Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery approved on Thursday an $81 billion mega merger with Paramount, propelling a deal that could vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape closer to the finish line.

Per a preliminary vote count, the overwhelming majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted in support of selling the entire business to Paramount for $31 a share, the company said. Including debt, the deal is valued at nearly $111 billion.

Skydance-owned Paramount wants to buy all of Warner. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter” and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof with CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount streaming service. A greenlight from company shareholders increases the likelihood of that becoming a reality.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a statement that stockholder approval marks “another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction.” Paramount added that it looks forward to closing in the coming months, and “realizing the creation of a next-generation media and entertainment company.”

It’s not a done deal quite yet. The acquisition still faces ongoing regulatory reviews. Many critics have sounded the alarm on further consolidation in an industry already controlled by just a few major players, and are calling for the merger to get blocked – if not from the Trump administration, which seems unlikely, perhaps at the state level in the U.S. or through other court fights.

Meanwhile, Warner shareholders rejected a separate measure Thursday that outlined post-merger payments for company executives.

Paramount’s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing. And Warner leadership wasn’t always eager to enter this particular marriage.

Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount’s overtures to instead strike a $72 billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want. All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table. Warner’s board repeatedly backed Netflix’s bid. But eventually, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly bowed out of the race rather than prolonging the fight.

That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and moviegoers.

Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment called Warner shareholders’ vote to advance the merger a “serious setback” on Thursday – but maintained the fight wasn’t over. “A handful of powerful decision-makers should not be allowed to quietly reshape American media, culture, and creative life without accountability,” the advocacy group said in a statement, while pointing to other efforts to challenge consolidation.

Some have called on states, rather than the federal government, to fight the deal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been particularly vocal about the transaction and said his state is investigating it.

“State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight,” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on social media Thursday.

The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms – Paramount and HBO Max – and two big names in America’s TV news landscape –CBS and CNN – as well as a heap of other brands and entertainment networks.

Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, who they say will have access to bigger content libraries, particularly if HBO Max and Paramount become one streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to assure filmmakers with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and goal to release 30 movies a year between Paramount and Warner, which he’s said will remain stand-alone operations under a combined company.

“I love cinema and I love film,” Ellison said at CinemaCon last week. “You can count on our complete commitment.”

But the new owner will also be looking to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that would include layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about consumer benefits – warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming, and potentially less diversity in content down the road.

Then there’s the news. Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. If the Warner takeover goes through, many are expecting similar changes at CNN, which has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump.

Other questions of political influence have piled up. The Justice Department and company leadership have maintained that politics will not play a role in the regulatory process – but Trump himself has publicly waded into Warner’s future at times, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be. Trump also has a close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting billions of dollars on the table to back the bid for his son’s company.

Support for Paramount’s proposed buyout has fallen largely along party lines in Washington. Democratic senators held a “spotlight” hearing on the merger last week and have been more outspoken about antitrust concerns spanning from a Paramount-Warner combo. In contrast, lawmakers from both sides questioned Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner’s chief revenue and strategy officer Bruce Campbell in February, calling on regulators to heavily scrutinize that deal.

Meanwhile, Paramount has secured money from several sovereign investment funds – including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as well as funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, per regulatory filings. But such investors will not have voting rights in a future Paramount-Warner combo, the filings noted. Paramount has not publicly specified how much they’re contributing.

Other countries, including European regulators, are looking at the deal – and again, states could try to challenge it, too.

Shares of Paramount fell nearly 6% after Thursday’s vote, and Warner Bros. slipped as well.

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One of the world’s largest consultancies and accounting majors, PwC is paying HK$1.3 billion ($166 million) in fines and compensation in Hong Kong over its audit work for the failed Chinese property developer Evergrande, which was said to have overstated revenues.

Hong Kong’s accounting regulator on Thursday also announced a six-month ban on PwC from working for new clients and said it had issued a public reprimand to two of its former partners for misconduct, fining each of them a separate HK$5 million.

China Evergrande, one of China’s biggest property developers and once deemed “too big to fail,” defaulted in 2021 and became the world’s most indebted developer with roughly $300 billion in liabilities.

Its rapid downfall was the most prominent case of failure in China’s property sector, which was embroiled in a liquidity crisis after authorities cracked down on excessive borrowing in the industry as many other developers had also defaulted or underwent restructuring.

The property sector slump in China has still not yet fully recovered, which has weighed on home prices across the country and impacted consumption and investment sentiment, dragging on China’s broader economic growth.

