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Nissan and Honda to attempt a merger that would create the world's No. 3 automaker TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda have announced plans to work toward a merger that would catapult them to a top position in an industry in the midst of tectonic shifts as it transitions away from its reliance on fossil fuels. The two companies said they signed an agreement on integrating their businesses on Monday. Smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors agreed to join the talks. News of a possible merger surfaced earlier this month. Japanese automakers face a strong challenge from their Chinese rivals and Tesla as they make inroads into markets at home and abroad. What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the automakers and the industry BANGKOK (AP) — Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company. Following is a quick look at what a combined Honda and Nissan would mean for the companies, and for the auto industry. Nordstrom to be acquired by Nordstrom family and a Mexican retail group in $6.25 billion deal Century-old department store Nordstrom has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. Nordstrom shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock, representing a 42% premium on the company’s stock as of March 18. Nordstrom’s board of directors unanimously approved the the proposed transaction, while Erik and Pete Nordstrom — part of the Nordstrom family taking over the company — recused themselves from voting. Following the close of the transaction, the Nordstrom Family will have a majority ownership stake in the company. An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump won a return to the White House in part by promising big changes in economic policy — more tax cuts, huge tariffs on imports, mass deportations of immigrants working in the United States illegally. In some ways, his victory marked a repudiation of President Joe Biden’s economic stewardship and a protest against inflation. It came despite low unemployment and steady growth under the Biden administration. What lies ahead for the economy under Trump? Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics spoke recently to The Associated Press. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. American consumers feeling less confident in December, Conference Board says American consumers are feeling less confident in December, a business research group says. The Conference Board said Monday that its consumer confidence index fell back in December to 104.7 from 112.8 in November. Consumers had been feeling increasingly confident in recent months. The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market tumbled more than a dozen points to 81.1. The Conference Board says a reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. The internet is rife with fake reviews. Will AI make it worse? Researchers and watchdog groups say the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce detailed and novel online reviews has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. But AI-infused text generation tools enable fraudsters to produce reviews faster and in greater volume, according to tech industry experts. The deceptive practice is illegal in the U.S. and becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season, when many people rely on reviews to buy gifts. A tech company and watchdog group that uses software to detect fake reviews says AI-generated reviews have multiplied. Romanian lawmakers narrowly approve new pro-European coalition during period of political turmoil BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers have voted narrowly in favor of a new pro-European coalition government led by incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. The move on Monday could usher in an end to a protracted political crisis in the European Union country following the annulment of a presidential election. Parliament approved the new administration in a 240-143 vote in the 466-seat legislature. The new coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party, the center-right National Liberal Party, the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party and national minorities. President Klaus Iohannis swore in the new government on Monday night. Stock market today: Wall Street rises at the start of a holiday-shortened week Stock indexes are rising in afternoon trading on Wall Street at the start of a holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% Monday. Several big technology companies helped support the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 29 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor said they are talking about combining in a deal that might also include Mitsubishi Motors. Eli Lilly rose after announcing that regulators approved Zepbound as the first prescription medicine for adults with sleep apnea. Treasury yields rose in the bond market. AI will eavesdrop on world's wildest places to track and help protect endangered wildlife PUERTO JIMÉNEZ, Costa Rica (AP) — A biologist hid 350 audio monitors across Costa Rica’s tropical rainforests to spy on endangered spider monkeys in order to help protect them. But she had to go back to collect the data and feed those sounds into artificial intelligence systems that can recognize monkey calls. Now tech giant Microsoft's