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TikTok owner ByteDance has finalized a deal to create a majority American-owned joint venture, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, designed to secure U.S. user data and prevent a U.S. ban of the app. Under the agreement, American and global investors will hold 80.1%, while ByteDance retains 19.9%. Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will each take 15% stakes as managing investors, with Oracle’s U.S. cloud hosting and securing the recommendation algorithm, which will be retrained and updated using U.S. user data. The deal has reportedly received sign-off from both U.S. and Chinese authorities, and TikTok has appointed Adam Presser as chief executive and Will Farrell as chief security officer, with TikTok CEO Shou Chew joining the venture’s board. 

 

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The U.S. has officially withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO). All U.S. funding to the WHO has been terminated and U.S. participation in WHO-sponsored leadership bodies and working groups has ended. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it took the decision due to the WHO's alleged "mishandling" of the pandemic, an inability to reform, and political influence from member states. The U.S. leaves behind unpaid debt of roughly $260m. There’s no requirement in statute to settle the debt before exiting the agency, a senior HHS official said. “It’s a very messy divorce,” observed Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO collaborating center on national and global health law at Georgetown University.

 

Al Jazeera

Bloomberg

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BBC News

Venture Global has won a dispute at an arbitration panel with Spain’s Repsol over the U.S. supplier's initial failure to deliver liquefied natural gas shipments from its Calcasieu Pass project in Louisiana under a 20-year long-term contract. The tribunal found Venture Global acted as a “reasonable and prudent operator” and awarded fees to the company. The ruling contrasts with a decision last year in which BP prevailed over Venture Global in a similar complaint brought at the International Chamber of ‌Commerce International Court of Arbitration.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

A court-appointed special master in Johnson & Johnson's long-running talc litigation has recommended that plaintiffs should be able to present certain testimony from expert witnesses. The recommendation from retired U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson applies to roughly 67,500 lawsuits that have been consolidated in New Jersey and allows them to go forward. Wolfson also said J&J can counter testimony with its own expert witnesses.  

 

Fierce Pharma

Chicago paid $26.5m in overtime to over 1,000 ineligible employees from 2020 to 2024, according to a report from Chicago Inspector General Deborah Witzburg. Her report noted that many of the employees worked in management positions and without collective bargaining agreements, making them ineligible for the extra pay. Ald. Gilbert Villegas, chair of the City Council Committee on Economic, Capital and Technology Development, blamed the problem on the city's reliance on antiquated technology. "There is technology out there for time and attendance that will allow the city to take control and make sure that we're monitoring overtime so that people are not taking advantage of it. It's up to this this administration to act quickly by incorporating this type of technology," he said. 

 

ABC 7 Chicago

CBS News

Chicago Tribune

Firms including Savers Value Village, Elanco Animal Health, and Hovnanian Enterprises are accelerating debt refinancing to lock in lower interest rates before potential market volatility hits. Despite debt not being due for several years, companies are opting to restructure early, citing favorable credit spreads, reduced Treasury yields, and political uncertainty under the Trump administration. U.S. corporate-debt refinancing hit $425bn in 2025 - the highest since 2020 - as CFOs weigh risks of waiting versus the cost of prepayment penalties.

 

Wall Street Journal

SpaceX is preparing for an initial public offering, enlisting the support of four major Wall Street banks - Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley - for senior roles in the potential listing. The IPO could raise over $25bn, making it one of the largest in market history, with a target valuation of around $800bn. The company's move comes amid broader market anticipation for mega listings, particularly from technology firms.

 

Reuters

The economy expanded at a 4.4% annual pace in the third quarter of 2025, an updated estimate from the Commerce Department showed, to keep the U.S. on track to score the fifth straight year of above-average growth. That marked an acceleration from an initial 4.3% surge, growth of 3.8% in the second quarter, and from a slight economic contraction that began 2025. Consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of U.S. GDP, grew at a 3.5% pace. Spending on services such as healthcare rose 3.6%, while there was a 3% uptick on goods spending, including an increase of 1.6% on so-called durable goods. "The small upward revision to Q3 GDP does not move the needle much on the economic outlook," said Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. "We still expect the economy to slow in the fourth quarter, as the shutdown and a drop in auto sales weigh on activity, but the swings in net trade and inventories driven by shifts in timing of shipments around tariff deadlines pose an upside risk."

 

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Wall Street Journal

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure increased in November, indicating persistent price pressures. Consumer prices rose 2.8% year-over-year, up from 2.7% in October, according to the Commerce Department. Core prices, excluding food and energy, also rose 2.8%, slightly higher than the previous month. While inflation has decreased from a peak in 2022, it has stabilised over the past two years. Monthly increases were modest, with both overall and core inflation rising 0.2% from October. The economy expanded at a robust 4.4% annual rate in the July-September quarter, the fastest growth in two years.

 

Bloomberg

New York Times

US News and World Report

Amazon is reportedly preparing to cut thousands of additional corporate jobs next week, targeting roles in Web Services, retail, Prime Video, and HR, as part of a plan to reduce its white-collar workforce by 30,000 - roughly 10% of its corporate staff. Following 14,000 job cuts in October, this second round could begin as soon as Tuesday. Chief executive Andy Jassy has attributed the layoffs to cultural inefficiencies rather than financial or AI-related pressures, despite Amazon's increased use of artificial intelligence to streamline operations. The move marks the largest corporate layoff in the company’s history.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

The Seattle Times

The Democratic Republic of Congo has presented a list of state-owned mining assets, including manganese, copper-cobalt, gold, and lithium projects, to U.S. investors as part of a partnership aimed at reducing reliance on China for critical minerals. The move, involving a Joint Steering Committee to oversee negotiations, represents significant progress in establishing U.S. influence over Congo's mineral supply chain following a pact brokered by President Donald Trump. While the exact value of the assets remains undisclosed, they include several key mining projects that are not currently encumbered by joint ventures.

 

Reuters

Microsoft has successfully restored access to its suite of productivity software, including Outlook and Microsoft Defender, after a significant outage that saw over 15,890 reports of issues. The company reported that incidents of disruption had significantly decreased, with only 113 remaining by early morning. The outage was attributed to problems with a portion of its North American infrastructure, prompting Microsoft to reroute traffic to ensure recovery.

 

Reuters

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence could lead to civil unrest if not managed properly. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he emphasised the need for governments and businesses to support displaced workers. Dimon highlighted the potential job losses in sectors such as trucking due to automation, saying: "Should you do it all at once . . . No. You will have civil unrest." In contrast, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, argued that AI will create jobs, particularly in infrastructure and tradecraft, countering fears of mass unemployment.

 

The Guardian

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched a probe into approximately 597,571 General Motors vehicles amid reports of engine failure linked to the L87 6.2L V8 gas engine. The investigation follows 36 complaints alleging that the remedies from a previous recall were ineffective. GM had recalled 721,000 vehicles worldwide in April 2025 for similar engine issues.

 

Reuters

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that President Donald Trump would “sue” the news outlet if it did not air an interview unedited. Trump taped the 13-minute interview with Tony Dokoupil, the new "CBS Evening News" anchor, during a visit to a Ford truck plant in Dearborn on Jan. 13. Leavitt told Dokoupil and his team: "He said, 'Make sure you guys don’t cut the tape, make sure the interview is out in full,'" and also, "He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”

 

Detroit Free Press

New York Times