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The World
Italy has told China that it will exit the Belt and Road Initiative investment program, which it joined four years ago. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the pact “‘has not produced the desired effects’ and is no longer ‘a priority.’” Italy was the only Group of Seven country to join the initiative. (Bloomberg)
“The exit has been the subject of great speculation in recent months. Far-right leader Meloni vowed to leave the initiative when campaigning for office, describing the decision to sign up as ‘a mistake,’ but has attempted to handle the departure delicately lest Beijing retaliate.” (South China Morning Post)
Putin has met the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as part of the first visit by the Russian president to the Gulf region since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The two-stop tour on Wednesday is seen as Moscow’s attempt to show it can maintain close ties with the Gulf despite western attempts to force the region to comply with restrictions and sanctions against Russia. (Financial Times)
The military government in Niger “has signed a deal with Moscow for military co-operation, as Russia fills the final gap in its sphere of influence in the heart of the Sahel region on Europe’s doorstep.” Hours after the announcement, the junta said it will no longer host two European Union missions that were part of a western effort to stabilize the country. (Times of London)
ASEAN leaders “are likely to agree to pursue a world without nuclear weapons and deepen their cooperation on supply chains and digitalization at a summit later this month.” The joint statement “will underline three pillars of cooperation: people exchanges, co-creation of economy and society, and peace and stability.” (Nikkei Asia)
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “ordered the creation of a new state called ‘Guayana Esequiba’ on Tuesday, following a controversial Sunday referendum which saw Venezuelan voters approving the annexation of land from neighboring Guyana. The area in question, the densely forested and oil-rich Essequibo region, amounts to about two-thirds of Guyana’s national territory.” Guyana called the referendum “a step towards annexation and an ‘existential threat.’” (CNN)
“The total amount Americans estimate they’ll spend on Christmas or other holiday gifts this year averages $975 in Gallup’s final 2023 reading, taken in November.” This exceeds last year’s holiday spending estimate “by more than $100 and is the highest in Gallup’s November measures historically since 1999.” (Gallup)
A ‘megaberg’ three times the size of New York City is on the move: The world’s largest iceberg is on the move, drifting out of the Southern Ocean because of steering wind and ocean currents. The “megaberg,” as some scientists have called it, broke off from an ice shelf more than three decades ago and has been pretty stationary ever since — until now. With a staggering 400-meter height, nearly the size of One World Trade Center, and a 3,900-square-kilometer width, the iceberg is nearly three times the size of New York City (including all five boroughs). The diameter is twice the distance between downtown D.C. and downtown Baltimore. (Washington Post)
Economy
“Relative quiet from the White House and repeated GOP attacks on President Biden's energy record are hiding record levels of American oil production.” U.S. oil production now tops 13.2 million barrels per day, but “this petro-power — and how to talk about it — is a delicate balance for a White House that has made climate change an unprecedented policy priority.” (Axios)
U.S. Supports ‘Largely’ Phasing Out Fossil Fuels, John Kerry Says at Climate Summit (New York Times)
How electric vehicles are accelerating the end of the oil age (Reuters)
Canada plans to introduce a cap-and-trade system to limit fossil fuel emissions. The move by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government “is almost certain to meet resistance in the western provinces.” (Bloomberg)
McKinsey Shrinks New Partner Class by Roughly 35%: Consulting giant recently told employees that about 250 people would become partners, down from around 380 a year ago. (Wall Street Journal)
U.S. unit labor costs “were much weaker than initially thought in the third quarter amid robust worker productivity, providing a boost to the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation.” Unit labor costs fell at a 1.2% annualized rate, revised down from the “previously reported 0.8% pace of decline. That was the first drop since the fourth quarter of 2022.” (Reuters)
The heads of Wall Street’s biggest banks “went on the attack on Capitol Hill after more than a decade of playing defense at oversight hearings by the Senate Banking Committee, and just six months after the collapse of several lenders prompted concerns about the health of the finance industry.” During a hearing Wednesday, executives “confidently told lawmakers their institutions were safe and that everyday Americans would ultimately pay the price if tougher rules are enacted.” (Bloomberg)
Bankers at a Wells Fargo branch in Daytona Beach, Florida, announced plans to hold union elections, making it the third branch to do so. Wells Fargo “is the only big bank in the U.S. facing serious unionization efforts, as the industry remains relatively untouched by organizing.” (Axios)
McDonald’s plans to open nearly 10,000 restaurants over the next four years, “a pace of growth that would be unprecedented even for the world’s largest burger chain.” McDonald’s plans another 900 stores in the U.S. More than 3,500 of the new locations will be in China. (Associated Press)
Technology
Elon Musk's SpaceX Valued at $175 Billion or More in Tender Offer: Elon Musk’s SpaceX has initiated discussions about selling insider shares at a price that values the closely held company at $175 billion or more, according to people familiar with the matter. The most valuable US startup is discussing a tender offer that could range from $500 million to $750 million, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential. SpaceX is weighing offering shares at about $95 apiece, the people said. (Bloomberg)
Google launched its “long-anticipated Gemini AI model, a move the company says puts it at the front of a race long dominated by ChatGPT maker OpenAI.” Gemini is “Google’s attempt to reclaim the lead it gave away after researchers there made the 2017 breakthrough that allowed ChatGPT to exist in the first place.” (Semafor)
“It’s a big step for Google, but not necessarily a giant leap forward for the field as a whole. Google DeepMind claims that Gemini outmatches GPT-4 on 30 out of 32 standard measures of performance. And yet the margins between them are thin.” For all the “furor about the next big thing, Gemini could be a sign that we’ve reached peak AI hype. At least for now.” (MIT Technology Review)
Meta and Microsoft say they will buy AMD’s new AI chip as an alternative to Nvidia’s. (CNBC)
The broadband industry is protesting an FCC plan “to measure the affordability of Internet service.” The FCC proposed last month “to analyze the affordability of Internet service in the agency's next congressionally required review of broadband deployment. That could include examining not just monthly prices but also data overage charges and various other fees.” (Ars Technica)
Meta to Start Fully Encrypting Messages on Facebook and Instagram: Critics have warned such a privacy enhancement could aid child predators and other criminals; Meta has said it is working to address concerns. (Wall Street Journal)
Former Twitter Global Head of Security Alan Rosa “has filed a lawsuit against X, alleging he was fired after objecting to various cost-cutting measures enacted shortly after Elon Musk bought the company last year.” The suit alleges that the company “engaged in a number of cost-cutting measures that the security chief thought would undermine the company’s ability to comply with various obligations and regulations.” (CNBC)
“Hundreds of Windows and Linux computer models from virtually all hardware makers are vulnerable to a new attack that executes malicious firmware early in the boot-up sequence.” The LogoFAIL attack “is notable for the relative ease in carrying it out, the breadth of both consumer- and enterprise-grade models that are susceptible, and the high level of control it gains over them.” (Ars Technica)
Smart Links
New York Could Be the Latest State to Ban Noncompete Agreements. (Wall Street Journal)
Chinese carmakers rush to build own semiconductor supply chains. (Nikkei Asia)
Options Traders Are Setting Their Sights on Bitcoin at $50,000 by January. (Bloomberg)
How Nations Are Losing a Global Race to Tackle A.I.’s Harms. (New York Times)
Disney+ adding Hulu integration as streaming bundles accelerate. (CNBC)