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The World
The US’s top diplomat has provided Washington’s most detailed plan for the postwar future of Gaza, saying the enclave should be politically unified with the West Bank under the administration of the Palestinian Authority. Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, reiterated the Biden administration’s position that Israel should not reoccupy Gaza after its war with Hamas, but left open the possibility that the Jewish state could play a role in a “transition period”. “It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority,” Blinken said after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan on Wednesday. “It must include a sustained mechanism for reconstruction in Gaza and a pathway to Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in states of their own, with equal measures of security, freedom, opportunity and dignity.” (Financial Times)
Adobe is selling AI-generated fake images of the war in Gaza. While some “are obviously computer-made,” at least one “has already begun circulating online, passed off as a real image.” Multiple AI-generated images of the conflict are currently for sale on Adobe Stock. (Motherboard)
President Biden and Xi Jinping will announce the resumption of military-to-military communications when they meet in San Francisco next week. Military communications channels canceled by China last year include the Defense Policy Coordination Talks and the 1998 Maritime Military Communications Agreement. (Axios)
In a Morning Consult poll a year and a half ago, “more than 80% of Chinese respondents said they viewed the U.S. as an enemy, according to the poll.” But now, the number has fallen to less than 50%. (Axios)
The FDA has approved Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Zepbound for treating obesity, “opening the door for widespread insurance coverage that could make the sought-after medication affordable for millions of patients.” The approval of the drug, previously approved as Mounjaro as a Type 2 diabetes treatment, “is sure to fuel demand for what is by some measures the most effective obesity drug yet to hit the market.” (Washington Post)
What it would cost to stabilize the soaring national debt: It would take spending cuts or tax increases equivalent to $2,400 per American per year to stabilize the national debt, according to a new book that shows the U.S. government's fiscal situation is more precarious than lawmakers of either party acknowledge. The numbers amount to an alarm bell about America's fiscal vulnerability at a time when there is bipartisan resistance to steps that might change the course in a major way. That is spelled out in "Building a More Resilient US Economy,"from the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, a group of former policymakers, top executives, and others led by former Treasury secretaries Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner. (Axios)
Economy
Inflation in Germany fell to 3.8% last month, its lowest level in more than two years. While the figure “is a marked decrease from September's 4.5% rise, it is still far higher than the European Central Bank's target of 2%.” A 3.2% decline in energy prices “was particularly potent in driving down the October figure.” (DW)
The Cleveland Federal Reserve has started its search for a successor to President Loretta Mester, who is retiring next June. A committee comprised of Cleveland Fed board members will conduct the search. The vacancy “comes at a time when the Fed has pushed for greater diversity among its governing body.” (CNBC)
The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will lend $553 million “to establish a deepwater shipping-container terminal at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, expanding America’s effort to finance infrastructure around strategic parts of Asia.” The allocation “resembles the kind of big-ticket deals that China’s development banks have struck around the world over the past decade” under its Belt and Road Initiative. (New York Times)
Disney said its net income was up 63% in the quarter that ended September 30, up from $162 million a year earlier. The results “topped Wall Street expectations and sent shares in the entertainment and theme park company up more than 3% in after-hours trading.” Adjusted earnings per share “more than doubled to 82 cents in the quarter. Industry analysts had been expecting 71 cents a share.” (Associated Press)
ESPN’s operating income surged 16% from a year ago to $987 million. This is “the first time Disney has ever broken out the sports division’s finances.” (CNBC)
Bob Iger pledges to cut another $2bn from Disney’s cost base: Chief executive says studios will make less content but concentrate on quality after ‘losing focus’. (Financial Times)
Adidas may write off the remaining 320 million worth of Yeezy shoes “left unsold after it cut ties with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. The company will decide in the coming weeks whether or not to do a third release of the shoes next year to generate more donations to groups fighting antisemitism.” (Associated Press)
One in four Gen Z-ers plan to open a new bank account in the next six months, 10 percentage points higher than the general population. “Many young people have access to bank accounts already: 72% of Gen Z adults have a checking account, and 57% have a savings account. But it’s likely that many of these accounts were created by, and even remain partly or fully managed by, older adults in their lives.” (Morning Consult)
Technology
Meta announced that it will require political campaigns to disclose their use of AI in advertisements. Meta said the policy “is meant to ‘help people understand when a social issue, election, or political advertisement on Facebook or Instagram has been digitally created or altered, including through the use of AI.’ It will go into effect next year and be required globally.” (Washington Post)
“Amazon is investing millions in training an ambitious large language model” in an effort to compete with Alphabet and OpenAI. The model gas two trillion parameters, “which could make it one of the largest models being trained. OpenAI's GPT-4 models, one of the best models available, is reported to have one trillion parameters.” (Reuters)
Amazon has begun cutting jobs in its Music division in the Americas and Europe. Amazon “has been quietly trimming jobs, including communications staff in its Studios, Video and Music divisions last month.” (Associated Press)
GM’s Cruise driverless vehicle unit “is recalling all 950 of its cars to update software after one of them dragged a pedestrian to the side of a San Francisco street in early October.” The company said that with the updated software, Cruise vehicles “will remain stationary should a similar incident occur in the future.” (Associated Press)
Robinhood shares fell after it reported a drop in trading volumes in the third quarter. Robinhood “also reported fewer monthly active users, which fell 16% to 10.3 million in the third quarter from the same period last year.” Although revenue rose 29% to $467 million, “it fell short of the $480 million analysts were predicting.” (CNBC)
Smart Links
American Airlines Dangles $250,000 Bonuses to Poach FedEx and UPS Pilots (Wall Street Journal)
SAG-AFTRA announces a tentative agreement for a contract, ending the strike at 12:01AM PT November 9. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Xiaomi 14 sales top 1 million units as it jostles with Huawei and Apple in China’s shrinking smartphone market (South China Morning Post)
Western miners seek premium pricing for rare earth metals to break China grip. (Reuters)
Caesars reaches deal with Las Vegas union to avoid strike. (CNBC)
Fall of a ‘trailblazer’: What WeWork’s bankruptcy means for flexible working. (Financial Times)