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Intelligence for the New World Economy
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The World at a Glance
Updated 8:35am EST
1
EU leaders agreed to loan Ukraine a further $105 billion after efforts to leverage frozen Russian assets stumbled.
2Japan opened its first Central Asia summit, part of a push for influence in the resource-rich region.
3Washington threatened ‘severe consequences’ for South Africa, after the country reportedly pushed back against efforts to relocate Afrikaners.
4The US issued tough demands over a Canada-Mexico trade deal that is set to be renegotiated soon.
5China designated an island as a duty-free zone to lure more foreign investment, in a global trade push.
6TSMC accelerated plans to build chips overseas, helping diversify global semiconductor supply chains amid looming threats from China.
TikTok’s deal to divest US operations fails to satisfy China hawks
Critics are taking issue with the fact that the content recommendation algorithm, TikTok’s secret sauce, will be licensed from ByteDance.
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters‘Our favorite monopolists’: How Keurig kept its iron grip on coffee pods
A pending deal between Keurig and Peet’s would create a global coffee giant and bring one of Keurig’s biggest customers in-house.
Joey Pfeifer/SemaforKenya pushes back as US eyes more African health deals
A handful of countries have signed agreements with Washington but a Kenyan court case has raised growing data privacy concerns.
Sodiq Adelakun/ReutersWhite House faces down deadline to release Epstein case files
Not that you’d know it from watching the White House.
House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via Reuters AD
Economists warn of distorted inflation data as White House touts new report
Thursday’s inflation report could end up being less instructive than usual.
Joshua Roberts/Reuters Ghana asks US to extradite former finance minister accused of corruption
Ken Ofori-Atta stands accused of causing financial losses while he was in government.
Ghana’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images.Can corporate events be sexy? This IPO-bound company thinks so.
The Blackstone-owned company is getting ready for an IPO, off the back of its strongest year ever.
Encore / company handout
Politics
Raquel Cunha/Reuters
House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via Reuters
US issues tough demands over Canada-Mexico trade deal
The remarks by the US’ top trade official will buoy Mexican and Canadian officials, after Donald Trump suggested he may allow the deal to lapse.
Raquel Cunha/ReutersHawley’s populist policies in sync with Missouri voters, poll finds
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s stances are pretty popular in a conservative state like Missouri.
White House faces down deadline to release Epstein case files
Not that you’d know it from watching the White House.
House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout via Reuters Economists warn of distorted inflation data as White House touts new report
Thursday’s inflation report could end up being less instructive than usual.
Debatable: Mifepristone review
Some conservatives have called for the FDA commissioner to be fired over a delayed review. Others aren’t taking it that far.
Democrats steer away from another shutdown fight
Even progressives who disliked the deal to end the shutdown said the party is not talking about plunging into another one.
US House to vote on Democratic health care proposal
Supporters hope the revolt could shake loose a Senate health care deal.
In speech to nation, Trump defends first year back in White House
The president highlighted his “big, beautiful bill,” promising that voters will feel its effects soon.
How Democrats can keep gaining on Trump as his economic approval sinks
Democrats are closing the gap with voters who don’t like how the president is handling the economy, but they have work left to do.
Trump allies seek White House visit for Venezuelan opposition leader
Rick Scott is among those working behind the scenes to bring María Corina Machado to meet Trump.
Trump and his party enter a winter of discontent
Republicans are cringing at the president’s digressions as they divide further on potential economic fixes.
BusinessEncore / company handout
Can corporate events be sexy? This IPO-bound company thinks so.
The Blackstone-owned company is getting ready for an IPO, off the back of its strongest year ever.
Encore / company handoutTaiwan ramps up plans for overseas chipmaking as threat from China looms
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s dominant chipmaker, is accelerating plans to expand abroad.
US issues tough demands over Canada-Mexico trade deal
The remarks by the US’ top trade official will buoy Mexican and Canadian officials, after Donald Trump suggested he may allow the deal to lapse.
America is becoming the world’s dumb money
The US’ capitalism is losing its way even as other countries are moving away from suboptimal and clunky state-run economies.
‘AI is going to automate the ordinary’: Cindy Rose’s plan for ad giant WPP
The admaker has fallen behind its peers, but the Microsoft veteran sees opportunity in disruption.
TechnologyDado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters 
ASML employees in Veldhoven. Michael Kooren/Reuters
TikTok’s deal to divest US operations fails to satisfy China hawks
Critics are taking issue with the fact that the content recommendation algorithm, TikTok’s secret sauce, will be licensed from ByteDance.
Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ReutersChina advances on its AI ‘Manhattan Project:’ Reuters
The extreme ultraviolet lithography system was built by former engineers of Dutch semiconductor giant ASML.
ASML employees in Veldhoven. Michael Kooren/ReutersUPS tests AI tool to spot fake returns
The AI technology itself isn’t new, but UPS’ adoption of it brings new scale to the billion-dollar problem.
Is Alex Karp for real?
The Palantir CEO, accused by the left of opportunism and the right of building a surveillance state, opens up.
Taiwan ramps up plans for overseas chipmaking as threat from China looms
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s dominant chipmaker, is accelerating plans to expand abroad.
