Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

High-spending online gamblers to face financial risk checks

Image source, Getty ImagesByEmma SimpsonBusiness correspondentPublished12 minutes agoGamblers who spend more than £1,000 online in a 24-hour window will have to undergo a financial risk assessment, the industry regulator has announced. The Gambling Commission said this would also apply to anyone spending over £3,000 in a rolling 90-day period. Under-25s will have lower thresholds. The assessments will be based on data held by credit reference agencies, but the commission has insisted they are not "affordability checks". Operators will use the information to help them identify gamblers at risk of financial harm or in financial difficulty. The commission has not set a timeline for the changes saying they will be introduced in a "very careful, staged way". The checks will start with over-25s who gamble more than £5,000 in a rolling 24-hour period. The watchdog says this will affect less than 0.5% of customers. It will begin following engagement companies and other stakeholders over the summer. In 2023, a white paper on gambling recommended enhanced checks on customers experiencing very high losses. On Tuesday, the commission said high-spending gamblers were between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan, and between two and five times more likely to have a default in the previous 12 months than consumers in the wider population. The commission has been looking into whether gambling companies can use credit reference data to spot customers at risk of financial harm. The acting chief executive of the Gambling Commission, Sarah Gardner, said the vast majority of customers would "never, ever" require an assessment. Those who do would have a frictionless, document-free assessment provided by credit reference agencies, with no impact on their credit score. The commission has insisted that the assessments are not the same as affordability checks, which Gardner said were "deeply unpopular" with gamblers.

High-spending online gamblers to face financial risk checks
North America
CNBC Economy

Europe wants to rebalance trade with Beijing, but can't quit Chinese air conditioners

Europe wants to narrow its record trade deficit with China by October, but the bloc's worst-ever heat wave is driving unprecedented demand for imports of Chinese-made air conditioners, a telling tale illustrating how hard it will be for Brussels to address the trade imbalance. The European Union and China released a rare joint statement on Monday aimed at balancing trade between the two economies and addressing market access issues. Disputes over trade imbalances, export controls and intellectual property must deliver "tangible results" by October, European trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters after meeting with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The two sides agreed to set up a bilateral working group to monitor trade flows, with "reassurance" from Beijing that existing export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets will not disrupt EU supply chains. "Not everything will be solved, not everything will be fixed, but we think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver the tangible results," Sefcovic said. Chinese exports to the EU "keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking," he said, calling the trend "not sustainable." Beijing has made it clear that it would not hesitate to retaliate against any new trade curbs designed to tackle the overcapacity issue. But the timing is awkward. The pair met in Brussels just as an historic heat wave has Europeans rushing to buy air conditioners — mostly made in China. Europe has long resisted air conditioning as noisy, an eyesore on architectural facades and unnecessary, as brutal summer heat has been relatively short-lived. It also fears widespread adoption of the energy-hungry technology risks undermining the fight against climate change. The bloc's goods deficit with China grew 15% to €360 billion ($410 billion) last year, with all 27 member states experiencing a shortfall, and expanded to €98 billion in the first quarter, the highest since 2022. Electrical equipment and machines are among the most imported goods. "The sense of urgency over [China's] threat to European industry appears to have reached a tipping point," said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at consultancy Teneo, while China's leadership has shown "little appetite for placating Europe." "There is no sign of policy action forceful enough to materially reduce the trade surplus with Europe," Wildau noted. Midea Group reportedly said orders for its PortaSplit unit — a portable split system engineered for Western Europe's fragmented building rules — have topped 200,000 this year as of Monday, double 2025's pace. A website built by German software developer Adrian Kübel to track real-time inventory of Midea units across the country went viral on social media and showed the air conditioners were mostly out of stock. Air-conditioning ownership in Europe stands at around 20% of households, far below the nearly 90% penetration rate in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency, a gap Midea and Asian home appliance makers Samsung and Mitsubishi Electric are all racing to close.

