JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 1209

General Motors laid off roughly 1,700 workers in Michigan and Ohio, including about 1,200 at Detroit’s EV plant and 550 at Ultium Cells in Ohio, with 850 additional temporary layoffs there. The company will also temporarily lay off 700 at Ultium Cells’ Tennessee site and pause battery cell production in Ohio and Tennessee starting in January, aiming to resume by mid-2026 after upgrades. Citing slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment, GM is realigning capacity. The moves follow 200-plus salaried cuts and a $1.6 billion third-quarter hit tied to its EV plans.

YouTube is pushing deeper into big-screen viewing with a feature drop for TV audiences: automatic AI upscaling of videos to 1080p (with labeled "super resolution" up to 4K coming), bigger 50MB thumbnails, and an immersive channel-surfing homepage that spotlights Shows collections and prioritizes creator content in TV search. Shopping gets a TV-friendly fix via QR codes tied to tagged moments. Creators are auto-opted into upscaling but can opt out and keep originals. Google says channels earning over $100,000 rose 45% in 2025 versus 2024. Rollout starts today in YouTube Studio.

WASHINGTON — The shutdown is costing the U.S. economy about $7 billion per month that won’t be recovered, the nonpartisan CBO told House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington. For four-, six-, and eight-week durations, unrecovered losses are $7 billion, $11 billion, and $14 billion (2025 dollars). Spending is falling as over a million workers miss pay; roughly 600,000 are excepted and working, while 650,000 are furloughed. Output should bounce after reopening, but the longer the stoppage lasts, the worse the macroeconomic hit.

Ariana Grande has left her Glinda-blond era, revealing a glossy brunette return in an Instagram mirror selfie Wednesday. “it’s good to see me, isn’t it? ✨,” she wrote, crediting colorist Francesco De Chiara, hairstylist Alyx Liu and makeup artist Michael Anthony. De Chiara, who first bleached her hair in October 2022 for Wicked, celebrated the switch on Instagram as fans cheered. Grande had kept the blond through the first film’s November 2024 release and press tour; with the sequel due Nov. 21, 2025, she appears ready to move on.

The United States will withdraw some forces from Romania, sending the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne back to Kentucky without a replacement, as the Pentagon shifts focus toward homeland defense and Latin America. The Army cast it as a balanced posture adjustment, not a reduced commitment to NATO, saying allies are taking on more responsibility. Romania said about 1,000 U.S. troops will remain, while the drawdown includes departures from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. Republican defense leaders opposed the move, as NATO noted U.S. troop levels still exceed pre-2022.

Aboard Air Force One, President Trump said he could deploy the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to U.S. cities under the Insurrection Act — asserting courts “wouldn’t get involved” — but added he hasn’t found it necessary. He praised National Guard deployments in Washington, D.C., and Memphis as driving down crime, even as Chicago, D.C., Illinois, California and Oregon have sued over such actions. A legal expert noted the Posse Comitatus Act’s limits and the Insurrection Act’s rare use; the last invocation was in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots.

Gyeongju, South Korea — Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet Thursday on APEC’s sidelines, with US officials signaling a pause on China’s rare earth export controls and new US tariffs. The talks follow threats of sweeping measures—Beijing’s curbs and Trump’s potential 100% tariffs—that economists warn would devastate growth. Experts say de-escalation could steady expectations, though doubts persist over how long it can last. With the two economies shaping 43% of global GDP, a prolonged split could cut output by nearly 7%, even as the IMF lifted its 2025 growth outlook to 3.2%.

Boeing delayed first 777X deliveries to 2027 and took nearly $5bn in charges, bringing program costs to about $15bn, including customer penalties. Shares slipped 1% premarket; an industry analyst said the charge topped expectations but wasn’t crippling as demand for widebodies grows. Separately, the FAA approved raising 737 Max production to 42 a month. Boeing delivered 55 jets in September, its best since 2018. Free cash flow turned positive at $238m, revenue rose 30% to $23.27bn ahead of estimates, but the adjusted loss was $7.47 per share, larger than expected.

UN data show wealthy nations’ climate adaptation aid fell 7 percent to about $26 billion in 2023, leaving them unlikely to meet a $40 billion annual pledge by 2025—still only a fraction of needs. The slowdown echoes wider stumbles: President Trump is pulling the U.S. from the Paris accord, and only about one-third of countries met a deadline to update emissions plans. Leaders still aim to meet in Belém, Brazil next month, amid a rocky start. “Sluggish progress should send shock waves,” warned Palau’s Ilana Seid.

The Daily Show skewered President Donald Trump’s Japan visit, likening him to an Old American Beaver Hound being paraded through Akasaka Palace by newly elected Takaichi. The mock commentary followed their rigid inspection, his brief wander from her side, and a triumphant step onto a podium. Trump has since moved on to South Korea in a wider Asia tour, after a speech aboard the USS George Washington in Yokosuka. He is expected to meet President Lee Jae Myung and China’s Xi Jinping, while a hoped-for meeting with Kim Jong Un didn’t materialize.