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Europe
The Guardian

The Hill is capitalizing on reader interest in the second Trump administration

Bill Sammon: ‘I think we’re kind of having a moment right now.’ Photograph: The HillView image in fullscreenBill Sammon: ‘I think we’re kind of having a moment right now.’ Photograph: The HillMediaThe Hill is capitalizing on reader interest in the second Trump administrationThe Washington-based publication is announcing plans for a new digital subscription product called the Hill Insider The most-visited digital-first news publication dedicated to politics wasn’t Politico or Axios in May – it was the Hill, a Washington-based outlet that also still publishes a print product three days a week that gets delivered to the office of every member of Congress. While the Hill is often left out of conversations about the most influential political news outlets, the publication has been quietly chugging along since it was acquired by the television conglomerate Nexstar in 2021 for $130m. Bill Sammon, the Fox News veteran who serves as senior vice-president for editorial content, said the Hill was profitable and had benefited from a surge of interest in the second Trump administration. “I think we’re kind of having a moment right now,” Sammon said in an interview. “The viewership is engaged, and a lot of it has to do with, frankly, that there’s just so much going on in the news. It is a good time to be a journalist in Washington given the sheer volume of consequential stuff that’s just coming over the transom.” The main website will remain free to read, however. “It’s additive,” Sammon said. “For the very most part, we’ve developed all kinds of new value-added content that we think is going to serve our readers as we understand what our readers want … For people who are really into this, they just want more of it.” There is no shortage of direct-to-consumer subscription services available to media consumers, but Sammon said he was hopeful that the Hill’s offering would be sufficiently differentiated from the competition to become a meaningful revenue source for the publication, which began in 1994. Media veterans like Sammon aren’t often available for hire in Washington. He became a free agent after Rupert Murdoch himself suggested that he be pushed out following Fox’s controversial coverage of the 2020 presidential election, an offering to the Trump super-fans who were unhappy that the network correctly called the election for Joe Biden. In a 20 November 2020 email released as part of the voting technology firm Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox, Murdoch told his chief executive, Suzanne Scott, and his son Lachlan Murdoch that “maybe [it would be] best to let Bill go right away and make acting appointment”, which he hoped would send a “big message with Trump people”. (“Sammon was told the inevitable today,” Scott responded.) “I have many fond memories – and retain lots of great friendships – from my time at Fox,” Sammon told the Guardian. Sammon, who began his career as a print journalist, has been able to lean on his experience at Fox News by serving in a dual editorial role for NewsNation, the cable news channel that is also owned by Nexstar and works out of the same office. “I don’t have a lot of skillsets in this world and they found the two weird skillsets that I have, and there’s a job for that,” he said. “You need to know about newspapers and you need to know about cable TV. Well, that’s actually something I can do.”

The Hill is capitalizing on reader interest in the second Trump administration
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

50 cents a day: Arki Finance CEO saved his allowance to buy his mum a watch

Staying invested consistently over the past 15 years has been one of his best financial decisions, says Arki Finance CEO David Ng. Sign up for ST InvestMe and unlock full access to exclusive insights and financial literacy courses today. SINGAPORE – When David Ng was 10, he spent months squirrelling away his 50-cent daily allowance to save $50 to buy his mother a watch. “I passed her the money, never knowing how much the watch really cost or if she actually bought one,” says the 46-year-old co-founder and chief executive of Arki Finance. “There’s joy in putting someone else’s happiness above my own... And that mindset of intentional saving and giving has stuck with me in adulthood.” The Singaporean started digital wealth advisory platform Arki after more than two decades working in global financial institutions like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, as well as a stint as a national rugby player from 1996 to 1997. Arki, which received its Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier in 2026, is preparing for its public launch later in the year. The firm is targeting the mass affluent segment with a simplified wealth platform built on a three-part framework: cash, income and growth. Ng has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is married with two sons. My portfolio is a mix of equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and private investments. About half is in public equities focused on global and thematic strategies – sectors that I believe will define the future. Around 30 per cent is in ETFs and index funds, and the remaining 20 per cent is in private investments such as early-stage fintechs and private credit. Arki Finance, which I started building about two years ago, is my biggest financial and emotional investment.