Startup uses AI to recycle scraps into new fabrics
The company’s AI model uses a processing machine to tweak and alter the fibers within the scrap materials.
Energy
Stephane Mahe/Pool/File Photo/Reuters
Tingshu Wang/Reuters
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images
Offshore wind farms are helping marine life, research suggests
The study found that the wind turbine foundations allow sessile organisms — immobile living things like barnacles, sea sponges, and algae — to thrive.
Stephane Mahe/Pool/File Photo/ReutersChina solar firms launch consolidation fund to tackle overcapacity
Chinese solar panel manufacturers dominate the global landscape to the extent that, at one point, they produced twice as many panels as the global demand.
Tingshu Wang/ReutersOil major BP announces first female CEO
Meg O’Neill, CEO of Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Energy, will replace Murray Auchincloss as CEO of the British major BP.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty ImagesGulf
Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters
IMF urges speed of reform in Bahrain to bolster finances
The Gulf’s most-indebted nation needs to “accelerate the program of fiscal reforms” while keeping fiscal policy “tight,” said Jihad Azour, IMF Middle East and Central Asia director.
Hamad I Mohammed/ReutersCitadel picks Dubai as its Gulf hub
The move is a win for the UAE’s most populous emirate, which is competing fiercely with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh for global financial hub status.
Saudi non-oil trade grows steadily
New data showed that in the third quarter, non-oil trade neared 100 billion riyals ($26.7 billion) and it could cross that threshold for the first time in Q4.
The next oil shock will come from supply
Looking beyond next year, the global oil system faces a widening gap between rising demand and the slow pace of new supply additions.
Gulf museum boom faces scrutiny over outsourcing to Western consultants
International consulting firms are deeply embedded in strategy, staffing, and delivery, Artnet reported.
AfricaGhana’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images. 
South African singer Tyla. Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.
Ghana asks US to extradite former finance minister accused of corruption
Ken Ofori-Atta stands accused of causing financial losses while he was in government.
Ghana’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. Ernest Ankomah/Getty Images.K-pop power player HYBE looks to African market
The entertainment company behind mega-popular boy band BTS announced a new joint venture with several regional music veterans.
South African singer Tyla. Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.Kenya announces new $300M power deal
The agreement is with a consortium comprising pan-African infrastructure investor Africa50 and the Indian government.
Kenya pushes back as US eyes more African health deals
A handful of countries have signed agreements with Washington but a Kenyan court case has raised growing data privacy concerns.
US threatens ‘severe consequences’ for S. Africa as rift escalates
The comments came after Pretoria reportedly expelled several Kenyan nationals sent to help members of the country’s white minority relocate.
US loans Angola $500M for major railroad
The loan is part of White House efforts to counter China’s influence on the continent, while gaining access to Africa’s vast mineral resources.
Security
Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo/Reuters
Thomas Peter/Reuters
Seaman Abigail Reyes/US Navy/Handout via Reuters
EU leaders agree to loan $105B to Ukraine
The agreement comes after separate efforts to leverage frozen Russian assets in order to help Kyiv stumbled.
Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo/ReutersUkraine’s grid confronts the possibility of total collapse
The new CEO of Ukrenergo said renewables and savvy engineering are key to a defensive strategy to keep the lights on.
Thomas Peter/ReutersUS passes $900B defense bill as West ramps up military spending
Germany also passed a major bill agreeing €50 billion in defense spending, while the UK is set to unveil its military outlays in the new year.
Seaman Abigail Reyes/US Navy/Handout via ReutersMedia
Instagram’s Adam Mosseri on TV, AI slop, and how to beat TikTok
The head of Instagram explains what the evolving app really is in 2025 — and why they want to be on your television.
Sinclair ponders next steps in Scripps takeover bid
The two sides haven’t been talking, leaving Sinclair with little choice but to make their case to shareholders.
The Oscars will move ceremony broadcast onto YouTube
The move is a blow both to ABC’s owner Disney and to legacy broadcasters in general, analysts said.
Trump sues the BBC for $10B over defamation claim
The edit of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech at the US Capitol gave the impression that the president called for violence.
Andy Richter on late night’s decline, Dancing With the Stars, and new media
The comedy veteran and longtime Conan O’Brien sidekick joins Mixed Signals for an existentially funny conversation about surviving three decades in entertainment.
CEO Signal
Courtesy of WPP/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
Courtesy of Target/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
Courtesy of Lyft/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor
‘AI is going to automate the ordinary’: Cindy Rose’s plan for ad giant WPP
The admaker has fallen behind its peers, but the Microsoft veteran sees opportunity in disruption.
Courtesy of WPP/Joey Pfeifer/Semafor‘We’ve got work to do’: The new CEO aiming at an elevated Target
Michael Fiddelke says a clearer focus and simpler messaging can return the retailer to growth.
Courtesy of Target/Joey Pfeifer/SemaforHow Lyft’s David Risher seized his ‘wet cement’ moment
The CEO of the No. 2 in US ridesharing says there’s more to growth than catching ‘the other guys.’
Courtesy of Lyft/Joey Pfeifer/SemaforAD