In 2024, PwC was fined by mainland Chinese authorities 441 million yuan ($62 million) over its Evergrande audit. Chinese authorities also imposed a six-month ban on the accounting firm over “false” conclusions in its audit reports for Evergrande and “serious defects” in its auditing procedures.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission said Thursday it had investigated PwC’s work relating to Evergrande’s financial statements for 2019 and 2020 and found that its annual revenue and profits were “substantially overstated.”

It said Evergrande had manipulated annual revenue and profits by “prematurely recognizing revenue from property sales before the completion and delivery of properties to buyers.”

Revenues were overstated by roughly 564 billion yuan ($83 billion) over the two years, it said, after Chinese authorities reached a similar conclusion in September 2024 when it imposed its fine and ban on PwC.

The Hong Kong commission also said there were “serious breaches” of professional duties by PwC. It said it had reached an agreement with PwC, without an admission of liability by the firm, under which PwC would be setting aside HK$1 billion for compensating minority shareholders of Evergrande.

Hong Kong’s accounting regulator, the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council, said in a separate statement that PwC’s audit deficiencies for Evergrande were “particularly egregious” and that the accounting firm had “knowingly permitting” unsupported or unjustified adjustments in the financial statements.

“We acknowledge that the work on the Evergrande audits fell well below our high expectations and the expectations of our stakeholders,” PwC Hong Kong said in a statement on Thursday.

“Resolving these regulatory matters is an important step for the firm.”

PwC had lost dozens of clients and many of its staff following Evergrande’s downfall and in the months after China Evergrande was ordered by a Hong Kong court to be liquidated in 2024. Liquidators of China Evergrande were also pursuing legal action against PwC separately in Hong Kong in an attempt to recover what it could for creditors.

Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan, once one of Asia’s richest persons, this month pleaded guilty to charges including fraud and bribery in a mainland Chinese court after being detained in China.

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Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada is not yielding to U.S. pressure in ongoing trade talks, stressing that Ottawa is negotiating as an equal partner while seeking areas of mutual benefit.

“There’s two parties in a negotiation. We’re not sitting here taking notes, and taking instructions from the United States,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. Canada is “understanding their position” while identifying areas of shared benefit.

“We understand where it’s in Canada’s interest, in our joint interests, to be stronger together,” he said. “This is a government that can do many things at one time.”

Carney drew a sharp distinction between manageable trade friction and what he called outright violations. He said that a “50% tariff on steel, 50% tariff on aluminum, 25% tariff on automobiles, all the tariffs on forest products – those are more than irritants. Those are violations.”

Emphasizing that the U.S. is Canada’s “biggest trading partner by far,” he also said Canada is the “second-biggest trading partner” for the U.S.

“There is a symbiosis between the two,” he added.

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The chair of the Türkiye-Europe Business Councils of Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) criticized remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, linking Türkiye with Russia and China, saying the country should be seen not as a threat but as a strategic European partner and future EU member.

In a written statement on Wednesday, Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, the coordinating chairperson of the Türkiye-Europe Business Councils, which represents dozens of business councils engaging with European nations, said that the founding spirit of the European Union was based on the courage to view differences not as threats but as a source of collective wisdom and shared prosperity.

“Its role within the NATO alliance, deep integration through the customs union, and strong interdependence in energy, migration, and security make Türkiye not a ‘threat,’ but a strategic European partner and a future member,” he said.

He said the core idea behind the EU’s creation was to establish lasting peace through economic integration, build bridges and become a global actor through cooperation.

“In this context, placing Türkiye, an EU candidate country, a NATO ally, and a European nation, within the stated geopolitical category reflects an approach that is detached from reality,” he said.

Yalçındağ underlined that Türkiye is “an integral part of Europe’s economic, security and societal fabric.”

His remarks came after the EU chief’s remarks at an event earlier this week. Von der Leyen mentioned her support for EU enlargement but said: “We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it is not influenced by Russia, Türkiye or China.”

This drew criticism from Turkish officials who said the characterization did not reflect the country’s status as a key partner and NATO ally.

Türkiye, a long-time candidate for EU membership, has strong trade ties with the bloc, with the bilateral trade volume exceeding $200 billion a year. Türkiye and the EU base their commercial ties largely on a 30-year-old customs union trade agreement, whose overhaul has long been stalled but which Ankara earlier argued would be a win-win for both sides.

Turkish officials and businesses have long argued that the current agreement is outdated and no longer reflects global trade realities or the depth of today’s economic relationship.

