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Europe
BBC Business

'I made £100,000 of TikTok sales in one day': The business of live shopping

Daisy Kelly's business was inspired by a personal problem - for years she'd been pulling out her eyelashes. She hid her habit with lash extensions, but when beauty salons closed during Covid Daisy decided to create a serum to help her eyelashes grow back. She started Glow For It from her mother's kitchen table in 2020 while she was a student and now her business generates £6m a year in sales. More than 40% of Daisy's sales come from TikTok Shop UK and increasingly from livestreams. "I think live shopping gives people that connection and interaction that we're all craving... We actually generated over £100,000 revenue in one 12 hour TikTok live," says Daisy, 27. Daisy's business goes live from a studio for a minimum of six hours a day with different presenters interacting with shoppers, from showing off products to answering their questions. There are a host of platforms and marketplaces now offering livestreams connecting sellers and customers, from Instagram Live, YouTube Shopping, to eBay and Amazon Live. They're all different. Live shopping, it seems, is becoming part of everyday consumer behaviour for many. According to new research from retail agency Savvy Marketing, 30% of shoppers surveyed said they'd bought something from a live shopping event. "The big retailers have got to grab hold of this," says Catherine Shuttleworth, CEO of Savvy. "It's grown from nothing to a huge thing really quickly. If you haven't got a strategy for live selling, you're going to miss out." TikTok Shop says its UK sales grew by more than 30% year-on-year in June, with live shopping the fastest-growing format. At an event in the centuries old Covent Garden market, it hosted 20 small businesses with stalls who were also selling live to customers all over the UK.

'I made £100,000 of TikTok sales in one day': The business of live shopping
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Andhra Pradesh faces 48% rainfall deficit, CM Naidu calls for water conservation

Andhra Pradesh has 48 percent rainfall deficit and people need to adopt sustainable water and environmental practices, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said. Speaking at the Swachh Andhra programme in Gudivada on Sunday, Naidu said “Net Zero” should become a way of life by minimising household waste and embracing carbon neutrality. The citizens should harvest rainwater and recharge groundwater to tackle recurring water shortages, Naidu said. The Chief Minister recalled that declining inflows into the Krishna Delta over a decade ago severely affected agriculture in the region, once known as the country’s “rice bowl.” The Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project, completed within 12 months, had enabled the transfer of Godavari waters to the delta despite reduced inflows into the Prakasam Barrage this year, he added. According to him, nearly 450 TMC of water has been diverted so far, creating substantial agricultural wealth. The State government was commitment to completing the Polavaram Project and linking rivers from Vamsadhara to Penna to ensure drought-proof irrigation. Addressing aqua farmers, he assured continued support amid falling shrimp prices and rising feed costs, stating that discussions have already been held with the Central Government, according to a release. 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.

Andhra Pradesh faces 48% rainfall deficit, CM Naidu calls for water conservation
North America
Yahoo Finance

MU, SNDK, CRWV, IREN Stocks Climb After Brutal Week: Retail Bets On Memory, Neocloud Rebound

Shares of key memory firms and neocloud operators rose in overnight trading on Sunday after a brutal week for AI-linked stocks, offering some relief from the worrying downtrend that has persisted since the start of July. Micron stock gained 2.5%, while SanDisk and Western Digital shares rose about 1% each. SanDisk shed over 29% this week, its worst weekly fall in over a year, emerging as the biggest loser in the S&P 500 index. CoreWeave and Nebius stocks rose about 1.2% each, while IREN Ltd. gained 1%. The stocks slumped between 17% and 19% in the week, with the move said to be closely associated with the selloff in the chip sector. U.S. semiconductor stocks have fallen rapidly as investors take profits after an extended AI-driven rally and rotate into large-cap software and internet stocks. A combination of rising Treasury yields, renewed inflation worries from higher oil prices amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions, and concerns that AI-related valuations had become stretched weighed on the sector. The selloff was exacerbated by growing uncertainty over whether hyperscalers would continue to invest the massive sums in AI development that they had committed at the start of the year. Investors are awaiting earnings from companies such as Alphabet and Intel for fresh evidence that AI demand remains strong. As a result, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) entered bear-market territory, declining 22% from its June 22 peak, even though analysts generally view the move as a correction and sector rotation rather than a deterioration in the long-term AI investment cycle. “SOXX semiconductor stocks are now experiencing their biggest pullback in the past year… The key question now is whether this is just a healthy correction within the semiconductor cycle or the beginning of a deeper move lower,” a trader posted on the SOXX stream on Stocktwits. Retail sentiment for SOXX remained ‘neutral,’ unchanged from the previous week. Traders remained upbeat on the memory segment, with a ‘bullish’ read on MU and SNDK. “$SNDK Just bought more. It's growing 150% a year. It's down 40% for the month from the AI correction. A no-brainer to accumulate. They locked in a multi-billion dollar deal with Facebook to provide memory chips over the next few [years],” a trader wrote, projecting the stock to increase roughly three times in the next five years. Stocktwits sentiment was ‘bullish’ for CRWV and IREN, and ‘extremely bullish’ for NBIS. A trader noted that CoreWeave is the compute supplier for China’s Moonshot AI, whose latest Kimi K3 AI model is said to be on par with leading models from OpenAI and Anthropic.

