Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

Major car firms found not to have installed emissions-cheating devices

Image source, Getty ImagesByMarc AshdownBusiness correspondentPublished10 July 2026Vehicles from a host of major car manufacturers did not contain devices alleged to have allowed them to cheat on emissions tests, a judge at the High Court has ruled. More than a dozen manufacturers are being sued by around 1.6 million motorists over claims that several diesel vehicles made from 2009 onwards contained "prohibited defeat devices" (PDDs). The cases involved 20 "sample vehicles" made by five manufacturers: Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Nissan, Ford, and Peugeot and Citroen. The ten-week trial concluded in March and, in a 369-page ruling handed down today, Lady Justice Cockerill said most of the strategies did not constitute PDDs, with the exception of one in Mercedes cars that was removed in 2015, and another used in some Peugeot-Citroen vehicles. The judgement said: "The Court rejected most of the principal allegations advanced against the manufacturers whose vehicles were examined at trial." It added: "In the majority of instances, the Court found that the relevant strategy did not constitute a prohibited defeat device." Mercedes welcomed the ruling but said it disagreed with the court judgement that one of its four sample vehicles was not compliant prior to the software update. The German carmaker said: "In our view, the emission control software functionalities are justifiable on both technical and legal grounds. We are actively considering all of our available options, including a potential appeal." Those taking legal action either bought, leased or otherwise acquired a diesel vehicle made by one of the companies, with most living in England and Wales. Barristers for the motorists told the trial the devices installed in the cars allowed the vehicles to detect when they were being tested and alter the amount of harmful emissions produced so they fell within emissions regulations. However, the court found that not every calibration or emissions-control strategy amounted to a defeat device. "For a defeat device to be found, there needs to be an intention to cause the emissions control system to operate differently when it senses it is being tested," the judge found.

Major car firms found not to have installed emissions-cheating devices
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

IRAS nabs 279 high-income earners over sham arrangements to pay less tax

The taxman said 279 high-income earners were caught for sham arrangements to avoid paying more tax. SINGAPORE – The taxman has caught 279 high-income earners to date for using sham arrangements such as setting up private companies to receive their income to avoid paying more tax. Out of this group, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) probed 124 cases from 2021 to 2025 and clawed back $49 million in additional tax. All but one of these cases involved taxpayers extracting profits as tax-exempt dividends or interest-free shareholder loans. Unlike tax evasion, which is a crime involving hiding and falsifying income, tax avoidance by channelling funds through various arrangements is not an offence, but these moves can result in additional taxes and surcharges being levied if there is no real purpose for these transactions other than paying less tax. Cases involving such taxpayers were highlighted recently when the High Court dismissed the bid of three doctors to challenge the decision of IRAS to levy more taxes on their total incomes. Some of these errant taxpayers thought they could avoid the higher personal tax rate – 24 per cent for those with income exceeding $1 million – by channelling the bulk of their earnings to their companies because corporate profits are taxed at just 17 per cent here. After-tax profits can be declared as dividends and paid to shareholders, who do not have to pay personal income tax on them. These private outfits paid even less corporate taxes in reality because companies enjoy various concessions aimed at spurring growth and entrepreneurship. But instead of using profits to expand business and hire more employees, these high-income earners merely used the structure to channel “tax-exempt” dividends and even non-genuine “shareholders’ loans” to themselves. To deal with these taxpayers, IRAS took action under Section 33 of the Income Tax Act, which empowers it to disregard or vary any contrived arrangement and claw back the taxes that should have been paid. In the recent dispute, the doctors challenged IRAS’ decision to conduct further tax assessments on their dividends and shareholders’ loans they paid to themselves from 2013 to 2018 through various private companies they had set up.

