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US concludes Alibaba and BYD have ties to Chinese military: trade acquires additional geopolitical role


The companies are among those that the Pentagon believes may pose a threat to US national security (Financial Times) ... The decision to include Alibaba on what is formally known as the 1260H list comes three months after the FT reported that US intelligence agencies believed the e-commerce giant posed a threat to national security. The Pentagon will also add BYD, the world's largest electric car manufacturer, and Baidu, the search engine, to the 1260H list established by Congress. Although trade tensions between the US and China have eased since Trump and Xi met in South Korea in October, the addition of major Chinese groups to the list will trigger new tensions ahead of their April summit... Read about it : Where the world is going: with Amazon, Alibaba, Shein and Temu, trade takes on a geopolitical aspect

AlibabaE-CommerceShein
 

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Heineken will lay off 6,000 employees (mainly in Europe). This is why


The cutback strategy is part of a broader reorganisation project, which includes cost rationalisation, including through the use ofartificial intelligence... The news comes alongside Heineken's fiscal year 2025 results, which show that Heineken posted a 1.2 per cent drop in sales volumes, while maintaining net revenue and operating profit slightly above analysts' expectations. At the opening of trading on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the share reacted positively, jumping almost 3.9 % to EUR 77.50. Investors therefore seemed to reward the plan, which also foresees a growth in profits of between 2% and 6%

AI
 

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The Gastronaut brings real Genovese to the home pantry: when the retailer innovates before the industry


There is a sauce that everyone in Naples knows, that perfumes homes for hours on end, that requires almost monastic patience and dedication. A sauce that, paradoxically, has only the name of Genoa and, what is simple, only the ingredients. It is the Genovese, one of the pillars of Neapolitan cuisine, celebrated on TV and social media, but still largely unknown outside the borders of Campania. Until now, those who wanted to taste a real Genovese had to either go to Naples or resign themselves to spending an entire day at the cooker amidst onion tears and endless waiting. Then came the intuition of Gasbarrino and Nicotra, the creative duo who, for the Decò chain , develop both the private label line and the top of the range, Il Gastronauta...read the whole story here

LocalismPrivate Label
 

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Amazon: share price plummets after company announces $200 billion investment in AI (60% by 2025)


The share price fell 8%, bucking the market trend , sources : Bloomberg and Reuters below. But also Financial Times : Big Tech's 'staggering' $660bn spending reignites fears about artificial intelligence bubble. Stocks tumble despite solid earnings reports from most SiliconValley heavyweights On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index recovered 2.2%, narrowing its weekly loss to 1.8%. Amazon still holds 30% of the cloud market, its 'golden goose' (Le Monde) but is closing all its experimental tech food shops (Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go etc.). Only the Whole Foods chain, acquired in 2017, will remain).

AIAmazonWhole Foods