Italy to Meet Alitalia Executives as 1,600 Job Cuts Said to Loom

As the new Italian government of Paolo Gentiloni hammers away at a rescue plan for beleaguered lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, it’s suddenly contending with another corporate crisis: the future of Alitalia SpA. Executives from key investor Ethiad Airways and Alitalia — which went bankrupt in 2008 after rescue attempts involving the state and private investors failed, and which teetered on the brink of collapse in 2014 — are set to meet Italian ministers on Monday, the carrier based in Abu Dhabi said in a statement Sunday.

McDonald’s agrees China franchise sale

McDonald’s has agreed to sell 80% of its business in China and Hong Kong, as part of plans to franchise more of its restaurants worldwide. China’s state-owned investment group Citic, and US private equity firm Carlyle Group, will take control of the operations in a deal valued at $2.1bn .

CES 2017 Catapults a Connected World

CES 2017 showcased the connected future of technology. With more than 3,800 exhibiting companies and exhibit space of more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES 2017 was a record-breaker, welcoming the world’s biggest companies in addition to hosting more than 600 startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace.

Guangzhou Auto Seeks to Be First Chinese Carmaker to Crack U.S.

Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., which produces cars in China with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, plans to start exporting its own brand of automobiles to the U.S next year and become the first Chinese carmaker to begin retail sales to American consumers. GAC, which created its Trumpchi brand in 2010 after being a production partner for foreign carmakers for more than a decade, will start a research and development center in Silicon Valley in the first half of this year to prepare for the company’s entry to the U.S., the company’s President Feng Xingya said.

In Trump era, NHTSA must lead on safety

Dale Kardos is a regulatory affairs consultant in Washington, D.C. He is also the founder of Mobilis Trading, which offers an online auction platform for buying and selling regulatory compliance credits. I am in the regulatory affairs business, so every year around this time, I put together a list of regulations I think the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue in the new year.

Asian Millionaires Fund European Soccer Teams in Hunt for Yield

Wealthy Asian investors unwilling to splurge on owning their own European soccer teams are showing their enthusiasm by helping fund the sport. Sales of football finance notes, backed by television rights of soccer clubs, doubled to $11 million last month from the amount issued in April, when they were opened to investors in the region, according to data from Swiss-Asia Holding Pte.

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CES 2017 showcased the connected future of technology. With more than 3,800 exhibiting companies and exhibit space of more than 2.6 million net square feet, CES 2017 was a record-breaker, welcoming the world’s biggest companies in addition to hosting more than 600 startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace.

4K Uhd Atsc 3.0 TVs from LG

LG Electronics is introducing the first ATSC 3.0-enabled 4K Ultra HD TVs to support the US-wide deployment of the next-gen TV broadcast standard in South Korea. Starting spring 2017 – in advance of the 2018 Winter Olympics – new 2017 models of LG 4K Ultra HD TVs and large-screen LG smart TVs sold in Korea will have both ATSC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0 tuners.

Alphabet Says its Autonomous Cars Needed Less Human Help in 2016

Vehicles tested in California by Waymo, the autonomous car company owned Google parent Alphabet Inc., had a much lower rate of “disengagements” last year, compared with 2015. Disengagements happen when a human tester needs to take control of a self-driving car, either to avoid an accident or respond to technical problems.

GOP Should – Show Their Cards’ on Obamacare Redo, Obama Says

Republicans should “show their cards” with a better Obamacare replacement before taking steps to repeal the law, President Barack Obama said in an interview on his signature health program. “Republicans have to go ahead and show their cards, if in fact they have a program that would genuinely work better,” he said Friday in a webcast interview with the online news outlet Vox in Washington.

Net neutrality critic in driver’s seat on GOP tech policy

Marsha Blackburn Net neutrality critic in driver’s seat on GOP tech policy GOP Rep. Blackburn gets key tech subcommittee gavel GOP lawmakers slam Assange after Trump praise, highlighting Russia rift MORE was tapped Friday to chair a key technology subcommittee, putting her in the driver’s seat on Republican efforts to pare back the controversial net neutrality rules. As chairwoman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Blackburn will have a key role in deciding Republicans’ stance.

