financial support as his nation defends against the Russian invasion that will enter its third year in February.

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VERBATIM: The sanctions come as the U.S. targets third-country contributors that are equipping Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions stretch from Russia to China to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The financial penalties have rendered Russia the most sanctioned country in the world, but have yet to deliver a knockout punch to Russia’s economy.

Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in US to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Some were deadly.”

Tesla is recalling more than 2 million vehicles across its model lineup to fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when they use Autopilot.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says its investigation found Autopilot’s method of ensuring that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and “can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system.”

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VERBATIM: U.S. safety regulators say the company will send out a software update to fix the problems. The recall comes after a two-year investigation by U.S. auto safety regulators into a series of crashes that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use. Some were deadly.

Argentina sharply devalues its currency and cuts subsidies as part of shock economic measures

( ) -q-28- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “of tough measures.”

Argentina has announced a sharp devaluation of its currency and cuts to energy and transportation subsidies.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The actions are part of shock adjustments new President Javier Milei says are needed to deal with an economic emergency. Economy Minister Luis Caputo says the Argentine peso will be devalued by 50% from 400 to the U.S. dollar to 800 pesos to the dollar. Milei, a libertarian, was sworn in recently as president of the second largest economy in South America and immediately warned of tough measures.

Occidental buying CrownRock in cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12 billion

( ) -q-17- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “and New Mexico.”

Occidental is buying oil and gas company CrownRock in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $12 billion.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The acquisition comes at a time when there’s increasing consolidation in the energy sector. Some companies are spending heavily to increase their positions in various oil-rich areas. This includes the Permian (PER mee uhn) Basin, a massive oilfield that straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico.

China’s homegrown C919 aircraft arrives in Hong Kong in maiden flight outside the mainland

( ) -q-27- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Airbus and Boeing.”

A Chinese C919 commercial passenger jet has arrived in Hong Kong in the Chinese-made aircraft’s first foray outside of mainland China.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. COMAC designed many of the C919’s parts, but some of its key components are still sourced from the West, including its engine.

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VERBATIM: A C919 plane and another Chinese-made aircraft, an ARJ21 will be on display at Hong Kong’s international airport until Sunday. The C919 is due to perform a fly-past over the city’s scenic Victoria Harbor on Saturday. The manufacturer of the C919, the Commercial Aircraft Company of China, or COMAC, is aiming to market the single-aisle jet in a direct challenge to Airbus and Boeing.

Choice Hotels launches hostile takeover bid for rival Wyndham after being repeatedly rebuffed

( ) -q-17- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “eight-billion dollars.”

Choice Hotels is launching a hostile takeover offer for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts after attempts to reach a deal with the hotel chain were rebuffed.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: Choice Hotels says its exchange offer remains the same as its last bid. The exchange offer gives Wyndham shareholders the chance to choose to receive all cash, all shares or a combination of the two. The offer puts the value of the deal at about $8 billion.

AAA: More People Will Travel For Holidays This Year

Airports and highways are expected to be busier this Christmas season than they were a year ago.  Auto club AAA predicted Monday that 115 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home over the 10 days starting right before Christmas. That’s about 2% more than last year, but not quite as many as 2019, the last holiday season before the pandemic. Most of those people will travel by car, and they’ll enjoy slightly lower gasoline prices that a year ago. Airfares are also down a bit from high levels a year ago, according to government figures.