Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

Government to prioritise job creation in awarding public contracts under new rules

Andy Burnham will tell firms bidding for public contracts to prove they are creating jobs rather than meeting green and social targets in a bid to get more people into work. The prime minister will overhaul the £90bn public procurement system so bidders have to show they are supporting young people into work and addressing local skills shortages. It comes as the government seeks to tackle the youth unemployment crisis, with Burnham saying he wants to create "growth in every postcode". But green groups criticised the plans, arguing supporting young people into work should not come at the expense of the environment. Companies bidding for government contracts are judged on a range of measures, including value for money and the extent to which they bring benefits to the local community. Under the changes, the weighting given to the benefits brought by companies will be doubled, from 10% to 20% for contracts worth £5m or more, the Cabinet Office said. Previously, this accounted for how companies created social value through measures such as equality and diversity, net zero and the post-Covid recovery. The new 20% measure will instead be based on job creation. Bidders will be given extra credit for creating local jobs paying above the minimum wage, plugging local skills gaps by offering training and particularly by offering 45-day work experience placements for young people. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show more than a million people aged 16 to 24 are currently not in education, employment or training (Neet). Burnham used a similar initiative to oversee a rise in the latter during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester. First Secretary of State Louise Haigh — who is effectively Burnham's deputy prime minister — said the procurement process in its current form was a "tick-box exercise". "Every pound of taxpayer money should be spent in a way that benefits local communities — creating good jobs and giving young people the skills they need for the future," she said. The new model will apply to both British and international firms bidding for public contracts.

Government to prioritise job creation in awarding public contracts under new rules
Europe
BBC Business

Shorts, strappy tops and sandals: Can my boss tell me what to wear in summer?

Image source, Getty ImagesByYasmin RufoBusiness reporter Published4 hours agoYet another summer heatwave could be on the way to make your commute sweaty and your workplace stuffy. What to wear to work in the summer can be a surprisingly difficult decision. Shorts, strappy tops and sandals may keep you cool - but will they be judged too casual, revealing or unprofessional? There's a bare-legged backlash in Tokyo where officials encouraged men to swap suits for shorts at work, prompting complaints about hairy legs in the office. So what is acceptable to wear to work, how can you successfully style your summer wardrobe and can your boss tell you what you can and can't wear? Conor, who works in media, has regularly worn shorts to the office during the recent hot weather. "Who gives a monkey's what you wear?" he says. "If you're able to do your job safely, professionally and appropriately, there's a lot to be said for letting people be comfortable." And many seem to agree - a recent poll by market research firm Ipsos found 62% of adults thought it was acceptable for men to wear shorts to work in hot weather, while 63% said the same for women. But we aren't talking short-shorts or denim hot pants fashion designer Amanda Wakeley points out: "If you're asking yourself whether they're too short, they probably are". She says shorts are "the trickiest item to get right in a professional environment" and recommends tailored, longer shorts paired with a crisp shirt or lightweight blazer for both men and women. Stylist Clare Chambers agrees shorts should sit around the kneecap for both men and women. For men, she recommends tailored chino-style shorts with an untucked T-shirt or shirt. Wakeley describes flip-flops as one of the few definite "no" items in most offices. "They instantly signal leisure rather than professionalism and can make even the most polished outfit feel underdressed," she says. Chambers agrees, and says even during the hottest weather, woven flats are a better option because they are breathable while still covering the foot.

Shorts, strappy tops and sandals: Can my boss tell me what to wear in summer?
North America
CNBC Finance

