8:01 AM | More than 9.5 million flu cases have been reported in Japan; Google is suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China; The fuel surcharge for domestic flights will be raised from February 5.
TOP3 Big News
More than 9.5 million flu cases in Japan, and people in Taiwan rush to get flu vaccines
Reporters learned on February 3 local time that since the number of flu patients in Japan reached a new high in late December last year, some hospitals and pharmacies have experienced a shortage of flu drugs due to factors such as uneven distribution of inventory caused by excessive hoarding of drugs by some medical institutions. According to data released by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan on January 31, it is estimated that the cumulative number of flu cases in Japan from September 2, 2024 to January 26, 2025 has reached approximately 9.523 million.
The news that the artist Barbie Hsu (Xu Xiyuan) died of flu complicated with pneumonia has also triggered a rush to get flu vaccines in Taiwan. Health departments and medical institutions across the island have been flooded with people for vaccinations, and the inquiry phones have been "overwhelmed", and the website of the disease control department has also crashed. (CCTV News, Kankanews KNEWS)
Google is suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, and the State Administration for Market Regulation has decided to file a case for investigation in accordance with the law.
On February 4, according to the news from the WeChat official account "Shishuoxinyu", because Google is suspected of violating the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation has launched a case investigation into Google in accordance with the law. Currently, Google is facing antitrust lawsuits in many countries, including the request from the US Department of Justice to split Google. In addition, the European Union has also filed multiple antitrust lawsuits against Google. (The Paper)
Domestic flight fuel surcharge to be raised from February 5, with an increase of 20 yuan or 10 yuan per flight segment
From February 5, a new collection standard for the fuel surcharge for domestic flight passenger transportation will be implemented. Compared with the previous standard, the fuel surcharge for each flight segment will be increased by 20 yuan or 10 yuan. This is the first adjustment of the domestic flight fuel surcharge this year. For routes over 800 kilometers, the fuel surcharge will be adjusted from the original 20 yuan to 40 yuan; for routes of 800 kilometers and below, the fuel surcharge will be adjusted from the original 10 yuan to 20 yuan.
Many airlines remind that after the implementation of the new collection standard for the domestic flight fuel surcharge, for the passenger tickets of travel flights on or after February 5 purchased by passengers before February 5 this year, if they are voluntarily changed on or after February 5, the fuel surcharge will not be affected. And according to the relevant regulations, infants are exempt from the fuel surcharge for domestic flight passenger transportation. For child passengers including unaccompanied children, revolutionary disabled military personnel and people's police passengers disabled due to work, the fuel surcharge for domestic flight passenger transportation is halved. (Jimu News)
Big Companies/Big Events
Thailand will cut off power to the Myanmar area along the Thai-Myanmar border and warn that those who are negligent will be transferred.
On February 4, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Puttan said that he would order the power cut to the Myanmar area along the Thai-Myanmar border on the same day and warn that those who are negligent will be transferred. In addition, the Thai government held a cabinet meeting on the same day to conduct in-depth discussions on the power cut to the Myanmar area along the Thai-Myanmar border.
At the meeting, Thai Prime Minister Petongtan asked the National Security Council to supervise the power cut measures in the border areas and authorized Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Puttan to hold an emergency meeting with the National Security Council to discuss further measures. It is reported that this meeting will be held at 17:00 local time on the 4th. (CCTV News)
Biden Signs with Renowned Artist Agency, with Prior Collaboration During His Vice Presidency
According to reports from Fox News and AFP on the 3rd, former US President Joe Biden, who has just stepped down, has signed with the renowned US artist agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). According to a statement posted by CAA on social media on February 3, they had previously signed with Biden during his tenure as Vice President. During the previous signing period, Biden's personal memoir was published and a 42-day tour was conducted, selling over 85,000 tickets nationwide and completing multiple speaking engagements.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is a well-known agency in the US, with clients including movie stars, celebrities from the sports and music industries, and it also has connections with many politicians. Records show that former US President Barack Obama and his wife have collaborated with the company, and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also signed with the company. (CCTV News)
Nezha 2 Becomes the Box Office Champion of the Spring Festival Season in Chinese Film History, Breaking 18 Film History Records
According to Dengta Professional Edition, as of 13:15 on February 3, the box office of "Nezha: Devil Child Comes Roaring Back to the Sea" has reached 3.562 billion yuan, surpassing "Detective Chinatown 3" (with a box office of 3.561 billion yuan during the schedule), becoming the box office champion of the Spring Festival Season in Chinese film history! So far, "Nezha: Devil Child Comes Roaring Back to the Sea" has broken 18 film history records. (Beijing Daily)
The Ministry of Commerce: Lists the US-based PVH Group and Illumina, Inc. as unreliable entities
