Business

(Reuters) – Mesa Air Group will sell 18 Embraer aircraft to United Airlines for about $229.1 million and use the proceeds to cut debt, the regional airline operator said on Tuesday.

Shares of Mesa, the parent company of Mesa Airlines, rose more than 10% before the bell.

Most of the aircraft of the Phoenix, Arizona-based company are operated under an agreement with United, where they fly under the United Express brand.

Mesa completed the sale of eight of the 18 aircraft on Dec. 31 and expects to close the rest by the end of this month.

The company expects to use $142.4 million of the gross proceeds from the sale to pay off associated debt, Mesa said in a regulatory filing.

Mesa also said it had entered into a separate deal with a third party on Dec. 24 to sell 15 used Bombardier CRJ-900 airframes for about $19 million.

The company intends to use the cash from that transaction to pay down its loan with the U.S. Treasury.

(Reporting by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

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(Reuters) – Paramount Global has renewed its distribution deal with Comcast, the companies said on Tuesday, ensuring the cable systems and services provider continues to offer the media giant’s channels like CBS and Nickelodeon.

The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, is an extension of the original agreement from 2022.

It ensures Paramount’s channels, which also include Comedy Central and MTV, continue to reach over 14 million cable and 29 million broadband subscribers via Comcast’s Xfinity platform.

Comcast subscribers will continue to have access to Paramount’s streaming services, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, and BET+, under the renewal terms.

As part of the deal, Comcast has the option to offer Paramount+ with Showtime to eligible Xfinity customers.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

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The Associated Press (AP) — Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Tuesday it’s scrapping its third-party fact-checking program and replacing it with a Community Notes program written by users similar to the model used by Elon Musk’s social media platform X.

Starting in the U.S., Meta will end its fact-checking program with independent third parties. The company said it decided to end the program because expert fact checkers had their own biases and too much content ended up being fact checked.

Instead, it will pivot to a Community Notes model that uses crowdsourced fact-checking contributions from users.

“We’ve seen this approach work on X – where they empower their community to decide when posts are potentially misleading and need more context,” Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan said in a blog post.

The Associated Press had participated in Meta’s fact-checking program previously but ended its participation a year ago.

The social media company also said it plans to allow “more speech” by lifting some restrictions on some topics that are part of mainstream discussion in order to focus on illegal and “high severity violations” like terrorism, child sexual exploitation and drugs.

Meta said that its approach of building complex systems to manage content on its platforms has “gone too far” and has made “too many mistakes” by censoring too much content.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the changes are in part sparked by political events including Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.

“The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech,” Zuckerberg said in an online video.

Meta’s quasi-independent Oversight Board, which was set up to act as a referee on controversial content decisions, said it welcomed the changes and looked forward to working with the company “to understand the changes in greater detail, ensuring its new approach can be as effective and speech-friendly as possible.”

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Tesla has asked a court in Sweden to ensure that the country’s Transport Agency provides access to licence plates that are currently blocked by postal workers in a wider labour conflict, a court official said on Tuesday.

The U.S. electric vehicle maker headed by billionaire Elon Musk is at the centre of a dispute in Sweden over its refusal to sign a collective bargaining agreement and thus allow a labour union to negotiate on behalf of workers.

The conflict began when a group of Tesla mechanics went on strike in October of 2023, and more than a dozen unions have since announced solidarity actions, including dockworkers, electricians, maintenance crews, postal workers and cleaners.

After losing several appeals in other courts, Tesla has now turned to the Karlstad administrative court to force the Transport Agency to provide licence plates for buyers of its vehicles by other means than postal delivery, an official at the court said.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While the postal blockade makes access to licence plates more difficult, Swedish media has reported that Tesla has found ways to circumvent the unions by asking car buyers to order plates themselves.

The Transport Agency said it would await the outcome of the case.

Sweden’s ST labour union said Tesla should adapt to Sweden’s labour market practices.

“We do not believe it is too much to ask for large international companies to make certain adjustments to the systems of different countries,” it said.

Tesla has said it offers as good, or better, terms than those demanded by the union, and the company has found ways to stay in operation, including by employing non-union staff.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Isabelle Yr Carlsson, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz Janowski)

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By Max A. Cherney and Stephen Nellis

(Reuters) – Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang is set to deliver the opening keynote speech at CES later on Monday and will likely unveil new videogame chips and detail efforts to parlay the company’s success in artificial intelligence into other markets outside of the data center. 

Huang typically uses CES as a platform to announce new videogame chips and unveil a flurry of new plans to expand its AI business.

CES 2025, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, runs Jan. 7-10 in Las Vegas and is used to debut products ranging from new automotive technology to quirky gadgets, as well as showing new ways to use artificial intelligence.

