From Headlines From Clear Law…

In today’s news, I bring to you the Top 5 news:

1. UK will be the worst performer in G7 next year, OECD forecasts;

2. Universal Music ends boycott of TikTok with new licensing deal;

3. Savills says UK house prices will rise this year in U-turn on earlier forecasts;

4. Microsoft creates top secret AI tool for US spies; and

5. Volkswagen warns Brussels against raising tariffs on Chinese eclectic cars.

and much more to stay tuned for.

Detailed Report for the Day consists of:

UK will be the worst performer in G7 next year, OECD forecasts

Paris-based thinktank as being the latest big organisation to offer a damning assessment of the UK’s economic prospects. It justified its forecasts downgrades for growth this year by pointing to high inflation rates and the ongoing effects of inflation. It says that the UK will be the worst performer in G7 in 2025 while the US and Canada will be at the top of the leaderboard. It reckons that the Bank of England will delay the first interest rate cuts until autumn.

BoE likely to flag future rate cuts as divided policy committee meets

Bank of England is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25% when the MPC meets on Thursday this week.

Universal Music ends boycott of TikTok with new licensing deal

This deal shows that the two sides have agreed to a new licensing deal, ending the boycott of TikTok which started in January. This means that the Music from some of the world’s top artists has been returning to the platform. The new deal includes new promotional and commercial agreements and industry-leading protections” over the use of generative AI.

Meanwhile, TikTok bans will accelerate the ‘splinternet’

This article looks at the threat facing TikTok as it faces a US ban if owner ByteDance does sell it by early 2025.

TikTok Tells Advertisers It Won’t Back Down as U.D Ban Looms

TikTok remains defiant as it told hundreds of ad execs at a presentation yesterday that it would fight the potential ban of its app in court.

TikTok and ByteDance sue US to block law forcing sale of the app

TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have decided to sue to block the law signed by Biden just weeks ago that would force a ban of the app in the US unless it was sold. ByteDance argues that the law is unconstitutional and violates free speech.

Savills says UK house prices will rise this year in U-turn on earlier forecast

Savills has reversed the forecast it made in November last year then it said it expected the average price of a home to drop by 3% in 2024. Now it thinks that increased competition among mortgage lenders has prompted more activity in the market to the extent that Savills now expects prices to rise by 2.5% in 2024!

Commercial Property News: Lab space cannot breathe life into London’s office market

Canary Wharf’s efforts to diversify from predominantly finance to attracting life sciences companies. It attracts higher rent but there are problems like the building costs are higher and secondly that there’s only so much demand.

Microsoft creates top secret AI tool for US spies

Microsoft’s new LLM is being splashed all over the newspaper, and the company has developed something safe enough for American spies to use because it is completely independent of the internet.

Apple unveils “outrageously powerful chip for AI” in latest iPad

Apple’s unveiling of its new M4 chip for its latest iPad Pro devices just months after it introduced the M3 chip in new Macs in October. The company touted it as a big step forward over previous chips and described the M4 as “an outrageously powerful chip for AI”.

China’s trade returns to growth on the back of AI equipment imports

Trade is growing for China thanks to a surge in imports of key equipment for the development of AI. The value of China’s imports of automatic data processing equipment shot up by 50% year-on-year in the first 4 months of 2024.

Volkswagen warns Brussels against raising tariffs on Chinese electric cars

VW is saying that Brussels should not increase tariffs on Chinese EVs because it would risk “retaliation” against other international brands.

Tesla “under investigation for fraud” over self-driving claims

The Department of Justice is now investigating whether Tesla has committed wire and securities fraud by overstating the capabilities of its self-driving systems.

Toyota’s hybrid surge still leaves it playing catch-up on battery EVs

Highlights Toyota’s laggard status in the world of EVs and the massive success that has resulted as many consumers have ditched the idea of full-electric and gone hybrid.

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