Latest Developments

North America
CNBC Finance

Cruise lines chase luxury travelers with suites for up to $25,000 a night

The latest push into high-end travel is taking place on the high seas, as cruise lines increasingly lean on luxury offerings. On Regent's Seven Seas Splendor, an all-luxury ship, cabins cost anywhere from $1,800 to $15,000 per night for its top-of-the-line booking, the Regent Suite. The difference is not just the roughly 5,100 square feet of space. The top-tier suite has a Steinway piano, a private dining room and a wraparound deck with a hot tub and a view comparable to the one from the ship's bridge. Multiple passengers wanted the suite for the Splendor’s 151-night global cruise that embarks in January, Regent told CNBC, and it is almost always occupied. Regent is setting its sights even higher, as the cruise line plans to debut the Seven Seas Prestige in December, its first new ship class in a decade. Its top suite will cost $25,000 per night. While megaships with surfing and waterslides can carry more than 7,500 passengers, the smaller, elite ships — some carrying fewer than a thousand passengers — are powering profits for companies like Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. The company owns luxury lines Regent and Oceania. Norwegian CEO John Chidsey has said he's focused on sharpening the luxury brands' positioning, improving the products and guest experience, and strengthening their commercial performance. Regent and Oceania, he said, are in good shape for 2027, though Chidsey did not break out metrics between the companies. Cruise competitors are also betting big on luxury offerings, investing in new ships and more specialized experiences. Regent competes with established luxury cruise lines including Royal Caribbean's Silversea and Carnival's Seabourn, as well as newer entrants carrying hotel names into the market. Four Seasons, Aman and Orient Express are among the brands bringing luxury hospitality to yacht-style vessels. The cruise industry projects the luxury cruise fleet will grow from 104 ships in 2026 to at least 130 by 2036. And while global cruise passengers are forecast to increase about 11% between 2025 and 2028, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, or CLIA, the industry's investment dollars are increasingly flowing to luxury and expedition brands, with orders rising for smaller ships and fewer berths through the next decade.

Cruise lines chase luxury travelers with suites for up to $25,000 a night
Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

Real Madrid apologise to China over Mbappe comments

The clip of the video interview saw Kylian Mbappe talk about being amused by an internet meme of his face photoshopped onto "some guy, think he's a Chinese dictator", an apparent reference to Mao Zedong. This photo shows an advertising campaign for Chinese dairy brand Mengniu featuring football stars France's Kylian Mbappe (centre), Argentina's Lionel Messi (left) and Spain's Lamine Yamal at a supermarket in Beijing on Oct 28, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Pedro Pardo) MADRID: Real Madrid apologised to China on Wednesday (Oct 28) for Kylian Mbappe's comments poking fun at Mao Zedong, after the star striker's remarks sparked a social media storm and saw Spanish football yanked off state TV. Mocking former leader Mao - blamed by historians for millions of deaths - is taboo in China, and Mbappe's remarks saw him become the latest foreign sports figure to anger Beijing. In a clip of a video interview with French show The Bridge - since taken down - Mbappe talked about being amused by an internet meme of his face photoshopped onto "some guy, think he's a Chinese dictator", an apparent reference to Mao. Real Madrid "wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any offence caused by the recent remarks of our player Kylian Mbappe", the club said in a statement. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less "The club joins in the public apology issued by Kylian Mbappe, in which the player himself expressed his regret for his words and reiterated his respect for the Chinese people," the 15-time European champions said. The statement came a day after Mbappe issued his own apology, in French, Chinese and English, saying: "My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world." Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing on Wednesday: "We take seriously the apology the individual concerned has made." La Liga, which saw the broadcast of its matches suspended in China, said Tuesday it "deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappe's recent comments have caused among Chinese fans". Earlier, the state-run Global Times said in an editorial that it was "not difficult to see that the club's longstanding tolerance of such behaviour has contributed to Mbappe's latest offensive remarks". Chinese beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year's World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe, said Tuesday it had scrapped its partnership with the player, as did dairy firms Mengniu and Milkground.

Real Madrid apologise to China over Mbappe comments
Japan
Nikkei Asia

Tech earnings season heats up ahead of US midterms

Welcome to the Tech Latest podcast. Every Tuesday, we deliver the hottest trends and news from the tech sector. In this episode, Katey Creel joins Yifan Yu from Silicon Valley for the first regular U.S.-focused edition of Tech Latest. They discuss what investors will be watching as Big Tech earnings season heats up; whether AI companies can justify massive spending on data centers and infrastructure; speculation around a potential Tesla-SpaceX tie-up; and how growing opposition to data centers is becoming a political issue ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.

