TRACK MERGERS

“President Trump says the US has begun a blockade of Iranian ports. He's trying to get Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal to end the war. Iran responded with threats on US allied ports in the region that poses serious risks for the global economy and the nearly week-long ceasefire.”

“The Lebanese Red Cross says its paramedic Hassan Badawi suffered a direct strike by an Israeli drone while carrying out his humanitarian duty during an emergency response mission in Bint Jibail near the Israeli border. The Red Cross notifies the Israeli military via United Nations peacekeepers whenever it sends out an ambulance team. Lebanon's health ministry called Badawi's killing a violation of international humanitarian law.”

“US District Court Judge Darren Gales wrote that Trump had failed to allege sufficiently that the journal had acted with what's called actual malice, either knowledge of story is or failure to seek the truth. Gales found the journal had made numerous efforts to verify its reporting and included Trump's denial. The judge left the door open to Trump refiling the suit, however, and a spokesperson for his legal team tells NPR, it will do just that.”

“More than a thousand movie stars, writers, and directors declared their unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount merger with Warner Brothers Discovery in an open letter. A large swath of the industry came out against the $111 billion deal that would consolidate the two legacy studios, arguing it would reduce jobs in an already downsized Hollywood.”

“The NAR is revising its housing forecast down for the year. That's because the war with Iran has raised the cost of borrowing, and that sent mortgage rates up. The association went from rejecting a double-digit increase in existing home sales to just 4%. New home sales are projected to be flat.”

“Swalwell has been at the center of controversy since last Friday after at least four women spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN about experiences ranging from unwanted sexual advances by Swalwell to allegations of rape. NPR has not independently verified the allegations, and Swalwell has forcefully denied them. He repeats that in his latest statement, but goes on to say it's, quote, wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.”

“It's possible that fighting could start again if Iran starts hitting US warships or commercial ships trying to transit through the Strait Of Hormuz or attacking the energy sector of Gulf allies. The Iranians have said they have major untouched levers to pull in response to the blockade, but we don't know what that means. At this point, it's an economic war trying to get Iran back to negotiating cable.”

“Because ships take a long time to travel by sea, the world had a bit of a buffer insulating importers from shortages, but that's gone now. The last ship carrying jet fuel from the Persian Gulf to Europe arrived last week, reports the commodity intelligence group, Argus. There are no more on the way right now.”

“The letter was signed by Hollywood directors and actors, among them JJ Abrams and Denis Villeneuve, Bryan Cranston, Glenn Close, and Jane Fonda. As founder of the relaunch committee for the First Amendment, Fonda has posted videos opposing the $110,000,000 deal by media mogul David Ellison backed by his billionaire father Larry Ellison. The idea of the whole entertainment industry being run by one company, that doesn't seem good.”

“The Dallas wing selected Fudd at the outset of the draft in New York. Fresh off winning the national championship, UCLA had five players drafted in the first round, breaking the record held by the 2,002 UConn team. I'm Jael Snyder, NPR News.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable. They feel all the vibration and energy that comes into their area, which is one of the reasons we're not open to the public, because I can't control people's energy.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion. Both were in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”

“January 5, The South Carolina Supreme Court strikes down the state's six-week abortion ban, ruling it violates the state's Constitution. The Idaho Supreme Court upholds the state's ban on abortion in a 3 to 2 ruling. The debate over abortion has further continued, with numerous laws being passed by state legislatures and court decisions issued at all levels.”

“I'm kind of in shock. I wanted to feed Mundy and Tara close together. And so I fed Tara over here. She picked up her food and brought it right over to the fence line here so she could be eating with Mundy. So you tell me what that means. I think that is really good.”

“The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown, all culminating in the removal of McCarthy on October 3. The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority enabled a far-right rebellion.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”

“I'm kind of in shock. I wanted to feed Mundy and Tara close together. And so I fed Tara over here. She picked up her food and brought it right over to the fence line here so she could be eating with Mundy. So you tell me what that means. I think that is really good.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable. They feel all the vibration and energy that comes into their area, which is one of the reasons we're not open to the public.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike, these were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”