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The World
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “insisted that NATO allies are showing no sign of war fatigue and remain committed to helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia and take back occupied territory.” (Associated Press)
In a statement following a meeting with Kuleba, “NATO allies vowed to ‘remain steadfast in their commitment to further step up political and practical support to Ukraine’ and said they ‘will continue their support for as long as it takes.’” (Politico)
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström says he was told by his Turkish counterpart that Turkey will ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO “within weeks.” Hungary has also not yet ratified Sweden’s bid. (Politico)
EU President Ursula von der Leyen says Britain “is on a ‘direction of travel’ towards eventually rejoining the European Union,” suggesting that it is “up to the next generation to reverse Brexit.” She said it “eventually it would be up to her children to ‘fix’ the mistakes of the generation that had allowed Brexit to happen in the first place.” (Times of London)
The U.S. says it has “foiled an alleged plot to assassinate an American citizen in New York who advocated for a Sikh separatist state. Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national, is accused of trying to hire a hitman” for $100,000 in cash, but the person he approached “was actually an undercover federal agent, prosecutors said.” Gupta “was allegedly directed by an Indian government official who was not named or charged in the indictment.” (BBC News)
“Each COP summit tends to inch the world forward toward a lower carbon future,” but “after 27 of these meetings, one thing is abundantly clear: Global emissions, as well as the resulting uptick in worldwide average temperatures, are dramatically outpacing outcomes from the COP process.” (Axios)
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said that he is “considering dropping his months-long holds on military promotions ‘soon, but not today.’” Tuberville said “he and other Armed Services Committee members are ‘getting close’ to a resolution.” (Politico)
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon “has a message for some of the world’s wealthiest corporate leaders: help Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.” Speaking at a conference hosted by The New York Times DealBook, Dimon said, “Even if you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you, help Nikki Haley, too. Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump.” (CNBC)
For Haley, Rise in Polls Feeds Voter Enthusiasm on Trail (New York Times)
Mark Cuban “reiterated that he has ‘no plans’ to run for president in 2024.” Cuban, who announced this week “that he is selling a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the mega-Republican donor Adelson family,” has “praised efforts by the group No Labels to create a bipartisan ticket for the presidency next year.” (CNBC)
Obituary: Henry Kissinger Is Dead at 100; Shaped Nation’s Cold War History. The most powerful secretary of state of the postwar era, he was both celebrated and reviled. His complicated legacy still resonates in relations with China, Russia and the Middle East. (New York Times)
Economy
European central banks “may need to keep interest rates at high levels until 2025 — much longer than financial markets are expecting — to guard against stubborn inflationary pressures,” according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD “said it expected the European Central Bank to hold its policy rate at current levels until the spring of 2025, while the Bank of England might not start reducing borrowing costs until the first months of that year.” (Financial Times)
Cigna and Humana are discussing a merger in “a stock-and-cash deal that could be finalized by the end of the year.” The combination “would be huge, given Cigna’s market value Wednesday morning of about $83 billion and Humana’s of roughly $62 billion.” (Wall Street Journal)
“Shares of Cigna closed 8% lower Wednesday, while Humana’s stock closed more than 5% lower.” (CNBC)
The UAW is launching a campaign targeting nearly 150,000 workers at 13 non-unionized automakers in a push to organize “as it bids to extend its momentum from a strike against the Detroit Three manufacturers.” The targeted companies are BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. (Axios)
General Motors plants a $10 billion share repurchase next year as CEO Mary Barra “seeks to reassure investors about the health of GM’s core car-making business after setbacks in fledgling pursuits such as electric and driverless vehicles.” Barra “is trying to jump-start GM’s flailing shares while also refocusing investors on the underlying strength of its main business: selling gas- and diesel-powered trucks and SUVs.” (Wall Street Journal)
Chinese factory activity contracts in sign of economy losing momentum: Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index falls despite government efforts to boost growth. (Financial Times)
Taiwan’s investment in Southeast and South Asia surpassed its investment in China for the first time last year, according to Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua. He added, “We think the trend will only continue because of the push from the U.S.-China trade tensions.” (Nikkei Asia)
EY has pushed back start dates for some new hires to its US advisory business for the second time, in another example of the pressures on professional services firms from the uncertain economy. The Big Four firm told recent graduates who had originally expected to start work this autumn that some of them would now not be required until July or August 2024, almost a year late. The decision was “based on emerging business conditions and our assessment of our business needs”, according to an email on Tuesday from EY’s campus recruiting department to a recruit in the EY-Parthenon business, which was seen by the Financial Times. (Financial Times)
Technology
The Canadian government and Google “have reached an agreement in their dispute over the Online News Act that would see Google continue to share Canadian news online in return for the company making annual payments to news companies in the range of $100 million,” which was close to Google’s recommended amount. Earlier this year, the government had estimated that Google’s payments “should amount to about $172 million.” (CBC News)
“Electric vehicle owners continue to report far more problems with their vehicles than owners of conventional cars or hybrids.” The latest Consumer Reports annual car reliability survey found that on average, EVs from the past three model years had 79% more problems than conventional cars. (Consumer Reports)
The September Okta hack “was far more extensive than previously known and saw the hackers steal data on all users in Okta’s customer support system.” The company’s admission “is a stark contrast from Okta’s statement earlier this month that said it had determined, after finalizing an investigation, that the incident affected less than 1% of the more than 18,000 customers around the world that use Okta’s tools to log into their networks.” (CNN)
An Oxford Internet Institute study of more than two million people’s Internet use “found no ‘smoking gun’ for widespread harm to mental health from online activities such as browsing social media and gaming, despite widely claimed concerns that mobile apps can cause depression and anxiety.” (Financial Times)
Smart Links
Your Unused Gmail Account May Be Permanently Deleted Friday. (Wall Street Journal)
Sri Lanka says it struck a deal with creditors on debt restructuring to clear way for IMF funds. (Associated Press)
A new kind of solar cell is coming: is it the future of green energy? (Nature)
Prominent Women in Tech Say They Don’t Want to Join OpenAI’s All-Male Board. (Wired)
California vs. Florida: Why are people moving from one state to the other? (Los Angeles Times)
Amazon joins AI image creation fray with new model. (The Verge)