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North America
CNBC Finance

Lamborghini reveals new Urus performance hybrid SUV after ditching EVs

Lamborghini on Wednesday revealed a new hybrid performance model of its Urus SUV, as the Italian auto manufacturer continues to lean into gas-electric vehicles after abandoning plans for pure EVs. The Urus SE Performante features a more aggressive exterior design, including a larger grille and hood scoops, as well as interior improvements compared with current models of the SUV. Lamborghini is calling the new Urus SE Performante the "fastest Super SUV in the world," capable of reaching 0-100 kph, or roughly 0-60 mph, in 3.3 seconds and hitting a top speed of 312 kph, or 194 mph. The vehicle is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which means it has a gas-powered engine as well as a plug to charge a battery pack for improved electric performance. It is powered by an electric motor and a 4-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine, delivering 812 horsepower and roughly 738 foot-pounds of torque, Lamborghini said. Lamborghini, which is owned by Volkswagen AG, said it would release pricing for the Urus SE Performante closer to the vehicle arriving for U.S. customers. The 2026 Urus SE starts at about $250,00 to $280,000, depending on the model. The Urus has been crucial to Lamborghini's success since its introduction nearly a decade ago. The vehicle represents about 50% of the brand's global sales annually, according to Winkelmann, with total Lamborghini sales nearing 11,000 vehicles last year. The reveal of the new performance PHEV comes months the company confirmed plans to scrap EVs to continue focusing on hybrid models. Winkelmann declined to comment on if Lamborghini would return to gas-only models, but said "never say never" when asked about such vehicles by CNBC. Lamborghini canceled its EV plans before rival Ferrari revealed its first all-electric vehicle, the Luce, in late May. The Luce was met with intense backlash. Winkelmann previously declined to comment directly on the Luce or the responses it has received, but said "innovation is paramount" to success. However, he said innovation should not be made for innovation's sake or forced upon customers. "By observing the market ... we saw that the acceptance curve [of EVs] for our type of customers is not increasing, and that therefore we decided to move away from a full-electric car into a plug-in hybrid," he said. 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.

Lamborghini reveals new Urus performance hybrid SUV after ditching EVs
Europe
BBC Business

Halifax brand to be scrapped after 173 years

The Halifax brand is being scrapped after 173 years, with all customer accounts to be rebranded to Lloyds. Lloyds Banking Group, which has owned Halifax since 2009, confirmed the move after reports in May said it was considering phasing out Halifax as a standalone brand. Lloyds said it remained committed to the town of Halifax and the wider Yorkshire and Humber region, where 3,000 staff are based at its Trinity Road office. Halifax Labour MP Kate Dearden described the move as "bitterly disappointing" and said she had been in discussions with Lloyds to "ensure their commitment and continued investment in Halifax long into the future". Lloyds Banking Group's chief executive of consumer relationships Jas Singh said very little would change for customers. "As Halifax changes to Lloyds, our Halifax customers will keep everything they know and love today - the same fantastic app design, the same friendly faces in our branches - even the same sort code and account number," he said. No job cuts are being announced as part of the shake-up, and Halifax branches will either be rebranded to Lloyds or shifted to a nearby branch throughout 2027. It is understood the decision was rooted in efforts to simplify the group's portfolio, with the distinction between Halifax and Lloyds seen as becoming less prominent in recent years. The Halifax was founded in West Yorkshire in 1853, granting its first mortgage the same year, before growing to become one of the UK's largest building societies. Dearden described the bank as a "local institution built on the hard work and investment of working people". "While the Halifax brand will disappear, Lloyds can still play a major role in our local economy by investing in Halifax and creating the opportunities our young people need to thrive," she said. Calderdale Council's Reform leader Dan Sutherland said Lloyds Banking Group's relationship with Halifax as a place would remain "strong and enduring".

Halifax brand to be scrapped after 173 years
Europe
The Guardian

Rapid spread of AI may worsen global inequality, UN warns

The UN panel said its approach to AI was ‘scientific, not political’. Photograph: VIEW press/Corbis/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenThe UN panel said its approach to AI was ‘scientific, not political’. Photograph: VIEW press/Corbis/Getty ImagesAI (artificial intelligence)Rapid spread of AI may worsen global inequality, UN warnsPanel proses shared framework for responsible AI development as adoption grows unevenly across world A new United Nations report warns that the development of artificial intelligence may exacerbate global inequality and proposes a shared framework for how to responsibly develop AI, as adoption and investment into the technology accelerates unevenly across the world. “The more AI advances without shared rules, the less say governments and people will have in the outcome,” said António Guterres, the UN secretary general, at a press conference on Wednesday. “Our message to governments is simple: do not wait … the science is here. We can no longer say we did not know what we do.” The sweeping analysis from the independent international scientific panel on AI, established by the UN general assembly last year as “the first global scientific body on AI”, details AI’s risks and opportunities – from transformative capabilities in agriculture and education, to catastrophic outcomes when bad actors deploy AI to commit fraud and influence elections. “Access to AI tools alone does not produce equal benefit,” the report states. “Countries that rely on foreign models, cloud infrastructure and data pipelines may gain access to AI while losing practical control over its standards, safeguards and local fit.” At the press conference, co-chair of the panel, journalist Maria Ressa stressed that AI’s “pace is not slowing, the power is concentrating, and control is not guaranteed”. The report dropped one week before the UN hosts the inaugural global dialogue on AI governance for governments and experts. The preliminary report also functions as a toolkit, offering initial, broad guidance to UN member states on ways to capitalize on AI’s potential for growth across industries, while minimizing and addressing threats. Suggestions include developing local AI infrastructure, such as datacenters, improving AI literacy in schools and the workforce, investing in developers, building AI safety institutes, creating strategies to combat disinformation and continuously measuring how AI systems behave after release, “with real users, real tasks and real environments”. While more than a billion people now use AI weekly, access and types of usage vary widely across the world, “with adoption across the global south lagging far behind the global north”, the report states. The US and China dominate in the development of leading AI models, as well as investment into compute infrastructure, which encompasses the hardware, memory, networking and storage required to run powerful AI models. “The concentration of AI capabilities in a small number of firms and countries could enable authoritarian capture and undermine democratic accountability,” the report states. The panel advises countries lagging behind in AI development to consider significant investment in computing and data infrastructure. Attracting this money requires securing a reliable energy supply and building datacenters, they note. The report does, however, acknowledge the environmental costs of datacenters, including their large energy and water consumption, and potential for greenhouse gas emissions. The authors also describe challenges in evaluating safety and providing oversight of increasingly powerful AI models. “Most countries, including many advanced economies, lack the technical expertise to assess the most capable ‘frontier’ models or to participate meaningfully in their governance,” they write.

Rapid spread of AI may worsen global inequality, UN warns
Europe
The Guardian

US cooking oil market shrinking due to Ice pressures on Latino households, Mazola owner says

Associated British Foods said Hispanic customers typically used cooking oil three times before throwing it away. Photograph: miniseries/GettyView image in fullscreenAssociated British Foods said Hispanic customers typically used cooking oil three times before throwing it away. Photograph: miniseries/GettyFood & drink industryUS cooking oil market shrinking due to Ice pressures on Latino households, Mazola owner saysEconomic squeeze and anti-immigration raids have hit Hispanic communities, prompting people to shop online and reuse oil The US cooking oil market is shrinking and unlikely to improve soon because of economic and immigration enforcement pressures on Latino households, the owner of the Mazola brand has said. George Weston, the chief executive of Associated British Foods (ABF), told City analysts that cooking oil sales had suffered as “our heavy use consumer is that Hispanic population who are under financial pressure, who are under pressure from Ice [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and are feeling a bit miserable”. Anti-immigration raids championed by Donald Trump have disproportionately affected Latino communities, prompting some consumers to switch to online shopping. Weston said Hispanic customers were also reusing cooking oil more frequently. “Typically that population will be using oils three times before they throw it out, we think it’s gone to four in many cases,” said the boss of ABF, which also owns brands such as Twinings, Kingsmill and the fashion retailer Primark. “We don’t think that that’s going to change into 2027.” Weston also said Stratas Foods, ABF’s US joint venture supplying oils to the food service sector, was being hit by the rapid uptake of appetite-suppressing drugs. “We are undoubtedly seeing the consequences of GLP-1s on foodservice demand, particularly for fried food,” he said. ABF’s overall grocery sales rose 1% in the three months to 20 June, with lower US oils sales offset by growth in brands such as Twinings. The group’s total sales rose 3% to £5.3bn in the quarter with sales at Primark up 3%, once the impact of exchange rate changes was removed, offsetting a 4% slump in sales of sugar and a 14% slump in agricultural supplies led by animal feed. ABF, which is poised to hive off Primark into a separate listed company, pointed to “a challenging consumer environment across most of our markets”. Also under pressure is the UK’s third-largest supermarket, Asda, which revealed this week that it had cut almost 6,000 jobs last year after it sold off the Leon food business and reduced its technology team after largely completing a revamp of its IT systems. The job cuts amounted to about 4% of Asda’s workforce, leaving it standing at almost 137,000 by December last year. They included more than 4,600 roles in stores and in Asda’s distribution and grocery buying arm as well as more than 1,000 head office roles. Asda said most of the job losses did not involve making people redundant but rather were a result of not replacing staff after they had left or after the sale of the Leon restaurants. Others left the payroll after the ending of IT contracts as it began to wind up “project future”, the complex shift away from using systems provided by its former majority owner Walmart, the US retailer.

US cooking oil market shrinking due to Ice pressures on Latino households, Mazola owner says
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Sensex today | Stock Market LIVE: Sensex flat, Nifty above 24,100; Asian stocks fall as investors turn cautious over US-Iran tensions

Sensex Today, Nifty 50 | Stock Market Live Updates - Find here all the live updates related to Sensex, Nifty, BSE, NSE, share prices and Indian stock markets for 29th June 2026. Indian shares opened steady on Monday after posting ‌their longest weekly winning streak of 2026, ⁠as investors weigh support from renewed US-Iran diplomacy against lingering geopolitical risks. Nine of the 16 major sectors logged ‌gains at the open. The broader small-caps and mid-caps were flat. Other Asian markets fell 0.4%, ‌while Brent crude prices rose 0.6% on cautious sentiment following recent tensions ⁠in the Middle East. After three weeks of successive gain, analysts expect consolidation phase to continue. However, with settlement of F&O contracts round the corner (on June 30), analysts expect the market to remain volatile. Market participants will closely monitor Industrial Production (IIP) data, government fiscal deficit numbers, the final HSBC Manufacturing, Services and Composite PMI readings, and the latest foreign exchange reserves data for fresh insights into the health of the domestic economy. Kotak Mahindra Bank shares were down over 2% to Rs 399.35 on the NSE as against the previous close of Rs 409. The bank on Saturday said its MD and CEO Ashok Vaswani will quit upon completion of three-year tenure and will not seek re-appointment when his current term ends on December 31, 2026. Crude oil futures traded higher on Monday morning after a series of the US and Iranian attacks in West Asia that began on Thursday. However, reports said the US and Iran have stopped attacking each other. At 9.24 am on Monday, September Brent oil futures were at $73.32, up by 0.99 per cent, and August crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $70.07, up by 1.21 per cent. July crude oil futures were trading at ₹6628 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Monday against the previous close of ₹6577, up by 0.78 per cent, and August futures were trading at ₹6629 against the previous close of ₹6579, up by 0.76 per cent. Top gainers of Nifty 50: Dr Reddy’s (+3.72%), Shriram Finance (+1.81%), Eternal (+1.53%), Sun Pharma (+1.53%), Trent (+1.45%) Top losers: Kotak Mahindra (-2.04%), Adani Enterprises (-1.31%), HCL Tech (-1.17%), Infosys (-1.03%), IndiGo (-1%) Sensex rose by 121.87 pts or 0.16% to 77,222.34 at 9.16 am after flat opening at 77,055.21, and Nifty 50 was up 42.45 pts or 0.18% to 24,098.45. On Thursday, Sensex settled 109.25 pts or 0.14% positive at 77,100.47, and Nifty 50 was up 34.35 pts or 0.14% to 24,056. Markets were closed on Friday on account of Muharram. Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFC) and REC Limited (REC) today approved the Scheme of Merger (Scheme) for merger of REC (Transferor Company) into PFC (Transferee Company) and their respec ve shareholders and creditors, under Sec ons 230 to 232 and other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013. The merger of REC into PFC shall create a financing entity with an aggregate loan book of over ₹11 lakh crore. Read the full story here

Sensex today | Stock Market LIVE: Sensex flat, Nifty above 24,100; Asian stocks fall as investors turn cautious over US-Iran tensions
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Gold slips as fresh US-Iran strikes boost oil, Fed rate-hike bets weigh

Iran, US agree to halt attacks and renew talks, Axios reports Iran launched strikes on US military sites in ​Bahrain, Kuwait US ADP employment and NFP data due this week Gold prices ​eased on Monday as recent US-Iran strikes in ⁠the Gulf pushed oil prices higher, while expectations of US Federal Reserve interest rate hikes further weighed on the non-yielding metal. Spot gold was down 0.7 per cent ‌at $4,061.35 per ounce, as of 0242 GMT. US gold futures for August delivery lost 0.5 per cent to $4,076.40. The metal ‌was headed for a fourth consecutive monthly loss of 10.4 per cent. “US ‌and ⁠Iran were at it again over the weekend, ⁠with fresh military strikes reported from both parties, which casts further doubt over how long oil can stay at these subdued levels and therefore over the broader ​inflation and interest rate ‌outlook,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. Oil prices rose after Iran launched missiles and drones at US military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early on Sunday, shortly after ‌US President Donald Trump threatened to wipe out the Iranian ​leadership if they did not stick to the agreement to end their war. However, Tehran and Washington agreed ⁠to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and renew talks regarding their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported on Sunday. Elevated ‌crude oil prices can fuel inflation and chances of interest rate hikes, and while gold is typically seen as an inflation hedge, it loses its appeal as a non-yielding asset in a high interest-rate environment. Traders expect three Fed rate hikes this year and are pricing in an about 80 per cent chance of a ‌December increase, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Investors are now looking out ​for June’s ADP employment data and the US nonfarm payrolls data, both due later this week, to further gauge ⁠the Fed’s monetary policy stance. “Gold could see the $5,000 level again ⁠this year but this would be based on further de-escalation, oil having a sustained move to pre-war levels to dull ‌the inflationary impact of the conflict, and a softer dollar,” said Waterer. Spot silver fell 1.1 per cent to $58.51 per ounce, while platinum ​gained 1 per cent to $1,630.13, and palladium rose 0.8 per cent at $1,218.92. 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.

Gold slips as fresh US-Iran strikes boost oil, Fed rate-hike bets weigh
North America
Yahoo Finance

ServiceNow jumps 4% as Guggenheim flips from Neutral to Buy

Investing.com -- ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) shares caught a 4% lift on Wednesday after Guggenheim analyst John DiFucci upgraded the software giant from Neutral to Buy, slapping on a $125 price target. After closing at $99.28 on Tuesday, DiFucci’s new target values the company at 7.5x EV/NTM Recurring Revenue—a premium compared to its SaaS peers, but a price Guggenheim argues is worth paying. "We believe current levels present an attractive opportunity for investors to purchase a comfortably profitabl

ServiceNow jumps 4% as Guggenheim flips from Neutral to Buy
Europe
BBC Business

Why is crucial tech vulnerable to the heat?

As one of France's hottest days on record unfolded on 23 June, exasperated people painted white chalk on their windows to screen out the sun. Paris's Eiffel Tower closed early. And in the town of Ergué-Gabéric, in Brittany, the punishing temperatures - around 40C - were too much for one electric transformer. The chunky metal box malfunctioned, initially leaving more than 100,000 people without power. It was a "heat related" incident, according to local authorities, external. Videos posted to social media appeared to show a plume of smoke rising from the stricken transformer. A spokeswoman for power company RTE confirmed to the BBC that the video showed one of the firm's facilities. The day before the accident, RTE had published a statement, external saying there was "no concern" surrounding the availability of electricity across its network this summer. Just as we all have our own limits in terms of high temperatures, so too does technology. Electrical and telecoms equipment, and railway signalling cabinets sometimes falter during a heatwave. Extreme temperatures can even set off alarm systems. For instance, six NHS trusts in England declared a critical incident last week after hot weather adversely affected their IT systems, scanners, and cancer and lab equipment. More frequent and more intense heatwaves triggered by human-caused climate change mean that engineers are increasingly adapting infrastructure to cope. "Anything to do with the electricity network – the power lines, the interconnectors and transformers – they all struggle to keep themselves cool enough," explains Iain Staffell at Imperial College London. "It reduces the efficiency of everything." Staffell and colleagues estimate that, in temperatures of 40C, the output of gas-fired power stations drops by roughly 10% versus 20C. The efficiency of solar panels also falls as temperature rises, though Staffell notes that this effect has become less pronounced with newer generations of panels. Even so, the impact of high temperatures on solar energy in Great Britain is visible in data he and his colleagues have analysed and shared with the BBC. "Once the UK gets above 27C, our solar output plateaus and starts to slowly fall [as temperatures continue to rise]," says Staffell.

Why is crucial tech vulnerable to the heat?
Europe
BBC Business

Australia sues Amazon for making allegedly unfair contracts with subscribers

Australia's consumer watchdog has sued Amazon, claiming the tech giant introduced adverts in Prime Video using allegedly unfair contract terms. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Amazon had broken consumer protection law by making the unfair contracts with over a million annual subscribers between November 2023 and August 2025. "Consumers who wanted to avoid ads were left with no choice but to pay more to maintain the service they'd initially signed up for", ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said. A spokeswoman for Amazon told the BBC the company is "reviewing the case filed by the ACCC in detail." "We have cooperated with the ACCC throughout its investigation and remain focused on providing the best experience for our Australian customers", the she added. For more than a decade, Prime Video was a commercial-free streaming offering that was included as part of Amazon's popular Prime subscription, which is sold as an upgrade on its core delivery service. Prime became available in Australia in 2018. It started to roll out advertising in the service globally in early 2024. When Amazon began that year to include ads within Prime Video, it told subscribers in Australia they would need to pay an additional fee each month in order to keep the service free of ads, driving the monthly price up to 12.99 Australian dollars. At that point, the ACCC said over 850,000 people in Australia had already paid for a year's worth of Prime service. "Those subscribers were provided with a degraded, ad-supported Prime Video service for the balance of their prepaid term unless they paid for the ad-free option", the ACCC added in a filing, external. The ACCC said Amazon did this by relying on five unfair terms in contracts with over a million customers signed between 1 November 2023 and 18 August 2025. "Those contracts included five terms permitting [Amazon Australia] to unilaterally make materially adverse changes to its services (including, but not limited to, Prime Video) and the terms governing those services, without any contractual entitlement for subscribers to receive refunds or other meaningful redress," the ACCC said.

Australia sues Amazon for making allegedly unfair contracts with subscribers