50 cents a day: Arki Finance CEO saved his allowance to buy his mum a watch
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Caught by IRAS: Doctor earned millions but reported monthly salaries of $5k and $6k

The doctor paid himself below market salaries but received huge amounts in dividends and loans. Sign up for ST InvestMe and unlock full access to exclusive insights and financial literacy courses today. SINGAPORE – A doctor declared monthly salaries of around $5,000 and $6,000 from his companies, but did not pay any personal tax on additional payouts averaging over $2 million a year. He claimed there was no need to declare the additional income because the sum was received as tax-exempt dividends and “shareholders’ loans” after his companies paid the standard corporate tax of 17 per cent on their profits. This doctor, a private specialist, thought he had a foolproof arrangement that would shield him from higher personal income taxes. Income beyond the $1 million mark would have hit the highest personal tax bracket of 24 per cent. After scrutinising past assessments between 2013 and 2018, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) deployed its most powerful weapon – Section 33 of the Income Tax Act – which can shoot down any arrangements that are created mainly to avoid tax. It imposed additional taxes on the doctor’s overall income, which the High Court upheld despite the doctor’s challenge. Under the personal income tax regime, someone earning $6,000 monthly would have been taxed less than $3,000 a year, but taking home $2 million could entail over $400,000 in taxes annually. The decision has likely sent shockwaves through the league of high-income earners who have been using company structures to avoid paying more personal taxes. The doctor was among 279 high-income earners IRAS has caught to date for using sham arrangements to avoid paying more taxes. An example of such an arrangement involves setting up companies to receive income but paying owners salaries below market rate so that they can pay lower taxes. As companies enjoy various concessions to encourage entrepreneurship, the owners will end up paying less tax on their profits than individuals earning the same amount.

Caught by IRAS: Doctor earned millions but reported monthly salaries of $5k and $6k
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Planning my wedding taught me to spend on what matters, and not what is expected

The writer says that intentional saving has helped her a lot when planning wedding expenditures. Sign up for ST InvestMe and unlock full access to exclusive insights and financial literacy courses today. SINGAPORE – While planning for my wedding in November, I’ve been feeling a lot of invisible pressure to spend on what everyone else is spending on. One such area is the Chinese tradition of Guo Da Li, a ritual where the groom’s family presents the bride’s family with betrothal gifts that symbolise fertility, prosperity, abundance and a harmonious marriage. These gifts often include gold jewellery, so as gold prices have climbed over the decades, the cost of Guo Da Li has also risen. Because my parents really want traditions to be upheld, I felt obligated to go along with it. My husband and I managed to find a shop with affordable jewellery, but the process made me think about how important intentional spending is when it comes to milestones like weddings. While looking for a wedding venue, some vendors we spoke to had strong opinions about what we were “supposed” to do, such as the number of guests to invite and the type of food to serve, and even on the sequence of events. People around me often held their weddings at expensive hotels, and my mother didn’t want me to have mine at a venue that would make me look “poor” by comparison. But I didn’t want to spend for appearances’ sake – to me, that isn’t what a wedding is about. My husband and I eventually settled on a venue that isn’t a lavish hotel but offers something I really want – a view of the blue sea during the solemnisation. I’ve never enjoyed being cooped up indoors, so having a beautiful outdoor view on the most important day of my life is a priority. The venue we have chosen is also relatively small, ensuring we can celebrate our marriage with only the people who matter.

Planning my wedding taught me to spend on what matters, and not what is expected
Europe
BBC Business

Pressure builds on Europe's biggest port to be greener

Standing on a grassy verge in the Hook of Holland, I'm overlooking the Port of Rotterdam. At the delta of the Rhine and Meuse in the Netherlands, on land largely reclaimed from the North Sea, it's the biggest port for freight, external in Europe. By some measures, Rotterdam alone handles almost as much cargo as all UK ports combined. The horizon is dominated by cranes, bulk carriers and container stacks – the visible parts of a vast energy and chemicals hub. Five refineries, including Shell's largest in Europe, process hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil a day, while a tight cluster of chemical plants feeds factories across the continent. According to research by CE Delft, the fossil fuels flowing through the port are ultimately linked to around 600 megatonnes of CO2 a year – many times more than the CO2 output of the Netherlands' biggest airport, Schiphol. That scale has made Rotterdam a test case for a difficult question: can a port built on fossil fuels ever truly become green? A lawsuit brought by environmental group Advocates for the Future argues that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is not doing enough to phase out fossil-based energy, and wants a concrete plan to wind down the coal, oil and gas flows whose emissions dwarf those of most countries. Rotterdam's own industrial cluster currently emits about 29 million tonnes of CO2 a year – roughly half of the Netherlands' domestic emissions, says Mark van Dijk, head of external relations at the Port of Rotterdam Authority. That's the equivalent of tens of thousands of return flights from Amsterdam to Los Angeles. "It's not good," admits van Dijk. The Port Authority has a plan to cut the emissions of its own activities and encourage businesses on the site to be greener. It has set targets to cut its own direct and purchased energy emissions by 90% between 2019 and 2030.