Nvidia’s stock closed at a record high of $149.43 on Monday, bringing its valuation to $3.66 trillion, making it the world’s second-most valuable listed company behind Apple.

Nvidia’s booming valuation has come from the rapid growth of its data center business, where firms such as OpenAI use its chips to develop AI technology. Analysts expect that part of Nvidia’s business to hit $113 billion in sales this fiscal year, according to LSEG data. That is more than double the $47.5 billion figure in fiscal 2024.

Nvidia still has a substantial consumer business selling graphics processing units to PC gamers, a business that analysts expect to reach $11.77 billion this year. Nvidia still leads the market in gaming chips, where it competes with Advanced Micro Devices and to a lesser extent Intel.

Last year, Nvidia unveiled its Blackwell AI server architecture at its developer conference in March. Its new line of graphics processing units (GPUs) will likely be based on similar Blackwell technology. New videogame graphics chips typically boast improved performance and image quality.

Nvidia is also increasingly looking to translate its lead in data centers into the broader PC market by positioning its gaming chips as useful in corporate PCs and laptops for handling AI work such as chatbots and “agents” that can help carry out business tasks.

That puts the company in direct competition with firms such as Intel and Qualcomm, which are hoping that AI features will spark a new round of PC upgrades.

Huang is scheduled to take the stage at 9:30 p.m. ET. 

(Reporting by Max Cherney and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The outgoing U.S. transportation secretary said on Monday that Boeing has more to do and its efforts to improve its culture are unfinished after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off a new 737 MAX 9 in mid-air in January 2024.

“There were real deficiencies … there is much more to do,” Pete Buttigieg told Reuters in an interview. “I think the culture change at Boeing is something that is a real work in progress and the only way to fully assess it will be to see they can consistently improve results.”

Boeing declined to comment.

Last week, the outgoing head of the Federal Aviation Administration said tougher oversight of Boeing would continue indefinitely after the incident in which a door panel missing four key bolts flew off the new 737 MAX Alaska Airlines plane at 16,000 feet.

The Jan. 5, 2024 incident prompted FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to cap production at 38 737 MAX planes per month and temporarily ground 170 airplanes. The incident exposed serious safety issues at the U.S. planemaker and contributed to the departure of its then-CEO Dave Calhoun.

Whitaker last February ordered Boeing to implement a safety and quality improvement plan and previously acknowledged prior oversight “was too hands off.” Whitaker has said it could take five years for Boeing to fully fix its culture.

Boeing on Friday released an update on its safety and quality efforts, saying it has instituted new random quality audits and significantly reduced defects in 737 fuselage assembly at supplier Spirit AeroSystems by increasing inspection points and implementing a customer quality approval process.

The FAA announced a new audit of Boeing in October.

Buttigieg, who repeatedly sparred with air carriers, said separately that he hopes the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump maintains his department’s efforts to ensure consumer protections for airline passengers in the event of flight delays.

“I certainly didn’t see them campaigning on a platform of being less pro-passenger than we are,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, has said he has not made any plans for future jobs, but is viewed by some Democrats as a potential candidate for Michigan governor in 2026.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Jamie Freed)

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Israel Eyes Economic Revival Despite Challenges of War Recovery

While key sectors show resilience, economists warn of lasting challenges due to poverty and defense spending

As Israel gradually emerges from its most prolonged conflict since its Independence War in 1948, the country’s economy is showing signs of recovery, albeit still limited. With the country closer than ever to the end of the war, its citizens are eager to return to their everyday lives and experience the economic revival reserved for victorious countries.

Considered pillars of the Israeli economy, the high-tech, med-tech, aviation, and defense industries grew during the war and are expected to continue this trend even after the end of the hostilities that started on Oct. 7, 2023. For example, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ stocks surged 26% following the announcement of impressive remission rates results for a new drug that treats colitis and Crohn’s disease. Teva’s market position reflected the resilience and potential upswing of Israel’s broader economic landscape in the post-war period.

According to Dr. Yannay Spitzer, an assistant professor specializing in economic history and applied microeconomics in the Department of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “The labor market is at full employment right now. In part, this is an artifact of the war itself, but there could be no better starting point for quick recovery,” he told The Media Line.

Dr. Roby Nathanson, Macro Center for Political Economics director, justified this optimism to The Media Line. “Historically, Israel has experienced many short-term conflicts, such as those in the Gaza Strip, which usually lasted a few days, with the longest being Operation Protective Edge, which spanned 50 days. Our last prolonged war was in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War, which lasted about three months. On all occasions, Israel recovered very quickly, and the economic growth of the labor market and other components of the economy showed even better performance shortly after the war than even before the war,” Dr. Nathanson added.