Tech earnings season heats up ahead of US midterms
North America
CNBC Finance

American Airlines forecasts bigger loss in 2026 on fuel spike, plans to slow growth next year

American Airlines forecast deeper losses this year as record revenue failed to help the airline recover from this year's spike in fuel costs. The carrier plans to slow its capacity growth next year as a result. American on Thursday said it expects to lose between $1 and $1.60 a share, on an adjusted basis for the full year. In July, it forecast earnings of up to 65 cents a share to a loss of as low as 65 cents a share. "American delivered record third-quarter revenue and the strongest year-over-year revenue growth in my career, with premium performance leading the way," American CEO Robert Isom said in a news release. "The investments we are making across the four pillars of our commercial strategy are working, and we expect another quarter of record revenue growth to close out the year." The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline is the fourth major U.S. carrier to cut its forecast for 2026 due to a jump in jet fuel following the start of the Iran war. Rising jet fuel prices have also driven up airfare more than 20% from last year. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines also slashed their outlooks this month. Jet fuel is airlines' biggest cost after labor, and the spike has added billions to costs this year. American's fuel bill was up 67.5% in the third quarter from last year to $4.64 billion. American forecast it will lose between 50 cents and $1.10 a share, adjusted, in the fourth quarter, with revenue expected to be up as much as 22.5% from a year earlier and capacity up between 5.5% and 6.5%. For the third quarter, American had a net loss of $269 million or 41 cents a share, compared with $114 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, American reported a loss of 28 cents a share. Revenue jumped 19.3% from a year earlier to $16.34 billion. Isom has been under pressure to boost profits at the carrier, which has dramatically trailed profitable rivals Delta and United. American has been investing in new lounges and revamped cabins with more premium seats. Earlier this month, the airline named a new network chief. It was the latest move in a management shake-up that has included new hires in its operations department and its commercial team. Last year, American brought in a new commercial chief, industry veteran Nat Pieper. 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.

American Airlines forecasts bigger loss in 2026 on fuel spike, plans to slow growth next year
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Nearly 90% of businesses are turning to tokenised money, DBS survey shows

A DBS survey showed that 88% of businesses have deployed or are piloting tokenised money use cases. SINGAPORE – Global adoption of tokenised money is moving faster than expected among businesses looking to improve liquidity management and access new markets, a top executive from DBS Bank said. The remarks by Lim Soon Chong, the group head of global transaction services, follow a survey by the lender that showed that 88% of businesses have deployed or are piloting tokenised money use cases. Conducted between June and July, the survey polled 422 global business and finance leaders from organisations with annual revenue exceeding US$500 million (S$640.9 million) across 11 markets, including the US, UK, Australia, China and Germany. Roughly two-thirds of respondents said their businesses had either fully deployed tokenised money at scale or begun using it in selected locations. Stablecoins were the most widely adopted tokenised instrument at 63%, followed by tokenised deposits at 53% and tokenised money market funds at 52%. “Our interpretation is that there are significant benefits that stablecoins offer,” said Lim. “Stablecoins, as you know, offer better fungibility across payment intermediaries, not just across banks. They are less cumbersome from a permissioning standpoint,” he said. The survey found South-east Asia was the top destination for businesses looking to expand into new markets, followed by Australia and New Zealand, with India ranking third. More than half of respondents in both Australia and the UK said they were considering using the Chinese yuan for trade settlement over the next one to two years. The yuan’s recent appreciation is making yuan settlement more attractive to Chinese exporters, who are increasingly offering better commercial terms for transactions denominated in the currency, DBS said. “The Chinese authorities are clearly pushing the internationalisation of the renminbi (yuan), so we expect this to go up,” Lim said. REUTERS

Nearly 90% of businesses are turning to tokenised money, DBS survey shows
North America
CNBC Finance

Pepsi renews contract with Taco Bell days after KFC switches to Coke in the U.S.

PepsiCo and Taco Bell renewed their long-running partnership through 2036, the food and beverage company said Thursday. The announcement comes one week after Taco Bell's sister chain, KFC, said that it will switch to Coca-Cola as its U.S. beverage supplier. While it is unusual for large restaurant chains to change drink providers, the move is not unprecedented, as Coke and Pepsi try to win contracts through perks and other inducements. Coke's win over Pepsi was more symbolic, representing another example of how the Atlanta-based company has been beating its rival in the soda category. Pepsi's relationship with Taco Bell and KFC parent Yum Brands spans decades, back to when the beverage giant owned the restaurant chains before spinning them into a separate public company in 1997. Despite KFC's defection in the U.S., Pepsi remains an important partner for Yum and the chain's international markets, KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie wrote in a memo on Oct. 15 that was obtained by CNBC. Thanks to its partnership with Pepsi, Taco Bell has long served exclusive menu items that use Pepsi products, like Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Doritos Locos Tacos, at its restaurants. The renewed deal also means that Taco Bell international markets such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Thailand will serve Pepsi products. 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.

Pepsi renews contract with Taco Bell days after KFC switches to Coke in the U.S.
North America
Fortune

Newport Restaurant Group is 100% owned by its workers—and has paid them $33 million since 1995: ‘Nobody else gets the benefit’

Andy Stanne started as a bartender at The Mooring in Newport, R.I., in 2002, as a teenager trying to scrape together a few extra bucks. Twenty-four years later, Stanne is still in the same role at the same company. But he isn’t just an employee anymore—he’s also a part owner, just like all of his coworkers. Newport Restaurant Group, which owns The Mooring and 17 other restaurants and hospitality venues across Rhode Island and Massachusetts, is one of the few companies in the country where the shareholders aren’t outside investors but the employees themselves. Founded in 1925 as a fuel oil business, the company sold off its other assets and began an employee stock ownership plan in 1995, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. It has since become 100% employee-owned. What started as a summer job for Stanne became a lifelong career because staying was a no-brainer. “If I’m going to do this for a living, I may as well stay with the company that pays me the ESOP, gives me the health insurance, paid time off, the stock options, 401k,” Stanne told Fortune. The restaurant group, now more than 100 years old, has about 1,100 employee-owners, a number that swells to roughly 1,800 workers during the busy summer season. The company says its turnover is low, with many employees—like Stanne—planning to stay for a lifetime. The company operates as an ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan, a type of retirement plan in which a trust holds company shares for participating employees. The beneficiaries, in this case, are the workers who staff Newport’s restaurants, from the Castle Hill Inn and 22 Bowen’s in Newport to Hemenway’s in Providence. “Everything that we’re doing is to drive the value of our company that only we, as the employee owners, get the benefit of. Nobody else gets the benefit of that work,” Newport Restaurant Group CEO Mick Lamond, who joined the company as CFO in 2005 and was promoted to the top job in 2025, told Fortune. According to the company, employees become fully vested after six years of service and must work 800 hours a year to participate—only about 15 hours a week. If they leave, the company buys back their shares, and employees can roll the money into a retirement account or cash out. Since 1995, the company says it has paid out $33 million to its employee-owners. For Lamond, the “overarching success story” is giving employees a retirement plan that grows at no cost to them, based on their collective success and hard work. Because their payout is tied to the company’s performance, he says, employees care more about their work and invest more of themselves in their jobs. “When you have employees that actually have a vested interest in the success of the company, it permeates its way through right to the guest experience,” Lamond says. “They appreciate us, we appreciate them, and it just works,” Stanne says of management. Stanne says he makes sure every guest he serves feels taken care of, and he makes a point of eating at each new restaurant the company opens. “I’ll spend my money back into the company. It helps it grow. You know, I want to see it be successful. I want every restaurant that they open to be successful,” he says.

Newport Restaurant Group is 100% owned by its workers—and has paid them $33 million since 1995: ‘Nobody else gets the benefit’
Europe
The Guardian

US judge orders Trump to sit for deposition in $10bn lawsuit against BBC

Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on 21 October 2026. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump walks to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on 21 October 2026. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald TrumpUS judge orders Trump to sit for deposition in $10bn lawsuit against BBCJudge threatens to dismiss Trump’s BBC lawsuit unless he cooperates with discovery process and sits for deposition Donald Trump has been ordered by a US judge to cooperate with the discovery process mandated for his lawsuit against the BBC and to sit for a deposition by 11 December – or else he could be subject to sanctions, including the possible dismissal of the $10bn lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from a Panorama documentary aired by the BBC that spliced together two comments made nearly an hour apart by Trump during a rally on 6 January 2021, before the US Capitol riot. The BBC has acknowledged that this specific edit was misleading, but Trump has gone on to claim, falsely, that the BBC did not just edit his speech but used AI to insert words into his speech. While the broadcast was not readily available to view in Florida, Trump’s team has argued that he was personally damaged by the broadcast under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. During a lengthy hearing dealing with a variety of discovery issues, federal magistrate judge Enjoliqué Lett on Thursday also rejected a request by Trump’s legal team to prevent the seven-hour-long deposition from being videotaped, though it will only be accessible to attorneys in the case. Lett agreed with contentions from the BBC’s lawyers that Trump’s team had not been sufficiently forthcoming in handing over internal documents relevant to the case ahead of an 18 December deadline for discovery. “We still have a completely lopsided [situation] here on discovery. They have produced absolutely nothing of any substance,” attorney Charles Tobin, on behalf of the BBC, argued in a Miami courtroom. The documents that Trump’s team have turned over have primarily been either pulled from the internet or provided by the BBC itself. “It strains credulity that a thorough search has been done in order to determine that all of these requests have been responded to,” Lett told Alejandro Brito, Trump’s Florida-based attorney. “The court is not satisfied that anyone is doing a thorough job.” The judge gave the plaintiffs 30 days to produce the relevant documents. While she acknowledged that the discovery process can be “burdensome” on both parties, she said that “failure to do so could result in sanctions, including possible dismissal of the suit for failure to prosecute the case and engage in meaningful discovery process”. Of the Trump team’s obligation to adequately participate in the discovery process, the judge said: “This is the last opportunity to do so.” After discussing the discovery process, the judge turned to the BBC’s request to compel the president’s team to agree for a deposition, after a previously scheduled date – 16 October – was cancelled for what Trump’s counsel said were “other matters of national importance”. While the BBC noted that Trump was actually campaigning in Georgia on that day, leading Tobin to conclude that the plaintiff’s team had transmitted “fake news”, Brito said the president was “involved in a host of things” on a daily basis that the BBC’s legal team “has no idea” about.

US judge orders Trump to sit for deposition in $10bn lawsuit against BBC
Asia-Pacific
Channel NewsAsia

Indonesian students protest rising prices, government’s handling of forest fires

Protesters flocked to two of Jakarta’s busiest thoroughfares, carrying banners critical of President Prabowo Subianto’s policies. Students gather in Central Jakarta amid heavy security presence to protest the government’s handling of forest and land fires and rising prices on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Ridhwan Siregar) Nivell Rayda 28 Oct 2026 07:48PM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST JAKARTA: Hundreds of Indonesian students took to the streets on Wednesday (Oct 28) to protest rising prices, dwindling subsidies as well as the government’s handling of forest fires.In Jakarta, protesters from different universities and non-for-profit organisations flocked to Jalan Thamrin and Jalan Sudirman, two of the city’s busiest thoroughfares where many local and foreign companies are headquartered, carrying banners critical of President Prabowo Subianto’s policies.They also called on the government to declare the ongoing wildfires in Sumatra and Kalimantan a national disaster and to halt spending on populist programmes such as Prabowo's free meals scheme, which have caused state spending to balloon at the expense of more critical programmes like disaster mitigation and infrastructure development. The budget for the free school meals programme this year is 229 trillion rupiah (US$12.6 billion), a reduction from 268 trillion rupiah earlier allocated, senior officials running the project said on Jul 21, adding that further cuts were possible. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) then-head Suharyanto had said in February the agency would receive only 491 billion rupiah for 2026, a nearly 75 percent drop from the previous year. In the wake of several disasters, BNPB principal secretary Rustian said in September the agency had had its regular funding increased to 1.08 trillion rupiah this year, and also has 4.62 trillion rupiah in ready-to-use emergency funds. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Indonesian students protest in Jakarta on Oct 28, 2026 against rising prices, reduced subsidies and the government's handling of forest fires. Their banner reads: "What is the point of education if only used to deceive; what is the point of reading books if your speech is curtailed." (Photo: CNA/Ridhwan Siregar) The protesters also criticised Indonesia’s decision in late September to cut energy subsidies from 376.8 trillion rupiah this year to 261 trillion rupiah next year.“The subsidy cut came as many are reeling from ballooning petrol prices and the scarcity of subsidised fuel because of the tensions in the Middle East,” said 20-year-old Diana from University of Indonesia, who asked to be identified only by her first name.“It also came as the government decided to earmark more money into wasteful programmes like the free meal initiative and village cooperatives,” she said.Wednesday’s protest coincided with Indonesia’s Youth Pledge Day, which commemorates a declaration of unity in 1928 by young Indonesians that defined the national identity. It was met with heavy security presence, stopping students from reaching their rendezvous point at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, a favoured demonstration site. Students told CNA that they had initially planned on marching from the roundabout to the Presidential Palace some 3km away. Instead the blockade caused the students to scatter at various locations in Jakarta. “(Authorities) have no right to stop us from getting where we need to go and exercising our freedom of expression,” said Tigor, 23, from Pancasila University, who also asked to to be identified by his first name. Several minor scuffles were observed as the protesters tried to press on and breach the barricade but the police were able to quell these attempts.Protests have also been held in haze-stricken areas of Borneo and Sumatra, including one in Central Kalimantan last week.Prabowo's approval ratings have fallen steadily since late last year, according to surveys by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC), two years into his presidency.Indonesia's last major protest took place in August, when hundreds were detained, and students also held demonstrations last week.In 2025, weeks-long nationwide protests broke out in Indonesia after the police killing of a motorcycle taxi driver, with several more people killed during the unrest.

Indonesian students protest rising prices, government’s handling of forest fires