More consumer companies are staying private for longer, avoiding the IPO road

Five years after the initial public offering boom of 2021, public markets look a lot different as more companies are choosing to stay private for longer. In 2021, public markets saw a multitude of companies join the ranks. The Nasdaq said it welcomed 743 IPOs that year, while the New York Stock Exchange said it added more than $1 trillion in new market capitalization, marking the second straight year of record new listings. The biggest IPOs five years ago spanned a range of industries, including Coinbase, Roblox, Rivian, Warby Parker and more. According to research from Morningstar, the companies that went public in 2021 raised almost $500 billion — roughly double the number of deals and capital raised in 2020, a year of intense uncertainty amid the pandemic and lowered consumer and investor confidence. But since then, the IPO market has cooled significantly. Despite a blockbuster IPO from Elon Musk's SpaceX, far fewer companies are choosing to go public, and some of the ones that do have struggled to gain momentum in the current conditions. Two consumer companies, sandwich chain Jersey Mike's and clothing retailer Reformation, went public on Thursday. Both companies had largely uneventful IPOs, with Reformation remaining essentially flat for the day and Jersey Mike's opening $2 below its IPO pricing and closing down nearly 6%. They join just a handful of other consumer companies that have gone public in 2026, according to Renaissance, representing a tiny slice of the overall IPO pie. Experts say there's a range of reasons why companies are rethinking their liquidity and capital. "There's under 4,000 public companies today, whereas 30 years ago, there was just under 8,000," said Mike Dinsdale, CEO of Powerlaw, a publicly listed fund investing in private companies. "The reason for that, I think, is access to capital, and then the idea that staying private and not having any transparency into what's happening, and then higher valuations on the public side." Dinsdale, who previously held executive positions at DoorDash and DocuSign, said access to capital and liquidity in nonpublic markets, along with the emergence of megafunds, have taken "the need out to rush to go public." He added it's a trend he's been seeing over the past 30 years, though the acceleration of family office interest in private companies over the past five years has contributed significantly to the trend as the private investment vehicles of the ultrawealthy look for new places to put their money. Some of the largest consumer and retail companies have remained private, like Publix Super Markets, Sephora and Chick-fil-A. According to Sunaina Sinha Haldea, the global head of Private Capital Advisory at Raymond James, private companies are benefitting from the rise of secondary markets.

More consumer companies are staying private for longer, avoiding the IPO road
Europe
BBC Business

How tech is helping in the battle against wildfires

The pictures are familiar, terrifying fires being tackled by firefighters and planes dropping water. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes across France, Spain and Portugal as wildfires tore through forests and countryside. In France, four men have already lost their lives fighting the wildfires and another 150 have been injured. But why are humans and 30-year old planes being used? Why can drones replace soldiers in Ukraine but not firefighters? Chief sergeant Guillaume Millet, a firefighter of 24 years experience heads the Fire and Rescue Service branch of the CFDT union in the Gironde, the region worst hit by wildfires in France this summer. He says that while the techniques for tackling fire have not changed much, technology in forest fire detection has. "The big change, especially in my département, is that now we've got cameras assisted by artificial intelligence to watch the forest and see where fires are starting," Millet says. "In the Gironde, cameras have replaced the human look-outs we had in watch towers in every town throughout the summer months," he says. Those lookouts were often students. The switch has reduced false alarms, he says. "An AI-assisted camera can distinguish with almost total certainty between smoke and dust thrown up by a tractor in a field, for example." They have an impressive range as well, detecting fires up to 20km (12 miles) away. In the Gironde, the system was installed by a company called Midgard. In other parts of France, it's another French start-up called FireTracking. "As soon as the system detects a fire, there's an alert on the fire fighters' telephones. They open the application and see what the camera is seeing with a x40 [40 times] zoom," explains FireTracking's CEO Jean-Simon Chaudier.

How tech is helping in the battle against wildfires
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Dish TV’s Vzy Smart TV hits ₹200 crore in sales in under a year

Select Vzy Smart TV models offer buyers exclusive content benefits valued at up to ₹30,000. Vzy Smart TV, the connected entertainment brand under the Dish TV Group, has crossed ₹200 crore in cumulative sales within its first year of launch, the company announced on Wednesday. The milestone signals growing consumer traction for Vzy’s proposition of combining live television, OTT streaming and AVOD content through a single interface, eliminating the need for a traditional set-top box. Dish TV Group has positioned Vzy as a key pillar of its strategic diversification beyond its core DTH business. The brand has expanded across metropolitan centres as well as Tier II and Tier III cities, backed by the Group’s existing distribution network and retail partnerships. Select Vzy Smart TV models offer buyers exclusive content benefits valued at up to ₹30,000, a move aimed at strengthening the ownership proposition in a competitive market. CEO and Executive Director Manoj Dobhal described the ₹200 crore mark as the “first step” in transforming Dish TV Group into a broader connected entertainment company. Chief Revenue Officer Sukhpreet Singh pointed to the convergence of live TV and streaming as a structural consumer shift that Vzy is built to address. India’s Smart TV market has seen sustained growth driven by rising demand for integrated viewing experiences and declining tolerance for fragmented content platforms. Vzy’s early sales trajectory positions Dish TV Group to compete more directly in that expanding segment. 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.