Moreover, Yalçındağ added that the language used and the categorical classifications made in this regard appear to be driven more by tactical considerations than by geopolitical realities, warning that such an approach could weaken Europe’s strategic capacity in the long-term.

He said that said the DEIK, within the framework of its private-sector initiative supporting Türkiye’s EU membership, has emphasized that the EU must become a stronger and more autonomous actor in energy, supply chains and security, and that this objective can be achieved together with Türkiye.

He also said debates in Europe over decision-making mechanisms, especially the constraints created by unanimity, highlight the need for a more agile and responsive union.

According to Yalçındağ, a transition to qualified majority voting and differentiated integration models is a natural outcome of this search, but their implementation still requires unanimity, making the reservations of some member states decisive.

“In this context, it would be beneficial to assess Türkiye not through the lens of domestic European politics, but from the perspective of Europe’s global interests in the 21st century,” he said.

He added that addressing EU-Türkiye relations through the broader framework of the future of Western democracies, economic integration, rapid transformations in the age of artificial intelligence, security cooperation and global competition would offer a more rational and forward-looking approach.

Türkiye one of EU’s largest trading partners

Yalçındağ also pointed to what he described as more balanced and realistic views within the EU regarding Türkiye’s position.

He recalled that European Parliament rapporteur on Türkiye Nacho Sanchez Amor described von der Leyen’s remarks as “a geopolitically flawed analysis,” highlighting what he called a contradiction with recent messages calling for stronger cooperation with Türkiye in security and defense.

He also referred to remarks by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who told the European Parliament that Europe needs Türkiye in light of shifting geopolitical dynamics.

According to Yalçındağ, Kos emphasized that Türkiye is not only a candidate country but also a strategic partner, citing its role as one of the EU’s largest trading partners, its key position on trade routes between Europe and Asia, and its importance for Black Sea security and in the context of Ukraine.

He further said discussions during this year’s Munich Security Conference underlined Türkiye’s role on NATO’s southern flank, its capacity to manage regional crises and its strategic importance for Europe’s security architecture.

“This year’s conference marked one of the clearest articulations yet of the idea that Europe cannot move forward without Türkiye,” he said.

Yalçındağ also noted that Türkiye will host COP31 in November, describing it as a major international conference on the global climate crisis.

He said there are significant opportunities for cooperation between Türkiye and the EU on alignment targets, climate policies and the development of joint solutions to global challenges.

“Rather than defining Türkiye through limiting geopolitical categories, positioning it as a strategic partner that will help shape Europe’s common future represents a more realistic and constructive approach,” he said.

He added that by refraining from labeling an EU candidate country, a NATO ally and a European nation as a “threat,” the European Commission could better advance its goal of building a stronger and more sovereign Europe in the global order.

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A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports is likely to place pressure on Iran’s oil production in the coming weeks, but claims it will throw the country into economic free fall appear to be premature, analysts say.

After weeks of bombing and counter-strikes, focus has shifted to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, which ordinarily carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

In response to Iran’s blockade of the strait since the start of the Middle East war, the U.S. imposed a counter-blockade of Iran’s ports, a push to force its leaders into a compromise in peace talks.

That bid, however, looks set to fail, at least in the short-term.

“If the blockade lasts for more than two or three months, it can cause more damage” to Iran, economic analyst and professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Saeed Laylaz, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“If Iran suffers any damage, the damage to the countries in the southern Persian Gulf will definitely be greater,” he added.

There’s a limit on how long Iran can bide its time, however.

Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at Global Risk Management said Iran “was expected to run out of storage capacity within approximately one month, but it may already be forced to shut in part of its oil production within a couple of weeks.”

‘Collapsing financially’?

Trump said Tuesday that Iran was “collapsing financially” under the blockade imposed by the U.S. Navy on April 12, claiming that the country was “starving for cash.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the blockade meant storage at Iran’s Kharg Island, the main export terminal through which most of the country’s crude is shipped, “will be full and the fragile Iranian oil wells will be shut in.”

Jamie Ingram, managing editor of Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), told AFP it was likely the timeline for Iran to hit its oil storage limits would be measured in “weeks rather than days.”

He added it was likely that “Iran will slightly reduce production before getting to the stage where storage constraints start to bite.”

According to an analysis by oil expert Homayoun Falakshahi shared by energy intelligence firm Kpler, Iran’s crude production has already slowed since the start of the war.

Output fell by around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March to 3.68 million bpd and is expected to drop a further 420,000 bpd in April to about 3.43 million bpd, reflecting “the broader impact of export disruptions and refining constraints linked to the ongoing conflict,” Falakshahi said.