Despite the duration of the current war, Israel’s economic indicators show resilience. “While the shekel did depreciate during the war, it has since strengthened. The budget deficit rose significantly to about 8% of GDP but hasn’t continued to increase. Some sectors, like tourism and restaurants, suffered significantly, especially in the north and south,” explained Dr. Nathanson. “However, others, such as military industries, high-tech sectors linked to defense, cyber technologies, optical technologies, and even aviation, experienced notable growth. Gas and other energy-related industries are performing well and continue to perform during the year. The key challenge for Israel is reviving sectors and regions that were heavily impacted, particularly the north, where around 100,000 businesses were affected. Remember that Israel has around 700,000 businesses,” he added.

Moderately optimistic, Joseph Gitler, the founder of Leket Israel, the country’s leading food security organization working extensively with farmers in areas affected by the war, explained to The Media Line that “in the short term, we’ll see a minimal impact, but in the medium term, three to six months, especially the holidays such as Passover and the summer, we’ll see something. I think Hanukkah will be a test already, mostly local tourism. If things remain quiet, farming in areas hurt by the war will greatly recover,” he argued.

The war severely impacted sectors like agriculture, tourism, and services in Israel. Many farmers were forced to stop their activities because they were located close to Gaza or Lebanon. However, according to Gitler, if they are allowed to return, he expects to see “a rebound in farming. As farming returns, food prices will also go down. Leket is noticing that prices are starting to ease as they are 30% above the expected. This also has a huge impact on families with lower incomes and eventually helps them maintain a healthier life and spend less on medicine,” he said.

Still, even with an improved situation with fresh food costing less, economists believe that ending poverty in Israel requires strong budgetary measures that change the origins of poverty.

In contrast to Dr. Nathanson and Dr. Spitzer, Prof. Esteban Klor, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, isn’t so optimistic and sees structural problems limiting any post-war economic growth, mainly Israel’s national budget.

According to Prof. Klor, the recent budget created by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government will hurt the country. “I don’t expect a quick economic recovery of Israel, even if the war ends, because the budget will not go back to the levels it had in 2023 before the war started. If we had an economic budget of 65 billion shekels [$18 billion] before the war, now we are close to 150 billion shekels [$41 billion]. I think the burden will remain high for the foreseeable future,” said Prof. Klor.

But even in the face of a controversial national budget, Dr. Nathanson still thinks the cessation of hostilities will allow people to return to their regular jobs and the government to spend less on defense. According to Dr. Nathanson, household consumption and investment in construction will give the market a sense of how activated the Israeli economy is.

“I am optimistic because of the sudden improvement in the security outlook. The degradation of Hezbollah, the collapse of the Assad regime, and the revealed inferiority of the Iranians could make a great difference: they remove the greatest source of short-term risk, which both reduces budgetary needs in the near future and the risk for a widening, protractive, and expensive war. This was unthinkable before this fall. Furthermore, the prospects for a quick recovery of the northern districts seem much more optimistic,” Dr. Nathanson argued.

Even with the overall sense that farming areas of Israel will provide an essential part of the economic revival in the country, Gitler offered a more pragmatic understanding of this economic sector in Israel. “Things are not immediate, and a lot depends on the specific farmer, their cycle, and what they’ve been able to do over the last 15 months. You have farmers in the North who have not been to their farms since October 7, 2023. Then you have the ‘Rambo farmers’ who were there most of the time despite all the risks.”

However, Prof. Klor warned that “unless the government changes priorities and focuses all of the economic resources on policies that will strengthen economic growth, I don’t think that we will go back to where we were before the war started. We can think of this similarly to what happened after the 1973 war, when Israel increased the defense budget significantly, leading to the lost decade.”

Prof. Klor continued: “So whether we will experience a fast recovery or a crisis or a slow recovery will mostly depend on how the government manages to finance this burden and whether the government will enact different policies and priorities now that so many of our resources are going to the defense sector.”

Although Dr. Nathanson also sees the problems in how the government manages its budgetary priorities, he said that “the key question is whether the Ministry of Finance will follow suit and maintain reasonable budgetary boundaries. If spending is directed toward non-productive areas, it could hamper growth. Still, if the Bank of Israel maintains relatively high interest rates compared to other developed countries, it could restrict growth but ensure financial discipline.”

As Israel inches closer to ending the war with Hamas, more than 20% of Israel’s general population lives under poverty levels, including 25% of the Israeli children. Accompanied by years of budgets that don’t address this situation, these poverty levels are the result of an intergenerational poverty trap and not because of the war, according to Prof. Klor.

Considering that these poverty levels are concentrated in Ultra-Orthodox and Arab populations in Israel, he highlighted that “most of them didn’t study basic core subjects at school like math and English. Because of that, they also don’t fully participate in the labor force, and a substantial part of their income comes from government allowances.”

