Two large bushfires burning in Victoria have forced emergency evacuations across several northern towns, as authorities warn conditions could be the most dangerous since the Black Summer fires. Near Longwood, residents in Avenel, Longwood, Ruffy and Tarcombe were ordered to leave immediately, while another fire burning in Mt Lawson State Park is threatening the communities…
Samsung Electronics Co. expects to book an operating profit of 20 trillion won in the fourth quarter for 2025 on robust demand for AI memory chips, the company rumored. Understand that the world’s largest chipmaker, whose chips power and connect everything from cars to smartphones, has been paying more than 300 percent higher prices for key components like DRAM in a “memory supercycle” that has driven its stock to all-time highs. With tech leaders already ringing the alarm bells of a structural supply shortage that could last until 2027, Samsung is turning its guns to next-generation HBM4 chips to ensure it remains ahead in the race for global AI infrastructure.
Shares in BlueScope Steel were down 2 per cent on Thursday after the company’s board unanimously recommended against an A30 per share takeover offer from SGH and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics. Chair Jane McAloon called the bid “highly opportunistic” and an effort to purchase the company “on the cheap.” Even after being rejected, the shares remained close to the offer price, indicating that investors are betting on a higher bid. The board said the plan grossly undervalued BlueScope’s blue chip assets, its potential for future earnings, and its significant land holdings in Australia and North America.
RBA Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser has quelled near-term rate cut expectations after saying the latest inflation data had not shifted the central bank’s cautious stance. Although the annual inflation rate ticked down slightly to 3.4%, Hauser contends that price pressures are too high for comfort. With the first board meeting in 2026 set for February, the RBA remains focused on its 2 to 3% target, indicating that mortgage holders should get used to rates staying higher for longer.
JPMorgan has named Sri Kosaraju as its global investment-banking chair, drawing on his 16 years of healthcare dealmaking experience and his time as chief executive of Inscripta. Based in San Francisco, Kosaraju will report to global banking co-heads, including Gori Simmons. His return follows a 2024 reorganisation that merged the bank’s commercial and corporate investment-banking operations. JPMorgan generated $9.44bn in investment-banking fees in 2025, giving it a 7.4% share of the global market. The firm is prioritising growth in healthcare, particularly biotech and medtech, across mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets, alongside recent senior hires from Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. The bank is due to report fourth-quarter earnings next week.
Elon Musk has persuaded a US judge to allow a jury to hear his lawsuit accusing OpenAI of abandoning its original nonprofit mission after transitioning into a for-profit business with close ties to Microsoft. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said the case presents enough evidence that OpenAI executives had previously assured Musk the organisation would remain nonprofit, leaving factual questions that cannot yet be dismissed. Musk says he contributed about 60% of OpenAI’s early funding and is seeking to recover profits he claims were made by commercialising technology and reputation developed under the nonprofit structure.
Warner Bros. Discovery has spurned an enhanced $108.4 billion unsolicited takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, describing the proposal as a risky leveraged buyout. The board cautioned that such a plan is a “high-risk” way for Paramount to boost its debt load by $87 billion. Instead, Warner Bros. is proceeding with its $82.7 billion merger with Netflix, citing more financial certainty. The rejection underscores the steep cost of switching, a $2.8 billion breakup fee that must be paid to Netflix if the current deal is abandoned.
A $30 billion trade relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. continued unfazed in the face of a deepening diplomatic dispute over Yemen’s war. Analysts say the two Gulf powers are now too economically enmeshed to risk a trade war, where billions have been invested in common logistics, retail and energy sectors. As they vie for regional business, the two countries are invested in maintaining economic stability to safeguard their development goals in the medium term. This resilience is what is keeping the Gulf as an effective global capital and trading hub in 2026.
The U.S. military carries out daring back-to-back seizures of oil tankers from Venezuela that were just days ago carrying Russian flags and Sri Lankan flags under the names Marinera and Sophia respectively. The Marinera was seized near Iceland following a two-week chase in which Russian naval vessels took part, and the Sophia was interdicted in the Caribbean. These are elements in an ongoing global embargo, aimed at blocking the flow of sanctioned oil after Nicolás Maduro was arrested. Moscow has denounced the action as piracy, marking a dramatic escalation of geopolitical tensions.
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