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Europe
BBC Business

New EU border system tripling time at passport control, airport boss says

The EU's new border system has nearly tripled the time it's taking for Brits to get through passport control even after improvements have been made, a boss at Rome's main airport has said. It comes as Ryanair has warned passengers travelling to Europe this summer to prepare for extended waits. Border police at Portugal's Faro airport also told the BBC the Entry Exit System technology suffered from bugs, but insisted any queues there would go down quickly. The European Commission (EC) has said in most EU airports disruption is limited, and added that it will continue to support member states in the system's implementation. The digital Entry Exit System (EES) requires non-EU citizens entering the Schengen area - made up of 29 European countries - to register fingerprints and a photo when they arrive. The information is checked as they leave. It's often done using standalone, automated machines known as "kiosks" and sometimes with border officers - for example, for children under 12. The new process and machines have been phased in since October. Some European airports have seen hours-long queues at passport control. Passengers have even reported missing flights home. This week, Ryanair said "the failed EES rollout" was causing unnecessary delays and long queues. The airline said UK passengers should "allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for extended waits at passport control." In Rome, a perennially popular destination for tourists from the UK and around the globe, everyone we spoke to in the Piazza di Spagna had an EES story. "It was two hours queuing, from getting off the plane to getting through with children. I knew it was going to be bad, but not as bad as that." David, visiting from the US with his wife Marlo, said the queue took about an hour. "We actually missed our car, our driver."

New EU border system tripling time at passport control, airport boss says
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

India continues Olympiad streak; sweeps all gold at Chemistry Olympiad

Indian STEM students continue their victory streak in Olympiads this year with standout performance by India in both Chemistry and Biology Olympiads that concluded on July 19. A team of four Indian students have all bagged gold medals in the 58th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from July 10-19, 2026. This was India’s best performance in IChO with the first-ever all-gold haul. India was placed at the first position, jointly with China, Vietnam and others. This year’s IChO had 363 students from 93 countries, making it the biggest IChO till date. Similarly, at the 37th International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2026 held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 12-19 July, 2026, the Indian team of four students won 1 Gold and 3 Silver. What stands out is the truly diverse profile of the winners who come beyond India’s metros. India’s track record at the Chemistry Olympiad has been improving over years with the last ten appearances having a strike rate of 43 per cent gold and 53 per cent silver medals, HBCSE said. This was India’s 27th appearance of India at the IChO. In all these years, 32 per cent of our students have got gold medals, 51 per cent silver and 17 per cent bronze. In case of the Biology challenge, this was India’s 26th appearance at the IBO. Of the 104 students so far, 17 have received gold medals, 69 silver, 17 bronze and 1 honourable mention. In the last ten years, the gold and silver strike rates have been 25 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took to social media to congratulate both contingents for the stand-out performance. “Their brilliance, dedication and passion for science have made the entire nation proud. It will also motivate countless young minds to study and excel in Chemistry,” he said in a post on X about the IChO winners. The the theory paper covered advanced chemistry topics drawn from real-world and research contexts such as identifying the composition of a blue solution from plant extracts and a yellow mineral from a coal deposit and estimating the mass of uranium used to extinguish the Urtabulak natural gas fire in 1966, among others. Students also completed three hands-on laboratory exercises. In Biology, the testing pushed the boundaries of secondary school biology through exams designed by the Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre. These lasted six hours in total and required students to tackle complex, hands-on experimental tasks across highly specialised domains. 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 continues Olympiad streak; sweeps all gold at Chemistry Olympiad
Europe
BBC Business