Pressure builds on Europe's biggest port to be greener
Europe
The Guardian

Trump’s policy mayhem is making even the Maga faithful consider walking away

About 56% of respondents who identified as members of the Maga coalition said they were either having trouble meeting their debt payments or worried they would be struggling soon. Photograph: Mark Makela/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenAbout 56% of respondents who identified as members of the Maga coalition said they were either having trouble meeting their debt payments or worried they would be struggling soon. Photograph: Mark Makela/Getty ImagesUS economyAnalysisTrump’s policy mayhem is making even the Maga faithful consider walking awayEduardo PorterEven voters who identify as foot soldiers of his political army are increasingly willing to blame Trump for their economic troubles The political consequences of Donald Trump’s policy mayhem are now coming into view: “Maga” America is getting pissed. It has been a sight to see how every one of the president’s policy initiatives has sabotaged some core constituency or other. From farmers and rural Americans to manufacturing workers and every American struggling to make ends meet, Trump has torched pretty much his entire political base. For all his efforts to rig the midterm elections in his favor, it’s as if he is daring the Maga faithful to drop him. And now, according to the most recent survey by Harris for the Guardian, even voters who identify as foot soldiers of the president’s political army are becoming impatient with the state of affairs, increasingly willing to blame the government for their economic troubles. About 56% of respondents who identified as members of the Maga coalition said they were either having trouble meeting their debt payments or worried they would be struggling soon. The same share admitted similar troubles meeting housing payments. Fifty-seven per cent said the same about affording healthcare costs. Fifty-eight per cent claimed the same about their utility bills, 61% about affording groceries, 63% about paying for gas. Many of these stressors stem from Trump’s policy preferences. Trump’s decision to end government subsidies is largely at fault for the rising cost of health insurance. The rise in energy costs and rebound of inflation since March are direct consequences of Iran’s throttling of the strait of Hormuz. Resurgent inflation interrupted the Federal Reserve’s campaign to ease monetary policy and interrupted the gradual decline in mortgage rates. Manufacturers have culled nearly 100,000 jobs since Trump took office, in part due to Trump’s tariffs. Farmers have been whacked by higher costs of energy, fertilizer and machinery. Rural Americans voted for Trump by a margin of 40 percentage points in November of 2024. According to the Harris poll for the Guardian, 49% of them now say their personal financial security is getting worse. That is even more than the 42% of Americans in rural areas who claimed their personal finances were deteriorating in the Harris poll taken in April last year, a few weeks after “liberation day”, when Trump imposed tariffs on everybody and sent financial markets around the world into a tailspin. Similarly, in the latest poll, 45% of Americans with less than a four-year college degree reported a worsening financial situation, up from 42% in April of 2025. These constituencies are at the core of the Maga movement. And they are losing patience with the justifications for Trump’s destructive policies: 54% of Maga faithful think the government is the most responsible for the rising prices of goods and services. Contrary to the repeated claims from the White House, 41% of them believe economists’ observation that American consumers bear most of the costs of Trump’s tariffs. Only 31% buy Trump’s argument that foreigners pick up the tab. Maga voters have not abandoned the president. By recent counts, 62% of rank-and-file Republicans identify as Maga, up from only 38% in September of 2022. 57% of them trust that the government considers the affordability crisis a top priority. And 69% believe the government is capable of fixing it. Still, misgivings are creeping in: just over a third of Maga faithful think the government has made it worse. Beyond the growing angst among Trump’s most loyal followers, what should most worry the president is the brewing discontent outside the borders of his base, which is still a minority of the overall electorate. If Maga Republicans are finding themselves at odds with their leader, other voters – including many Republicans – have an even more jaundiced view of his endeavors. The share of Republicans – Maga or not – who believe the economy is getting worse hit 38% in the latest Harris poll, up from 33% of Republicans surveyed in April last year. The share of Republicans who think the economy is getting better declined from a year ago, from 31% to 27%. The opinion of independent voters is probably the best barometer of where the electorate, on average, will land in the fall. Forty-four per cent think their financial security is deteriorating, almost three times the share who believe it is getting better.

