The daily business briefing: October 14, 2016
Verizon reconsiders Yahoo purchase after data breach, China inflation data lifts global stocks, and more


1. Verizon reviews Yahoo purchase after data breach
Verizon on Thursday revealed that it was having second thoughts about its purchase of Yahoo's core business due to the huge data breach Yahoo disclosed three weeks ago. Verizon agreed to acquire Yahoo assets, including its high-traffic websites, for $4.8 billion, but Verizon General Counsel Craig Sillman said the breach gave Verizon "a reasonable basis" to expect a "material" impact on Yahoo's financial value. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, but Verizon said Yahoo must first prove the breach did not reduce its value.
2. China inflation data, JP Morgan lift global stocks
Global stocks and the dollar on Friday recovered some of their Thursday losses as better-than-expected inflation data from China soothed worries about the state of the world's second largest economy. China's September producer prices rose unexpectedly, something that had not happened since January 2012. Producer prices rose by 0.1 percent, while analysts had predicted a 0.3 percent drop. Consumer prices rose by 1.9 percent over a year earlier, more than expected, after falling for four straight months. U.S. stock futures also got a boost when JP Morgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank, kicked off the industry's earnings season by reporting better than expected earnings.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Uber drivers win 'historic victory' in New York
The New York State Labor Department has ruled that two former Uber drivers were employees rather than independent contractors, making them eligible for unemployment benefits, an advocacy group announced Thursday. "This is a historic victory," New York Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai said at a news conference. Uber had argued it didn't have to contribute to unemployment or worker-compensation funds because the drivers were contractors, who can't collect benefits. Uber is appealing. It says drivers enjoy the flexible hours that independent contractors get.
4. HP to cut up to 4,000 jobs under restructuring plan
HP Inc. is slashing as many as 4,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years, the PC and printer firm said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The cuts are part of a restructuring plan aiming to generate annual savings of up to $300 million by 2020, although the cuts will cost up to $500 million in charges. HP said the employees would leave between 2017 and 2019. HP Inc. was created a year ago when Hewlett-Packard split into two companies. Its printer business is facing challenges, said Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst of Moor Insights & Strategy, but "the PC group is gaining market share, increasing profits and innovating more than I have seen in years."
5. Tesco and Unilever settle pricing dispute
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, confirmed Thursday that it had settled a pricing dispute with Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever. Earlier in the day, Tesco had suspended online sales of top-selling Unilever brands, such as Ben & Jerry's ice cream and yeast extract spread Marmite due to a price dispute that erupted after the British pound plunged due to the U.K. vote to exit the European Union.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
-
Why UK scientists are trying to dim the Sun
In The Spotlight The UK has funded controversial geoengineering techniques that could prove helpful in slowing climate change
By Abby Wilson
-
Gandhi arrests: Narendra Modi's 'vendetta' against India's opposition
The Explainer Another episode threatens to spark uproar in the Indian PM's long-running battle against the country's first family
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK