Latest Developments

North America
CNBC Economy

The Iran war risks bringing the G7's fastest-growing economy to a halt

The U.K. economy is showing further signs of a long-awaited rebound, but the picture is complicated by the fallout from the Iran war and high energy prices. Brits have spent more than expected in recent months amid hot weather, a strong performance in the FIFA World Cup and an uptick in business confidence. Official data published Thursday showed the U.K. economy grew by 0.4% in the second quarter, following 0.6% expansion in the first quarter. Business investment increased by 1.7% in the same period, defying the forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 0.5% decline. The figures keep the country on track to record the strongest growth of any G7 nation for a second straight quarter, Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank's chief U.K. economist, said Thursday. Raja said the latest figures brought the annualized growth rate across the first half of the year to a "scorching" 2%. "Some slowdown remains likely," Raja added, particularly as higher prices at the pump squeeze household incomes. "But for the first time in a while, we now see modest upside risks brewing." However, the economic outlook facing new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham is not all rosy. In April, the International Monetary Fund warned that the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran — which shows little sign of concluding — would hit the U.K.'s growth prospects harder than any other rich country. The U.K. is highly exposed to higher energy prices due to its oil and gas imports, and has also suffered a sharper spike in goods inflation than most of its peers in recent years. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Treasury officials had presented worst-case scenario modeling to Burnham. The Treasury figures reportedly suggested growth could slow to just 0.3% next year if disruption on the Strait of Hormuz persists. The Treasury did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. Tomasz Wieladek, chief European macro economist at T. Rowe Price, said there were encouraging signs that the driver of U.K. growth had shifted from higher government spending to stronger private sector performance. However, the notion that the Middle East conflict has left the British economy unscathed is "likely too good to be true," Wieladek added. "Normally, growth in the first two quarters is reported to be much stronger than in the second half of the year," Wieladek said.

The Iran war risks bringing the G7's fastest-growing economy to a halt
Europe
BBC Business

Travelodge boss resigns as chain tackles security after sex assault at hotel

The boss of Travelodge, Jo Boydell, has stepped down as the group addresses safety issues after a sexual assault at one of its hotels. A woman staying at a hotel in Maidenhead was sexually assaulted in December 2022 after a man lied to staff to get a key card to her room. Kyran Smith was jailed for more than seven years for the attack. Many people have since contacted the BBC with stories of security lapses at Travelodges and a review of security measures at the firm is under way. Boydell had been criticised for the firm's handling of safety issues. She said she only heard about the assault years after it had happened, although it emerged the victim had emailed her shortly after the attack. When questioned about the victim's email, sent in January 2023 one month after the assault, Boydell said it had been "handled on my behalf" and there had been "serious failures". Earlier this month, a domestic violence victim told the BBC how she was attacked in her hotel room after Travelodge reception staff gave a key to her abuser. The woman said she was "failed" by the chain and described it as one of the "most traumatic nights of my life" after the man kicked the door off its hinges. She said she ran downstairs "shaking, crying and begging for help", adding: "I thought someone would protect me." In another incident, a couple in Scotland woke to find a shirtless man in their hotel bedroom after he was mistakenly given a key card to their door. In yet another case in April, a group of hotel guests said they were given keys to other people's rooms twice in one week at a Travelodge branch in Newham, east London. John Nowell, who was part of a corporate group staying at the hotel, told the BBC that his key card allowed him into a room where the occupant was in the middle of a shower. Liberal Democrat Freddie van Mierlo is the MP for Thame, where Travelodge's HQ is based, and has previously called for Boydell to resign. On Thursday, he told the BBC he was pleased that she was leaving the firm.

Travelodge boss resigns as chain tackles security after sex assault at hotel
North America
Yahoo Finance

Here Are Monday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Apple, Dave, Etsy, Federal Signal, Mobileye Global, Netskope, Okta, Shopify, Workday, and More

Futures are trading mixed as we head into the new trading week, after a rollercoaster last week that gave investors and traders a bit of everything, from surprising economic data to new all-time highs on two of the four major indices. When the final bell rang on Friday, three of the four indices finished modestly lower, with only the small-cap Russell 2000 closing higher, up 0.51% at 3,068. The Nasdaq closed down 0.28% at 26,729, while the S&P 500, which printed a new all-time high last week, closed the session at 7,785, down 0.17% but up for the third straight week. The Dow Jones Industrials closed Friday at 53,732, down 0.20%. With Q2 earnings nearly done and inflation data trending in a positive direction, one thing is certain: the Fed-funds rate hike that looked like a done deal a week ago if the inflation data came in hot could be put on hold when Federal Reserve governors meet in September. After a week that saw yields fall on positive inflation news, buyers took Friday off for a 3-day weekend, so sellers stepped in and yields soared across the Treasury curve. When the dust settled, yields rose across all maturities as traders cited strong economic data, the massive and rising national debt, and higher energy prices as reasons to sell. The 30-year bond closed at 5.26%, while the 10-year note last traded at 4.69%. The supply and delivery of crude oil was front and center on Friday, as the United States threatened to keep an indefinite naval blockade of Iranian ports and implement unprecedented economic isolation measures on Iran, heightening tensions in the Middle East and threatening global energy shipments. While the International Energy Agency said demand will fall over the next year, the current situation could likely keep the median price in the $75 to $80 range over the next year. Brent Crude closed the Friday session at $88.55, up 1.70%, while West Texas Intermediate closed at $82.40, up 1.42%. Natural gas finished Friday at $2.72, down 0.44%. The precious metals complex enjoyed a solid close on Friday to cap off a good week for the sector. The unexpected drop in retail sales, along with soft July inflation data, helped bullion glide to a winning day by Friday’s close. Gold closed at $4,375, up 0.58%, while Silver ended the day at $64.58, up 0.36%. Crypto markets mostly drifted lower or held flat Friday as a broader pullback took hold after the SEC unexpectedly scrapped a closely watched meeting on new digital asset regulations. Bitcoin hovered near $63,000, spot ETFs kept bleeding outflows, and stocks tied to tokenization trends lost ground. At 8 AM EDT, Bitcoin is trading at $63,618, while Ethereum is trading at $1,906. 24/7 Wall St. reviews dozens of analyst research reports every day to identify fresh investment ideas for investors and traders alike. These daily analyst notes include recommendations on stocks to buy, sell, or avoid, as well as new coverage initiations. Important reminder: No single analyst report should ever be the sole basis for buying or selling a stock. Here are some of the top Wall Street analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations from Monday, August 17, 2026.

Here Are Monday’s Top Wall Street Analyst Research Calls: Apple, Dave, Etsy, Federal Signal, Mobileye Global, Netskope, Okta, Shopify, Workday, and More
Asia
The Economic Times

Titan, Infosys among 10 stocks with highest HNI holdings in Q1; check full list

High-net-worth investors continue to hold substantial positions across some of India’s leading listed companies. Primeinfobase data for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, highlights the 10 companies with the highest HNI holdings by value, reflecting significant investor exposure across banking, technology, consumer, energy and industrial sectors. HNI holdings in HDFC Bank were worth Rs 28,972 crore as of June 30, 2026, against a market capitalisation of Rs 11,50,864 crore. Reliance Industries ranked second, with HNI holdings valued at Rs 24,383 crore, while its market capitalisation stood at Rs 17,21,610 crore. Titan Company had HNI holdings worth Rs 23,744 crore as of June 30, 2026, compared with a market capitalisation of Rs 4,17,020 crore. Infosys recorded HNI holdings worth Rs 17,251 crore, while its market capitalisation stood at Rs 4,24,991 crore. Kotak Mahindra Bank had HNI holdings valued at Rs 15,512 crore as of June 30, 2026, against a market capitalisation of Rs 3,81,307 crore. BSE featured on the list with HNI holdings worth Rs 13,737 crore, while its market capitalisation stood at Rs 1,45,982 crore. JSW Steel recorded HNI holdings worth Rs 11,140 crore as of June 30, 2026, compared with a market capitalisation of Rs 3,04,899 crore. Suzlon Energy had HNI holdings valued at Rs 11,109 crore, against a market capitalisation of Rs 71,999 crore. Bajaj Finance had HNI holdings worth Rs 10,931 crore as of June 30, 2026, while its market capitalisation stood at Rs 6,47,375 crore. Vodafone Idea rounded out the top 10, with HNI holdings worth Rs 10,894 crore, against a market capitalisation of Rs 1,43,013 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Titan, Infosys among 10 stocks with highest HNI holdings in Q1; check full list
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

