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Wake up to the shifts shaping the future.
From boardroom shakeups and billion-dollar bets to the latest tech breakthroughs rewriting the rules, The Company Brief is your front-row seat to the stories moving markets and mindsets.
We cut through the noise so you can stay ahead of the curve, one bold business move at a time.
Trump bars South Africa from next G20, cuts funding
Tensions between South Africa and the United States reached an all-time low on Wednesday night after US President Donald Trump announced that South Africa would be barred from attending the next G20 summit. Trump, speaking on his social media platform Truth Social, said he would block South Africa’s participation in the 2026 G20 summit – set to be hosted in Miami – and halt all financial support to the country. His remarks followed South Africa’s refusal to symbolically pass the G20 presidency to a senior US Embassy representative at the close of this year’s summit in Johannesburg. "The United States did not attend the G20 in South Africa because the South African government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific human rights abuses endured by Afrikaners and other descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers,” Trump posted.
Intel denies TSMC allegations that executive leaked trade secrets
Intel on Thursday denied allegations by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing that one of its executives, Wei-Jen Lo, who formerly worked at the Taiwanese chipmaker, had leaked trade secrets."Based on everything we know, we have no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations involving Mr Lo," Intel said in an emailed statement. Intel said the company maintains rigorous policies and controls that strictly prohibit the use or transfer of any third-party confidential information or intellectual property. "We take these commitments seriously," Intel said. The U.S. chipmaker said it has welcomed back Lo and that he is widely respected across the semiconductor industry for his integrity, leadership and technical expertise. "Talent movement across companies is a common and healthy part of our industry, and this situation is no different," the company added.
Stocks rise on Fed easing hopes, yen locked in intervention zone
Asian stocks rose on Thursday, and the dollar was soft on growing expectations of an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month, while the yen remained on intervention watch, with traders weighing the prospect of a rate hike before year-end. A holiday-curtailed week has led to limited moves across markets, with stocks keeping a largely upbeat tone and currencies much more sedate as investors shrug off AI bubble worries that had roiled equities earlier in November. The U.S. markets are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and are due to trade for a short session on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4% higher, tracking gains from Wall Street and on course to snap a three-week losing streak. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi surged over 1%.