Dish TV’s Vzy Smart TV hits ₹200 crore in sales in under a year
Europe
BBC Business

Saudi-led group completes $55bn purchase of gaming giant EA

The sale of gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) for $55bn (£41bn) to a group of buyers including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been finalised. The American company is known for making and publishing best-selling games such as EA FC, formerly known as Fifa, The Sims and Mass Effect. The investors, who include Affinity Partners - led by President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner - are taking EA private, meaning all of its public shares will be purchased and it will no longer be traded on a stock exchange. It is thought to be the largest leveraged buyout in history, meaning a significant part of it is paid for with borrowed money, which the company will have to pay back. This is because as well as the $36bn it has already put into the deal, PIF needs to borrow $20bn from investment bankers JPMorgan to close it, with the business taking on the debt. How paying back this debt will affect EA as a business has been the source of much speculation from journalists and analysts. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier surmised it could lead to "mass layoffs, more aggressive monetization, and other big cost-cutting measures, external", for one of the industry's biggest companies. Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Game Business, said the nature of the buyout, external was also likely to mean "a very hands-on approach from the investment group". "Private equity firms are typically aggressive in their management of companies," he said. The deal caused concern amongst some fans of EA's massive library of games, particularly as games like The Sims champion inclusivity and LGBT+ relationships. In Saudi Arabia, consensual same-sex sexual conduct can be punishable by death or flogging under interpretations of Sharia law. In protest at the deal to sell EA to the PIF, the advocacy group Players Alliance HQ has asked gamers to petition their local politicians, external and speak out against it.

Saudi-led group completes $55bn purchase of gaming giant EA
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Big-screen versatility in a remarkably slim package

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series has long been the benchmark for foldables and with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the company is doubling down on refinement. The latest iteration brings a sleeker, squarer design, a thinner profile and Samsung’s first-ever Ultra branding for a Fold device. But beyond the new name, does the Fold 8 Ultra offer a truly better foldable experience? After spending time with the device, here’s why Samsung’s most ambitious foldable yet may also be its most complete. The Galaxy Z Fold series has evolved steadily over the years, but the Z Fold 8 Ultra feels like Samsung’s most refined foldable yet, striking the right balance between portability and productivity. Measuring just 4.1mm when unfolded and 8.9mm when folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is remarkably thin for a book-style foldable. Despite its slender profile, it feels sturdy and reassuringly premium in hand. The Violet Shadow variant reviewed here stands out with its subtle lavender hue, lending the device a distinctive yet understated premium look. The finish also does a good job of resisting fingerprints and smudges. The only notable drawback is the protruding camera module, which causes the phone to wobble when placed on a flat surface. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features an expansive 8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, HDR10+ support and a peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits. On the outside sits a 6.5-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display that matches the inner screen’s 120Hz smoothness and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Ceramic 3. The large foldable display remains one of the Fold’s biggest strengths. It is ideally suited for streaming videos, reading documents and PDFs, browsing the web and multitasking across multiple apps. The extra screen real estate also enhances gaming and photo-editing workflows, offering a tablet-like experience in a device that still fits in a pocket. Watching Operation Safed Sagar on Netflix was particularly enjoyable on the 8-inch display. Like most streaming platforms, Netflix defaults to a letterboxed aspect ratio, but a quick adjustment allows the content to full screen. The panel delivers excellent contrast, natural-looking skin tones, and rich yet balanced colours, making movies and shows look consistently immersive. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a stereo speaker setup. Listening to tracks such as Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, the synth-pop and synthwave production came through with excellent clarity, even at higher volume levels. Vocals remained crisp and well-defined, while the instrumentals retained their energy and detail, resulting in a balanced and engaging listening experience. That said, Samsung’s pursuit of an ultra-thin design has introduced a minor compromise. Both stereo speakers are positioned on the left half of the unfolded Fold, with one located at the top and the other at the bottom. As a result, audio exhibits a subtle left-side bias in landscape mode. It’s not a significant issue in day-to-day use, but it does slightly affect spatial audio and channel separation, something only audiophiles and more discerning listeners are likely to notice. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra features a versatile triple-camera system, led by a 200MP primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) and Samsung’s 2x optical-quality zoom. It is accompanied by a 50MP ultra-wide camera for broader perspectives and a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom and OIS for steadier long-range shots. In use, the primary and ultra-wide cameras consistently delivered well-balanced images with excellent detail, contrast and reliable exposure. Colours appeared natural without being overly saturated and dynamic range was generally impressive. One minor quirk was the Fold’s bright inner display, which occasionally made it difficult to accurately judge exposure in harsh outdoor conditions immediately after unfolding the device. Low-light performance was equally commendable. Night-time images were clean, with controlled noise levels, good detail retention and pleasing contrast. Samsung’s image processing strikes a sensible balance between brightening scenes and preserving a natural look. The 10MP telephoto camera remains a useful addition for portraits and moderate zoom shots, but its relatively modest resolution and 3x optical reach limit its ability to capture finer details at longer distances. While the results are perfectly serviceable, the setup falls short of the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s dual-telephoto system, which combines 3x and 5x optical zoom lenses to offer greater flexibility and long-range image quality. Samsung includes a 10MP cover camera and a 10MP under-display camera hidden beneath the foldable display. Both deliver good detail, natural skin tones, and a wide field of view that works well for group selfies and video calls.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra review: Big-screen versatility in a remarkably slim package
Europe
BBC Business