Europe wants to rebalance trade with Beijing, but can't quit Chinese air conditioners
North America
CNBC Finance

American Express and Chase move luxury lounge wars beyond the airport

Credit card companies American Express and Chase are increasingly waging their luxury lounge wars outside the airport. From an air-conditioned retreat in the middle of the desert at Coachella to an exclusive athlete meet-and-greet at the Paris Olympics, these companies are investing big in premium hospitality spaces to win over affluent cardholders. "It's very expensive, but I think what's happening is that the issuers are finding that this is a premium differentiator," said Donald Fandetti, managing director of consumer finance equity research at Wells Fargo. "It's all about providing these services and experiences that make it worth it to the cardholder to pay those annual fees." American Express' Platinum and Chase's Sapphire Reserve cards — the leading premium cards in the market — both upped their annual fees last year. The Amex Platinum now carries a fee of $895 a year, and the Sapphire Reserve has a fee of $795. The perks associated with these cards, like dining credits, hotel upgrades and digital partnerships, help offset the cost. It's all an effort to capture and retain the highest spenders. Amex and Chase have jockeyed for years to be the preferred card for the American elite. "Credit cards [with] higher fees, it's going to send a certain signal. But what we really need to be making sure is that we're understanding the psychology of exclusivity" said Dan Bennett, head of behavioral science at Ogilvy Consulting. "It's easy to say, 'I have lots of resources.' It's harder to say, 'I have enough social capital to earn my way into spaces.'" Some of the events that American Express Platinum cardholders had lounge access to in 2025 include the US Open tennis tournament; Stagecoach music festival in California; and multiple Formula 1 races worldwide. Meanwhile, lounges for Chase Sapphire Reserve customers were present at Chicago music festival Lollapalooza; Miami Art Week; Sundance Film Festival; and the PGA Tour. While some lounges and brand activations are open to all customers or even all attendees at an event, many of these spaces are exclusively reserved for premium cardholders. "We find this customer to be very engaged," said Laura Picciano, general manager of Chase Sapphire. "Once you get their business, there's a lot of loyalty there. And so they're an important segment to continue to nurture." While temporary credit card lounges are popping up at festivals and sporting events, they have also become popular, permanent fixtures inside stadiums and arenas. American Express has partnerships with more than 20 venues around the world. Eight of them currently have lounges, including Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and the O2 arena in London, with a new location set to open in New York City's Barclays Center this year. Bess Spaeth, executive vice president of global brand management and experiences at American Express, said factors like footprint, ability to provide food and beverage and viewing capabilities are all considerations in the decision for which venues get lounges.

American Express and Chase move luxury lounge wars beyond the airport
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Aprecomm acquires Airties to widen reach, provide better service

Digital connectivity solutions company Airties has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aprecomm for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will accelerate Airties’ geographic expansion, serve broadband operators in high-growth regions and enable it to leverage synergies across product portfolios, research and development. Pramod Gummaraj, CEO and Co-Founder of Aprecomm, said the company was built with the belief that every service provider should be able to deliver a far more intelligent and reliable broadband experience to its customers. This combination with the newly acquired asset gives the company a broader platform to take that vision further and extend impact across more markets globally, he added. Metin Taskin, CEO and Co-Founder of Airties, said Aprecomm is well positioned in growth markets such as India and Southeast Asia and the combined company now has an unmatched foundation to further accelerate expansion across Asia-Pacific and into South America, two markets where demand for intelligent connectivity is growing at an extraordinary pace. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Aprecomm has built a strong reputation for its intuitive, self-healing Wi-Fi and broadband network solutions for internet service providers. Through its AI-driven software services, Aprecomm helps internet service providers improve connectivity by delivering real-time insights and network optimisations, helping reduce operational costs and increase customer satisfaction. Aprecomm manages more than seven million homes and business locations and serves over 50 internet service providers worldwide. 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.