According to the Ministry of Commerce, in order to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, in accordance with relevant laws such as the Foreign Trade Law of the People's Republic of China, the National Security Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law of the People's Republic of China, and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Regulations on the Unreliable Entities List, the Unreliable Entities List Working Mechanism has decided to list the US-based PVH Group and Illumina, Inc. as unreliable entities. These two entities have violated the normal market transaction principles, interrupted normal transactions with Chinese enterprises, and taken discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises, seriously damaging the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. The Unreliable Entities List Working Mechanism will take corresponding measures against the above entities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. (People's Daily Online)
Trump Personally Assigns Task to Musk: Retrieve Two Astronauts Stranded in Space
On the 28th local time, US President Trump posted on his social media platform "Truth Social" that he has instructed the US space exploration technology company (SpaceX) and its CEO Musk to take action to bring back the two American astronauts stranded at the International Space Station. These two astronauts flew to the space station on board Boeing's Starliner on June 5 last year, which was the first manned test flight mission of the Starliner. The spacecraft was originally scheduled to return on June 14, but the return time has been repeatedly postponed due to problems such as thruster failure and helium leakage. (CCTV News)
Elon Musk Spent Over $290 Million in the 2024 US Presidential Election
On February 1 local time, the year-end filing documents of the US Federal Election Commission showed that Elon Musk spent more than $290 million in the 2024 US Presidential Election. The documents indicated that Musk donated approximately $11.2 million to the "Political Action Committee (PAC)" he funded on the last day of the year, which brought his total political donation amount to more than $290 million. (CCTV News)
Costco to Raise Hourly Wages for Most U.S. Store Employees to Over $30
According to a memo recently sent to employees, Costco will increase the hourly wages of most hourly workers in its U.S. stores to more than $30. The memo indicates that the company will gradually raise the hourly wages of the highest-level employees over the next three years, with an increase of $1 to $30.20 in the first year, and then an additional $1 each year for the following two years. (Cailian Press)
Tesla is reportedly to supply batteries for large-scale energy storage facilities in Japan
Tesla is reportedly to provide the factory located in Maibara City, Shiga Prefecture, central Japan with a super-large commercial energy storage battery Megapack with a total capacity of 548 megawatt-hours. This factory is one of the largest energy storage power stations in Japan that the financial services group ORIX plans to build, and it is expected to be put into operation as early as 2027. (Cailian Press)
Apple Announces Open Sourcing of Swift Build to Expand Developer Ecosystem
Apple has announced that it will open source the tool engine Swift Build, which is used to build the Xcode development environment. This move aims to provide developers with more flexible and powerful tool support, further enhancing the vitality and innovation capabilities of the Apple developer community. (ITHome)
Goods under $800 lose tariff exemption, Trump's new tariff policy will affect over 1 billion small packages
On February 1 local time, US President Trump signed an executive order to impose a 10% tariff on goods imported from China, and also waved the tariff stick at neighboring Mexico and Canada. The latest tariff policy will come into effect from February 4. It is worth noting that the executive order signed by Trump this time cancels the "minimum" tariff exemption for small-value goods worth less than $800 in the United States, which is expected to have an impact on the sales of cheap online retailers such as Temu and Shein, and weaken the global competitiveness of Chinese e-commerce. According to data from the US Customs and Border Protection, in the past 10 years, the number of goods entering the United States that applied for the "minimum" tariff exemption has grown exponentially, increasing from about 139 million per year in fiscal year 2015 to more than 1 billion per year in fiscal year 2023, an increase of more than 600%. In fiscal year 2024, the number of "minimum" goods has risen again to more than 1.36 billion. (Yicai)
Stellantis Streamlines Organizational Structure, Appoints Heads of Jeep, Peugeot and Other Brands
Stellantis Group announced that according to the management adjustment plan announced in December last year, the group is now taking a series of measures to streamline the organizational structure. Among them, the software business has been integrated into the Product Development and Technology Department, the Affairs Department and the Corporate Communications Department have been merged, and a new group marketing department has been established. At the same time, Stellantis Group officially announced a number of management changes. Among them, Bob Broderdorf has been appointed as the head of the Jeep brand, Alain Favey joined Stellantis Group and was appointed as the head of the Peugeot brand, Xavier Peugeot was appointed as the head of the DS brand, and Anne Abboud was appointed as the head of the Pro One commercial vehicle business. John Elkann, Chairman of Stellantis Group, said that based on the adjustment made by Stellantis Group to the group's management in December last year, this change will further streamline the organizational structure and enhance the flexibility and execution ability of Stellantis Group in various regional markets. (Jiemian News)
The Forefront of AI