As the world prepares for Israel to return to a stable situation, major US airlines are considering resuming flights to the Jewish state. American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines had suspended operations due to safety concerns, but with the cessation of hostilities, these carriers are evaluating the possibility of reinstating their services, signaling a potential boost to Israel’s tourism and business sectors.

Further ahead, Israel also hopes that peace will bring new ties with countries worldwide and in the Middle East, alongside economic benefits. As the world is eagerly anticipating a potential Abraham Accords between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Dr. Nathanson thinks that “if this materializes, it would be a tremendous opportunity for Israel. Economic cooperation with the moderate Sunni Arab world could revolutionize Israel’s commerce, transportation, aviation, tourism, and energy sectors.”

However, according to Dr. Nathanson, “two major challenges remain: addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions and finding a resolution to the Palestinian issue. These are critical for unlocking the full potential of such agreements, even if the war gradually slows down until it’s over.”

Even in the face of all these issues, “From a budgetary perspective, the prospects of a costly, protracted attrition war, or worse, have already been made highly unlikely. Security expenses will undoubtedly be more significant than before October 7, 2023, but the worst eventualities have been eliminated,” said Dr. Spitzer.

“I believe that events thus far have already cleared the way for recovery, which, in the best scenario, means rapid catch-up growth during 2025 and 2026. It may not work as smoothly, but at least I cannot see a reason precluding it, even if the outcome in Gaza is inconclusive,” concluded Dr. Spitzer.

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TOKYO (AP) — Nippon Steel was standing firm on its proposed $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, Chief Executive Eiji Hashimoto said Tuesday after President Joe Biden’s blocked the top Japanese steelmaker’s move.

“There is no reason or need to give up,” he told reporters at company headquarters in Tokyo. “We are convinced it’s clearly beneficial for both nations.”

While acknowledging the effort may take time, he stressed the companies’ latest legal action in the U.S. was a key development.

Nippon Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel filed federal lawsuits Monday challenging the Biden administration’s decision as ignoring “the rule of law.”

In separate lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the steelmakers challenged the Biden administration’s move, noting the acquisition will “enhance, not threaten, United States national security.”

In blocking the transaction Friday, Biden said U.S. companies producing steel need to “keep leading the fight on behalf of America’s national interests.”

Proponents of the takeover, which surfaced more than a year ago, say Japan is a U.S. ally, as well as a top investor in American companies.

They also argue Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel coming together makes for a viable force in an industry now dominated by the Chinese, creating jobs and economic impact of up to $1 billion.

Hashimoto reiterated that Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel were “united as one” in wanting the deal. They both feel Biden’s decision is unlawful and invalid, and hope to win understanding for their effort, he told reporters.

The U.S. market remains a key part of Nippon Steel’s global strategy, said Hashimoto.

U.S. Steel Corp. has accused the Biden administration of interference.

“We will vigorously defend our rights to complete this transaction and secure the future of U.S. Steel,” the Pittsburgh-based manufacturer said in a recent statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also supports the deal, denying any security concerns.

Biden leaves the White House on Jan. 20, but incoming President Donald Trump also opposes the acquisition.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviewing the deal earlier didn’t reach a consensus on possible national security risks.

Fitch Group’s CreditSights categorized the opposition to the deal as primarily political, while noting U.S. Steel can remain “a standalone company,” benefiting from a recent rise in steel prices.

“In short, U.S. Steel does not necessarily need to be sold,” it said in an analysis Monday.

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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama

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MILAN (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni did not discuss Rome’s talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX over the possible supply of its Starlink services during her weekend visit to the United States, the PM’s office said.

“The Prime Minister’s office categorically denies, considering it ridiculous, that SpaceX was a topic during the meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump,” Meloni’s office said in a note.

(Reporting by Valentina Za)

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(Reuters) -Walt Disney Co and streaming provider FuboTV are nearing a deal to combine their online live TV businesses, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Disney will fold its Hulu + Live TV business into FuboTV, creating a new venture that will be 70% owned by Disney and the rest by FuboTV, the report said.

Disney and FuboTV did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Following the report, shares of FuboTV, which had a market value of about $480 million as of last close, surged nearly 32% to $1.90 in premarket trading. Disney was up marginally.

As part of the deal, Fubo plans to drop its legal claims against Disney, Fox Corp and Warner Bros Discovery over Venu Sports, the report said, removing a hurdle to the roll-out of their upcoming sports streaming platform.

FuboTV had sued the big media companies last February, saying Venu Sports would violate U.S. antitrust law by reducing competition and driving up prices. A district court judge found that Fubo is likely to succeed in its antitrust claims, and issued the injunction temporarily barring Venu’s launch.

The three media majors will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse the ruling that blocked Venu’s launch in a hearing on Monday.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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