Word had barely spread about Paramount’s apparent victory in the competition to buy Warner Bros. Discovery before CNN chief Mark Thompson wrote to staff members. His message, in effect: Keep calm and carry on.
Two of Hollywood’s oldest studios may be consolidating into one. In a shocking twist after a monthslong bidding war, Paramount has emerged as the apparent victor in the fight to acquire Warner Bros.
Like so many sectors of the economy, the news industry is hurtling toward a future where artificial intelligence plays a major role – grappling with questions about how much the technology is used, what consumers should be told about it, whether anything can be done for the journalists who will be left behind.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department has filed a complaint to legally take ownership of a sanctioned tanker and nearly 2 million barrels of petroleum seized off the coast of Venezuela in December, another step by President Donald Trump’s administration to assert power over the country’s oil sector after capturing leader Nicolás Maduro.
PANAMA CITY (AP) – Two ports run for years by a Hong Kong-based company at either end of the Panama Canal have thrust Panama into a geopolitical tug-of-war between the United States and China. Even before taking office for his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump complained that China was running the Panama Canal.
TORONTO (AP) – Canada’s minister for U.S. trade said Thursday the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement could be subject to annual review and that uncertainty could be the objective of the Trump administration.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week below 6% for the first time since late 2022, good news for home shoppers as the spring home-buying season gets rolling. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 5.98% from 6.01% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.76%.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – An Oregon jury has ordered PacifiCorp to pay $305 million to 16 victims of the state’s devastating 2020 wildfires in the latest verdict in a class-action lawsuit against the utility that includes thousands of members.