But Laylaz in Tehran said beyond the psychological effect of the blockade, the “real material effect has been small so far.”

Ingram said Kharg Island “shouldn’t be a particular bottleneck,” for Iran.

“This is the final storage facility used before oil is exported and Iran can divert crude oil to other facilities rather than straight to Kharg,” he said.

‘Mutually assured disruption’

The MEES expert also said Iran’s dependency on oil exports via Hormuz had “deepened due to the damage caused by U.S. and Israeli strikes to other sections of the Iranian economy.”

“But Iran has also proven its ability to withstand huge oil-revenue declines during previous rounds of sanctions. I would not underestimate the regime’s resilience in this regard,” he added.

As the initial two-week truce between Iran and the U.S. was set to expire, Trump had said Tuesday he would maintain the cease-fire to allow more time for peace talks.

Iran said it welcomed the efforts by mediator Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump’s announcement, while vowing not to reopen Hormuz as long as the U.S. blockade remains in place.

“It will take a long time before such economic pain forces Iran to compromise,” Ingram said, explaining it is “more likely economic disruption … pushes China into exerting more pressure on Iran to negotiate.”

Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said, “Iran’s economy was battered before the war, is contending with added strains caused during it, and now faces the combination of sanctions, seizures and potential strikes.”

“Iran’s leadership has previously shown a high threshold for pain, even if the pressure on ordinary Iranians increases. It also likely calculates that its own efforts to subdue traffic through Hormuz act as a sort of mutually assured disruption,” he added.

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A regional incentive program, coordinated by the Industry and Technology Ministry, is expected to contribute to a number of sectors across Türkiye’s Mediterranean region, from defense to tourism, according to a report on Thursday.

Under the “Local Development Initiative Incentive Program,” investments in many fields, such as the establishment of a gold refinery and the production of components for the defense industry, as well as aviation and space-related sectors, in provinces across the Mediterranean region will be supported, a report by Anadolu Agency (AA) said.

The Local Development Initiative Incentive Program has been designed to be goal-oriented, selective and aligned with investors’ expectations.

Within the framework of the program coordinated by the ministry, support will be provided to utilize the geographical potential and idle resources of eight cities in the Mediterranean region, develop sectors not currently present in the region but with high success potential, and increase local employment.

The program will offer various incentives for investments in designated areas, depending on their size, ranging from tax reductions and insurance premium support to interest or profit-share contributions, land allocation for investment, and income tax exemptions.

The program foresees up to TL 301 million (around $6.7 million) in cash support for each investment, along with tax reductions of up to 50% of the investment value. Accordingly, within this scope, investment support is set to be provided to various sectors across the Mediterranean region.

Sports, health tourism

As part of the support program aimed at increasing industrial and production capacity, incentives in Adana will be directed toward the production of starch-based chemical derivatives and high-value-added products, aquaculture production and processing facilities, value-added production from agricultural products and waste, and the production of cleaning chemicals.

In Antalya, known as a “tourism paradise,” support will focus on the production of value-added products from medicinal and aromatic plants, high-tech products used in greenhouse and vertical farming, investments in iconic architecture and cultural industries, as well as projects related to sports and health tourism.

In Burdur, support will be provided for value-added production from wood and forest products, integrated breeding of high-genetic-quality cattle, the utilization of marble waste, and industrial dairy production.

In Hatay, referred to as the “City of Civilizations,” support will aim to boost sectors such as footwear and furniture sub-industries, advanced metal production, and seafood processing.

Gold refinery in Kahramanmaraş, iron and steel in Osmaniye

In Isparta, incentives will support the production of cosmetics and food supplements derived from rose and other medicinal aromatic plant extracts, mushroom compost and integrated mushroom processing facilities, value-added production from fruits and their waste, and investments in smart agriculture technologies.

In Kahramanmaraş, priority will be given to the establishment of a gold refinery, integrated aquaculture production and processing facilities, manufacturing for the aviation and space industry, as well as technical textiles and functional fabric production.

In Mersin, incentives will promote value-added production from legumes, metal and structural component manufacturing for the defense industry, the utilization of agricultural waste, and the production of modern and smart greenhouse systems.

In Osmaniye, support will primarily focus on the establishment of integrated greenhouse facilities, steel-based value-added production, recycling facilities for the iron and steel sector, and value-added production from agricultural products and waste.

The aim of these supports is to accelerate regional development, increase employment, and encourage high-value-added production across eight provinces in the Mediterranean region.

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