MU, SNDK, CRWV, IREN Stocks Climb After Brutal Week: Retail Bets On Memory, Neocloud Rebound
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Emcure’s Poviztra gets CDSCO nod for fatty liver treatment

Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd on Monday said its co-marketed brand of the innovator semaglutide, Poviztra, will now be available for the treatment of fatty liver. This followed the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's (CDSCO) approval of 'Wegovy' for the treatment of non-cirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in adults with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis, the company said in a statement. Poviztra is manufactured and imported from Novo Nordisk's European manufacturing facility and contains innovator rDNA-origin semaglutide, it added. Last year, in November, Novo Nordisk India and Emcure Pharma had announced a partnership to launch weight loss medicine Poviztra, semaglutide injection 2.4 mg, as a second brand of Wegovy in India. The approval enables Emcure and its subsidiaries to offer the new indication through Poviztra, expanding access to innovator semaglutide for patients living with a progressive liver disease that has long faced limited treatment options, the company said. Commenting on the development, Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd CEO & MD Satish Mehta said, “The approval for MASH marks an important milestone for patients living with a serious and often underdiagnosed liver disease.” Last week, Novo Nordisk India announced the receipt of approval from CDSCO for the indication of its Wegovy injection in the treatment of fatty liver disease in India. It made Wegovy the first and only GLP-1 RA to be approved both globally and in India for the treatment of noncirrhotic metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) in adults with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis along with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity, it added. MASH is a liver disease that develops due to excess fat buildup in the liver, causing chronic inflammation and liver damage. 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.

Emcure’s Poviztra gets CDSCO nod for fatty liver treatment
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Andy Burnham assumes office as UK Prime Minister

Andy Burnham, newly elected leader of the Labour Party, on Monday took charge as the UK's new Prime Minister. King Charles III invited the 56-year-old former mayor of Greater Manchester to form a new government following the resignation of Keir Starmer moments earlier to mark the formal handover of power. "The Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer MP had an audience of the King this morning and tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, which His Majesty was graciously pleased to accept," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said. Burnham, elected Labour leader unopposed last week, is expected to get to work as PM immediately by announcing his picks for Cabinet. The country's fifth Prime Minister in four years has pledged to bring in "stable and responsible" politics. Earlier, Starmer delivered his final address from 10 Downing Street as Britain's Prime Minister before making his way to meet the King to formally tender his resignation. The 63-year-old Labour MP, who announced his decision to step down last month, said he was "passing the baton" to Burnham, who had his “full support”. “I go with good grace, I go with a smile and I go proud of everything that we have achieved,” said Starmer. His Cabinet colleagues and officials lined up to applaud his departure from Downing Street after two years, having won a landslide election for Labour in the July 2024 general election. 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.

