China escalates

China’s escalating conflict with the US over trade is now extending to drones that have become a vital part of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s war. Chinese manufacturers are said to have recently begun limiting sales to the US and Europe of key components used to build unmanned aerial vehicles. The moves are said to be a prelude to broader export restrictions on drone parts that western officials expect Beijing to enforce in the new year. China also has opened a probe into Nvidia over suspicions that the US chipmaker broke anti-monopoly laws around a 2020 deal—a huge shot across the bow of the artificial intelligence heavyweight just as Donald Trump threatens ramp up US sanctions. Chinese authorities said they opened the investigation into Nvidia’s recent behavior as well as the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies. Beijing gave approval for the deal four years ago, on condition that Nvidia not discriminate against Chinese companies. —Natasha Solo-Lyons and David E. Rovella

What You Need to Know Today

Two major New York City cases made news Monday. A 26-year-old man suspected in the fatal Manhattan shooting of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The man, identified as Luigi Mangione, was found with a “manifesto,” multiple fake identifications and a so-called ghost gun with a suppressor, similar to the one used in the shooting, according to police. Meanwhile, a Long Island man who choked an unarmed New York City subway rider for six minutes in 2023 was acquitted by a Manhattan jury in his death, immediately inflaming issues of race, crime and disparate treatment. The verdict cleared Daniel Penny, whose lawyers told jurors he was trying to protect other riders from an agitated, gesticulating Jordan Neely, of criminally negligent homicide. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed because the jury deadlocked on that count. Neeley’s father decried the verdict as unjust. During jury selection, the New York Times reported prosecutors had accused the defense of weeding out potential jurors because of race (Penny is White; Neely was Black). Penny was recently sued by Jordan Neely’s family over his death.

Insiders are sharing how one IT giant favored Indian H-1B workers over US employees. In October, a jury in a federal class-action lawsuit returned a verdict that found Cognizant intentionally discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees between 2013 and 2022. The H-1B program was designed to help US employers find specialized talent. But a decade’s worth of records from the US Department of Labor shows that outsourcing companies, including Cognizant, have used the visas mostly to fill lower-level positions, such as IT system analysts and administrators. In July, a Bloomberg News investigation revealed how outsourcing firms have overwhelmed the annual lottery for a limited number of new H-1B visas.

Mondelez International, the snacks and sweets company, is said to be exploring an acquisition of iconic US chocolate maker Hershey, in a potential deal that would create a food giant with combined sales of almost $50 billion. Chicago-based Mondelez is said to have made a preliminary approach about a possible combination. Shares in Hershey rose as much as 19% on Monday for their biggest intraday gain in more than eight years after the Bloomberg News report. It’s not the first time Mondelez has sought a deal for Hershey: In 2016, it walked away from discussions about a potential takeover after seeing a $23 billion bid rejected.

Private credit’s struggling pioneer may be a warning sign for the market. Alcentra was once a leader in European direct lending. It’s now finding it hard to raise new money for that business. In its heyday, Alcentra was up there with current direct-lending success stories such as Ares Management and Intermediate Capital Group as they jousted for preeminence in making loans to Europe’s companies. But unlike old rivals that are expanding their assets at breakneck speed, Alcentra has shrunk. At its peak, it managed about $43 billion of assets, according to Fitch Ratings. By the time Franklin struck the deal to acquire the London-based lender, it had $38 billion. It now has about $32 billion.

In the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad’s fall in Syria, children, the elderly, women and men could be seen sprinting toward the exit of the notorious Sednaya Prison on the outskirts of Damascus—some stood frozen in confusion at the news of their freedom. The Assads notoriously used the prison system to lock up, torture and kill political dissidents, from leftists to suspected Islamists—but the rebels who overthrew the government this weekend have opened the gates. Now, after the regime’s swift collapse, Syrians are trying to find loved ones who have disappeared over the years.

The Biden administration plans to sell drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge less than two weeks before Donald Trump takes office, a last-minute maneuver that could complicate the incoming administration’s plans for driving robust oil development in the region. Under the decision issued Monday, the Interior Department will put just 400,000 acres (161,870 hectares) of the refuge’s nearly 1.6 million acre coastal plain available on the auction block on Jan. 9—the smallest amount possible under federal law. The auction is one of two sales Congress mandated in 2017 as a way to pay for tax cuts.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

For Your Commute

Grand Theft Auto VI isn’t just going to be the biggest video game of 2025. It may be the biggest game of the decade—and possibly the most lucrative entertainment product of all time. Just look at its predecessor: Grand Theft Auto V has sold a staggering 205 million units. Since its release, the franchise has generated an estimated $9 billion in revenue for its developer, Rockstar Games. That’s more than the box-office receipts for the three highest-grossing movies combined and makes it the No. 2 bestselling game ever, after Microsoft’s Minecraft. In other words, a lot.

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