Author: MNK News
(Photo Illustration by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)Getty Images In 2024’s brutal reset for the entertainment industry, the slogan for too many in Hollywood and beyond was “survive until 2025.” Well, 2025 is finally here. What can the remaining survivors look forward to in the year ahead? Donald Trump’s return to the presidency is expected to end four years of tight regulatory oversight (if not overreach, by some critics’ assessments), setting free the animal spirits repressed amid post-Peak Streaming pullbacks, strikes and other complications. A vibrant deal-making scene is indeed likely, but as I explain below, some caveats may slow those spirits…
(Bloomberg) — Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. was the world’s most active sovereign wealth fund last year as it ramped up deal-making across everything from private credit to artificial intelligence. Most Read from Bloomberg That came as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which was the most active in 2023, slowed down spending and refocused on investing at home. Mubadala deployed $29.2 billion in 2024, according to research consultancy Global SWF. That was 67% more than a year earlier and far out-paced the 7% wider growth in investments by sovereign funds globally. Middle East sovereign wealth funds made up five of…
Jan. 7 could mark a turning point, as Usual plans to activate the token fee switch for real value sharing. The real-world asset stable coin protocol Usual (USUAL) has recently hinted at the activation of its token fee switch. The fee switch era begins.2025 marks a turning point for DeFi: real value, real distribution.Get your USUAL ready for January 7th.A new year, a new standard. Let’s make 2025 the year of USUAL. pic.twitter.com/kXQXTrinjK— Usual (@usualmoney) January 1, 2025 This announcement comes at a pivotal time for USUAL, as the protocol has experienced a notable decline in its recent market performance.…
The past year in cybersecurity news was framed by two “typhoons” – Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon, the code names given to two massive Chinese state-sponsored attacks on American computer systems. Volt Typhoon, a threat group linked to the Chinese government that was first identified by Microsoft in May 2023, made big news in February 2024 by penetrating dozens of networks involved in critical American infrastructure, including oil pipelines and power grids. Volt Typhoon apparently began as a more modest effort to disrupt American computer networks on the island of Guam, perhaps in the context of a potential regional war…
Reit’s concept is shown by businessman.getty Need more dividend yield in 2025? Consider real estate investment trusts (REITs), which were literally mandated to be dividend-paying machines. Income is the point—by law. Select REITs even yield 10% or more. What a payout! We’ll discuss seven of them—and their prospects for 2025—in a moment. Now we can’t just blindly pick any ol’ a REIT. The real estate sector—using the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) as a proxy—only pays 3% right now. But the average yield among this REIT 7-pack is 12.4%. That’s 4x what the sector pays! That level of income…
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MARCH 08: Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans looks on … [+] during the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on March 08, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)Getty Images The New Orleans Pelicans are enduring one of their worst stretches in franchise history. Almost halfway through the 2024-25 NBA season, the Pelicans currently have a horrific…
Behind the uproar over the H-1B visa is a simple fact: America’s tech industry is hooked on imported labor. The program was at the center of a fight that broke out between President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters over the holidays. Elon Musk and other tech executives defended H-1B visas as crucial to the success of U.S. businesses. Other stalwarts in the MAGA movement said tech companies should be forced to hire American workers. Amazon.com (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and Tesla (TSLA) are among the biggest users of the visas, which let companies bring foreign workers to the U.S. on a temporary basis.…
A proposal to legalize Bitcoin aims to reshape Syria’s financial future. Syria, a nation still recovering from the fall of the Assad government, is getting ready for a drastic financial reform: the legalization or Bitcoin (BTC). To combat inflation, stabilize the country’s economy, and draw in foreign investment, the Syrian Center for Economic Research has put forth a bold plan that calls on the transitional government to embrace BTC and other digital currencies. Following decades of war and economic destruction, the country is now confronted with the daunting task of reconstruction. To give the currency much-needed stability, the plan calls…
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 06: Islam Makhachev of Russia is seen on stage during the UFC 311 press … [+] conference at MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 06, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)Zuffa LLC At UFC 311, Islam Makhachev can take sole possession of the all-time record for UFC lightweight title fight wins. If Makhachev defeats Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of the upcoming UFC 311 pay-per-view card, he will have five title fight victories. A win over Tsarukyan will give Makhachev one more UFC 155-pound title fight victory than the three…
Donald Trump hoped to avoid a debt ceiling fight in 2025, but it was not to be. Last month, Democrats and about three dozen of the most conservative Republicans made common cause to reject a plan that included a debt ceiling extension, pushing off the issue until 2027 or 2029 (or even forever). Now, with default still on the table for 2025, the next step in that process starts on Jan. 1 when — as per a 2023 agreement between President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — a temporary suspension of the debt limit ends and a cap…