OpenAI and Kakao, the leading chat app operator in South Korea, plan to collaborate on developing artificial intelligence products for the South Korean market
ChatGPT developer OpenAI and Kakao, the dominant chat app operator in South Korea, said on February 4 that the two sides plan to establish a strategic partnership to develop artificial intelligence products for the South Korean market. Kakao CEO Chung Shina said at a press conference in Seoul that Kakao will use OpenAI technology in its applications. When asked whether OpenAI is considering investing in and joining the artificial intelligence computing center project in South Korea, OpenAI CEO Altman said the company is "actively considering" this move. (Caixin)
OpenAI Officially Launches the Intelligent Agent Product with Deep Research Function for the Field of In-Depth Research
On the morning of February 3rd Beijing time, OpenAI officially launched the intelligent agent product with the Deep Research function for the field of in-depth research. This function can complete a professional report within 5 - 30 minutes, supports high-intensity knowledge workers in multiple fields, is supported by the o3 model, is trained through end-to-end reinforcement learning, and works collaboratively with four modules. It has been launched on ChatGPT, and there are plans to expand data sources and combine with Operator to perform complex tasks in the future. (Tencent Technology)
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple Intelligence Has Little Help for iPhone Sales
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released a report stating that Apple Intelligence has little help for iPhone sales. According to his industry survey, the overall iPhone 4Q24 shipment volume declined by approximately 5.8%, but iPhone revenue only declined by 0.8% year-on-year in 4Q24. The reason is that the product shipment combination of iPhone in 4Q24 has further improved. In terms of the proportion of the new model Pro series in the total shipment volume, it has significantly increased from 54% in 4Q23 to 61%. In addition, users who purchase the Pro series have a high probability of paying more to buy a version with higher storage space. Therefore, the contribution of the Pro series to the average unit price is very significant. However, the proportion of Pro models cannot increase infinitely. The decline in iPhone revenue in the Q12025 financial report is a warning sign. If Apple does not adjust the iPhone product and sales strategy, according to this trend, we will see a mid-single-digit year-on-year decline in iPhone revenue in 2026. (Cailian Press)
Big Company Financial Reports
Shell's adjusted profit in the fourth quarter was $3.66 billion, a 50% decrease year-on-year.
Shell's revenue in the fourth quarter was $66.28 billion, a 16% decrease year-on-year, with an estimate of $65.11 billion; the adjusted profit was $3.66 billion, a 50% decrease year-on-year, with an expectation of $4.36 billion. The adjusted earnings per share were $0.6, compared with $1.11 in the same period last year and an estimate of $0.68. Shell announced a $3.5 billion share buyback program. (Caixin)
AMD's fourth-quarter revenue was 7.658 billion US dollars, and its net profit decreased by 28% year-on-year
On February 5, Beijing time, AMD released the company's fourth-quarter and full-year financial reports for fiscal year 2024. The report shows that AMD's fourth-quarter revenue was 7.658 billion US dollars, an increase of 24% compared with 6.168 billion US dollars in the same period last year, and an increase of 12% compared with 6.819 billion US dollars in the previous quarter; the net profit was 482 million US dollars, a decrease of 28% compared with 667 million US dollars in the same period last year, and a decrease of 37% compared with 771 million US dollars in the previous quarter; the adjusted net profit not in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles was 1.777 billion US dollars, an increase of 42% compared with 1.249 billion US dollars in the same period last year, and an increase of 18% compared with 1.504 billion US dollars in the previous quarter. (Sina Technology)
Nokia's adjusted operating profit in the fourth quarter is 1.14 billion euros
Nokia's adjusted operating profit in the fourth quarter is 1.14 billion euros, with an estimate of 962.1 million euros; it is expected that the adjusted operating profit in 2025 will be between 1.9 billion euros and 2.4 billion euros. (Caixin News Agency)
IBM's fourth-quarter revenue was $17.553 billion, and net profit decreased by 11% year-on-year
IBM released the company's fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for fiscal year 2024 on January 31. The report shows that IBM's fourth-quarter revenue was $17.553 billion, an increase of 1% compared with $17.381 billion in the same period of the previous year. Excluding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations, it increased by 2% year-on-year; The net profit from continuing operations was $2.927 billion, a decrease of 11% compared with $3.285 billion in the same period of the previous year; Excluding U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, the operating net profit from continuing operations was $3.7 billion, an increase of 3% year-on-year. (Sina Technology)
Meta's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 was 48.39 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 21%
Meta released its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024 and the full year on January 29 local time. The revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the full year of 2024 were 48.39 billion US dollars and 164.50 billion US dollars respectively, with year-on-year growth of 21% and 22% respectively. It is expected that the revenue in the first quarter of 2025 will be between 39.5 billion and 41.8 billion US dollars. It is expected that the capital expenditure for the full year of 2025 will be between 60 billion and 65 billion US dollars. (Jiemian News)
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