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US upstream oil and gas dealmaking hit $105 billion in 2024, Enverus says

By Georgina McCartney HOUSTON (Reuters) – Dealmaking in the U.S. upstream oil and gas industry hit $105 billion in 2024, the third highest annual total ever, but activity slowed in the second half as buyers found fewer targets to acquire, consultancy Enverus said on Wednesday. Last year’s total deal value fell sharply behind the whopping $192 billion in mergers and acquisitions done in 2023, which included the $60 billion combination of Exxon Mobil and Pioneer … Read more…

Trump to prepare facility at Guantanamo for 30,000 migrants

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will order the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare a migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay for as many as 30,000 migrants. The U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, already houses a migrant facility – separate from the high-security U.S. prison for foreign terrorism suspects – that has been used on occasion for decades, including to house Haitians and … Read more…

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House Republicans fail to clinch deal on tax cuts, despite Trump’s urging

By David Morgan MIAMI (Reuters) – A three-day meeting of U.S. House Republicans, meant to jumpstart President Donald Trump’s $4 trillion tax cut agenda, ended on Wednesday without a deal as party fiscal hawks refused to move ahead unless the plan reduced the $1.8 trillion federal deficit. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson called the meeting of his conference this week in the hope of reaching consensus on a budget blueprint while they huddled at … Read more…

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Alphabet’s Waymo to test its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities

(Reuters) – Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo announced on Wednesday it plans to expand testing of its autonomous driving technology in over 10 new cities in 2025. After testing the Waymo Driver in multiple cities, the company says the technology is adapting successfully to new environments, leading to the expansion. In addition to ongoing trips to Truckee, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Upstate New York and Tokyo, the expansion includes testing in San Diego and Las Vegas, with … Read more…

Microsoft rolls out DeepSeek’s AI model on Azure

(Reuters) – Microsoft has made Chinese startup DeepSeek’s R1 artificial intelligence model available on its Azure cloud computing platform and GitHub tool for developers, the U.S. company said on Wednesday. The AI model will be available in the model catalog on the platforms and will join more than 1,800 models that Microsoft is offering. DeepSeek last week launched a free AI assistant that it says uses less data at a fraction of the cost of … Read more…

Fed entering tough period for measuring money market liquidity

By Michael S. Derby NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve, which wraps up its latest monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, is about to enter one of the more challenging periods of managing what most observers believe is the approaching endgame for its balance sheet drawdown.  That’s because even as the Fed is expected in coming months to get financial sector liquidity down to levels that will allow it to stop rolling off expiring Treasury … Read more…

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Factbox-All of Donald Trump’s tariff threats

(Reuters) – Upon returning to office, U.S. President Donald Trump has launched numerous tariff threats. They range from broad ones – a universal tariff on foreign-imported goods – to ones aimed at specific sectors, regions, or at specific countries in an effort to get others to meet his policy demands. However, Trump’s threats have changed over time, ranging from small levies to ones exceeding 200%, leaving other nations and businesses unclear of what is to … Read more…

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OpenAI launches ChatGPT Gov for U.S. government agencies amid rising AI competition

(Reuters) – Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Gov, a tailored version of ChatGPT designed for U.S. government agencies, it said in a blog post on Tuesday. OpenAI said the agencies can deploy ChatGPT Gov in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud, and will have access to many of the features and capabilities of ChatGPT Enterprise, including custom GPTs. The launch comes hours after CEO Sam Altman said in a post on … Read more…

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Smithfield Foods to keep US pork plants open, eyes tariffs amid IPO, CEO says

By Tom Polansek and Juveria Tabassum (Reuters) – Smithfield Foods does not plan to close more U.S. pork processing plants, Chief Executive Shane Smith said on Tuesday, as the company returned to a U.S. exchange after more than a decade in a spinoff by Hong Kong-based WH Group. The biggest U.S. pork processor also is paying close attention to trade and immigration policy changes under U.S. President Donald Trump as it exports pork and relies … Read more…

Nvidia options draw dip buyers as shares rebound

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) – Monday’s massive selloff in AI-darling Nvidia’s shares did little to blunt options traders’ enthusiasm for the chipmaker’s shares, with traders quick to pile back into bullish Nvidia contracts as the stock recovered on Tuesday. Nvidia shares slumped about 17% or close to $593 billion in market value – a record one-day loss for any company – on Monday on worries sparked by a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence … Read more…