Aprecomm acquires Airties to widen reach, provide better service
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

30 tonnes of pineapples sold at Meghalaya Festival in Delhi

Over 30 tonnes of fresh Meghalaya pineapples were sold during the fourth Meghalaya Pineapple Festival in New Delhi last week. A media statement said that this quantity was almost double the 15.4 tonnes sold in 2025 and nearly four times the 7.7 tonnes recorded during the festival’s inaugural edition in 2023. The first edition in 2023 introduced Meghalaya’s premium pineapples to consumers in the national capital. By 2024, the festival had begun facilitating institutional partnerships. The 2025 edition expanded further with collaborations involving Reliance Fresh, Amazon Karigar and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, while also serving as the platform for launching the Meghalaya Agriculture Strategy 2028. Meghalaya produces over 1.4 lakh tonnes of pineapples annually across nearly 12,600 hectares, largely concentrated in Ri-Bhoi, Garo Hills and parts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Cultivated under rain-fed conditions, the fruit is recognised for its exceptional sweetness, rich aroma, low acidity and a Brix value of 16-18, significantly higher than the national average. The statement said that Meghalaya adopted an integrated approach centred on farmer collectivisation, processing, branding and market development. Initiatives, including CM FARM+, MLAMP, the Meghalaya State Organic Mission, and interventions led by the Meghalaya State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) have worked in tandem to build an ecosystem that extends well beyond cultivation. This ecosystem now includes 40 PRIME (Promotion and Incubation of Market-Driven Enterprises) hubs, of which 12 are operational, supported by over 650 spoke facilities for aggregation, storage and primary processing. Community public-private partnership models have further strengthened local processing infrastructure, reducing post-harvest losses while creating opportunities for higher value realisation. Fresh pineapples sold through organised retail fetch approximately ₹22 per kilogram. Once processed into premium retail packs, churrasco pineapple, and export-grade frozen cubes, the same fruit can command prices of up to ₹1,500 per kg. According to the Government, farmers integrated into these value chains have recorded income gains of up to 80 per cent, it said. The Jirang Organic Agro Farmer Producer Company (FPC) in Ri-Bhoi district, which was established in 2017, brings together 433 farmers across 18 villages, nearly 75 per cent of whom are women. It supplies organised buyers including Lulu Group, Reliance Retail, Safal-Mother Dairy and Blinkit. The statement said its revenues have increased from ₹1.5 lakh during 2017-21 to over ₹1.17 crore in 2025, demonstrating how collective marketing and value addition can transform rural enterprises. Through initiatives led by MSAMB, more than 100 tonnes of Meghalaya pineapples have already been marketed through organised domestic and international channels. In June 2026, a 2-tonne consignment was flagged off for Lulu Retail in Dubai, it said. 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.

30 tonnes of pineapples sold at Meghalaya Festival in Delhi
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Cochin Shipyard bids for Bharat Container Shipping Line orders; eyes surge in domestic shipbuilding

Pinning its hopes on the Union Shipping Ministry’s demand aggregation initiative to centralise India’s shipbuilding requirements, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has submitted bids under the newly floated Bharat Container Shipping Line (BCSL) consortium to build various types of vessels, including tankers. Jose V.J., Director (Finance) of CSL, told businessline that the consortium was formed to reduce India’s dependence on foreign shipping lines and cut freight outgo, which currently stands at around $75 billion annually, largely paid to foreign-flagged vessels for crude oil imports. It is estimated that India would require around 430 ships over the next 10 years, involving an estimated investment of ₹2 lakh crore, he said. Against this backdrop, the Centre has launched the demand aggregation initiative to consolidate shipbuilding requirements of the four major PSU oil marketing companies, ONGC and SCI, with these ships to be built in India. The initiative is expected to benefit shipyards across the country. Jose, who is also holding additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director, said CSL is well positioned to capitalise on the opportunity with a ₹6,000-crore capex plan and its newly commissioned large dry dock facility. The Ministry’s initiative would strengthen the domestic shipbuilding ecosystem as also envisioned under the Maritime India Vision 2030 and the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, which aim to elevate India from its current global shipbuilding market share of less than 1 per cent to the 10th position by 2030 and fifth by 2047. “We already have export orders worth ₹7,300 crore. With shipbuilding/repair facilities in Malpe, Mumbai, Kolkata, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and an upcoming facility at Vadinar, we are strategically positioned to undertake commercial shipbuilding and ship repair orders for both domestic and export markets,” he said. CSL also plans to establish a steel block fabrication facility near International Container Transshipment Terminal, Vallarpadam in Kochi with an investment of around ₹4,000 crore. The company is also investing in a 72-year-old European ship design firm –Conoship -- specialising in short-sea vessels, a move expected to strengthen CSL’s position as a preferred shipyard for overseas clients. In addition, CSL has formed a joint venture with HBL Engineering Limited, Hyderabad to develop marine battery systems. The venture aims to localise marine battery solutions and energy management systems for ships, which are currently imported. With an order book of ₹22,300 crore, CSL posted its highest-ever turnover of ₹5,022 crore in FY26 and a profit after tax of ₹717 crore. Backed by strong demand, the shipyard is targeting 12-15 per cent growth in the next fiscal. Jose added that the ongoing West Asia crisis has disrupted supply chains and increased logistics costs, as the shipbuilding industry relies heavily on imported components, including propulsion systems and engines.

