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Remember Nvidia? I want to do the unthinkable: give you the rap on Nvidia spouted by the myriad short sellers who seem to want to break this company’s stock and its intellectual property abilities. It’s daunting and, to some degree, beleaguering even for me, its principal supporter in the media. It’s a brutal parade of horrors, so steel yourself, and — spoiler alert — I don’t believe any of these will derail the story of the company that is now valued at $4.4 trillion. The list includes a narrative that is negative, malevolent, anti-Jensen Huang, and, for the selfish purposes…

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful. “The United States Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a U.S. official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.” Another official said the tanker was under sanctions, but added that it had not been boarded so far and that interceptions can take…

Investors enter this Christmas-shortened trading week focused on two things. Will Santa Claus come to Wall Street? And, how do holiday shoppers feel about the economy? Last week was the final full trading week of 2025, and it was a volatile one. The AI trade went up and down, and the market was swayed by mixed monthly jobs data and cooler consumer inflation. When it was all said and done, the S & P 500 rose 0.1% last week but remained slightly in the red for the normally seasonally strong month of December. As of last Friday’s close, the index…

PARIS (AP) — France will build a new aircraft carrier with a capacity for 30 fighter jets and 2,000 sailors, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday in what he described as “the display of our nation’s power in the service of freedom on the seas and amid the turbulence of our times.” “In an age of predators, we must be strong in order to be feared, and especially strong at sea. This is why, in line with the last two military programming laws, and after a thorough and careful review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft…

Donald Trump’s move labelling fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” is unlikely to disrupt Sino-US relations, but it expands Washington’s China policy toolbox and could inject uncertainty in ties over the long term, according to analysts.On Monday, the American president signed an executive order designating illicit fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, as a weapon of mass destruction, calling the drug “closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic”.Without naming names, the order highlighted the national security threat posed by drug trafficking networks and cartels. It framed their activities as associated with terrorism and warned of “the potential for fentanyl to…

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said she saw no need to change U.S. interest rates for months ahead after the central bank cut borrowing costs at its last three meetings, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. Hammack opposed recent rate cuts as she is more worried about elevated inflation than the potential labor-market fragility that prompted officials to lower rates by a cumulative 75 basis points over the past few months, the report added. Hammack told the Journal that the Fed didn’t need to change its benchmark interest rate, currently in a range between 3.5% and…

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, maker of the popular Labubu monster dolls, launched the second edition of its pop culture magazine as part of a strategy to widen its customer base and grow its intellectual property (IP) portfolio.The company, which sells toys in blind boxes, started selling the Playground magazine for 39.9 yuan (US$5.7), with the theme of exploring the future.“The magazine embodies emotional value and aligns with the younger generation’s desire for self expression,” Vicson Guevara, Pop Mart’s executive creative director and co-creator of the magazine, said during a launch event in Shanghai on Friday. “We hope it can eventually…

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, maker of the popular Labubu monster dolls, launched the second edition of its pop culture magazine as part of a strategy to widen its customer base and grow its intellectual property (IP) portfolio.The company, which sells toys in blind boxes, started selling the Playground magazine for 39.9 yuan (US$5.7), with the theme of exploring the future.“The magazine embodies emotional value and aligns with the younger generation’s desire for self expression,” Vicson Guevara, Pop Mart’s executive creative director and co-creator of the magazine, said during a launch event in Shanghai on Friday. “We hope it can eventually…

Chinese workers are returning to Africa in their thousands, reversing a decade-long decline and signalling a renewed focus on strategic mega-projects across the continent.In 2024, there were 90,793 Chinese workers on contracted projects and labour services on the continent, an increase of about 4 per cent over the 87,078 recorded the previous year, according to data from the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.Now, as investment flows accelerate, mostly driven by Chinese state-owned enterprises, worker numbers are once again increasing in key countries across Africa.Last year, nearly half of all Chinese workers…

China’s state broadcaster has given a rare glimpse of PLA war gaming, with footage of a simulated encounter between Chinese and French multi-role fighters.The CCTV report on Friday said this year was the first year that the entire People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police Force were promoting pilot war-gaming at scale.PLA war games are usually highly classified but the report indicated that this one was among a number that took place in Xuchang, Henan province, at a gathering attended by 20 units from across the military and its academies. Other war games were conducted by army and submarine forces,…