philanthropic arm is hoping to supercharge AI-assisted wildlife research with new solar-powered devices that can capture sounds, images and other wilderness data for a year or more without human intervention. Researchers say more AI wildlife surveillance is urgently needed to monitor the health of species at risk of extinction. Many Americans have come to rely on Chinese-made drones. Now lawmakers want to ban them WASHINGTON (AP) — The economic and technological rivalry between the U.S. and China has come to the drone market, where Chinese-made flying devices are a dominant player in America. Lawmakers in Washington are seeking to ban new sales of Chinese-made drones, arguing they could be used to spy on Americans and that the low-cost models are hurting the U.S. drone industry. But U.S. users — spanning from police officers to farmers to mappers and filmmakers — have come to rely on Chinese-made drones, especially those by DJI Technology, for their work or lives. Florida has banned Chinese drones in state-funded programs, but also appropriated $25 million to help offset replacement costs.War-torn Sudan is on a "countdown to famine" ignored by world leaders while humanitarian aid is only "delaying deaths", Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) chief Jan Egeland told AFP on Saturday. "We have the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet in Sudan, the biggest hunger crisis, the biggest displacement crisis... and the world is giving it a shrug," he said in an interview from neighbouring Chad after a visit to Sudan this week. Since April 2023, war has pitted Sudan's regular army against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), killing tens of thousands of people and uprooting more than 11 million. The United Nations says that nearly 26 million people inside Sudan are suffering acute hunger. "I met women barely surviving, eating one meal of boiled leaves a day," Egeland said. One of few organisations to have maintained operations in Sudan, the NRC says some 1.5 million people are "on the edge of famine". "The violence is tearing apart communities much faster than we can come in with aid," Egeland said. "As we struggle to keep up, our current resources are merely delaying deaths instead of preventing them." - 'Me first' politics - Two decades ago, allegations of genocide brought world attention to Sudan's vast western region of Darfur where the then government in Khartoum unleashed Arab tribal militias against non-Arab minorities suspected of supporting a rebellion. "It is beyond belief that we have a fraction of the interest now for Sudan's crisis than we had 20 years ago for Darfur, when the crisis was actually much smaller," Egeland said. He said Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon and Russia's war with Ukraine had been allowed to overshadow the conflict in Sudan. But he said he detected a shift in the "international mood", away from the kind of celebrity-driven campaigns that brought Hollywood star George Clooney to Darfur in the 2000s. "More nationalistic tendencies, more inward-looking," he said of Western governments led by politicians compelled to "put my nation first, me first, not humanity first." "It will come to haunt" these "short-sighted" leaders, when those they failed to assist in their homeland join the tide of refugees and migrants headed north. In Chad, he said he had met young people who just barely survived ethnic cleansing in Darfur, and had made the decision to brave the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe even though they had friends who had drowned. - 'Freefall into starvation' - Inside Sudan, one in every five people has been displaced by this or previous conflicts, according to UN figures. Most of those displaced are in Darfur, where Egeland says the situation is "horrific and getting worse". The North Darfur state capital of El-Fasher has been under siege by the RSF for months, nearly disabling all aid operations in the region and pushing the nearby Zamzam displacement camp into famine. But even areas spared the devastation of war "are bursting at the seams," Egeland said. Across the army-controlled east, camps, schools and other public buildings are filled with displaced people left to fend for themselves. On the outskirts of Port Sudan -- the Red Sea city where the army-backed government and UN agencies are now based -- Egeland said he visited a school sheltering more than 3,700 displaced people where mothers were unable to feed their children. "How come next door to the easiest accessible part of Sudan... there is starvation?" he asked. According to the UN, both sides are using hunger as a weapon of war. Authorities routinely impede access with bureaucratic hurdles, while paramilitary fighters have threatened and attacked aid workers. "The ongoing starvation is a man-made tragedy... Each delay, every blocked truck, every authorisation delayed is a death sentence for families who can't wait another day for food, water and shelter," Egeland said. But in spite of all the obstacles, "it is possible to reach all corners of Sudan," he said, calling on donors to increase funding and aid organisations to have more "guts". "Parties to conflicts specialise in scaring us and we specialise in being scared," he said, urging UN and other agencies to "be tougher and demand access". bha/kirMadhya Pradesh Chief Minister Praises Israel For Pager Attack