The hidden cost of the night shift and how to sleep it off

ByPallab GhoshScience CorrespondentIt is four in the morning, and the ward is quiet. A resident doctor has been on her feet for nine hours. She is tired, her muscles are sore and her eyes are straining, but when her shift ends at six in the morning and she finally gets home, she struggles to sleep. Her internal clock, built over millions of years of evolution to tune human biology to the rising and setting of the Sun, is insisting it is morning. Time to wake up. Time to be alert. No amount of darkness, earplugs or blackout blinds can entirely silence it. This is not a personal failing. It is a collision between the demands of her job and some of the deepest machinery in the human body. This is playing out, invisibly, in the lives of millions of shift workers. Among them are the nurses, paramedics, engineers, lorry drivers and factory workers, who keep the country running while everyone else sleeps. And the scientific evidence about what this relentless battle with our own internal clocks and modern living costs them - in heart attacks, strokes, cancer, mental illness, and quite possibly their precious memories - is increasingly difficult to ignore. Now scientists are beginning to explore whether changing how we sleep can play a role in mitigating the toll of night shifts, and potentially alleviate the ill-effects of disrupted nights. Their studies are also testing a surprising theory: that splitting sleep into two separate blocks - rather than attempting to force one long stretch during the day - may in fact be the most effective sleep pattern for people working through the night. To understand what shift work does to the body, it's worth looking at what emerging research suggests about sleep itself. Sleep does far more than give the brain and body a rest. When we are asleep, our brain consolidates the memories of the day, processes emotions, and solves problems that defied it in the waking hours. It also strengthens immune defences and repairs muscle tissue. Prof Russell Foster is a sleep scientist at Oxford University, who has spent a career studying the biology of the sleeping brain. "Sleep is a pillar of our health," he says, "in the same way we think about diet and exercise. We have to take control of it." In that light, the strain of shift work becomes easier to see: it's not solely about being tired, but potentially about repeatedly disrupting a system that's doing far more behind the scenes than many people realise. One of the most remarkable discoveries of recent years is that while we sleep, the brain cleans itself. Deep within the grey matter is plumbing called the glymphatic system. Fluid runs along tiny channels beside the brain's blood vessels, washing away the waste products that accumulate during waking hours. Prof Hugh Markus, a neurologist who leads the stroke medicine group at the University of Cambridge, has begun to answer this question.

The hidden cost of the night shift and how to sleep it off
North America
Yahoo Finance

DIA’s 10-Year Shortfall: How a 186.7% Return Masks a $128K Hidden Cost

If you bought SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSE:DIA) a decade ago because “the Dow” sounded like the safe, blue-chip way to own America, the fund’s own returns tell a quieter story. Over the past ten years, DIA has gained 186.7%. The same money in a plain S&P 500 tracker gained 314.79%. That gap is the hidden cost, and it did not show up on any fact sheet. You can see the compounding in the return record. Over the past five years, DIA returned 50.77% while VOO returned 86%. Year to date through July 10, 2026, DIA is up 9.41% against VOO’s 11.32%, and over the trailing year DIA delivered 17.76% to VOO’s 22.04%. That reflects a persistent, structural shortfall in the index design. DIA’s real hidden cost is its underlying index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is price-weighted, meaning a $500 stock moves the index more than a $50 stock regardless of company size. You end up with a 30-stock portfolio where a mid-sized industrial can outweigh a trillion-dollar tech giant. That single design choice explains why DIA has trailed cap-weighted S&P 500 funds so consistently: it under-owns the mega-cap winners that did the heavy lifting of the last decade. Then there’s the tax bill you may not have noticed. DIA distributes dividends on a monthly schedule, 12 payments per year, and the amounts swing widely, from about $0.14 to more than $1.40 per share. The trailing 12-month total sits near $7.21 per share. In a taxable account, that means 12 separate 1099-DIV entries a year and 12 reinvestment moments where cash sits idle waiting to redeploy. VOO and SPY distribute quarterly. Same asset class, one-third the taxable events, and predictable reinvestment dates you can actually plan around. If your reason for owning DIA is “large-cap American blue chips,” VOO and SPY hold all 30 Dow names inside a broader 500-stock basket at a fraction of the fee. SPY’s top 10 alone, led by NVIDIA at 7.58% and Apple at 6.66%, capture the mega-cap growth engine DIA structurally under-weights. The trade-off is real: you take on more technology exposure and less of the industrial tilt Dow purists prefer. But you pay 0.03% versus DIA’s higher fee, receive quarterly distributions, and, based on the last decade of net-of-fee returns, you have not been giving up performance to get there. For readers who want the Dow’s defensive character without the price-weighted quirk, equal-weight large-cap and quality-dividend ETFs offer a similar blue-chip feel with fees well below DIA’s. The exposure is close. The cost is not. The question worth asking before your next contribution: are you buying DIA because you specifically want those 30 companies weighted by share price, or because “the Dow” feels like a synonym for America’s biggest businesses? If it’s the second, the same exposure is available for pennies on the dollar, with fewer taxable events and a decade of stronger net returns behind it.

