QUICK HITS

1The death toll from a mining tragedy last week in South Africa that involved an elevator has risen to 13 people after a worker died at a hospital, the mine operator said. Impala Platinum said that the worker died from injuries sustained when the elevator plummeted around 650 feet down the shaft of a platinum mine while carrying workers to the surface after their shift on Nov. 27. The mine operator said that 50 workers remained hospitalized.

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Ohio’s former top utility regulator surrendered in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme related to a legislative bailout for two nuclear power plants that has already resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for a former state House speaker. Sam Randazzo, former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, faces an 11-count indictment centered on allegations that he accepted bribes from Akron-based Firstenergy Corp. in exchange for regulatory favors in what has been labeled the largest corruption case in Ohio history.

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Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, soared past $41,000 for the first time in over a year and a half — and marking a 150% rise so far this year. Volatile bitcoin rocketed from just over $5,000 at the start of the pandemic to nearly $68,000 in November 2021, according to Factset, a period marked by a surge in demand for technology products. Prices fell during an aggressive series of Federal Reserve rate hikes aimed at taming inflation and then the collapse of FTX, one of the biggest companies in crypto.

4 Death toll rises in South African mining accident: Ohio official surrenders in $60M bribery case: Bitcoin surges past $41,000 in huge jump: GM’S Cruise faces fine over misleading regulators:

Cruise LLC, the self-driving vehicle unit majority owned by General Motors Co., could face a fine for allegedly misleading regulators about an incident on Oct. 2 in which one of its cars dragged a pedestrian, according to a ruling filed Dec. 1. Cruise could pay up to $100,000 per incident in which it failed to disclose information to regulators about the accident.

Treasury secretary promotes fentanyl fight:

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is heading to Mexico this week to promote her agency’s new strike force to combat illicit fentanyl trafficking as the U.S. and China step up efforts to stop the movement of the powerful opioid and drug-making materials into States.