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The Morning Risk Report: Thermo Fisher Says It Has Halted Sales of DNA Technology in Tibet
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Good morning. Instrumentation maker Thermo Fisher Scientific said it no longer sells certain DNA-based human-identification products in Tibet, building on a similar halt of sales to China’s Xinjiang region of technology that human-rights groups allege can be misused by local police forces.
The decision by Waltham, Mass.-based Thermo Fisher follows its pledge almost five years ago to stop sales of the items in Xinjiang, a move that also followed pressure from human-rights groups. The company didn’t say whether either regional action will affect its business in other parts of China.
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The background: China’s treatment of ethnic minorities in the regions of Xinjiang and Tibet has increasingly featured use of technology to identify and track people in ways the U.S. government calls abuse, and human-rights groups have long alleged that products from Thermo Fisher have been used for such purposes by police in the country.
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Thermo Fisher has been in the crosshairs of some in Congress over its business in China: “There are so few safeguards for how DNA is gathered and used in [China] that we are alarmed that U.S. companies, including Thermo Fisher Scientific, may be wittingly or unwittingly aiding or abetting human-rights abuses,” four members of Congress in December 2022 wrote on behalf of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to the company’s chief executive officer, calling on him to stop sales in Tibet as the company had vowed to do in Xinjiang following similar allegations of misuse there.
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China maintains the world’s biggest DNA database, as a feature of its high-technology monitoring of a population of 1.4 billion people, and The Wall Street Journal has reported how Thermo Fisher’s equipment has been purchased by police labs in the country. The company says it follows U.S. export-control laws and that technology like DNA instrumentation has legitimate uses for police forensic work, from identification of victims of disasters and human trafficking to criminal investigations of murder and rape.
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Content from: DELOITTE
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New Accounting Could be Coming for Environmental Credits
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Companies that buy and sell environmental credits such as carbon offsets to meet decarbonization targets could see new accounting rules that would affect earnings and assets on balance sheets. Keep Reading ›
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FTX said in a September presentation to creditors that it had identified $16.6 billion in potential clawback actions. PHOTO: DADO RUVIC/REUTERS
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FTX says it is owed billions. It has filed about a dozen lawsuits to realize its claims.
FTX is on the hunt for billions of dollars that the cryptocurrency exchange says it is owed, according to our colleagues at WSJ Pro Bankruptcy. Since filing for bankruptcy in November 2022, the company—through a dozen or so lawsuits—has been trying to claw back the money. FTX is expected to file more such lawsuits in 2024.
What's at stake. The company faces 36,075 customer claims for a total of $16 billion. FTX has said customers would get as much as 90% of whatever is recovered during the bankruptcy. Roughly $9 billion of customer deposits remain unaccounted for.
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Labor board backs fired SpaceX employees.
An official for the U.S. labor-relations agency has accused SpaceX of violating a federal workplace law by firing employees who circulated a letter criticizing founder Elon Musk.
The former employees, along with around 400 other SpaceX workers, signed a letter in the summer of 2022 that called Musk’s public statements and behavior embarrassing and distracting. It asked SpaceX management to publicly separate the company from Musk’s personal brand.
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Walt Disney Co. won the support of a key shareholder in its fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz over the direction of the company and is confronting a third shareholder jockeying for influence.
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The Biden administration Wednesday sued the state of Texas and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing that a new law allowing the state to arrest and deport migrants who cross into the state illegally is an unconstitutional violation of federal-government authority.
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267 Days
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In 2023, the average time span in the U.S. from M&A deal execution to the outside date at which either party can walk away from a deal penalty-free if it's not been completed, according to data from law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. The almost 14% increase from 2021 reflects the increased complexity around regulatory approvals in dealmaking, according to the law firm.
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Houthi troopers stood guard during a protest against a multinational operation to safeguard Red Sea shipping in San’a, Yemen, in December. PHOTO: OSAMAH YAHYA/SHUTTERSTOCK
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U.S., allies give Houthis ultimatum: Stop ship attacks or face consequences.
The U.S., Britain and key allies issued what officials described as a final warning to the Houthi Yemeni rebel group Wednesday to cease its attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea or bear the consequences.
“Ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are illegal, unacceptable, and profoundly destabilizing,” says the statement issued by more than a dozen nations. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”
The U.S. military has prepared options to strike the Iran-backed rebel group, U.S. officials say.
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China’s balloons are back. This time they are over Taiwan
Nearly a year after the appearance of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the U.S. sent relations between Beijing and Washington into free fall, high-altitude balloons from China have again been spotted floating over sensitive territory.
This time, it is the main island of self-ruled Taiwan, which is days away from holding a presidential election with ramifications for the future of U.S.-China relations.
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The killing of a senior Hamas leader in a suspected Israeli strike marked the biggest hit to the group’s top leadership in years, taking out a key player who was responsible for aligning the Palestinian militant group with Iran and its proxies.
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Federal Reserve officials thought they were done raising interest rates when they decided last month to hold them steady, but minutes of the meeting didn’t reveal a meaningful debate about when to start lowering rates.
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At least 95 people were killed in explosions in Iran near a public ceremony commemorating the death of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer killed in 2020 by an American airstrike, the country’s state media reported. Iranian officials said the blasts were the work of terrorists.
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Russia is planning to buy short-range ballistic missiles from Iran, a step that would enhance Moscow’s ability to target Ukraine’s infrastructure at a critical moment in the conflict, U.S. officials said.
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The West badly needs more missiles—but the wait to buy them is years long. Global conflicts and rising threats drive orders for missiles, planes, submarines and other complex weapons systems, but producers are struggling with supply chains and staffing.
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A key factor that pushed up mortgage rates over the past two years is now starting to pull them down.
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E-commerce sellers Shein and Temu are offering a lifeline for small suppliers in China’s manufacturing hubs—but it isn’t always a straightforward win. Some suppliers said they were grappling with razor-thin profit margins and intense pressure to cut prices. Others said they were drowning in unsold inventory and were questioning whether dealing with Shein and Temu would be sustainable in the long run.
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One of Bracken Darrell’s first stops as CEO of the company that owns Vans was a visit to the son of its co-founder.
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Inside a flaming jet, 367 passengers had minutes to flee. Here’s how they did it.
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