WORLD
Thailand moves to ban recreational use of cannabis in setback for nascent industry
Smoking of marijuana and its use in any other forms for recreation will be banned under the draft bill that was published by the Health Ministry on Tuesday. The use of cannabis plant or its products will be limited for medical and health purposes.
BUSINESS
Rice prices poised to climb higher as market remains tight
The grain is vital to the diets of billions and further price gains would stretch household budgets. Thai white rice 5% broken — an Asian benchmark — rallied to a fresh 15-year high at the end of last year of $659 a ton.
BUSINESS
US trade deficit unexpectedly narrows as services surplus rises
The deficit in goods and services trade shrank 2% from the prior month to $63.2 billion, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a $64.9 billion gap.
BUSINESS
Microsoft’s OpenAI ties face potential EU merger investigation
The European Commission said it’s examining whether Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI might be reviewable under the bloc’s merger rules.
BUSINESS
Zee said to miss $200 million cricket fee deadline to Disney
The Mumbai-based media firm didn’t pay the installment due early January citing a cash crunch, the people aware of the development told Bloomberg, asking not to be named as the information is not public.
WORLD
JD.com unit dives 46% after disclosing ‘suspicious’ revenue
Dada Nexus Ltd. said it may have overstated roughly 500 million yuan of sales from online advertising and marketing, and about the same amount of operating and support costs.
WORLD
Xi Jinping vows ‘no mercy’ as he deepens graft fight in key sectors
The Chinese leader singled out the finance, energy, pharmaceutical and infrastructure sectors, as well as state-owned enterprises, as targets of fresh scrutiny at a meeting of the Communist Party’s anti-graft agency on Monday, according to state media.
WORLD
Saudi Arabia borrows $12 billion as EM nations load up on bonds
The kingdom added to the almost $25 billion of bonds that developing nations had sold since the start of the year, the biggest of those being a $7.5 billion offering from Mexico. The Saudi deal is equivalent to more than half the fiscal deficit the government is projecting for this year.
WORLD
OpenAI claims New York Times isn’t ‘telling the full story’ in suit
The suit, filed in December, claims OpenAI and its largest investor Microsoft Corp. relied on copyrighted articles to train the startup’s popular ChatGPT chatbot and other artificial intelligence features.
BUSINESS
ICICI is hiring 30 investment bankers on expectations for record fundraising in India
The firm plans 15 new hires in its investment banking division this year to beef up its mergers and acquisitions, private equity and fundraising practices, and another 15 in sales, trading and research, said Ajay Saraf, head of investment banking and institutional equities at the lender’s ICICI Securities Ltd. unit.
WORLD
Unity Software to cut 1,800 employees, about 25% of staff
The San Francisco-based company, which makes software used by video-game creators, said in a filing Monday it can’t yet estimate the costs associated with the moves, which are designed to improve long-term profitability.
BUSINESS
Bitcoin rally cools in countdown to US spot ETF decision by SEC
Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is up 13.2% from the year's low of $41,454 on Jan. 3.
BUSINESS
Elon Musk’s drug use is the latest headache for Tesla’s Board
The Wall Street Journal article describing Musk’s history of recreational drug use and ongoing consumption of ketamine is the latest in a long line of tests for a board packed with the CEO’s acolytes
TRENDS
iPhone Survives 16,000-Foot fall from Alaska Air flight
The US Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded more than 170 Max 9 aircraft to conduct safety checks before they are returned to service.
BUSINESS
India’s exports may take a $30 billion hit on Red Sea threats
The initial assessment, conducted by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, a New Delhi-based thinktank, would mean a 6.7% drop in Indian exports, based on last fiscal year’s $451 billion total.
BUSINESS
Zee-Sony's $10-billion merger may be called off
Zee-Sony merger: While the agreement signed in 2021 was that Goenka would lead the new company, Sony no longer wants him as CEO amid a regulatory probe, the people said.
BUSINESS
Amazon, Microsoft boosting Saudi offices amid state pressure
The three US firms have all received licenses to establish regional HQs in Riyadh, a government database shows. Those approvals came just ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline set by the Saudi government.
BUSINESS
Foxconn arm in India Is set to lose its country head Foulger
Josh Foulger, the country head of Foxconn’s Bharat FIH arm, is leaving the company after nine years, people familiar with the matter said. His last day will be this month, they said, asking not to be named as the matter is private. His plans going forward couldn’t immediately be learned.
WORLD
Bitcoin ETF hopefuls eye this week for long-awaited SEC greenlight
Would-be Bitcoin ETF issuers have been given until Monday morning in Washington to submit any last-minute revisions to their pending applications, Bloomberg News has reported.
WORLD
Apple’s reign as world’s top stock at risk from bumpy 2024 start
Shares of the technology giant fell 0.4% Friday to close at about $181 after the New York Times reported that the Justice Department is closer to filing an antitrust case against the company. The decline notched the fifth consecutive negative day for Apple, its longest losing streak since October.
WORLD
Boeing Max grounding goes global as carriers follow FAA order
After Alaska Air kept its fleet of 65 737 Max 9s on the ground following the incident on Jan. 5, United Airlines Holdings Inc., the model’s top operator, followed suit with some jets.
WORLD
Investors are looking to share buybacks to keep US stock market afloat
Bulls may need the support, as hedge funds and retail investors are tilted defensively following the strong end to the year, with worries around the timing of the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts adding to the caution.
WORLD
Boeing CEO’s Dave Calhoun comeback plan for 2024 takes a hit five days in
In just months, Boeing Co. has suffered a series of quality lapses that threaten to erode trust in the manufacturing prowess of the biggest US exporter — notably its 737 Max aircraft, a crucial cash cow.
BUSINESS
Driverless truck companies plan to ditch human copilots in 2024
After years of testing, Aurora Innovation Inc, Kodiak Robotics Inc and Gatik AI Inc expect to remove safety drivers from trucks that are being guided by software and an array of sensors including cameras, radar and lidar, which sends pulses of light that bounce off objects
