Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

UK should 'team up' with Canada in new Europe alliance, Canadian minister tells BBC

Image source, Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty ImagesByFaisal IslamEconomics editorPublished7 hours agoThe UK should "team up" with a proposed economic alliance between Canada and Europe, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has said. "This is all about the substance, to build an alliance of the future," he told the BBC. "The world has changed. America has changed. So we need to change." Champagne also gave a frank assessment of the Canada-US trade war after a deal collapsed last month, saying the country had "stood up for our industries, our workers, our country" by imposing tariffs. His comments come after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed "opening the door" to an associate EU membership for Canada, an unprecedented move for the bloc. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to address the EU in Strasbourg, shortly after von der Leyen's proposal was made, was "to build the alliance of the future", Champagne said. Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has previously talked about an alliance of "middle powers" working together on economic growth, resilience and security. "We need to look at partnership in a different way and the great thing is that when you look at Canada - and I would say the United Kingdom - we share the same values. We are very aligned in our vision of the world. Why don't we team up?" he said. After his return to the White House last year, US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping global tariffs, including on long-standing trade allies such as the UK. While the UK renegotiated a trade deal with the US in June last year, the new Canada-EU alliance does raise questions for the UK's post-Brexit positioning with Europe, as well as its position with the US, after some changes of presidential rhetoric over the Falklands and Irish unity in recent weeks. Carney met Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Liverpool in the middle of his trip to Brussels and Strasbourg last week, while Champagne attended a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on Friday, alongside Chancellor John Healey. The developing discussions around closer ties between the EU and Canada come as Ottawa remains locked in an escalating trade war with the US, with both sides imposing tit-for-tat tariffs after talks broke down at the last moment in August. Trump has also threatened further tariffs on the EU if the associate membership plan proved "hostile" to the US, calling the idea laughable and labelling Canada a "terrible trading partner".

UK should 'team up' with Canada in new Europe alliance, Canadian minister tells BBC
North America
CNBC Finance

Ticket prices rise for Macklemore solo concert after Ed Sheeran tour removal

Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's tour is having ripple effects on the ticket market. Ticket prices for an upcoming Macklemore performance are climbing after the rapper was dropped from the remainder of Sheeran's Loop tour for making pro-Palestine comments onstage earlier this month. Meanwhile, secondary market prices for the remainder of Sheeran's concerts have dipped. Resale prices for Macklemore's October concert at Red Rocks in Colorado are increasing this week, even though the performance was announced in March. "The get-in price [or the price for the cheapest available ticket] for that show is up 45% in the past 3 days, from $108 to $157," Keith Pagello, founder of price tracking company TicketData, said in a statement to CNBC on Thursday. "That's a surge we can say with confidence would not have happened absent this week's events." Macklemore said on social media on Monday that he was removed from the tour after stadium owners threatened to cancel shows following his pro-Palestinian remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4. He announced on Thursday that he will donate his $1 million in earnings from the tour to Palestinian aid organizations. All of Sheeran's other supporting acts, Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham, said they would leave the tour after Macklemore's removal. It is unclear who will replace the performers. Following the Macklemore headlines, ticket prices for Sheeran's tour have decreased at nine of the ten remaining venues, according to TicketData which aggregates statistics from platforms including SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Gametime, and StubHub. However, Pagello said the drops are normal and may not be related to the controversy. "Across the whole universe of concerts, more shows decline in price as the date approaches than rise," Pagello said. Ticket prices to Sheeran's North American concerts this summer dropped by an average of 22% in the final two weeks leading up to the show, according to Pagello. Pagello sees the amount of ticket resales to Sheeran's upcoming concerts as more significant. "There has been a clear uptick in resale volume: since Monday, tickets have been selling at a slight to moderately increased pace compared to earlier tour stops at the same distance out, even with prices trending down," Pagello said.

Ticket prices rise for Macklemore solo concert after Ed Sheeran tour removal
North America
CNBC Finance

Disney names CTO for the first time as media giant expands tech push

Disney is looking to increase its foothold in the technology space with its latest hire. The media giant said Friday it hired Karandeep Anand, most recently CEO of Character.AI, effective Oct. 2 as senior executive vice president and chief technology officer. The newly created position in the Mouse House's C-suite will report directly to CEO Josh D'Amaro. The leadership expansion comes months after D'Amaro took the top post at Disney and emphasized the need to embrace technology to advance all parts of the company. Disney said Anand will oversee enterprise technology, infrastructure, data and artificial intelligence platforms, product and engineering at Disney, and will work across across various tech teams to "further modernize how Disney builds and delivers technology company-wide." "Karandeep brings a rare mix of experience across infrastructure, consumer technology and AI, and will be a vital addition to Disney's senior leadership team as we further our three priorities: great storytelling as our North Star, technology in service of creativity, and operating as One Disney," D'Amaro said in Friday's release. D'Amaro's immediate goal has been to maintain Disney's momentum in its core growth areas -- particularly streaming and parks, which have helped lift the company's earnings in recent quarters. In March D'Amaro outlined his strategy and focused on the importance of Disney's storytelling and intellectual property to all parts of the business, as well as expanding its concentration in tech to fuel growth. Since then, the CEO has made various moves to show his focus on that initiative. The company's streaming service, Disney+, has been at the center of such plans. D'Amaro has said Disney is considering a free, ad-supported tier for its Disney+ streaming service as a so-called "front porch" to get more consumers onto the platform. On Thursday, Disney also named Adam Smith as chairman of its direct-to-consumer for Disney Entertainment, overseeing the streaming business. Executives have also teased that streaming and shopping will be integrated on Disney+, and more details are expected to come in the spring. At an investor conference earlier this month, CFO Hugh Johnston called it an "integrated ecosystem" under the Disney+ banner, which would bring together TV and film content with consumer products, Disney's parks and cruises, and interacting with Disney's library of intellectual property in various ways, including gaming. Anand comes to Disney after overseeing Character.AI, a platform that allows users to create and interact with character-based chatbots. In addition to Anand, Disney is hiring members from Character.AI's technical team. Disney said Friday that Anand managed Character.AI through a "period of explosive growth, building one of the most engaged consumer-AI audiences in the world, while also making user trust and safety a priority at the platform." Anand has also held positions at financial tech company Brex and Meta's Facebook.

Disney names CTO for the first time as media giant expands tech push
North America
Yahoo Finance

Investors Borrowed $1.45 Trillion to Buy Stocks. Is the Market One Correction Away From a Margin-Call Avalanche?

Borrowed money quietly inflates stock-market returns until prices fall, and then it becomes a loaded gun. The scale of today's margin lending raises a question worth sitting with before the next downturn arrives. The professional research desk has always been the part of Wall Street that retail investors could not buy. AlphaSpace by Yahoo Finance opens one for $39.95 a month, and the first seven days cost nothing.1 (Sponsor) This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. Stock-market gains can make leverage look harmless. When portfolios rise, borrowed money magnifies returns, and the debt itself can disappear into the background. That changes when prices turn lower. A margin loan does not care whether a decline is temporary or the beginning of a bear market. If account equity falls below required levels, brokers can demand more collateral or sell securities to bring the account back into compliance. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) latest margin data show that investors have accumulated an unusually large amount of borrowed money while stocks have also climbed sharply. That makes the next correction more important than the last one. According to FINRA’s monthly Margin Statistics, U.S. margin debt increased by about $37 billion in August to $1.45 trillion, the second-highest reading on record behind June’s $1.50 trillion. The August balance was up $228 billion, or 19%, from the start of 2026. The longer-term comparison is even more striking. Since the end of 2022 — and the start of the current AI-dominated era — investor borrowing has increased by $847 billion, or 140%, versus a 98% gain for the S&P 500 over the same period. That means leverage has grown faster than the market value investors have accumulated, presumably as they took on debt to buy into the AI boom. Margin debt also has reached an unusual level relative to the economy. Research using FINRA margin data puts margin debt at roughly 4.5% of U.S. GDP, above the approximately 3.6% peak associated with 2021 and the 2.8% level around the 2000 dot-com bubble. That doesn’t mean we could see another 2000 or 2008, but it does mean there is more leverage sitting underneath today’s stock prices. Leverage is at an all-time high, outpacing even the Dot-Com bubble. One market slip could trigger a devastating feedback loop of forced liquidations. © 24/7 Wall St. An investor using margin owns securities partly with borrowed money. If those securities decline, the investor’s equity shrinks. Once equity falls below the broker’s maintenance requirement, the investor may have to add cash or securities. If that doesn’t happen, the broker can sell securities — potentially without waiting for the investor’s permission. FINRA says firms can also impose higher “house” requirements. That creates a negative feedback loop where selling puts more pressure on stocks.

Investors Borrowed $1.45 Trillion to Buy Stocks. Is the Market One Correction Away From a Margin-Call Avalanche?
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

West Bengal may replace student mobile phone grants with education tablets

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari indicated that the state may replace financial assistance for students to buy mobile phones with grants for education-related tablets. | Photo Credit: ANI West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday indicated that the state government may discontinue its financial assistance to school students for purchasing mobile phones and replace it with grants for buying education-related tablets. Adhikari expressed concern at reports of unbridled use of mobile phones by school students and said the trend is causing “irreparable damage” to the younger generation. He was speaking at a programme at Byantra in Howrah to launch the ‘Sarathi’ scheme for distributing bicycles to students, replacing the erstwhile ‘Sabuj Sathi’ project initiated by the TMC government. “I am severely opposed to students using mobile phones in schools. This is causing irreparable damage. We are giving this matter serious thought,” he said, with School Education Minister Dipak Burman and Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay in attendance on the dais. “The previous government used to give Rs 10,000 to class 11 students in January to purchase mobile phones. I have already asked the state education secretary and am saying this to the minister as well: start thinking about the matter from now. We can provide more funds, if required, with which we will provide education-related tablets instead of mobile phones,” Adhikari added. This wasn’t the first time that Adhikari expressed his displeasure over the use of mobile phones by school students. At an event on September 5 to mark Teachers’ Day, the chief minister had said, “Mobile phones have a significant negative impact on school students. It may be a difficult decision, and I may even lose votes because of it.” In Gujarat, mobile phones are banned for students up to Class 12, and they remain awake watching mobile phones even after their parents go to sleep, he had said. On Tuesday, Adhikari said that failure to bring about this reform will lead to not being able to build future generations in the right manner. 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.

West Bengal may replace student mobile phone grants with education tablets
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Flipkart adds 14 million cubic ft warehouse space, 750 PIN codes ahead of festive season

E-commerce marketplace Flipkart on Tuesday announced an expansion of its logistics network, adding 14 million cubic feet of warehousing space and extending its delivery footprint to over 750 new PIN codes ahead of the upcoming festive season. The expansion by its logistics arm, Ekart, has increased overall storage capacity by 50 per cent nationwide, while technology and automation upgrades have raised peak processing capacity by more than 30 per cent ahead of the upcoming festive season and its flagship sale -- 'The Big Billion Days', the company said in a statement. To meet rising demand for same-day and next-day deliveries, Flipkart has set up over 900 additional delivery hubs. With this addition, Ekart's infrastructure now comprises over 8,200 facilities across India, which include fulfilment centres, sortation hubs, and last-mile delivery units, alongside nearly 1,200 'Flipkart Minutes' microfulfilment centres operational across 150-plus cities. To manage the festive surge, the Walmart-backed e-commerce major had earlier announced the creation of more than 2.5 lakh direct and indirect seasonal employment opportunities, of which nearly 75,000 are targeted at first-time job market entrants. Approximately 60 per cent of these roles are in last-mile delivery operations, driven by the expansion of quick-commerce service Flipkart Minutes in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. "This year, a customer in Leh or Kargil will experience Big Billion Days for the first time. Across Ekart and Flipkart Minutes, we now operate over 8,200 facilities, allowing us to take the festive experience to more customers while helping sellers reach buyers they could not reach before," said Hemant Badri, Senior Vice President and Head of Supply Chain, Flipkart Group. 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.

Flipkart adds 14 million cubic ft warehouse space, 750 PIN codes ahead of festive season
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

ABSLAMC launches industry’s first BSE Total Market Index Fund, NFO opens September 30

The fund will track the BSE Total Market Index, giving investors exposure to approximately 93 per cent of India’s total market capitalisation across large, mid, small and micro-cap segments. The index comprises stocks representing 98 per cent of the BSE AllCap Index’s market capitalisation, with a minimum of 1,000 constituents and no upper cap, a structure designed to expand as more companies list on Indian exchanges. Current allocation stands at 56 per cent large-cap, 20 per cent mid-cap, 10 per cent small-cap and 7 per cent micro-cap, spanning 22 sectors. The index rebalances semi-annually in June and December, with weights based on free-float adjusted market capitalisation. Managing Director and CEO A. Balasubramanian said the fund addresses investor confusion arising from an expanding universe of investment choices. “...why make the difficult decision to choose a slice when you can participate in getting the whole pie?...” he said at the launch event in Mumbai. The fund’s passive investment structure means expense ratios will be lower than actively managed funds. Historical rolling return data cited at the launch showed the BSE Total Market Index has delivered approximately 50 basis points of additional annualised return over the BSE 500, and around 150 basis points over the Sensex, without a significant difference in standard deviation. The index has posted a CAGR of 13.82 per cent over 20 years. Hemen Bhatia, Head of Passives at ABSLAMC, who co-introduced India’s first banking ETF in 2006, noted the index’s adaptive design sets it apart from numbered indices such as the Nifty 50 and Sensex, whose market-cap coverage has declined over time as India’s equity market expanded. “...the index will endeavour to remain faithful to the word ‘Total’...” he said. ABSLAMC currently manages overall AUM of ₹6,279 billion as of June 30, 2026. The firm has built a dedicated passives team, separate from its active fund management operations, to support the business. Passive funds in India have grown from ₹1.6 lakh crore to ₹15.5 lakh crore over the past six years, with passive investors now accounting for approximately 19 per cent of total mutual fund folios. 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.

ABSLAMC launches industry’s first BSE Total Market Index Fund, NFO opens September 30
Europe
BBC Business

Vet prescription fees capped under rule changes

Image source, Getty ImagesByMitchell Labiak, Business reporter and Jim Connolly, BBC News InvestigationsPublished4 hours agoWritten prescription fees from vets will be capped at £21 as part of a raft of changes that practices will be legally required to bring in over the coming months. Vets must also tell clients if cheaper medicine is available online, write price estimates ahead of treatment, and publish price lists for services as part of the rule updates. The official competition watchdog has brought the measures into force after its investigation into the sector found prices had been rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation. However, critics say the measures will hit independent vets hardest and will benefit the six firms that own more than two-thirds of practices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) made its remedies for the sector legally binding as of Tuesday and vets have up to 12 months to bring all the changes in. A written estimate must be provided in advance for any treatment expected to cost £500 or more, including aftercare costs, plus an itemised bill. Emergencies are the only exception to this To help pet owners compare local practices, price and ownership information will be made available through the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' "Find a Vet" service, which will share the data with third-party comparison sites. The timelines for when vets need to bring in the fixes depends on the exact regulation and the group's size. The CMA sets it out here., external "The changes that are being required are changes that will help inform pet owners about prices," said CMA panel chair Martin Coleman. However, Cate Titterton, the owner of an independent vet service in Saltburn, told BBC Your Voice the changes will make trips to the vets more expensive for customers. "Veterinary practices still have to have a pharmacy that is fully stocked, so if we're not making that tiny profit on the drugs, we're going to have to make some profit elsewhere. "So, things like services, consultations, surgeries – unfortunately, those prices are very, very likely to have to go up."

Vet prescription fees capped under rule changes
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Vitol told Deutsche Bank AG that Radiant World contracts with CFO’s signature were fake

Bloomberg reported in July that top traders including Vitol had halted business with Radiant World amid concerns that it had supplied banks with fake documents to obtain loans. Vitol Group told Deutsche Bank AG in early August that contracts with Radiant World purportedly signed by Vitol’s chief financial officer were not real, according to a court ruling in Singapore. The confirmation from energy and commodities company Vitol was one of the key factors that led Deutsche Bank to conclude that it had likely been defrauded by Radiant World, according to an order by the judge who on Sept 24 placed Radiant under interim judicial management. The ruling sheds further light on lenders’ efforts to assess and contain their exposure to Radiant World after Bloomberg reported in July that top traders including Vitol had halted business with the iron ore trader, amid concerns that it had supplied banks with fake documents to obtain loans. Details in the ruling show how Deutsche Bank had got in touch with Vitol and natural resources company Glencore following the story to check the veracity of documents underpinning loans it had extended to Radiant World earlier in 2026. The German bank had purchased seven receivables from Radiant that were backed by invoices showing purported sales of iron ore to the two trading houses. But in exchanges in early August, Vitol told the bank that it had no records of six of those invoices in its system. Moreover, contracts Radiant World had provided showing the name and signature of Vitol’s chief financial officer, Jay Ng, had not been executed or authorised by him, according to the judge’s ruling, which was made following a petition by Mizuho Bank, another lender to Radiant. Vitol also told Deutsche Bank on Aug 4 that documents provided by Radiant World to the bank as evidence of Vitol’s assent to the transactions “were all false”, the judge said. A day later, Deutsche Bank notified Radiant World that it had reasonable grounds to believe that three of the Vitol transactions were false or fraudulent, and demanded that Radiant repurchase the relevant receivables for about US$48.6 million (S$62.1 million). It also transferred about US$11.25 million of funds held in Radiant World accounts to Deutsche Bank’s Singapore subsidiary. On the same day, Deutsche Bank was also notified by Glencore that paperwork submitted by Radiant World referenced a transaction that had happened, but with different dates and under contractual terms that did not allow for Radiant to use the deal to raise finance elsewhere.On Aug 7, Deutsche Bank demanded repayment of the remaining four receivables from Radiant World, saying it believed the Vitol receivables were false or fraudulent, and the Glencore receivable did not exist. Radiant World via its lawyers denied Deutsche Bank’s allegations that the documents it had sent were false. It has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the order, but referred to an earlier statement noting that it has a maximum exposure to Radiant World of US$102.59 million, and is pursuing all available recovery options.

Vitol told Deutsche Bank AG that Radiant World contracts with CFO’s signature were fake