BUSINESS

A White House announcement of the presidential finding is being planned unless Biden has a last-minute change of heart, according to the Washington Post and the New York Times.

The anniversary of the shocking attack on freedom of expression is being used by the atheist publication to send a message of defiance to the extremists who burst into its offices on January 7, 2015, then fled shouting they had "killed Charlie Hebdo".

The world's second-largest economy has struggled to revive growth following the Covid-19 pandemic and remains beset by a debt crisis in the crucial housing sector, chronically low consumption and high youth unemployment.

Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei stocks climbed, while South Korea's Kospi Index surged nearly two percent higher despite the ongoing political uncertainty in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Equities mostly had a bumper 2024 on the back of enthusiasm about artificial intelligence (AI), cuts in borrowing costs by central banks and Donald Trump's presidential election win.

The country has struggled this year to climb out of a slump fueled by a property market crisis, weak consumption and soaring government debt.

Supreme Tribunal of Justice Judge Tania D'Amelio said that the popular video-sharing app had been negligent in failing to implement "necessary and adequate measures" to stop the spread of content encouraging the challenges.

The incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the Treasury workstations and some unclassified documents, a Treasury spokesperson added.

The three main US indices all slumped around one percent on Monday, adding to Friday's losses, with Tesla down 3.3 percent and Facebook owner Meta off 1.4 percent.

From January 1, it will be forbidden to sell single-use vapes in Belgium, a bid to protect young people's health as part of a national anti-tobacco plan.

The "Santa Claus rally" got off to a good start but US stocks then fell across the board on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both dropping more than one percent.

Last Friday, US President Joe Biden authorized the drawdown of up to $571.3 million for defense assistance to the self-ruled island, which China regards as its own territory.

The 115.5 trillion yen ($730 billion) budget for the year from April 2025, greenlighted by the Cabinet, includes 8.7 trillion yen in defense spending.

According to industry experts, Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price.

Japan's Nikkei index closed up 1.1 percent, boosted by comments from the Bank of Japan governor and share price gains for top-selling automaker Toyota.

Trump, who credits the wildly popular platform with delivering him a large young user base, opposes banning TikTok partly because he believes it would primarily benefit Meta, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company behind Instagram and Facebook.

This month sees the release of the second season of "Squid Game", a dystopian vision of South Korea where desperate people compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games for a massive cash prize.

The deadlock by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) means the controversial $14.9 billion transaction will now be referred to President Joe Biden, who is legally required to act within a 15-day deadline.

Overnight, European stocks bounced around while US equities shook off early weakness to push higher as investors waited to see if a so-called Santa Claus rally would materialize.

A holiday-thinned week got off to a healthy start after last week's sell-off sparked by the US central bank's outlook that suggested officials will not lower borrowing costs as much as previously hoped over the next 12 months.

Their collaboration would create the world's third largest automaker, expanding development of EVs and self-driving tech while coming to the rescue of struggling Nissan.

In the Russian capital's exclusive shopping quarters, department stores and high-end Russian outlets are doing a roaring trade in Western sports cars, gold jewelry and designer clothes.

The core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food prices, topped market expectations and was up from 2.3 percent in October.

The announcement came after the Central American nation's government reached a $1.4 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund that addressed its controversial embrace of bitcoin.

The athletics company, which has struggled in recent quarters with weakness in China and product oversupply that has depressed prices, reported quarterly profits of $1.2 billion, down 26 percent from the year-ago period.

Fed chair Jerome Powell acknowledged on Wednesday that Trump's economic platform, which includes the threat of major tariff hikes, the extension of tax cuts, and mass deportation, had been a consideration when members of the rate-setting committee met to consider the number of interest rate cuts they expect next year.

Data showing Japanese inflation rose more than expected last month did little to help the yen, which took a hefty hit from the US central bank's more hawkish tilt and the Bank of Japan's refusal to tighten monetary policy.

Workers at Starbucks will walk off the job Friday in three US cities in a strike their union threatened could spread around the country in the busy run-up to Christmas.

Beijing has banned or slapped retaliatory tariffs on more than US$12 billion worth of Australian exports, from wine to timber, during years of soured ties with Canberra.