India, China can help resolve West Asia conflict: Hillary Clinton

India and China could be among key players who could contribute to resolving the West Asia conflict if US President Donald Trump wants to use "diplomacy instead of bluster", said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Talking about the conflict, Clinton, in an interview with C-SPAN, said, "The misconceptions on a strategic level have led us to where we are." The conflict began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. It also led to the choking of the vital Strait of Hormuz. In June, the US and Iran signed an interim peace agreement, but it collapsed last month with fresh strikes from both sides. "If you want to figure out how Trump could get out of this. I think the key to it is probably China and India, because if you look at who buys the most oil and gas from Iran, it's China and India," said Clinton on Monday. Pakistan, Oman and Qatar are among countries trying to mediate between the US and Iran to end the conflict amid heightened tensions. The key sticking point in the conflict is the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping has been disrupted because of the war. Roughly a fifth of the world's energy supplies passed through the Gulf chokepoint in normal times. Clinton said China, in particular, can put pressure on Tehran, as it is one of the biggest buyers of oil and gas from Iran. "China is far ahead of that; they have been banking a lot of fossil fuels they got in tankers ... they have been building more reserves ... but they are going to need Iran," she said. "It does seem to me that's where the best pressure would come from if Trump were willing to actually use diplomacy instead of bluster," Clinton said. Her comments came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a new round of sanctions aimed at Iran and warned every country that does business with the Islamic Republic to sever those financial ties or face retaliation from the US, while Tehran has threatened a military response to the US plans to impose fresh sanctions. When asked if she would impose secondary sanctions against China, Clinton said, "I would certainly tell the Chinese I was unless they were going to help us to try to get the Iranians to open the Strait of Hormuz and try to go back at least to the status quo ante.” On August 20, US President Donald Trump had said he would go for what he called the “most crushing economic operation” against Iran if Tehran failed to strike a deal. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

India, China can help resolve West Asia conflict: Hillary Clinton
Europe
The Guardian

Revealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House and rightwing media

Brendan Carr was appointed as FCC chair by Donald Trump. Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenBrendan Carr was appointed as FCC chair by Donald Trump. Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty ImagesMediaRevealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House and rightwing mediaInternal documents obtained by Guardian show White House meetings, scheduled calls with top Trump officials and communications with Fox News producers “As a general rule, we don’t get into any discussions that happen with the White House or don’t happen with the White House,” Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), told Politico’s Dasha Burns in a recent interview. Burns had pressed Carr to explain how exactly he came to issue a highly unprecedented order forcing ABC to apply early to renew its eight local broadcast licenses just one day after the man who appointed Carr, Donald Trump, and his wife Melania called for ABC to be punished for a joke made by the late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. “Did you get a call or talk to the president either before or after you made that announcement?” Burns had asked. Later in the interview, Carr repeated his policy: “As a general matter, I don’t speak publicly about conversations with the White House, or whether they happen or don’t happen.” While Carr may not be keen to detail his relations with the Trump administration, a trove of FCC documents – obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit filed by the advocacy group Democracy Forward, and provided to the Guardian – shed light on the close working relationship between Carr, his top staffers and members of Trump’s White House team. Between 12 March 2025 and 11 February 2026, Carr attended at least eight meetings at the White House, according to the records, and had at least three scheduled calls with administration officials, including two conversations with the chief of staff, Susie Wiles. He also spoke by phone with administration officials such as the controversial health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr. In addition, the files provide insight into Carr’s media strategy, including communications with producers at Fox News, and make public previously undisclosed meetings he has held with media titans such as the Fox Corp chief executive, Lachlan Murdoch, and Sinclair Broadcast Group chair, David Smith. View image in fullscreenFree press advocates at a protest in support of first amendment rights in Washington earlier this month. Photograph: Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Free Press“These records show a remarkable breadth of access to FCC leadership for this administration’s political allies, conservative media figures, and powerful industry interests, including companies and organizations with business before the commission,” said Dan McGrath, special counsel, oversight at Democracy Forward. “This raises serious questions about whether the FCC is operating as an independent regulator, or whether political relationships and industry influence have become too intertwined with its decision-making.” The White House meetings, which are memorialized as Microsoft Outlook calendar items, occasionally include details about the topic of discussion. For example, on 29 August 2025, Carr was listed as the organizer of a “White House deputies” meeting focused on “FAA/Spectrum issues,” which also included the FCC’s chief of staff, Greg Watson, and Arpan Sura, a senior counsel focused on spectrum, space and artificial intelligence. Another White House meeting, in November 2025, was titled “Drones – Principals meeting”, making obvious the focus. But a 2 June 2025 calendar entry shows only that Carr attended a “WH mtg”, giving no further details on the nature of the visit. While it’s not uncommon for FCC chairs appointed by a president of their party to meet and confer with the administration, Carr is known to be unusually in sync with the priorities of the Trump White House, particularly with its focus on using the levers of government to punish the legacy television networks that Trump has derided as fake news. Countering past precedent, he has denied that the agency is “independent” because the president can remove commissioners at any time. ABC cited Carr’s “repeated public statements confirming his allegiance to the president and the president’s agenda” in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday challenging the FCC’s early license renewal order. Tom Wheeler, who served as chair of the FCC under President Barack Obama, called the meeting logs “very interesting” and “lots of fun”, particularly those memorializing conversations between Carr and Wiles in the winter of 2025. But, he told the Guardian: “I don’t think it’s terribly unusual.”