Andy Burnham assumes office as UK Prime Minister
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

IVPA seeks policy review as refined edible oil imports from Nepal breach 8 lakh tonnes

India is the world’s largest importer of edible oils and continues to depend on imports to bridge the domestic demand-supply gap. The Indian Vegetable Oil Producers’ Association (IVPA) has urged the Government to undertake an urgent policy review following the surge in duty-free refined edible oil imports from Nepal under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework. Imports from Nepal have increased from 47,295 tonnes in 2023 to 1.24 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2024, before surging to over 8.04 lt in 2025, an increase of more than 17-fold within two years. Citing the prevailing trade trends, a media statement by IVPA said imports are expected to approach 1 million tonnes annually, making Nepal one of India’s largest suppliers of refined edible oils. IVPA said the sharp increase represents a significant structural shift in India’s edible oil trade and merits timely policy attention to ensure that India’s trade framework, tariff policy and domestic value-addition objectives continue to remain aligned. Sudhakar Desai, President of IVPA, said: “India has consistently championed regional economic cooperation and remains fully committed to the objectives of the SAFTA agreement. However, the extraordinary pace and scale of duty-free refined edible oil imports call for a comprehensive policy review to ensure that preferential trade arrangements continue to promote genuine regional value addition while safeguarding the competitiveness of India’s domestic refining industry, supporting farmer welfare and strengthening the nation’s long-term edible oil security.” India is the world’s largest importer of edible oils and continues to depend on imports to bridge the domestic demand-supply gap. At the same time, successive policy measures have encouraged domestic refining so that value addition, investment, employment and economic activity remain within the country. IVPA noted that the rapid increase in duty-free imports of refined edible oils has altered this balance by shifting refining activity outside India while domestic refiners continue to import crude oils on payment of applicable customs duties and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC). The association said this has implications for refining capacity utilisation, future investments, manufacturing competitiveness and demand for domestically produced oilseeds, particularly soybean and mustard grown by millions of Indian farmers. It said that the rising volume of duty-free imports also has implications for government customs revenue, estimated by industry at ₹2,000-2,500 crore annually, while progressively transferring value addition outside India. Recognising the importance of preserving the integrity of India’s preferential trade framework, IVPA has requested the Government to undertake a detailed verification of compliance with the Rules of Origin prescribed under the SAFTA agreement through the existing customs framework, including the Customs Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements Rules, 2020 (CAROTAR). Given Nepal’s limited domestic availability of palm oil and soybean, IVPA believes such verification would help ensure that preferential tariff benefits are extended only to products that genuinely satisfy the prescribed origin requirements. “Our representation is not intended to restrict legitimate bilateral trade with Nepal or dilute India’s international commitments. It seeks to preserve the integrity of India’s trade agreements by ensuring that preferential tariff benefits accrue only to products genuinely qualifying under the Rules of Origin, while maintaining a level-playing field for Indian industry and protecting domestic value addition,” Desai said. In its representation, IVPA has requested the Government to examine verification of Rules of Origin under the SAFTA framework through strengthened implementation of CAROTAR. It sought a review of the existing tariff structure to ensure continued support for domestic value addition. IVPA reiterated that India’s long-term edible oil security depends not only on assured access to imports but also on preserving a globally competitive domestic refining industry that supports farmers, generates employment, strengthens manufacturing and builds resilient supply chains.

IVPA seeks policy review as refined edible oil imports from Nepal breach 8 lakh tonnes
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

AliExpress hit with $812 million EU fine over sales of illegal, counterfeit products

BRUSSELS - Alibaba’s AliExpress was hit with a record €550 million (S$812 million) fine from the European Union on July 20 for failing to tackle sales of illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products on its platform. The fine was the third issued by the European Commission under the EU’s landmark Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires very large online platforms to do more to counter illegal and harmful content. The commission charged AliExpress in June 2025 with failing to comply with a DSA requirement to assess and mitigate the risks of dissemination of illegal products. It set an Oct 20 deadline for AliExpress to propose remedial measures, and the company could face further penalties if the regulator decides in December that they do not comply with the DSA. “This is very dangerous for consumers, unfair for companies which are complying with all our rules,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters. She pointed to AliExpress’s 193 million users in Europe in 2025 versus Shein’s 156 million and Temu’s 130 million. Temu has also been fined under the DSA, and Shein is facing an ongoing investigation. “One in five Europeans say they shop once a month from Shein, Temu and AliExpress,” Virkkunen said. “We disagree with today’s decision and the disproportionate fine, which does not adequately reflect our established framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made,” AliExpress said in an e-mail. “We are carefully reviewing the decision and considering all available options.” The commission said that AliExpress had not properly evaluated whether it had enough people to review the risks and had overestimated the effectiveness of its system in detecting and removing illegal products. The regulator criticised the company’s recommender and advertising systems for exacerbating the spread of illegal products and its reliance on one quantitative indicator to measure its moderation system to prevent the risk of illegal products appearing or reappearing in similar forms. It said the failure of AliExpress to detect illegal products meant that illegal products ranging from counterfeit products to unsafe toys and dangerous cosmetics remained online for many weeks. The commission also took issue with the company’s ineffective penalty policy, which resulted in penalised businesses continuing to sell illegal products on its platform.