IRAS nabs 279 high-income earners over sham arrangements to pay less tax
Europe
BBC Business

EasyJet agrees to surprise takeover bid as rival US firm swoops in

Image source, Getty ImagesByNick EdserBusiness reporter Published10 July 2026, 07:30 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoNo-frills airline EasyJet says it has agreed in principle to a £5.7bn takeover proposal from US firm Apollo Global Management - just days after accepting an offer from a rival suitor. The carrier said Apollo's offer delivered "a superior outcome" to investors than the previous bid from US investment firm Castlelake that EasyJet had also agreed to in principle at the weekend. EasyJet is one of Europe's largest airlines. It employs more than 19,000 people, and flies around 1,200 routes across 35 European countries. It was founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 1995 to offer cheap air fares to Europe and, together with other carriers such as Ryanair, has transformed UK air travel. Its first flights took off in November 1995 flying from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh, with its first international flights the following year. Sir Stelios and the Haji-Ioannou family still own about a 15% stake in the airline. EasyJet said Apollo's offer was worth £7.15 per share, compared with the £6.90 per share proposal from Castlelake which it said it was now "no longer minded" to accept. Castlelake declined to comment on the latest move. Analysts say EasyJet is an attractive target as it is profitable, has a large fleet of aircraft, and has take-off and landing slots at major airports such as Gatwick and Paris Charles de Gaulle. The most popular slots can be worth tens of millions of pounds when traded between airlines. Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said Apollo was focusing on EasyJet's potential. "While the carrier has been buffeted recently by higher fuel costs and geopolitical turbulence, it has built a resilient European network, a strong balance sheet and, crucially, a fast-growing holidays business. That's likely to be one of Apollo's biggest attractions." "Package holidays generate higher margins and more predictable revenues than airline tickets alone," she added. "For passengers, it's very much business as usual for now, with flights, bookings and loyalty schemes unaffected while any deal works its way through the regulatory process."

EasyJet agrees to surprise takeover bid as rival US firm swoops in
Europe
The Guardian

This program gives Black single moms $1,000 a month for a year. The results are undeniable

Amaya Jones and her two children. Photograph: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today/Courtesy of Springboard to OpportunitiesView image in fullscreenAmaya Jones and her two children. Photograph: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today/Courtesy of Springboard to OpportunitiesMississippiThis program gives Black single moms $1,000 a month for a year. The results are undeniableThe Magnolia Mother’s Trust is the first to target low-income families led by Black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi Three months after giving birth to her son, Amaya Jones moved into a new apartment complex. She knew no one else in the building, but it was a fresh start for her and her two children. One day, someone put up a flyer on her unit’s door, notifying her about a program called the Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT). Launched in 2018, the MMT is the longest-running guaranteed income program in the country, and the first to target extremely low-income families headed by Black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi. With no strings attached, the program provides mothers with $1,000 a month for 12 months. While she was pregnant, Jones experienced homelessness. She applied for the program, knowing that it could be life-changing. When she found out that she had been selected for that year’s cohort, Jones “burst out into tears”, she said. “I went from full-time to part-time to barely making ends meet. I was like: ‘Oh, my God. Lord, you hear my cry.’ It was rainbows after bad weather.” When Jones’s son was younger, he was frequently sick, and the family was living paycheck to paycheck. Missing a day of work, even to care for an infant, meant that her check would be short, and Jones struggled to ensure she was covering the day-to- day expenses for her children. View image in fullscreenAllonnah Hawkins, seven; Alonzo Hawkins, nine; and their mother, Cheryl Gray, in their apartment in Jackson on 6 August 2019. Gray received support from Springboard to Opportunities and was working on buying a house through Habitat for Humanity. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty ImagesNow, she’s able to exceed it. “It was a sigh of relief,” Jones says of the guaranteed income. “I was actually able to take my kids out of town, stuff I wouldn’t be able to do. It’s more time with my children. It’s still helping me today because I’m not struggling and I can prepare myself for the future. My kids are still taken care of.” Being in a cohort with other single moms who receive assistance from MMT has also helped her build community. The MMT is “bigger than the money”, Jones said. “We had meetings. We talked about mental health,” she said. “I found new people who lived in the apartments, because I knew no one. It’s like a very big sisterhood and familyhood to this day. “When my baby was in the hospital, they would check on my baby: ‘Do you need anything?’ Even if I didn’t reply, they would text me again. Some people don’t like to talk about their problems. Some people don’t like to talk about things that they may be going through … But when they say this is an open space, everything stays in this room. We’ve talked about so many things. If you need a little free time, bring the kids to me. We build relationships and friendships. That’s what the trust is.” The MMT is an initiative from Springboard to Opportunities, a non-profit organization that Aisha Nyandoro, from Mississippi, co-founded in 2013. Springboard works directly with families who live in federally supported affordable housing in Jackson. Nyandoro calls it a “radically resident-driven approach”. But by 2017, Nyandoro became concerned that Springboard wasn’t moving the needle enough on poverty. Though the organization has after-school programs, workforce development, reading circles and other programing, she started wondering what else they needed to offer.

This program gives Black single moms $1,000 a month for a year. The results are undeniable
Europe
BBC Business

Vapes to have less enticing names and flavours to protect children

Image source, Getty ImagesByMichelle RobertsDigital health editorPublished10 July 2026, 03:15 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoVapes with colourful packaging, or with names or flavours inspired by sweets and cocktails, could be banned as part of plans to stop them being marketed to children. The government is launching a 12-week consultation, external about its plans "to make vaping less attractive for children and young people". Health Secretary James Murray said it was clear too many were being lured into experimenting. Under the new proposals, packs would need to be plain with strict limits on branding and only simple flavour descriptions like "apple" or "cola" used. Other restrictions would move vapes out of sight in shops, similar to how cigarettes and tobacco are currently sold. There is no legitimate reason for nicotine products to come in neon packaging, feature cartoon images, or use flavours and branding designed to catch a child's eye, say health experts. Murray said: "The evidence is clear: there are too many young people experimenting with vapes, attracted by the array of flavours, bright colours and marketing displays. "Vapes are less harmful than cigarettes and can play an important role in helping adult smokers to quit, but they should never be designed or marketed in ways that tempt children. "These proposals are about striking the right balance and I urge everyone to have their say." The 100 day consultation follows the recent passing of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which sets out proposals to create the UK's first smoke-free generation, protecting children from nicotine addiction, while ensuring adult smokers can still access vaping products to help them quit. Children aged 17 or younger now face a lifelong ban on buying cigarettes, since it will be illegal for shops to sell tobacco to anyone born after 1 January 2009. And it gives the power to ban vaping in cars carrying children, in playgrounds and outside schools and at hospitals, expanding smoke-free laws. It follows a ban on single-use vapes and comes ahead of future bans on the sale of vapes from vending machines and a planned end to the advertising and sponsorship of vapes.

Vapes to have less enticing names and flavours to protect children
Europe
BBC Business

We've saved £6,000 on holidays by swapping homes with strangers

Would you swap homes with a stranger in exchange for a cheaper holiday? Or would the idea of someone sleeping in your bed and using your kitchen while you were away put you off? Henry Vanderpump, 42, his wife Elliw, 39, and their two young children have had two home exchange holidays in the past two years and have another planned this summer. In each case, they have stayed in another family's home, while that family stays in theirs, a five-bedroom house in Tarporley, rural Cheshire. Neither side pays anything for their accommodation, although they do pay an annual membership fee to Home Link, the listings site they use to book the trips. So far, the Vanderpumps have stayed in similarly sized properties in Hamburg and Copenhagen, and Henry says they have saved around £2,500 on accommodation per trip, plus a further £700 on transport, as they also swapped cars. "We used to have one holiday a summer, now we have two [because of the savings we make from home exchanges]. And the kids love the idea of living in someone else's house while that person is living in theirs." Home exchanges have been around since at least the 1950s, but an increasing number of people seem to be embracing them because of the rising cost of living, or simply to experience a new type of travel, commentators say. Henry says the best thing about swapping homes isn't the savings but getting to visit places off the tourist trail and have a "really authentic experience". When the family visited Hamburg in 2024, they stayed in a suburb and lived "like a German family" for a week, exploring lakes on the edge of the city recommended by their hosts. Last year, they stayed in "a very Scandinavian house" in suburban Copenhagen, which was "all on one level and had no clutter". "They also left us several electric bikes to use," Henry says. "We cycled to the beach, swam in the Baltic and tried restaurants they recommended." Some people are not comfortable with the idea of strangers staying in their home, and for those who are, there's a lot of preparation and tidying to do before their guests arrive.

We've saved £6,000 on holidays by swapping homes with strangers
Europe
BBC Business

Chip giant SK Hynix raises $26.5bn in mega US share sale

South Korean computer chip maker SK Hynix has raised $26.5bn (£19.8bn) in its New York share offering, marking the largest ever listing by a foreign firm in the US. The company, a key supplier to artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia, said on Thursday that it had sold 177.9 million American depositary shares for $149 each. The shares are set to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq. SK Hynix saw its market value top $1tn in its home country in May, lifted by the boom in demand for AI chips. Its share price has more than tripled in South Korea this year, which along with Samsung Electronics has helped boost the benchmark Kospi index by more than 70% over the same period. SK Hynix is one of the world's leading memory chip makers. The industry has been given a major boost by the hundreds of billions being spent on AI. Shares in rivals Samsung Electronics and Micron have more than doubled in recent months. The US listing gives SK Hynix easier access to huge amounts of potential investment from the world's biggest economy, which has fewer barriers than South Korea, said Seoul National University finance professor Jaewon Choi. Traders are closely watching the listing as a "yardstick to test the water" for whether investor enthusiasm for memory chip makers will continue, Choi said. The AI boom has triggered a rush of companies raising money on the the stock market. In June, GrokAI owner SpaceX became the world's biggest ever listing as it raised $85.7bn. Meanwhile, AI developers Anthropic and OpenAI are preparing to go public, with valuations of more $1tn. Demand for SK Hynix's offering was reportedly over seven times more than the number of shares available, highlighting the strong investor appetite for a key company in the AI supply chain.

Chip giant SK Hynix raises $26.5bn in mega US share sale
North America
CNBC Finance

Goldman Sachs wins $70 billion in asset management deals with Verizon, Lockheed Martin

Goldman Sachs said Thursday it won deals to manage a combined $70 billion in retirement assets for Verizon Communications and Lockheed Martin, one of the larger recent announcements in the fast-growing market for outsourced corporate investing. The mandates include about $30 billion in pension assets for Verizon and Lockheed Martin and $40 billion in Verizon defined-contribution retirement assets, which are typically 401(k)s, according to Goldman. The moves underscore how some of America's largest employers are increasingly handing responsibility for managing retirement assets to outside firms such as Goldman as portfolios become more complex and require expertise across public and private markets. Competition in the multitrillion-dollar market for retirement assets is fierce among managers including Goldman, BlackRock, Russell Investments and Mercer, because the long-term institutional mandates generate steady fee revenue. By growing that business, Goldman hopes to increase its share of revenues that are seen as stable and recurring, unlike the more volatile trading and investment banking operations. "Large plan sponsors are consolidating responsibilities with one partner with the investment expertise and depth of platform to manage their bespoke needs," Marc Nachmann, Goldman's global head of asset and wealth management, said in a statement. Goldman's outsourced chief investment officer business had about $480 billion in assets as of March 31, while the firm's broader asset and wealth management division oversees roughly $3.7 trillion worth of investments. 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.

Goldman Sachs wins $70 billion in asset management deals with Verizon, Lockheed Martin
North America
CNBC Finance

June home sales disappoint as prices reach an all-time high

High mortgage rates coupled with record-high prices are causing homebuyers to pull back. Sales of previously owned homes in June dropped 2.4% from May to 4.09 million units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the National Association of Realtors. Housing analysts were predicting a slight gain month over month. "The back-and-forth in monthly home sales activity, driven by mild fluctuations in mortgage rates, shows how sensitive home buyers are to affordability conditions," said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, in a release. "However, job gains—more than half a million since the beginning of the year—will continue to provide support for the housing market." This count represents closed sales, so contracts that were likely signed in May, when the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage was still moving higher. It began rising sharply at the start of March at the beginning of the Iran war. Inventory at the end of June was 1.56 million units, down 0.6% from May but 1.3% higher than June 2025. At the current sales pace, that represents a 4.6-month supply. The market is considered balanced between buyer and seller at a six-month supply. With the market still lean, prices continue to rise. The median price of an existing home sold in June was $440,600, an increase of 1.8% from the year before and the highest on record. June is usually the strongest month for both sales and prices. CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. "Progress on long-term housing affordability could be hampered if inventory growth continues to stall. Without consistent gains in inventory, home prices can accelerate. It is critical to introduce more supply to the market to widen the opportunity for homeownership," Yun said. Sales continue to be strongest on the higher end of the market. Sales of homes priced below $100,000 were down 1.7% from a year ago, and sales of those priced between $100,000 and $250,000 were up less than 1%. Meanwhile sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million were up nearly 14% from the year before, and sales of homes priced above $1 million were up 18%. Regionally, home sales were down in June month over month everywhere except in the Northeast. One-quarter of all sales were all-cash, down from 29% last year. First-time buyers made up 33% of sales, up from 30% a year ago. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

June home sales disappoint as prices reach an all-time high