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Beijing — Qi Weihao recently welcomed a beautiful, highly venomous blue snake into her family. A 21-year-old man from central Jiangxi province bought the Indonesian pit viper for 1,850 yuan ($260) two days after Disney’s hit animated series “Zootopia 2” was released on Nov. 26. Chee’s favorite character is also the latest in the series, Gary de Snake, who is thought to be inspired by Southeast Asian snakes. As a reptile lover, Qi had wanted a blue snake for a long time and finally took the plunge and got one after seeing the positive and endearing portrayal of the snake…

A man who plowed his car into a crowd at Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade, injuring 134 people, has been sentenced to 21 years and six months in prison.Paul Doyle, 54, was heading into the city center from his home in Croxteth, Liverpool, to gather friends for the May 26 parade when he became “angry” and drove his Ford Galaxy directly into supporters returning home from the celebrations.Dashcam footage from the vehicle played in court showed Fan being thrown onto the hood of the car or crushed under it as it accelerated down the closed Water Street around 6pm.Mr Doyle…

Oil prices maintained most of their gains in early Thursday trading as investors awaited U.S.-China trade talks later in the day. Anton Petrus | Moments | Getty ImagesU.S. oil prices fell below $55 a barrel on Tuesday, their lowest level since early 2021, as traders priced in an impending surplus and the possibility of a peace deal with Ukraine. west texas intermediate The price hit a low of $54.98 per barrel, the lowest since February 3, 2021. The US benchmark was trading 2.92% lower at $55.16 in the latest session. global benchmark brent It fell 2.77% to $58.88 per barrel.…

Robotaxis felt like science fiction just a decade ago, but this year, autonomous vehicles became a commonplace option for paying passengers across big cities in the U.S. and parts of Asia.Alphabet-owned Waymo kept expanding and dominates the robotaxi market in the U.S., though rivals Tesla and Amazon-owned Zoox also launched the first versions of their services in 2025. Meanwhile, Baidu-owned Apollo Go dominated in China. Some parents are now sending teens to schools and activities in Waymos, and women often praise the privacy of these AVs versus rides with strangers who drive for ride-hailing and traditional taxi services. Waymo, in…

Big Tech powerhouses such as OpenAI; metaand microsoft It is asking Congress to push legislation to reform the process for obtaining federal permits for projects that build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.Supporters of the bill say it is key to helping the United States beat out China and other global competitors and gain leadership in AI. The bill faces a key procedural vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.”A more efficient and predictable permitting process is essential for companies like OpenAI that invest in data centers, networking, and support infrastructure across the country,” Chan Park, OpenAI’s director…

The IPO window may be open, but some former startups don’t appear to have any intention of going public. In a way it makes sense. IPOs are a traditional way to raise money, and if you can raise an exorbitant amount of money for your company without exposing it to public scrutiny, why would you? Databricks proves that point. The data intelligence company has raised more than $4 billion in a Series L funding round at a $134 billion valuation. This is a 34% increase from the $100 billion valuation it achieved just three months ago. This is Databricks’ third…

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, one of the finalists for Federal Reserve chair, on Tuesday voiced support for central bank independence.With President Donald Trump appearing to be in the final stages of choosing a successor to Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve, Hassett declined to directly address his candidacy in an interview with CNBC, but said building consensus is an important part of his job.”The independence of the Federal Reserve Board is really, really important, and the voices of other people (on the Federal Open Market Committee) are important, too,” he said. “This means we need a consensus based…

An employee recruitment sign in the window of a business in Arlington, Virginia, April 7, 2023.Elizabeth Franz | ReutersThis is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.1. Economics 101Investors and economic policymakers alike are eagerly awaiting the delayed release of non-farm employment data, which is scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET this morning. The statistics come less than a week after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, marking a new phase in the battle for central bank leadership.Here’s what…

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock markets remained mostly unchanged Tuesday. mixed data in economic strengthdid little to remove uncertainty about where interest rates would go.The S&P 500 was little changed in morning trading, still slightly lower. It’s the highest price ever The one I set last week. As of 10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 43 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%. U.S. Treasury yields eased slightly after initial volatility after some reports that the U.S. unemployment rate hit its worst level since 2021 last month, but employers added more jobs…

US President Donald Trump on Monday insisted that a deal to end Russia’s nearly four-year war with Ukraine is “closer than ever” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with European leaders and US diplomats in the German capital Berlin.During two days of high-level talks in Berlin, diplomats discussed how to protect Ukraine from future Russian military threats, among other concerns.Before the Berlin talks, President Zelensky said Kiev was willing to abandon its NATO ambitions in exchange for legally binding security. Russia used NATO expansion as one of the pretexts to justify its 2022 invasion.But European leaders say key differences between…