Business

The government is expected to announce a climbdown that would ease planned business rate increases for pubs in England; retail, pharmacy, music venue and leisure groups say any relief should be extended to them as well.

The article says analysts give both Rivian and Tesla a Hold consensus, and average analyst targets imply roughly 13% downside for Rivian and about 6% downside for Tesla.

South Korea will extend foreign-exchange trading to 24 hours from July and introduce an offshore won settlement system while easing rules for foreign institutions, with some newly registered firms allowed to trade immediately under temporary reporting waivers.

Flutterwave bought Nigerian open-banking startup Mono to access financial-data infrastructure and improve identity verification, its CEO said. He added the deal is intended to boost earnings, lower certain transaction costs and strengthen the company's case for a possible IPO.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company is seeing "very high" customer demand in China for its H200 AI chips and that production has restarted while final export-license details are being worked out with the U.S. government.

Goldman Sachs said Venezuelan oil production could recover gradually and partially over the long term but would require substantial investment; the US capture of President Nicolás Maduro and statements about US-backed rebuilding of the oil sector were cited in recent reporting.

GM said it will record an additional $6 billion charge tied to its electric-vehicle business for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, and will provide more details when it reports earnings on Jan. 27, 2026.

Peacock is adding Dolby audio and visual features, including AC-4 audio personalization that the company says will let viewers turn off commentary within the Peacock app. The feature will not be available on traditional TV broadcasts.

Albertsons narrowed its fiscal-year adjusted earnings guidance and said Medicare drug price negotiation will reduce reported pharmacy sales, cutting fourth-quarter identical sales by an estimated 65 to 70 basis points.

EU country representatives are expected to vote on a long-delayed trade agreement with Mercosur, potentially clearing the way for a signing in Paraguay next week. France has announced it will vote against the treaty.

Consumer prices in China rose 0.8% year-on-year in December, the fastest since February 2023, while factory-gate prices fell 1.9% and core inflation was up 1.2%.

ESPN host Stephen A. Smith said the ICE agent's shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis was 'completely justified' from a legal perspective, and officials reported Good attempted to drive at agents.

Traders are watching for December payrolls due at 8:30 a.m. Washington time and a possible mid-morning Supreme Court opinion on President Trump’s tariffs, both events that could move the Treasury market.

The Dayton Foundation approved more than $127,000 in quarterly grants for nearly two dozen local nonprofits to support needs such as food, shelter, healthcare and education; the next application deadline is Feb. 12.

Cambodia's arrest and extradition of a tycoon accused of running a large transnational online scam network was a rare enforcement action; many scam compounds across Southeast Asia continue operating and hundreds of thousands of people are reported to be trapped in forced labor.

The United Nations projects global growth of 2.7% in 2026, down slightly from its 2025 estimate, citing higher U.S. tariffs, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions as key factors.

U.S. forces recently boarded and seized a Russia‑flagged tanker tied to covert shipping activity, and ship‑tracking services report a large 'shadow fleet' of aging tankers moving sanctioned oil by ship‑to‑ship transfers and frequent identity changes.

Two major Chinese generative AI companies, Zhipu and MiniMax, began back-to-back listings in Hong Kong this week, reflecting a policy-driven push to build domestic AI and semiconductor supply chains and notable investor interest.

Eighty-Seven & Running has committed $800,000 to community programs over the next three years, and foundation leaders say earlier tax filings miscategorized expenses and did not fully reflect program spending.

Reuters reports talks between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan about a possible transfer of JF-17 fighters, with financing said to involve converting Saudi loans to Pakistan and about $2 billion in additional Saudi spending.

The article reports that Disney World tends to be least crowded outside school breaks and major holidays—highlighting mid-January to early February and post–Labor Day September as quieter windows—and that September generally has the lowest starting ticket prices with specific low-price dates listed for August and September 2026.

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol asked to "lower the temperature" in the dispute with Thailand and pushed back against Bangkok's framing of recent cross-border fighting as strikes against scam centers; the two countries have a fragile ceasefire after clashes that displaced many, and Cambodia is pursuing trade and tariff talks with the United States.

World Liberty Trust has filed a de novo application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to seek a national trust bank charter, which would let it issue and safeguard the USD1 stablecoin. USD1’s reserves are currently custodied with BitGo and the token has a reported market value of $3.4 billion.

Iran's president ordered security forces not to target peaceful protesters, as demonstrations that began after a sharp fall in the rial and rising prices have spread across the country.

Experts say $1.5 million is often a checkpoint rather than a finish line; at a conservative 3% withdrawal that sum would generate roughly $45,000 a year, and average Social Security benefits add about $24,000 annually.

The article traces a century of U.S. engagement with Venezuela's oil from a 1922 gusher to recent moves by the Trump administration to assert control over Venezuelan oil after Nicolás Maduro's ouster, and cites OPEC figures putting current production at about 900,000 barrels a day.

Artemis Analytics reports total stablecoin transaction volumes rose 72% to $33 trillion in 2025, with USDC accounting for $18.3 trillion and fourth-quarter flows hitting a record $11 trillion.

The Supreme Court may soon rule on the legality of most of President Trump's tariffs, and more than 1,000 corporate entities have filed suits seeking refunds; if the court strikes down the administration's use of a 1977 emergency powers law, questions about refunds will likely be handled by lower courts.

Surveys and interviews show growing use of ChatGPT and other generative AI for health and legal questions, and professionals report more clients arriving with AI-generated information; industry and legal experts say AI is a useful resource but not a substitute for licensed judgment.

Warner Bros. Discovery recommended shareholders reject Paramount’s amended $77.9 billion all-cash bid and said its existing deal with Netflix is stronger.