Morgan Stanley, UBS Said to Plan Boosting China JV Stakes

Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG are in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses, a sign of growing confidence in those operations, according to people familiar with the matter. The banks are engaged in separate discussions on raising their stakes to 49 percent, the maximum allowed under current regulations, the people said, asking not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential.

Waymo’s John Krafcik Lifts the Veil Slightly on Alphabet’s Driverless Strategy

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle subsidiary revealed a bit of its business strategy in an address Sunday by CEO John Krafcik, who said the company intends to develop its own sensors and software rather than rely on other suppliers, as most suppliers and automakers are doing. Krafcik, a former Ford and Hyundai executive, said at the press preview of the North American International Auto Show that Waymo had succeeded in lowering by 90% the cost of a $75,000 LIDAR sensor, which uses lasers to sense objects.

Boxing clever

Toys from China, copper from Chile, T-shirts from Bangladesh, wine from New Zealand, coffee from Ethiopia, and tomatoes from Spain. In the early 1960s, world trade in merchandise was less than 20% of world economic output, or gross domestic product .

Samsung Executives to Be Questioned by Korean Prosecutors

Samsung executives have been summoned by South Korean special prosecutors amid a widening influence-peddling scandal that brought about South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment. Samsung Corporate Strategy Office Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and President Chang Choong-ki were asked to come in for questioning, Hong Jung-seok, a spokesperson for the special prosecutors office, told Bloomberg News via text message on Sunday.

Detroit auto show: Google, Camry and the shadow of Trump

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, center, and North American International Auto Show Chairman Sam Slaughter, right, are given a tour of the Mopar area from Ron Stallworth, left, of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Detroit. The show opens to the media on Monday, Jan. 9 and to the public on Jan. 14. less Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, center, and North American International Auto Show Chairman Sam Slaughter, right, are given a tour of the Mopar area from Ron Stallworth, left, of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Friday, … more The Ford display is seen at the 2017 North American International Auto show, Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Detroit.

Twitter Suspends – Pharma Bro’ Shkreli After Harassment

Twitter Inc. suspended the account of Martin Shkreli after the brash former pharmaceutical executive harassed a female reporter online, the latest high-profile case of abuse on the social media service. Over the past few days, freelance reporter Lauren Duca posted about several unwanted digital advances by Shkreli, the former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, including a message in which Shkreli invited her to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Alphabet’s Waymo Cuts Cost of Key Self-Driving Sensor by 90%

Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, has slashed the cost of a key technology required to bring self-driving cars to the masses and rolled it out Sunday in an autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Waymo has cut costs by 90 percent on LiDAR sensors, which bounce light off objects to create a three-dimensional map of a car’s surroundings.

Twitter Suspends – Pharma Bro’ Shkreli After Reporter Harassed

Twitter Inc. suspended the account of Martin Shkreli after the brash former pharmaceutical executive harassed a female reporter online, the latest high-profile case of abuse on the social media service. Over the past few days, freelance reporter Lauren Duca posted about several unwanted digital advances by Shkreli, the former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, including a message in which Shkreli invited her to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Alphabet’s Waymo Said to Expand Self-Driving Chrysler Van Fleet

Alphabet Inc. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are doubling down on their self-driving partnership, adding about 100 more Pacifica Hybrid minivans to an autonomous fleet first announced in May, according to people familiar with the decision. Last month, the two companies announced the production of the initial 100 minivans, vehicles equipped with the technology developed by Waymo, the new Alphabet company formed from its Google car project.

Investors All Ears as Trump Set to Break Silence

U.S. and Chinese data and an expected news conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the coming week may shed some light on the state of the world’s two biggest economies – and the outlook for relations between them. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he will hold a news conference on Wednesday.

AT&T insists the FCC has no basis for halting its merger with Time Warner

Remember when your parents forbade you from seeing your high school sweetheart, and you responded petulantly, “You can’t stop me”? If so, you may get a case of deja vu from the latest drama between AT&T and the FCC. Insisting that it has a plan to rebut any potential scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T said late last week that regardless of what the government body has to say, its merger with Time Warner cannot be stopped by governmental action.

3 Takeover Candidates in the Drug Space

This commentary originally appeared on Real Money Pro at 7 a.m. ET Friday, Jan. 6. Click here to learn about this dynamic market information service for active traders. We expect quite a number of M&A deals in the health-care sector in 2017.