Trump’s policy mayhem is making even the Maga faithful consider walking away
North America
CNBC Finance

Delta expects higher airfare to last, bringing 2026 profit goal in reach, CEO says

Delta Air Lines' profit goal is in reach this year as the carrier passes along higher fuel costs to customers, pricing power CEO Ed Bastian expects to last even as oil prices drop from multiyear highs. "I think it's sustainable," Bastian told CNBC in an interview. He said fares will likely stay strong thanks to robust demand, more diverse seat options, and a more disciplined airline industry that's learned from the past and isn't likely to expand capacity as soon oil falls. Delta on Friday forecast third-quarter per-share earnings of between $2.00 and $2.50, compared with analysts' estimates of $2.02 a share for the period. The company also projected revenue would be up in the mid-teens compared with the July-through-September period of 2025. For the full-year, the carrier reaffirmed its January per-share earnings forecast of between $6.50 and $7.50. Bastian said demand is strong across the board, noting that Delta, the most profitable U.S. airline, caters to higher-income customers in the K-shaped economy. Indeed, its premium seat sales outpaced the back of the plane in coach. Its premium tickets like first class brought in $6.92 billion in revenue for the quarter, while the main cabin reported $6.85 billion in revenue. Bastian said World Cup demand was stronger than expected, including from inbound visitors to the U.S. In an earnings release, the airline also said corporate travel rose in the second quarter, with the aerospace and defense, banking, and automotive sectors leading growth. Carriers have scaled back growth plans and pruned unprofitable flights after this year's record run-up in fuel, and airfares have surged. According to the latest federal data, May airfare was up nearly 27% compared with last year, though executives say they still haven't passed the entirety of the higher fuel bill on to consumers. Bastian said Delta was passing along about 60% to consumers, and that should get to close to 100% this quarter. Delta's second-quarter revenue per available seat mile, a measure of how much an airline is bringing in for each seat it flies, was up 17% from a year earlier, though its cost-per-available seat mile rose 21%. (Delta has other revenue streams including cargo, a maintenance business and its fuel refinery.) Delta's net income dropped 25% in the second quarter from a year earlier to $1.6 billion, or $2.44 a share, though operating revenue was up 19% from the 2025 period to $19.76 billion. Adjusting for one-time items including third-party refinery sales, Delta posted earnings of $1.03 billion, or $1.56 a share. Delta's refinery was also a bright spot, with revenue in the Trainer, Pennsylvania, facility surging 83% to $2.09 billion. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Delta expects higher airfare to last, bringing 2026 profit goal in reach, CEO says
North America
CNBC Finance

Private chef salaries reach $300,000 as the rich seek their own Michelin stars

Private chefs are making up to $300,000 a year, and butlers can earn as much as $180,000 as the wealthy hire more household staff to manage their increasingly complex lives, according to a new study. Demand for chefs, personal assistants, butlers, nannies, housekeepers, chauffeurs and estate managers have reached records as the wealthy buy more homes in various locations and manage ever-growing families, according to a report from Morgan & Mallet International. The hiring boom has created a war for talent, driving up salaries and increasing job-hopping by household staff. "Many clients are surprised by the rising cost of household services," the report said. "The reality is that securing quality staff with proven experience has become increasingly difficult, pushing wages for the best candidates to record highs globally." House managers have the fastest-rising salary among household staff, driven by the growing real estate portfolios of the rich and shrinking pool of good candidates, according to Laurine Mallet, co-founder of Morgan & Mallet. The market for private chefs is especially hot. In the U.S., private chefs can now earn between $100,000 and $300,000, according to the report. Ultra-wealthy families increasingly want to hire Michelin-starred chefs to cook for them at home so they can avoid the crowds and public attention of top restaurants, the report said. Celebrity chefs command the highest premiums, while chefs trained in special diets – like celiac-safe cooking – can also "name their price," the report said. Nannies who speak three languages and have experience caring for children with special needs are also in especially high demand. Traveling nannies are coveted but rare, with some making up to $163,000 in the United Arab Emirates, according to the report. In the U.S., the most requested position from employers is personal assistants. Executive assistants and personal assistants can earn up to $250,000 a year, Morgan & Mallet found. Privacy, discretion and tech skills are now core hiring requirements, according to the report. In Los Angeles, 77% of personal assistants hired required nondisclosure agreements. Strict bans on social media are now common for all household staff positions. In the past, household staff would often work for the same employer for decades. Now, the average tenure with an employer is three years, according to the report. With the wealthy increasingly moving between homes and gaining residencies in multiple countries, they want Western passport-ready staff. Skilled estate managers are becoming especially difficult to find, since they are often required to manage more than three properties in multiple countries and legal frameworks, according to the report. In the U.S., household managers can now make between $150,000 and $250,000, it found. Butlers, once portrayed as buttoned-up, silver tray-carrying domestics, now manage complex staff, technology, security and logistics across multiple properties. Their salaries can be as high as $180,000. "Clients want efficient service with less formality," the report said. "Discretion, confidentiality, and trustworthiness are the most important qualities. Adaptability, flexibility, and strong people skills matter too."

Private chef salaries reach $300,000 as the rich seek their own Michelin stars
Europe
The Guardian

New York City becomes first in the US to ban deceptive subscription practices

Zohran Mamdani stands next to Sam Levine, commissioner of consumer and worker protection, at a press conference in New York on 21 January 2026. Photograph: Anthony Behar/Sipa US via AlamyView image in fullscreenZohran Mamdani stands next to Sam Levine, commissioner of consumer and worker protection, at a press conference in New York on 21 January 2026. Photograph: Anthony Behar/Sipa US via AlamyConsumedNew YorkNew York City becomes first in the US to ban deceptive subscription practicesRule from Mamdani administration bans companies from trapping customers into paying recurring charges and ‘junk fees’ New York City has adopted a new rule that bans companies from using deceptive subscriptions to trap customers into paying for gym memberships, streaming services and other recurring charges, the city’s consumer protection office said. The new rule, which will start on 1 October, promises hefty fines and aggressive enforcement for violators. Companies that do not provide a simple way to cancel could pay $525 per user subscription, back fees and additional fines. The city is also targeting so-called “junk fees” that raise the final price of everything from apartments to sporting events, with a proposed rule that requires sellers to “advertise the total price for any good or service, including all mandatory additional charges and fees, up front”, according to a release shared with the Guardian. “People shouldn’t have to wait on hold for half an hour or send a certified letter or show up to a store in person in order to cancel” a subscription, said Samuel AA Levine, the city’s commissioner of consumer and worker protection, in an interview. The proposed fee rule could have an especially wide effect, sending ripples through New York’s expensive housing market, where about 70% of residents rent. Apartment renters in the US face a rising tide of add-on fees such as “boiler management” and “lifestyle” charges from management companies, which make true rental costs hundreds of dollars higher than the price stated on real-estate company websites. If the proposed renters rule passes after public comment and hearing, any mandatory fees, including annual ones, would need to be included in the stated monthly rental price, Levine said. The current situation creates “a scenario where rather than competing on price, companies are competing on their ability to hide the true price. That’s the worst kind of incentive” – and one that deeply distorts the market, Levine said. The moves are part of an aggressive push by Zohran Mamdani and Levine, a former head of consumer protection in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to rein in what they see as predatory corporate malpractice nationwide. “In the dawn of the [Ronald] Reagan era, the FTC and others in Washington said expressly that … markets could correct themselves, regulate themselves, they were going to stop writing rules,” and allow companies to police their own behavior, Levine said. “What it has gotten us is 40 years of deceptive pricing,” he said. Bans on junk fees and subscription traps are generally popular with consumers, but have been fought aggressively by industry groups. When the Biden administration introduced a junk fee rule in 2024, the US Chamber of Commerce argued it was “an attempt to micromanage businesses’ pricing structures”, and apartment fees were cut from that federal rule after lobbying by the real-estate industry.

New York City becomes first in the US to ban deceptive subscription practices