Vegetables to get smaller and more expensive due to hot weather, farmers warn

Image source, Getty ImagesByAlex Daniel, Business reporter and Esme Stallard, Senior climate and science reporterPublished3 hours agoThis year's harvest could be the worst on record as farmers warn the exceptionally dry spring and summer could lead to "shrinkflation" in UK supermarkets. England and Wales saw their driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to the Met Office, and a drought has been declared across large parts of the country. The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) thinktank said the UK's cereals and oilseed harvest could be 2.5 million tonnes less than ​earlier forecasts. Tim O'Malley, the chairman of Nationwide produce, said it was "as bad as its ever been" and that shoppers will likely see higher prices or smaller vegetables in supermarkets. The harvest of barley, oats and rapeseed, which are used in beer, breakfast cereals and vegetable oil, is estimated to drop to just 19.5 million tonnes, the worst since records began in 1984. That is compared with a previous low of 19.8 million tonnes in 2020, and would cost farmers £390m in lost revenue, the ECIU estimated. The crops are also used for feeding livestock, making them crucial across most of the food chain. O'Malley said consumers could feel the impact in the vegetable aisle too, where grocers are likely to swap in smaller produce at the same price, which is known as shrinkflation. "I think we're going to see shrinkflation," he told Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money. "The problem we're going to have this year is a massive reduction in yield and major quality issues," O'Malley said. "We've got crop with stress or we've got quality issues. So you will see a smaller crop," O'Malley said. He said supermarkets will "do everything" to keep prices where they are, but added: "eventually they will probably have to come to the party and increase the price, particularly if they start importing."

Vegetables to get smaller and more expensive due to hot weather, farmers warn
Asia
The Economic Times

