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The World
President Biden will host Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Tuesday “as negotiations on an aid deal for the country remain stalled in Congress.” The meeting “is the latest White House effort to apply pressure on Congress, where a deal that would deliver emergency aid to Ukraine seems to have reached an impasse.” Zelensky is also expected to speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson and key senators. (Politico)
A new poll finds than 48% of Americans think the U.S. is “spending ‘too much’ in military and financial aid to bolster Kyiv’s war effort against Russia,” while 11% say the U.S. is not spending enough and 27% say current spending levels are the “right amount.” While 65% of Republicans and 52% of independents say too much is being spent, just 32% of Democrats agree. (Financial Times)
Javier Milei “promised deep cuts in spending after being sworn in as president of Argentina, saying that only radical change can pull the South American nation out of its worst crisis in decades.” He said in his inaugural address, “Today we are ending a long and sad history of decadence and decline and we are beginning the journey to rebuilding our country.” He “ended his 35-minute speech by repeating his trademark campaign slogan of ‘Long live freedom, dammit!’ to cheers from the crowd.” (Financial Times)
Guyana’s government, “under pressure from neighboring Brazil and a Caribbean trading bloc, agreed to join bilateral talks with Venezuela over an escalating territorial dispute. The century-old dispute between the two South American nations recently reignited with the discovery of masses of oil in Guyana.” (Associated Press)
Egyptians are voting in an election that is all but certain to “hand a third term to President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi. It’s the first presidential election since a constitutional referendum passed in 2019 that paved the way for Sisi to stay in office until 2030.” For Sisi, “an authoritarian leader who came to power in a military coup in 2013, the vote — scheduled to take place from Sunday to Tuesday in Egypt — will serve chiefly to provide a veneer of popular legitimacy as he extends his decade-long rule.” (Washington Post)
Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi said from prison in a speech read by her children on Sunday that “the Iranian people will ultimately overcome authoritarianism imposed by a government that has lost legitimacy and public support.” Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel in October “for her non-violent fight ‘against oppression of women in Iran’ and the promotion of human rights for all.” (Reuters)
“Americans are more optimistic about the future of Social Security than they have been in recent years, even though only about half currently express optimism. Among U.S. nonretirees, 50% expect the Social Security system to pay them a benefit when they retire, while 47% do not.” (Gallup)
Economy
With the Federal Reserve’s inflation-fighting efforts increasingly seen as a success, “the big questions now are about when the Fed can start cutting rates and by how much. The answers will matter greatly to households, markets and possibly the 2024 presidential election.” (Wall Street Journal)
Here’s Where Prices Are Actually Coming Down (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. Treasury debt sales have recently been “sparking fireworks in markets.” For years, “many in Washington and on Wall Street assumed that investors would buy any number of bonds the government issued, no matter the fiscal outlook. Testing that assumption: the sale of $20.8 trillion of new Treasurys in the first 11 months of the year — set to surpass 2020’s record of just under $21 trillion.” (Wall Street Journal)
Saudi Arabia “has become the biggest obstacle to an agreement” at COP28, opposing “any language in a deal that would even mention fossil fuels — the oil, gas and coal that, when burned, create emissions that are dangerously heating the planet. Saudi negotiators have also objected to a provision, endorsed by at least 118 countries, aimed at tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.” (New York Times)
“Next year’s COP29 climate summit is set to take place in oil-rich Azerbaijan.” (Politico)
Cigna has ended its attempt to negotiate an acquisition of Humana after the two companies failed to agree on price. A Cigna-Humana combination “would have created a company with a value exceeding $140 billion, based on their market values, but was certain to attract fierce antitrust scrutiny. The discussions came six years after regulators blocked mega-deals that would have consolidated the U.S. health insurance sector.” (CNBC)
China’s livestream shopping is booming, fueling new tech such as avatars and AI: Companies from Jo Malone London to Chinese education company New Oriental have turned to livestreaming sales as a way to stay connected with consumers in China and get them to spend money. Use of virtual livestreaming hosts was a trend that stood out during this year’s Singles Day, said Xiaofeng Wang, principal analyst at Forrester. Businesses are also combining ChatGPT-like artificial intelligence with livestreaming. (CNBC)
Technology
The SEC wants investment advisers to detail how they use and oversee AI “as agency head Gary Gensler continues to express skepticism about the technology.” The agency “wants details on topics including AI-related marketing documents, algorithmic models used to manage client portfolios, third-party providers and compliance training.” (Wall Street Journal)
Amazon has accused an international organization called REKK “of conspiring to steal millions of dollars in online products through fraudulent refunds.” Amazon says the group “includes more than 20 named defendants and 20 unnamed individuals” including several former employees. The lawsuit calls REKK “an underground industry of fraudsters who ‘have created illegitimate ‘businesses’ offering fraudulent refunds to individuals around the world who are knowingly engaging with and participating in the fraud’ to get expensive products free.” (New York Times)
United Launch Alliance says its next-generation Vulcan rocket will not debut this year as previously planned. ULA “had been working toward a debut flight of the lift booster on Christmas Eve” from Cape Canaveral, and while CEO Tont Bruno said a test this weekend went well, he wants to do another fueling test of the entire rocket before a launch. The next launch window will open on January 8. (Ars Technica)
“Physicists have taken the first step towards building quantum computers out of individual molecules trapped with laser devices called optical tweezers.” Two new papers report success in “making pairs of calcium monofluoride molecules interact so that they became entangled — a crucial effect for quantum computing.” (Nature)
CNBC will debut a new look on Monday “that will radically change the stock tickers that have scrolled along the network’s screen for years.” The two scrolling tickers will be reduced to one, and “that familiar CNBC icon is also changing — the first time in 27 years it has done so.” (Variety)
Smart Links
Europe, a laggard in AI, seizes the lead in its regulation. (The Economist)
The real research behind the wild rumors about OpenAI’s Q* project. (Ars Technica)
A gigantic new ICBM will take US nuclear missiles out of the Cold War-era but add 21st-century risks. (Associated Press)
Tesla drivers run Autopilot where it’s not intended — with deadly consequences. (Washington Post)
How grocery stores are becoming data brokers. (CNBC)