AliExpress hit with $812 million EU fine over sales of illegal, counterfeit products
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

CropLife India expands sustainable farming initiatives for tea, spices

CropLife India is stepping up its engagement with the country’s tea and spice sectors to support sustainable cultivation practices amid increasingly stringent pesticide residue standards in global markets, particularly in the European Union. Durgesh Chandra, Secretary General, CropLife India, said India has nearly 2.5 lakh small tea growers compared to around 1,500 organised tea estates. The industry body has been focusing on enhancing awareness and stewardship among small tea growers through programmes on responsible use of crop protection products, good agricultural practices, residue management and adherence to label recommendations. CropLife India has also undertaken initiatives to expand the availability of registered crop protection products for tea through science-based regulatory processes. It works closely with the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) on policy advocacy, optimisation of crop protection product application using precision technologies and promotion of responsible, science-based use of crop protection products, Chandra said. In the spice sector, CropLife India has prepared a consolidated list of approved crop protection products for cumin, cardamom, black pepper, coriander and fenugreek based on inputs from its member companies. The list has been shared with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare for onward sharing with the Spices Board, ICAR–Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) and State Agriculture Departments to improve farmer awareness, encourage label-compliant use and minimise off-label applications. India is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices. However, the sector continues to face a shortage of approved crop protection products for several spice crops, leading to limited label claims, off-label usage and residue-related export risks. Chandra said the Indian Institute of Spices Research has collaborated with CropLife India to advocate faster label expansion, crop grouping and expedited establishment of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) to address these challenges. CropLife India has been actively pushing for the implementation of a Crop Grouping Framework to facilitate the establishment of national MRLs and expansion of label claims for minor crops, including spices. With more than 550 crops cultivated in India and over 85 per cent lacking crop-specific label claims, crop grouping offers a globally accepted mechanism to extrapolate residue data from representative crops in line with Codex Alimentarius principles. He said CropLife India and its member companies have been advocating the need for progressive regulatory measures to provide farmers cultivating spices and plantation crops with access to a wider range of effective and targeted crop protection products while addressing residue concerns. The association is also partnering with the government, research institutions, commodity boards and farmer organisations to promote science-based policies that improve farmer access to registered crop protection technologies, reduce residue-related trade risks and enhance the competitiveness of India’s agricultural exports. According to Chandra, accelerating label claim approvals, implementing crop grouping and promoting responsible product stewardship will collectively support sustainable agriculture and strengthen India’s position in global agricultural markets. 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.

CropLife India expands sustainable farming initiatives for tea, spices
Europe
The Guardian

‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts

Donald Trump holding up a printout of a Truth Social post this month. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump holding up a printout of a Truth Social post this month. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social postsMove would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president’s posts first Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets. The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. Called Truth PSI, the new service comes amid a flurry of other deals by Trump and his family company that critics say are exploiting the presidency for profit. It follows similar offers of paid access on rival platforms, although with one key difference: the most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself, and, as the biggest shareholder of the publicly traded parent company, he would benefit directly. “He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflict of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.” Followers of Trump can already choose to get push notifications alerting them when new posts have been published. The Trump family company declined to comment about whether the new feature was profiting off the presidency. Truth Social’s public parent, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), did not respond to emailed questions by Associated Press, including whether Trump’s posts would be excluded from the offering. A press release states the new service would allow traders to see “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts” before other people. The US president has the most followers – 12.9 million – followed by his eldest son, Donald Jr, and, close behind, his son Eric. Trump regularly uses Truth Social to announce major decisions that affect markets, such as posts about the Iran war and tariffs. Last year Trump made more than 100 posts in a single day as global stock markets fell sharply amid fears his economic policies could produce a “Trumpcession” in the US. The Iran posts in particular are impactful because investors are worried that higher oil prices will continue to stoke inflation and possibly force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts