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Europe
BBC Business

Thames Water lenders preparing legal challenge in event of Burnham nationalisation

Image source, EPABySimon JackBusiness editorPublished9 hours agoThe lenders to Thames Water are preparing a legal challenge in case a Burnham-led government attempts to nationalise the UK's biggest water company. Burnham - who takes over as PM on Monday - has previously said he wants to see "greater public control" of the water and energy sectors and has called for Thames Water to be nationalised. Its lenders had proposed a deal to write off nearly half of that and inject new cash in return for some leniency from future pollution fines, but this deal has previously been rejected by the government as being "weak" and bad for consumers and the environment. Sources close to the creditors have told the BBC that in the event of full nationalisation, they would pursue payment in full of the outstanding debts as has happened in previous cases, which could leave the government with a multi-billion-pound bill. Fears first emerged three years ago that Thames Water could collapse and on Thursday, the firm warned it has enough cash to last until the end of this year. Creditors insisted on Sunday that they were still working with officials and regulators to reach an agreement to rescue the company. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was "prepared for any eventuality". "Thames Water customers have been let down for far too long, with 15 years of under-performance, increasing serious pollution, and customers left to pick up the bill," the spokesperson said. "The secretary of state has written to Ofwat to outline her early views that she is not convinced London and Valley Water's proposal is good enough for consumers or the environment." The lenders have offered to write off £9.4bn of Thames Water's near £20bn debt pile and put £3.35bn of cash into the company, but in return they want leniency from future pollution fines in order to turn the firm's fortunes around. Objecting to the proposal, Emma Reynolds said in June that she did not want a scenario where Thames Water customers had to "pick up the bill for the company's failures". At the time, she told reporters that the government "stands ready for all eventualities", including temporary nationalisation.

Thames Water lenders preparing legal challenge in event of Burnham nationalisation
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
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
North America
CNBC Economy

Wholesale prices unexpectedly declined 0.3% in June on big drop in gasoline

Wholesale prices unexpectedly fell in June as sliding energy costs helped brighten the inflation picture, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The produce price index posted a seasonally adjusted 0.3% decline for the month, compared with the Dow Jones consensus estimate for the final demand cost measure to be unchanged. On an annual basis, the index indicated a 5.5% inflation rate. The May reading was revised sharply lower, from an initially reported increase of 1.1% to 0.6%. Excluding food and energy, the core PPI rose 0.2%, against the outlook for a 0.3% increase. The core PPI less trade services rose 0.1% and was up 5.1% from a year ago. As with consumer prices, the index benefited from easing energy costs, particularly as oil fell due to the brief pause in tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Goods prices posted a 1.4% monthly decline, the biggest drop since July 2022 as energy slumped 6.4% and final demand food prices were off 0.6%. Within the goods category, gasoline tumbled 12%, accounting for about two-thirds of the monthly decrease. At the same time, services prices rose 0.2%, boosted by a 0.4% increase in trade services. The release comes the day after the BLS reported that the consumer price index, a broad measure of inflation at the cash register, posted an unexpectedly sharp decline of 0.4% in June, bringing the annual inflation rate down to 3.5%. That was the biggest monthly drop since April 2020, just after the Covid pandemic declaration. Core consumer inflation slipped to 2.6% after prices were unchanged for the month. While the inflation measures are still well above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal, they do represent progress in the central bank's five-year battle to get back to target. "The Fed's war with inflation isn't over by any means," said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds, "... but there is good news from the front and the odds of Fed rate hikes should continue to recede as inflation at the factory level is trending lower, and producers will not be passing on their higher costs to the consumer level as much as we previously thought." Stocks were higher Wednesday morning, though traders scaled back expectations for interest rate hikes, with September now a 50-50 bet, according to the CME Group's FedWatch gauge of futures pricing. The consumer and producer price indexes both feed heavily into the calculation of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Policymakers most closely follow the personal consumption expenditures price index, due to be released later this month from the Commerce Department. For May, the PCE index indicated headline inflation of 4.1% and core at 3.4%, both likely to come down following this week's releases.

Wholesale prices unexpectedly declined 0.3% in June on big drop in gasoline
North America
CNBC Finance

‘Arsenal of democracy’: Jamie Dimon announces $24 million effort to boost American shipbuilding

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday announced a $24 million effort to help revive American shipbuilding, his latest move under the bank's $1.5 trillion security project aimed at bolstering industries critical to U.S. economic and national security. The figure includes $18 million in loans and $6 million in grants to finance a new submarine manufacturing facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard being built by Rhoads Industries, expand lending to maritime-related small businesses and strengthen regional suppliers, JPMorgan said. "The arsenal of democracy has been reignited," Dimon told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. "People said it couldn't happen, but here you have Hanwha shipbuilding at the Philadelphia Navy Yard," Dimon said, naming a South Korean conglomerate with a U.S. vessel-making subsidiary. The announcement comes as rising geopolitical tensions, including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, spur governments to rearm and reinvest in domestic industrial capacity. Last year, JPMorgan launched a $1.5 trillion initiative to finance sectors it considers critical to U.S. economic and national security, including shipbuilding. The firm announced an expansion of the program into Europe this year. 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.

‘Arsenal of democracy’: Jamie Dimon announces $24 million effort to boost American shipbuilding
North America
CNBC Finance

Morgan Stanley posts record quarterly revenue and profit as equities trading surges 69%

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday posted record revenue and profit for the second quarter, driven by a 69% surge in equities trading revenue. The company said profit jumped 58% from a year earlier to $5.58 billion. Revenue climbed 27% to $21.35 billion. Like at peers Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, a massive beat in equities trading drove the quarter's outsized results. Heightened activity fueled by the global artificial intelligence boom propelled JPMorgan and Goldman to beat estimates for equities trading by a combined $4.4 billion, while investment banking at the two firms topped estimates by a combined $1 billion. Equities trading revenue at Morgan Stanley hit a record $6.3 billion, roughly $1.9 billion more than analysts surveyed by StreetAccount had expected. The firm cited strength across the equities franchise and "notable strength in Asia," another recurring Wall Street theme as the AI trade spreads globally. Meanwhile, fixed income trading rose 13% to $2.46 billion, essentially matching the consensus estimate, on good results in credit trading. "Active markets and consistent execution across all three regions drove exceptional results for our integrated firm," CEO Ted Pick said in the release. Investment banking revenue surged 58% to $2.44 billion, about $270 million more than analysts had expected, on additional completed mergers, initial public offerings and related equities deals, and rising debt issuance. Revenue in the firm's giant wealth management division climbed 14% to $8.86 billion, about $146 million more than expected, as asset levels were buoyed by the rising stock market and growth in deposits and lending. Revenue in investment management, the firm's smallest division, rose about 6% to $1.65 billion thanks to rising asset values, essentially matching the estimate. 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.

Morgan Stanley posts record quarterly revenue and profit as equities trading surges 69%
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
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

FSSAI suspends license of Westend Agro Products and Rehaan Healthcare

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has suspended the licence of Westend Agro Products Pvt Ltd after observing serious food safety violations during inspection of its premises. Recently, the food safety regulator has also suspended licence of Rehaan Healthcare after finding serious non-compliances during the inspection of its health supplements and nutraceuticals manufacturing unit. In a social media post, FSSAI said it received a complaint regarding alteration of manufacturing and packing dates, fraudulent re-labelling and sale of misbranded food products at the premises. Inspection revealed Westend Agro Products and Westend Corporation were operating from the same premises. “Several food products were found with altered manufacturing dates, expiry dates, batch numbers and misleading label declarations. Printing machinery, stamps, solvents and other materials allegedly used for altering mandatory food label information was also found during the inspection,” FSSAI noted. Westend Agro Products owns brand Organic Shastra and the food safety regulator said that packaging materials, labels and printed wrappers bearing misleading declarations including “Organic” claims were recovered. “Deliberate forgery and alteration of mandatory labelling information and sale of food with false or misleading labels, pose a direct threat to consumers and public health. The food products are, therefore, prima facie considered unsafe,” it added in its post. Therefore, the state FSSAI licence of Westend Agro Products Pvt Ltd has been suspended with immediate effect. On Friday, the food safety regulator announced that the FSSAI licence of Rehaan Healthcare has been suspended and has been directed to cease all food business activities until all deficiencies are rectified and compliance is verified. The company’s health supplement and nutraceutical unit was manufacturing digestive syrup, multivitamin syrup and other syrup-based food products. “The manufacturing premises were found to be extremely unhygienic and unorganised. Sediments of filth and sludge accumulated under the manufacturing tank, disorganised storage of raw materials and poor housekeeping created a serious risk of cross-contamination,” FSSAI said in a social media post. “As the unit manufacturers health supplements and nutraceuticals, a high-risk category of food consumed by children and other vulnerable groups, the unhygienic conditions and the failure of food safety poses a serious and imminent threat to public health,“ it added. Meanwhile, the FSSAI also said that an adjudication order has been passed against Sopan Restaurant following analysis of a Nova Flavoured Double Toned Milk sample collected from Pantry Car No. 15904 (Chandigarh - Dibrugarh Express). The State Public Health Laboratory, Assam, declared the sample as substandard in its report. “Strict regulatory action has been taken following the testing of a food sample collected from train services in Chandigarh - Dibrugarh Express,” it said in a social media post. A penalty has also been imposed following this incident. 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.

FSSAI suspends license of Westend Agro Products and Rehaan Healthcare
North America
Yahoo Finance

XYLD Versus SPY: The 28% Price Return Gap Nobody Discusses

The Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF (NYSEARCA:XYLD) pays income the way a landlord collects rent on someone else’s future gains. XYLD sits on the S&P 500 and sells one-month at-the-money call options against it, then hands the premiums back to shareholders every month. That mechanic has produced a trailing 12-month payout of $4.2378 per share, roughly a 10.3% yield on a $41 share price. The question every XYLD holder should be asking is whether that check stays this size, and the answer is: the distribution is structurally reliable, but the number attached to it is not. XYLD holds the S&P 500 and writes standard covered calls on the index each month. When those options expire worthless (the market stayed flat or fell), the fund keeps 100% of the premium and passes most of it through as a distribution. When the market rallies past the strike, the fund gives up that upside above the cap in exchange for the premium it already collected. Global X charges 0.6% for the wrapper, on top of a fund with $3.1 billion in net assets as of April 2026. The dividend, then, is really an option-premium pass-through. It cannot “get cut” the way a company slashes its payout. It floats month to month with implied volatility. Look at the monthly stream and the pattern is obvious. During the March 2026 volatility spike (VIX peaked near 31), XYLD’s March distribution came in at $0.3905 and May’s followed at $0.4012. Compare that with the sleepy tape of late 2025, when VIX bottomed near 13 and the September 2025 distribution shrank to $0.3016. Higher fear equals fatter premiums equals bigger checks. The current VIX print near 17 sits right around the 12-month median, meaning premiums are middling. That is why the forward annualized estimate of $4.0836 runs modestly below the trailing figure. Full-year totals confirm the swing: $5.0447 in the volatile 2022 tape versus $4.1708 in 2025. Same fund, same strategy, different regime. The income comes at a real price. Over the last year, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) delivered a total price return of 20%. XYLD, with distributions reinvested implicitly, returned 17% on price, and its five-year price gain of 45% trails SPY’s 73%. The covered-call cap ate roughly a third of the upside in a strong bull tape. That is the structural cost of turning capital appreciation into monthly cash. There is also the Treasury alternative. The 10-year is yielding 4.6%, so XYLD’s income premium over risk-free is still real, roughly 5.5 percentage points, but investors are earning it by absorbing full equity drawdowns with only a small volatility cushion. XYLD’s distribution is safe in the sense that will not fail. It is a mechanical pass-through governed by option premiums, and the fund has paid monthly without interruption for years. The risky assumption is expecting a fixed 10% yield to persist. Model your income at the forward estimate of roughly $4.08 per share and treat anything above that as a volatility bonus. If you want equity income with more room to grow the principal, a lower-yielding dividend growth fund like Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) hits a different point on the same tradeoff. XYLD makes sense for retirees and income-first investors who need consistent monthly cash and accept muted upside. It works less well as a total-return vehicle in a market that keeps grinding higher.

XYLD Versus SPY: The 28% Price Return Gap Nobody Discusses