44 bullish & bearish stock picks across sectors for August by Axis Direct

A sector-wise technical outlook points to a broadly positive market trend, with banking, capital goods, realty, consumer durables, healthcare, power and auto sectors showing bullish setups. The brokerage recommends a buy-on-dips strategy across several sectors, while selective caution is advised in FMCG, metals and oil & gas despite their broader technical resilience. The BSE Bank index maintains a bullish primary trend. Hence, the brokerage recommended investors to adopt a strategy of accumulating fundamentally strong stocks near major support areas. Currently, the index is approaching an overhead resistance zone of 66,300-66,500 levels, and any sustainable up move above the same may lead momentum towards 68,000-69,000 levels in the upcoming months. On the flip side, a minor correction towards the crucial support zone of 64,000-63,000-62,000 levels may act as an accumulation opportunity. The benchmark index is in a corrective mode and should adopt a buy-on-dips strategy. The brokerage expects this momentum to extend towards 84,000-85,000 levels, and hence any minor price corrections remain as a buying opportunity. The crucial demand zone to watch is around 75,500-74,000-72,800 levels. As the primary trend remains bullish, these minor corrections can be utilized as accumulation opportunities for quality stocks. The weekly price action has formed a series of higher tops and bottoms, indicating a short- to medium-term uptrend. Any sustainable close above the “channel’s upper band” (7,000-7,100) may cause a resumption of the prior uptrend. Hence, investors may consider using price corrections to accumulate quality stocks within the sector around the major support zones. On the upside, if the index sustains above 7,100 levels on a weekly closing basis, then it may rally towards 7,400-7,700-7,800 levels in the upcoming months. The short-term corrections towards the 6,600-6,500-6,200 level can be considered as an accumulation zone. As the index has observed a triangular pattern breakout, indicating a resumption of the prior uptrend, the brokerage recommends that traders and investors adopt a buy-on-dips strategy, as the short- and medium-term outlook remains bullish. Hence, any minor price corrections towards 63,500-62,500-61,600 levels remain an accumulation opportunity. The brokerage expects this momentum to gear up towards 66,000-67,000-68,800 levels. The index is currently in a downtrend, and a decisive breakout above the resistance zone of 19,100 to 19,300 may signal a trend reversal. Given that the primary trend remains bullish, investors should consider these corrections as opportunities for buying and accumulating assets within the support zones, as per the brokerage. Additionally, any minor dips towards the 18,000, 17,800, or 17,500 levels could be seen as favourable opportunities for traders to buy and accumulate. The BSE IT Index has delivered a remarkable rebound, turning the technical outlook into a strong short-term recovery phase. While the major 32,500 overhead ceiling remains a critical hurdle for a complete structural trend reversal, the sheer strength of this month's move confirms robust accumulation at lower levels. By maintaining its strong upward trajectory and achieving a decisive monthly close above the 50,000 mark (50,797), the structural uptrend remains exceptionally healthy with no signs of technical exhaustion. Axis continues to maintain a high-conviction "buy-on-dips" approach, recommending accumulation on any tactical pullbacks toward the 48,500–49,000 zone for higher targets. The BSE Power Index has shown high-level resilience, taking a brief breathing spell after its major structural breakout. The combination of price holding near recent peaks and a strong RSI layout suggests that the broader uptrend is simply consolidating before its next leg higher. The brokerage maintained a high-conviction bullish outlook and continues to recommend a "buy-on-dips" approach, viewing any minor consolidation toward the 7,600–7,800 zone as a favourable entry window. The BSE Metal Index has demonstrated resilience by stabilising above the key 40,000 level and delivering a modest monthly gain, confirming that the prior month's drop was a temporary pause within the larger structural uptrend. With long-term channel dynamics firmly holding, the outlook remains positive. Axis recommended a buy-on-dips strategy around the 40,000 support zone, favouring long positions targeting a retest of the recent 44,000 highs. The BSE Oil & Gas Index has demonstrated resilience by executing a precise bounce from its long-term rising trendline support. With the dynamic floor successfully holding firm, the immediate downside threat has subsided. Axis recommended adopting a selective, buy-on-dips approach as long as the index holds above the trendline floor near 25,500, with fresh aggressive longs advised on a decisive monthly breakout above the 28,500 resistance level. The BSE Auto Index has confirmed a major breakout, delivering strong follow-through price action above its key long-term resistance barrier. Since the dynamic floor held firmly and led to a clean breakout above 62,000, the overall outlook remains distinctly bullish. The brokerage recommended a positive stance, advocating a buy-on-dips approach near the 62,000 breakout retest zone, with existing long positions held comfortably for higher targets.

44 bullish & bearish stock picks across sectors for August by Axis Direct