DIA’s 10-Year Shortfall: How a 186.7% Return Masks a $128K Hidden Cost
Europe
The Guardian

Brazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its products

People hold signs during an August 2025 protest against US tariff policy towards Brazil in São Paulo. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenPeople hold signs during an August 2025 protest against US tariff policy towards Brazil in São Paulo. Photograph: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty ImagesTrump tariffsBrazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its productsPresident Lula’s office says US move is result of pressure on White House by family of predecessor Jair Bolsonaro Brazil has vowed to retaliate against Washington’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on imports of some Brazilian products. The office of the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, described the tariffs as “a regrettable milestone” in the history of relations between the two countries and said they were the result of pressure exerted on the White House by the family of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro. The new tariffs are scheduled to take effect on 22 July. Once that happens, Brazil – which has historically run a trade deficit with the US – will become the second most heavily tariffed country by Washington after China. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) confirmed the tariffs, which had first been proposed last month, late on Wednesday, citing what it described as Brazil’s “unreasonable acts, policies, and practices” that had “harmed US commerce”. Brazil, however, says it repeatedly sought to present data refuting the allegations and sees the decision primarily as political. Politicians from Lula’s party also view it as an attempt by Donald Trump to influence Brazil’s upcoming elections. Lula, whose relationship with Trump has been marked by ups and downs and is currently at a low point, is seeking re-election in October. His main challenger will be one of Bolsonaro’s sons, the far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who was chosen to run after the former president was convicted for attempting to overturn the 2022 election, which he lost to Lula. View image in fullscreenThe Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his government ‘have not negotiated with the US in good faith’, said Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state. Photograph: André Borges/EPAThe USTR investigation began in July last year. At the time, Trump cited Bolsonaro’s ongoing trial as one of the reasons for launching it, saying it “should not be happening”. “It is a witch-hunt that must end IMMEDIATELY!” the US president wrote. At the time, another of Bolsonaro’s sons, the then-congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, claimed credit for encouraging Trump – a longstanding ally of his father’s – to take retaliatory measures against Brazil. He was later stripped of his seat after moving to the US, where he remains. Lula’s office said on Wednesday that the tariffs were the result of “a narrative constructed with the active collaboration of the Bolsonaro family”. “They are false patriots who plotted and publicly defended actions against our country, driven by electoral objectives,” it said. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who had meetings with Bolsonaro’s sons in Washington, posted that there should be no confusion about why the US had imposed the tariffs.

Brazil vows to retaliate if US imposes 25% tariffs on some of its products
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Tiruppur cluster abuzz with ‘Jana Nayagan’ frenzy as merchandise order surges

With the much-awaited movie Jana Nayagan starring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay set to release on July 23, Tiruppur’s knitwear industry is witnessing a sharp spike in demand for customized T-shirts bearing the film’s title and the actor-politician’s name and picture. More than 1,000 micro, small and medium garment units across the textile hub have swung into action, with thousands of workers, including a large number of women tailors, engaged in producing the merchandise since the release date was announced last week. “It is like a festival in Tiruppur. Jana Nayagan T-shirts are being printed everywhere,” said Balu, who runs a small garment manufacturing unit. Chandira Kumar, President of Sentinel Clothing, Tiruppur, said the company has already dispatched around 20,000 ‘Jana Nayagan’ T-shirts to customers across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Karnataka. “We are receiving nearly 1,000 online orders every day. The ex-factory price is around ₹500 per T-shirt, including courier charges,” Kumar told businessline. Tiruppur industry sources said ministers and functionaries of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) are among the major bulk buyers, placing large orders for distribution across districts as excitement builds for the release of Vijay’s first film after assuming office as Chief Minister. They estimate that around five lakh Jana Nayagan T-shirts will be manufactured over the next 10 days. Retail prices are expected to range between ₹200 and ₹500, depending on the fabric quality and design. Kumar expects overall production to touch around five lakh pieces within 10 days as demand continues to build ahead of the film’s release. Jana Nayagan is one of the biggest Tamil film releases of 2026 and is the last film worked on by actor Vijay before he stepped away from acting to devote himself full-time to politics. The title translates to “People’s Leader,” and the buzz also stems from the fact that the plot mirrors his own rise in politics. The film was originally expected to release during Pongal 2026, but production delays and the extensive post-production work pushed the 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.

Tiruppur cluster abuzz with ‘Jana Nayagan’ frenzy as merchandise order surges
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

For EVs to grow, more products needed in sub 4-meter category: JSW MG Motor

Indian customers want electric vehicles (EVs), but there are not many options available in the market, especially in the sub-4 meter or below ₹12 lakh category where EV body style is very rare, and therefore more vehicles are required in this price bracket so that the EV penetration grows, a top official at JSW MG Motor India said. For instance, as per industry figures, in the sub-4 meter category, there are around 35 vehicles available in the form of internal combustion engine (ICE) that also in multiple trims, but when it comes to EVs, there are not even 10 models available in this category right now. “There is a lot of gap in the sub-4 meter...when you glance through the models, there is a stark difference between sports utility vehicle (SUV) style and EV body style. It is not new though...if you go back in time, in 2014 the SUV penetration in India was less than 5 per cent, today it is 65 per cent of the overall cars sold in the country,” Anurag Mehrotra, Managing Director, JSW MG Motor India, told businessline. He said every original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has brought multiple SUVs in these last 12 years with multiple pricings, so similar trend has to come for the EVs, so that share of EVs grow in the domestic market. Right now, only 7-8 per cent penetration is there for the EVs so every OEM can play for the remaining 92 per cent of the passenger vehicle market in the country, he noted. “So, the challenge is not on the demand side, but supply side. The amount of conversations on EV cars has gone up in the last 6-12 months. Earlier a year or two ago, people would not have asked you, but today, everyone is asking around, and some customers have even bought EV as their first car,” Mehrotra added. Maruti Suzuki India has the highest number of ICE vehicles in the sub-4 meter category with models including Alto K10, S-Presso, WagonR, Celerio, Swift, Ignis, etc but no EV in that category. Similarly, Hyundai Motor India has five models in the sub-4 meter category but no EV. Others such as Kia India, Honda Cars India, Skoda Auto/ Volkswagen Auto India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor also don’t have a single EV in that category. 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.

For EVs to grow, more products needed in sub 4-meter category: JSW MG Motor
Europe
The Guardian

‘Laws were broken’: multistate effort to stop Paramount’s $111bn merger heads to court

Rob Bonta, California’s attorney general, holds a press conference about the lawsuit against the mega-merger next to the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California, on Monday. Photograph: Daniel Cole/ReutersView image in fullscreenRob Bonta, California’s attorney general, holds a press conference about the lawsuit against the mega-merger next to the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California, on Monday. Photograph: Daniel Cole/ReutersMedia‘Laws were broken’: multistate effort to stop Paramount’s $111bn merger heads to courtAttorneys general from 12 states are suing to block the Paramount-Warner Bros deal they say violates antitrust law A last-ditch effort to block the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is heading to court as 12 Democratic state attorneys general attempt to stop the $111bn deal they say violates antitrust law and reduces competition in both the film and cable television industries. The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, faces a crucial hearing on Friday to determine if a judge will temporarily pause the deal or allow it to continue toward approval. The merger was already approved by the Department of Justice in June. California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, who is leading the suit, told the Guardian on Thursday he was optimistic about their chances in court. The lawsuit argues that the merger violates the Clayton Act, a federal antitrust law that prohibits illegal market concentration. “In our complaint, it’s really clean, clear, concise,” he said. “It’s precise with the data points that we’ve shared and courts have traditionally accepted exactly those types of arguments and that kind of data as a basis for finding a merger to be presumptively unlawful.” Bonta said he was “disappointed” that no Republican attorneys general signed on to the Paramount case, though he was able to form a bipartisan coalition that has been successful at temporarily blocking the merger of the television conglomerates Nexstar and Tegna. “I hope it’s not because of any pressure from the head of the Republican party, Donald Trump, on any those Republican entities, because antitrust cases should be non-partisan or bipartisan,” he added. “They’re just about free and fair markets, and I think we all agree on that.” Washington state’s attorney general, Nick Brown, said he was surprised by the volume of constituents who contacted his office to express concern about the merger, which would lead to less competition among film distributors and streaming services and could lead to higher prices for consumers. New Jersey’s attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, agreed that the top concern was higher prices and fewer content choices for consumers. “We just knew that it was bad for New Jerseyans,” Davenport said. “This is more important than ever that we fight for the competition in the industry, because we are seeing it as just another component of rising costs in our state.” The concerns raised in the lawsuit, including the potential for reduced competition, are particularly relevant for New Jersey, which has seen a wave of recent investment by major studios and entertainment companies thanks to generous tax credits. Netflix plans to invest $1bn to create a new production facility in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, while Lionsgate is building a dedicated production facility in Newark. Paramount, the defendant in the case, is slated to serve as the anchor tenant for a 58-acre facility called 1888 Studios.

‘Laws were broken’: multistate effort to stop Paramount’s $111bn merger heads to court
North America
CNBC Economy

Renewed Hormuz hostilities drive ECB rates rethink amid ‘extremely volatile’ outlook

Several consecutive days of strikes exchanged between the U.S. and Iran have once again thrown oil prices into the spotlight — and cast uncertainty on the European Central Bank's interest rate decision next week. Investors on Wednesday were repricing for the ECB's July 22 monetary policy meeting as soaring oil prices have put expectations for a hold in doubt. "The renewed outbreak of military conflict in the Middle East and the fresh rise in oil prices underscore that the situation remains extremely volatile and the uncertainty is similarly high," Bundesbank President and ECB rate setter Joachim Nagel told Reuters on Wednesday. "It remains advisable to react with caution, but to act decisively if necessary," he said. "Monetary policy will maintain its vigilant stance." The ECB slashed interest rates four times in the first half of 2025, taking its key deposit rate from 3% at the start of the year to 2% by mid-June. But last month it was forced to change course, hiking by 25 basis points to its current rate of 2.25%. Headline inflation hovered close to the ECB's 2% target before the outbreak of the Iran war and then accelerated to a peak of 3.2% in May. Initial estimates show eurozone inflation eased to 2.8% last month despite a 8.7% year-on-year increase in energy costs for the month, as core inflation was restricted to 2.4% — suggesting limited "second-round" inflation effects in the rest of the economy. But energy prices have once again shot higher this week as several consecutive days of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran over the control of the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz reignited fears over oil supply. September Futures for international benchmark Brent crude traded higher again early on Wednesday, above $85 per barrel, having traded closer to pre-war levels around $70 just last week. The price of oil is critical for the eurozone economy, which imported 57% of its energy needs in 2024, according to the most recent available data from Eurostat. But policymakers will also be cautious that an overly restrictive monetary policy stance could tip the eurozone economy into recession after contracting by 0.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. Policymakers will also be conscious that initial estimates for second-quarter GDP growth and July inflation will not be available until July 30 and July 31, respectively – meaning next week's rates decision will be made without access to the most recent data. ING rates strategists Michiel Tukker and Benjamin Schroeder wrote in a Wednesday note that eurozone inflation data "will be pivotal in challenging the hawkish market positioning," but "even then, those numbers will not be enough to comfort markets about second-round risks." "All this uncertainty means markets' European Central Bank pricing can continue to diverge from the Fed's," they said. "The momentum in US inflation should be downwards, whereas for Europe the peak might not be in sight yet, especially if energy prices continue to drift higher again."

Renewed Hormuz hostilities drive ECB rates rethink amid ‘extremely volatile’ outlook