Cochin Shipyard bids for Bharat Container Shipping Line orders; eyes surge in domestic shipbuilding
Europe
The Guardian

Conservative fight against license renewals for ABC stations heats up

The groups have complained about TV host Jimmy Kimmel, seen here at the Oscars in Los Angeles, California, on 15 March. Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersView image in fullscreenThe groups have complained about TV host Jimmy Kimmel, seen here at the Oscars in Los Angeles, California, on 15 March. Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersABCConservative fight against license renewals for ABC stations heats upProminent organizations accuse network of political, racial and sexual bias and supporting Chinese communist party A group of prominent conservative organizations has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny license renewal requests from the eight local television stations owned and operated by ABC, accusing the network of political, racial and sexual bias and supporting the Chinese communist party. The petitions come after the commission, led by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, took the nearly unprecedented step of requiring the network, a frequent recipient of attacks from Donald Trump, to apply several years early to maintain its ability to broadcast in markets around the country. While Carr has said the early license renewal process stems from an FCC investigation into ABC’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, petitioners are free to include a variety of grievances against the network and concerns about whether ABC is operating in the public interest. The petitions – part of an open process that allows anyone to argue that ABC is not fit to hold publicly owned television licenses – came from groups like the Center for American Rights, which has played a significant role during Carr’s tenure atop the FCC agency as an initiator of complaints against major broadcast television networks. In a petition to deny filed last Monday, the group said the stations were not being operated “in the public interest” in part because ABC’s programs “show a consistent and overt partisan bias”, citing the group’s past complaints about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and the network’s moderation of a 2024 presidential debate, among other concerns. “ABC ignores long-standing Commission precedents and principles protecting the integrity of the news,” the group wrote. “ABC engages in explicit racial and gender discrimination. ABC cozies up to the Communist Chinese Party and airbrushes over religious and ethnic cleansing. ABC fails to respect this Commission’s rules.” The organization lobbied the FCC to deny ABC’s renewal requests and to call the matter for a hearing, “because the Petition and accompanying materials raise sufficient questions [about] whether ABC is operating in the public interest or remains worthy of the public trust”. The Media Research Center, a non-profit conservative media watchdog group, filed a petition to deny the network’s license renewal requests “because of ABC’s continued and sustained abuse of the licenses subject to the current review, its notorious efforts to improperly influence national elections, and its willful engagement in misinformation and the promotion of violence”. The group claimed that ABC-owned and -operated television stations, in markets such as New York City and Los Angeles, “have used public spectrum to suppress news coverage of the most critical stories of our day; to engage in electioneering and relentless political bias; to excuse, minimize, and even justify the epidemic of political violence; and to peddle misinformation and defamation”. The Article III Project, a legal group started by the conservative, Trump-aligned activist Mike Davis, focused its petition to deny on ABC parent company Disney’s employment practices and efforts to hire a more diverse workforce. “The Commission should deny renewal of ABC’s television licenses,” wrote William Chamberlain, senior counsel for the organization. “The record demonstrates consistent and serious violations of federal [Equal Employment Opportunity] law. In the alternative, any renewal must include sweeping terms and conditions sufficient to eliminate all discriminatory practices and ensure future compliance.”

Conservative fight against license renewals for ABC stations heats up
Europe
BBC Business

ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn

Image source, Getty ImagesByFaarea MasudBusiness reporterPublished6 July 2026, 07:53 BSTUpdated 1 hour agoITV is selling its media and entertainment divisions to Sky in a £1.6bn deal that the companies say will create a strong rival to global streaming giants. The sale includes ITV's broadcast channels and its ITVX streaming service, with Sky's chief executive Dana Strong calling it "a defining moment for British media". It is one of the biggest takeovers in British media history, with American-owned Comcast - which owns Sky - having started takeover talks in November last year. ITV's studio arm, which makes popular programmes such as Love Island and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, is not included in the deal. The deal means Sky will get access to millions more viewers, and as well as scale and prominence on a free-to-air platform. Viewers are unlikely to notice any difference initially. The takeover will not lead to ITV's shows being moved behind a paywall for now as ITV is required by law to provide a free-to-air service until at least 2034 under its public service broadcasting licence. In a statement, Sky Group said there would be no immediate change to popular shows. "The UK media market is undergoing a profound and rapid transformation, and as competition for audiences intensifies, scale matters more than ever in order to compete with global streaming giants and YouTube in the UK," Sky said . "Viewers will continue to enjoy the shows they know and love, such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, This Morning, Loose Women, Lorraine and News at Ten – alongside major live sporting events." Former ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette, who owns shares in ITV, said the deal was "essential" for the survival of the broadcasters. "If we don't see consolidation between domestic broadcasters, we won't have any in 20 years time and it's the same for all the European countries because of the competition from the streamers," he told the BBC's Today programme. "It's a good deal for viewers because it sustains, will sustain, ITV's investment – as its obligations are as a public service broadcaster – in international news, national news, regional news and all the programmes that its viewers love", he said.

ITV sells media and entertainment arm to Sky for £1.6bn
Europe
BBC Business

Robots available for rent: But what can they do?

In hospitals across the US, patients and staff have become accustomed to seeing a one-armed, four-foot high, friendly-looking white robot going about its business. Nurses have been known to greet Moxi, as the robot is called by its maker Diligent Robotics, with a "good morning", a high five or even a hug. Moxi – which shuttles medical supplies around hospitals – might respond by displaying its heart-shaped LED eyes and a beep beep greeting of its own. "We get a lot of feedback that Moxi feels like a part of the team," says Todd Brugger, chief operating officer at the Texas-based robotics company, which has around 100 of the wheeled robots in operation. But bringing Moxi into a hospital doesn't mean buying one of the machines outright. Instead, it is among robots available to rent or on a subscription basis. Robotics companies use the term robotics-as-a-service. As well as the robot itself, service, maintenance and upgrades are bundled into the deal. A human engineer sitting in a remote control room may be on hand to take control of the robot if needed. In Moxi's case, Brugger says: "It lowers the expense and the outlay for the hospital because you're not paying for the full purchase up front. Secondly, and I think more importantly, this tech is evolving very quickly… we're routinely evolving the software and capabilities of the robot." Robot rentals are becoming available for anything from a day to years for a variety of purposes, from Moxi's hospital deliveries to robot bartenders or autonomous weeders for farms. Increasingly this includes early humanoid models, designed to behave and look like humans, and operate in environments designed for people. Given humanoids are still a work-in-progress, they are currently rented out for clearly defined tasks. That often means entertainment. Depending on the model, a machine might dance, sing or serve guests at a wedding or corporate event. Ethan Qi, a Beijing-based associate director at Counterpoint Research, says an act like a humanoid dance routine is relatively simple to pull off. "You hire a real dancer to perform and video it. The video is then used to train the robot. Then the robot will know how to dance. But the engineer will still often go with the robot in case the environment or the platform isn't simple," he says.

Robots available for rent: But what can they do?