Revealed: FCC chair Brendan Carr’s close coordination with White House and rightwing media
Europe
BBC Business

I quit my £80,000 job to make ice cream - here's how

At 28, Vivien Wong walked away from an £80,000-a-year accounting job to start making ice cream with her brother. Growing up in her family's bakery, she had dreamt of one day running her own business. She says her father's cancer diagnosis made her take the leap to create Little Moons. The mochi balls of doughy rice filled with ice-cream exploded on TikTok, but its apparent overnight success was more than a decade in the making. Wong shares the lessons she learnt along the way and her advice for anyone thinking about starting a business of their own. One of the biggest mistakes aspiring founders make is waiting for everything to be perfect so Wong recommends following an "80-20 rule". "Don't wait for perfection because that extra 20 is going to take you too long and you might miss the market," she says. Instead, she recommends getting a product "80% of the way there", launching it and improving it as you go - like she did with Little Moons. For its first five years Wong sold mochi to restaurants and cinemas before she saved enough money to invest in branding and move into supermarkets. Image source, Vivien WongWong left a well-paid job and moved in with her brother so they could save money and reinvest any profits into the business. She remembers swapping a polished City environment, where there was always someone else to call for help, for having to do almost everything herself. "All roads lead to you when you run your own business so even though I wasn't great with IT, I was head of IT". She also had to learn about machinery, product development, making ice cream and paying wages.

I quit my £80,000 job to make ice cream - here's how
North America
CNBC Economy

U.S. budget deficit surged in July to highest level since March 2021

The U.S. budget deficit soared to its highest monthly level in more than five years amid a surge in Medicare costs and as interest on the federal debt continued to weigh on the nation's fiscal picture, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. In addition to the big single-month jump, the collective red ink across the first 10 months of the government's fiscal year rose to nearly $1.8 trillion and surpassed the same period in 2025. The July shortfall totaled $432.3 billion, up some 48% from the same period a year ago and the largest monthly deficit since March 2021. Medicare expenses for the month totaled $174 billion, up from $103 billion in June and now at $955 billion for the full year. It was the single largest expenditure in July, well ahead of the $141 billion spent on Social Security and $104 billion in net interest on the national debt. Tariff refunds also hit the budget, costing $33 billion as the administration continues to provide rebates for levies that the Supreme Court ruled illegal. Additionally, the budget took a $99 billion hit because the first of the month was a nonbusiness day, accelerating various benefits outlays as well as Supplemental Security Income and Medicare payments. Debt financing for the full year is behind only Social Security and Medicare as a proportion of government expenses. For the fiscal year to date, the U.S. has paid out $1.17 trillion on the $39.9 trillion national debt, of which $32.1 trillion is held by the public. Debt servicing costs in the same period a year ago totaled $1.01 trillion. Net interest, or the Treasury's gross interest minus the interest it receives, totaled $931 billion. President Donald Trump for years had been pressing the Federal Reserve to lower benchmark interest rates as a way to reduce debt costs. He has held off on criticizing the central bank since his nominee, Kevin Warsh, took over as chairman in May. Until recently, markets had been looking for the Fed to raise rates to control inflation that has been running above the central bank's 2% target for more than five years. However, recent benign inflation data and a soft payroll reports have tempered those expectations, though futures traders aren't pricing in any chance of a rate cut for the next five years. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

U.S. budget deficit surged in July to highest level since March 2021
North America
CNBC Economy

Here are five key takeaways from the July CPI inflation report

Readings for July on the prices consumers pay for goods and services came in pretty much on target Wednesday, driving traders to lower odds for a September interest rate hike even though inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. "This makes life for the Fed a little bit easier because now there's less pressure for that hike that everybody was expecting. Inflation appears to be getting tamer." — Dan North, senior economist, Allianz Trade North America. "We are sticking with our base case of 75 [basis points] of hikes this year, starting in [September]. But the somewhat benign inflation data over the last two months have increased the risks that hikes will either be delayed (e.g., they might start in [December]) or won't materialize." — Stephen Juneau, U.S. economist at Bank of America, explaining the bank's contrarian rates call. "The July CPI report was highly anticipated as a crucial datapoint ahead of the FOMC September decision. But its release is unlikely to meaningfully change the stance of many FOMC voters, given elements potentially feeding both the dovish and hawkish narratives." — Niladri "Neel" Mukherjee, chief investment officer, TIAA Wealth Management. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Here are five key takeaways from the July CPI inflation report