Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Netflix has struck a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to buy the legacy Hollywood giant’s studio and streaming business for $72 billion. The merger, announced Friday, would bring two of the industry’s biggest players in film and TV under one roof. Beyond its namesake television and motion picture division, Warner owns HBO Max and DC Studios. And Netflix has rose to dominance as a household name ubiquitous to on-demand content, while building of its own production arm to release popular titles like “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game.” The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion.
Fed's preferred inflation gauge stayed elevated in September as spending weakened
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation slowed a bit in September, likely easing the way to a widely expected interest rate cut by the central bank next week. The data, which was delayed for five weeks by the government shutdown, show that inflation was muted in September and will bolster the case for a cut to the Fed’s key interest rate at its next meeting Dec. 9-10.
Russia restricts FaceTime, its latest step in controlling online communications
Russian authorities say they have imposed restrictions on Apple's video calling service FaceTime, alleging it was being used for organizing what it called “terrorist activities.” Thursday's announcement marks another step in Russia's ongoing effort to control internet and online communications. In recent years, Russia has adopted restrictive laws and blocked noncompliant websites and platforms. After the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the government blocked major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Access to YouTube also was disrupted. Authorities have further restricted internet access with widespread shutdowns of cellphone connections. Critics say these measures are aimed at tightening internet control.
Cloudflare says service restored after outage that brought down sites including Zoom and LinkedIn
MADRID (AP) — Cloudflare reports that it has resolved an outage that disrupted several global websites, including LinkedIn and Zoom. This marks the second such incident for the company in less than three weeks. On Friday, Cloudflare said the issue stemmed from a change in how its firewall handles requests, not an attack. Edinburgh airport experienced a brief shutdown but later said it was unrelated to Cloudflare. Last month, Microsoft and Amazon also faced outages affecting their cloud services. Cyber security experts warn that such outages are growing more common as organizations rely on a few companies for security and web solutions.
Wall Street climbs back to its all-time high
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is flirting with its all-time high. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% Friday and is on track to squeak past its record closing level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 238 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%. If the S&P 500 finishes the day at an all-time high, it would be just the latest time the U.S. stock market has powered past what seemed to be a debilitating set of worries. Ulta Beauty helped lead the market after delivering a better profit than analysts expected and offering encouraging signals about the holiday shopping season. Treasury yields held relatively steady.
France intercepts illegal drone overflight at nuclear submarine base
PARIS (AP) — French officials are investigating an illegal drone overflight of the Atlantic coast base for France's nuclear-armed submarines. Several drones were detected over the Île Longue base in Brittany on Thursday night. This base is home to France's four nuclear ballistic missile submarines. Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin confirmed on Friday that troops intercepted an overflight but didn't specify how. The identity and motives of the pilots is unclear. Vautrin emphasized that overflights of military sites are prohibited. A number of EU countries have recently reported mysterious drone flights. Some caused airport shutdowns. Russia has been blamed for several airspace violations.
Greek police fire tear gas at protesting farmers threatening to blockade airport
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Riot police have fired tear gas at farmers attempting to block the main access road to the international airport in Greece’s second-largest city Thessaloniki. The demonstration took place on Friday. Protests have been escalating over delays in the payment of European Union-backed agricultural subsidies. Irate farmers have deployed thousands of tractors and other agricultural vehicles at border crossings and key points along highways across the country. The actions have periodically stopped traffic and threatened to completely blockade the roads as well as airports and ports. Farmer roadblocks at the country’s northern borders with Bulgaria, Turkey and North Macedonia have already hampered truck traffic.
One Tech Tip: Up your Christmas shopping game with AI tools
AI-powered shopping assistants have become a staple in online retail, making shopping easier and more convenient. This month, new AI tools have launched just in time for the holiday season. Amazon's Rufus chatbot, Walmart's Sparky, and Target's holiday gift finder are among the latest offerings. These chatbots aim to simplify finding the perfect gift by allowing conversational searches. General-purpose AI shopping tools, like those from OpenAI and Google, can search multiple sites for personalized recommendations. Virtual try-on tools and agentic AI for purchasing are also gaining traction, enhancing the online shopping experience.
US filings for jobless benefits fall to 191,000, lowest since September of 2022
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in more than three years last week, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s upcoming decision on interest rates. The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits for the week ending Nov. 29 fell to 191,000 from the previous week’s 218,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the lowest level since September 24, 2022, when claims came in at 189,000. Analysts surveyed by the data provider FactSet had forecast initial claims of 221,000. Applications for unemployment aid are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
Luxury fashion firms asked for documents as part of Italian labor abuse probe
ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors have asked 13 high-end fashion firms to provide documents on governance, internal controls and audits. The request is part of a probe into the alleged exploitation of Chinese workers at subcontractors, judicial documents showed on Thursday. According to documents obtained by The Associated Press, the investigation highlighted episodes of “heavy exploitations” of Chinese workers at subcontractors’ workshops, where the brands involved produced some of their products. The 13 fashion firms didn’t immediately comment on the request.
