Business

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

The U.K. will keep more than $1 billion of Venezuelan central bank gold frozen at the Bank of England, and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the stance reflects Britain's non-recognition of the current Venezuelan administration.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Minnesota law enforcement do not have jurisdiction over the probe of an ICE agent's shooting that resulted in the death of Renee Nicole Good, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said it was barred while the FBI will lead the investigation.

The Labor Department reported 208,000 seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims for the week ending Jan. 3, the lowest level since April 2024, and a four-week average of 211,750, the lowest since April 27, 2024.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Trump may decide this month on a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, possibly right before or right after the Davos forum, and that four candidates remain under consideration including Kevin Hassett, Kevin Warsh, Christopher Waller and Rick Rieder.

The article finds that President Trump's repeated assertions linking Venezuela to most U.S. overdose deaths, directing criminal migration, and stealing U.S. oil are not supported by the public evidence presented; Justice Department filings and government reports offer more limited or different accounts.

Jensen Huang said he is "perfectly fine" with a proposed one-time 5% wealth tax that could cost him about $7.75 billion; the initiative needs more than 870,000 signatures to reach California's November 2026 ballot.

Videos verified by BBC Persian show large crowds in Tehran and Mashhad, and rights groups report dozens of deaths and thousands of arrests during a 12-day wave of protests.

Morningstar strategist Dan Lefkovitz says income-focused investors might consider combining dividend-paying stocks with firms that repurchase shares; S&P 500 buybacks topped $1 trillion over the 12 months through September 2025, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Czechoslovak Group (CSG) is planning an initial public offering in Amsterdam as soon as next week and could look to raise €3–4 billion while selling about a 15% stake.

JPMorgan will acquire the Apple credit-card portfolio from Goldman in a transfer expected to take two years, during which customers should not see changes to their cards. Goldman will release nearly $2.5 billion of loan-loss provisions while JPMorgan will record credit-provision charges tied to the portfolio.

The U.S. trade deficit fell to $29.4 billion in October, a 39% decline from September, as imports fell and exports rose; Wells Fargo economists say the change was largely driven by movements in gold and may be reversed.

Nvidia launched the Rubin platform, a coordinated set of six new chips designed to work as one AI supercomputer. The company said Rubin includes innovations such as updated NVLink interconnects, a Transformer Engine, Confidential Computing, a RAS Engine, and the Nvidia Vera CPU.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported labor productivity rose at a 4.9% annual rate in Q3 2025, and unit labor costs fell 1.9% that quarter.

The Supreme Court will decide whether President Trump could use the IEEPA to impose tariffs, and analysts told Reuters that a ruling against the tariffs could require refunds and increase market volatility.

Barry Pollack, a Washington trial lawyer nicknamed 'Pit Bull,' is representing Nicolás Maduro in a Manhattan federal case and plans to challenge the legality of Maduro's capture and assert state-immunity claims; the judge set the next hearing for mid-March.

President Trump announced that interim Venezuelan authorities will turn over 30–50 million barrels of oil to the United States and said Energy Secretary Chris Wright was asked to execute the plan.

A viral TikTok shows a tall passenger cramped on a WestJet flight where some rows were reconfigured to a 28-inch seat pitch; WestJet says it paused plans to add more non-reclining seats after feedback.

German factory orders rose 5.6% in November, the biggest monthly gain in a year, and activity excluding large-scale orders increased 0.7% after two prior monthly gains.

The article reports President Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. military budget should be raised to $1.5 trillion for 2027, up from about $901 billion, and that defense stocks rose Thursday after earlier losses tied to his comments about banning dividends and buybacks for defense firms.

Freedom Debt Relief outlines ways to recover from holiday overspending, noting a no‑spend month and revising long-term goals as possible steps.

Stellantis sold 1,260,344 vehicles in 2025, a 3% decline from 2024, while the Dodge Durango posted a 37% sales increase for the year and a 114% jump in the fourth quarter.

An influential Protestant church says several leaders were detained after police raids in Chengdu, and video shows authorities beginning to dismantle a church building in Wenzhou.

The Commerce Department reported the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $29.4 billion in October, the smallest monthly gap since 2009, as imports fell to $331.4 billion and exports rose to $302 billion. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a $58.4 billion deficit, and the data were delayed by last fall's government shutdown.

In a New York Times interview, President Trump said U.S. oversight of Venezuela's oil sector could extend beyond a year. He said the U.S. would use Venezuelan oil and provide funds to Venezuela.

The New York Sirens will host the Seattle Torrent at Madison Square Garden on April 4, marking the Professional Women's Hockey League's first game at MSG.

Canadian oil stocks fell sharply after the U.S. announced it had taken control of Venezuela's crude reserves, which the U.S. EIA reports at about 303 billion barrels.

President Trump proposed raising the 2027 U.S. military budget to $1.5 trillion, a $600 billion increase, and signed an executive order focused on reviewing defense contractors while not explicitly capping executive pay or banning buybacks.

About 600 tourists were reported stranded on the Yemeni island of Socotra after the UAE withdrew troops and air traffic halted; some governments said airlines would resume flights to repatriate citizens.

In New Jersey, Girl Scout cookies are $6 a box for 2026, and the cookie lineup adds a new flavor called Exploremores.