Google parent to lay off 12,000 workers

Plus, China plays down its COVID outbreak with the holiday rush at full tilt

Hello! The White House bets Republicans will blink under pressure, Ukraine holds out for tanks as the U.S. tells allies to 'dig deeper', and Elon Musk is expected to take the stand    by Linda Noakes   Business & Markets A view of the Google logo on a temporary house during CES 2023, the annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Steve Marcus  Google's parent Alphabet is eliminating about 12,000 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, as Silicon Valley reels from recent layoffs and faces a troubled outlook. Alphabet, whose shares rose 3% in pre-market trading, is making the cuts just as the U.S. company confronts a threat to its long-held perch atop the technology sector. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is likely to be called to testify today in a jury trial over his 2018 tweet that he had "funding secured" to take the electric carmaker private, which shareholders allege cost them millions in trading losses. Read our analysis of how Tesla uses its profits as a weapon in the electric vehicle price war. The lending unit of crypto firm Genesis filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection from creditors, toppled by a market rout along with the likes of exchange FTX and lender BlockFi. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings stepped down as chief executive, handing the reins to longtime partner and co-CEO Ted Sarandos and chief operating officer Greg Peters. As Hastings pulls back, can the new co-leaders preserve the 'Netflix Way?' Global stocks were set for their first weekly loss of the year so far, as a rally driven by hopes of China fueling a global economic recovery was tempered by central bankers vowing to persist with rate hikes. Masami Fujino got his first raise in 20 years recently, but it's still not enough to let the Tokyo day laborer treat himself to plain McDonald's hamburgers as much as he used to. Steep price increases on surging raw materials costs are squeezing Japan's workers, as years of deflation or minimal rises give way to 41-year-high inflation of 4%.   Davos Greta Thunberg and around 30 other activists braved sub-zero temperatures in a protest calling for climate justice as the World Economic Forum meeting wound up in Davos. Thunberg and fellow activists have presented a 'cease and desist' notice to oil and gas executives, which protesters brandished during the demonstration.   Britain's opposition leader Keir Starmer said there would be no investment in new oil and gas fields in Britain under a Labour government - a big change from current UK energy policies. Starmer's Labour Party leads the ruling Conservatives in opinion polls by a large margin, with the next British election expected in 2024.   The United States pitched its vision of "worker-centric" trade. China promised an "all-round opening up". Europe spoke of its quest for strategic autonomy. And industrial policy - backed with lots of state cash - is no longer a dirty word. The Big Three trading powers at this year's World Economic Forum all offered takes on how they saw the future of global commerce. What's not clear is where the rest of the world fits in.   U.S. News People walk past the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst  The White House is refusing to negotiate with hardline Republicans on raising the debt ceiling because it believes enough of them will eventually back off their demands, as a growing chorus of investors, business groups and moderate conservatives warn of the dangers of edging towards a default. President Joe Biden said he has "no regrets" about his handling of classified documents found at his home and former office and that he believes the matter will be resolved. "I think you're gonna find there's nothing there," Biden told reporters as he viewed storm damage in California. A federal judge ordered former President Donald Trump and his attorneys to pay more than $937,000 in sanctions for suing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over claims the 2016 presidential election was rigged. Thousands of abortion opponents plan to rally in Washington today for the 50th annual 'March for Life', marking a new chapter for a movement that has organized for decades around overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that recognized a women's right to an abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court after an eight-month investigation failed to identify who leaked a draft of its blockbuster ruling. Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony punishable by prison time, in the fatal 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming the movie 'Rust' in New Mexico, a state prosecutor said.   World News Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks via video link to a meeting of Western defense ministers at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay  Ukraine said it expected strong decisions from NATO and other countries that are meeting today to discuss whether to send modern battle tanks and the United States said it was time to "dig deeper" to help Kyiv confront Russian forces. Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now. People across China crowded into trains and buses for one of its busiest days of travel in years, feeding fears of new surges in a raging COVID outbreak that officials say has hit its peak. Thousands of protesters in Peru, many from the country's heavily indigenous south, descended on Lima, the capital, angered by a mounting death toll since unrest erupted last month and calling for sweeping change. Fire swept through part of a shanty town in the South Korean capital, Seoul, destroying 60 homes, many constructed from cardboard and wood, and forcing the evacuation of around 500 people. Brazil's federal police carried out raids against people allegedly involved in the January 8 storming of government buildings by supporters of former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Police said the operation was aimed at "identifying people who participated in, funded or fostered" the riots. And Finally A selection of some of our top photography from around the world this week Slideshow: See our photos of the week Meat cultivated from cow cells is kosher, Israel's chief rabbi rules 'Toadzilla' could be the world's biggest toad We think you may like this: Reuters Auto File From Shanghai to Detroit to Munich, a look at the fast-paced world of automotive technology. Subscribe Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Follow Reuters on social media Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement   © 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036