Clowns carry a portrait of the Virgin of Guadalupe as they pay homage to Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Mexico, December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

 

Disney

 

Walt Disney’s deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox will value the latter at over $40 per share, or $75 billion, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal will end more than half a century of expansion by Murdoch, 86, who turned a single Australian newspaper he inherited from his father at age 21 into one of the world’s most important global news and film conglomerates. 

 

The deal would give Disney new advantages in India, such as cricket rights and local-language TV shows for the fast-growing media market. The world’s best-known entertainment company  would be able to distribute its programming on Star India, operator of 69 TV channels in eight languages, as well as the popular Hotstar streaming service. Disney also would gain global rights to professional cricket. 

 

Factbox: Disney's global footprint post-Fox deal 

 

Breakingviews:Fox deal will test Disney’s chief Mouseketeer

 

Tech

 

As bitcoin raced to another record high, one of the biggest providers of digital currency wallets, Coinbase, went down under the weight of traffic and Bitfinex, the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, said it was under a heavy denial-of-service attack. The latest outages show how the market infrastructure for an immature and volatile instrument that millions of investors have piled into may be ill-equipped to cope with sudden shifts in demand, which is worrying some investors. 

 

Apple’s $390 million deal with chip supplier Finisar announced helps lock in the supply of a component that Apple believes will play a big role in its future products by bolstering augmented reality features. 

 

All French children under the age of 16 will have to seek parental approval to open an account on Facebook or any other social network under draft legislation. The requirement is part of a French bill that seeks to adapt data privacy regulations and improve access to the information internet companies gather, store and in many cases sell to other firms about people’s online activity. 

 

United States

 

Congressional Republicans reached a deal on final tax legislation, clearing the way for final votes next week on a package that would slash the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21 percent and cut taxes for wealthy Americans. 

 

Internet service providers clashed with Democrats and celebrities like “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill ahead of a vote on the Trump administration’s plan to revoke net neutrality rules barring the blocking or slowing of internet traffic. 

 

The solidly Republican South suddenly looks a little less solid. Tuesday’s upset win by Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama, coupled with last month’s Democratic sweep in Virginia, has given the party new optimism about its 2018 prospects in the South and other conservative, heavily rural regions where Republicans have dominated for decades. 

 

Mexican-born actress Salma Hayek has joined the ranks of Hollywood women accusing movie producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, calling him a “monster” in an article published by the New York Times.

 

 

A worker hangs dried fish onto poles at a processing facility on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China December 12, 2017. Picture taken December 12, 2017. REUTERS

World

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he faced no credible high-profile political opponents as he prepared to run for re-election in March, but would work to try to create a more balanced political system. 

 

A senior United Nations human rights official said he was investigating North Korea’s allegations that a dozen restaurant workers who arrived in the South from China last year were abducted against their will. 

 

When a 17-year-old Bollywood actress took to social media this week alleging she was sexually assaulted on an airplane, she appeared to catch the airline industry off-guard. Her allegations - denied by the man accused of the assault on a domestic Vistara flight in India - triggered online outrage and prompted a rare police investigation. 

 

Israel announced the closure of its Gaza border crossings in response to daily rocket fire from the enclave over the past week after U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital stoked Palestinian anger. 

 

British Prime Minister Theresa May will urge European Union leaders to approve an agreement to move Brexit talks on to a second phase, just hours after an embarrassing parliamentary defeat at home that weakens her hand. 

 

Reuters TV: How ‘folk’ medicine is wildlife smugglers’ secret weapon 

 

Business

 

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates but left its rate outlook for the coming years unchanged even as policymakers projected a short-term jump in U.S. economic growth from the Trump administration’s proposed tax cuts. 

 

Canada’s decision to make it harder for Boeing to win a major jet order hands rival plane maker Lockheed Martin an advantage in capturing the contract, defense experts said. 

 

A U.S. judge shot down a request by creditors of Westinghouse Electric for a bigger role in the nuclear technology company’s bankruptcy just days after its parent company Toshiba proposed a restructuring plan. 

 

Energy

 

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, aims to regain its lost market share after the OPEC-led supply-cut pact ends and plans to push ahead with a downstream expansion strategy to be on par with Big Oil, its chief executive said on Wednesday. 

 

Nebraska’s main anti-pipeline group is trying to rally opposition to the TransCanada’s Keystone XL project’s recently approved route through the state, tracking down landowners it says were not given a voice in the regulatory process.