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Europe
BBC Business

Ticket reseller StubHub UK customers to get refunds over illegal hidden fees

Image source, Getty ImagesByFaarea MasudBusiness reporterPublished23 June 2026, 07:27 BSTUpdated 2 hours agoTicket reseller StubHub UK has been ordered to refund more than 50,000 customers and pay a £900,000 fine for not showing people the total price upfront when buying tickets. Each customer is expected to receive £10 on average per transaction, following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). StubHub International said the hidden fees were as a result of an "isolated platform error" that led to some charges appearing at checkout rather than earlier in the buying process. "Our UK platform is designed to display all fees upfront," it said, adding that it had "identified and corrected the issue promptly, and all affected customers will receive an automatic refund". The fine for StubHub International, which operates in Europe, comes as the CMA investigated several firms as part review of online pricing practices, such as drip pricing, which was banned last year. Drip pricing is when fees and charges are introduced later in the buying process rather than upfront, giving customers the impression that a product is cheaper than it really is. "Hitting customers with hidden fees is illegal. It's not fair to draw people in with what looks like a good deal, only for them to find the real price is higher when they get to the checkout due to extra charges that can't be avoided," said Emma Cochrane, executive director of consumer protection at the CMA. The CMA found between 6 April and 7 December last year that some customers buying tickets for gigs and sports events via StubHub UK were required to pay mandatory costs such as delivery and service fees, which were unavoidable but only added at the final checkout stage. The regulator said StubHub UK admitted breaking the law and received a 40% reduction to its financial penalty. It has also taken steps to "end the conduct", it added. "Going to a live gig or sports game is an event many people save for – and our action today means thousands of fans will get back money taken unfairly through hidden fees," said Cochrane. "Our message to businesses is simple: be transparent on costs or risk CMA action." It is looking into practices including pressure selling, drip pricing, and misleading countdown clocks as part of its investigations.

Ticket reseller StubHub UK customers to get refunds over illegal hidden fees
North America
CNBC Finance

'Reward for failure': Investor support for Target Chair Brian Cornell falls to lowest level ever

Target has promised investors that it's pursuing an aggressive turnaround with a new CEO at the helm, but its longtime former top executive Brian Cornell still leads the retailer's board of directors — and some major investors are signaling they're hungry for change. Shareholder backing for Target's former CEO and current Executive Chairman Cornell fell to its lowest level ever during the company's annual general meeting this month. While Cornell, 67, was comfortably reelected to his position on Target's board of directors, he saw the steepest drop in support since he joined the retailer's board more than a decade ago, when he was hired as its CEO. In all, 87.2% of shareholders voted to reelect him to the board — a 4% decline from the year-ago period and a material drop from his historical average of 95% support. It's also well below the average level of support directors have received across the S&P 500 this year, which Harvard Law puts at 96.6%. "Getting over 95% is normal. Getting under 95% is poor, and getting under 90 is very poor. It means people are going out of their way to say they don't want you there anymore," said Kevin Kaiser, an adjunct full professor of finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who teaches a course on shareholder activism. Given how many investors automatically approve what major proxy firms or boards suggest they vote for, "anything below 90 is considered a very bad result" and is rare to see, Kaiser said. Cornell's drop in support comes after he stepped down from his CEO role and transitioned to be Target's executive chairman in February as the company contended with dwindling profits, a falling share price and three straight years of annual sales declines. Neil Saunders, retail analyst and GlobalData managing director, said some analysts and investors viewed Cornell's appointment to executive chair as a "reward for failure" and wanted a clean break from the management team that oversaw so many of Target's issues. "If you don't do a good job as CEO, then arguably you should be cleared out of the boardroom and I think that's how most people view it," Saunders said. "I don't think that that is unreasonable. To get rewarded for delivering a decline in the share price and causing problems for the company, it just doesn't sit well with a lot of people." A Target spokesperson declined to comment and instead referred CNBC to its 2026 proxy statement and a press release it issued announcing the voting results of its annual general meeting. In its proxy statement, the company said keeping the roles of board chair and CEO separate "is appropriate given the company's immediate strategic and operational priorities" as the positions have "distinct roles and responsibilities." "The separated structure allows [CEO Michael Fiddelke] to focus on the business, including implementation of key initiatives, during the initial phase of his CEO tenure, while Mr. Cornell's service as Executive Chair allows the Board to continue to leverage his in-depth knowledge of our business and industry during this transitional phase," the statement reads. Since joining Target as the retailer's CEO in 2014, Cornell grew sales by more than 44% and helped transform it into a $100 billion-plus juggernaut as he oversaw the expansion of its digital presence, grew stores and steered the company through the Covid-19 pandemic.

'Reward for failure': Investor support for Target Chair Brian Cornell falls to lowest level ever
Europe
BBC Business

Can you keep your kids off school or refuse to work during a heatwave?

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, There is no law in the UK that says a given temperature is too hot or too cold to work. The Met Office has issued a rare red warning for extreme heat covering parts of England and Wales later this week. Temperatures will increase significantly in the next few days and could hit 40C in places by Wednesday and Thursday. The warning comes into place at 09:00 on Wednesday and will last until 21:00 on Thursday for central, southern and south-east England, and parts of south Wales. Several schools in the area impacted by the red weather warning have already said they will be closing early, with some closing entirely, during the worst of the weather this week. There is no legal maximum temperature for classrooms - and the government does not normally advise schools to close. Instead, it says schools can usually be managed safely and that keeping children in school is important. Teaching unions have recommended that schools should aim to keep indoor temperatures at a maximum of 26C. School leaders will keep a close eye on temperatures and will refer to their risk assessments. They will also watch for pupils becoming tired more quickly, especially those who are vulnerable. If a head teacher does decide to close a school, they will need to talk to the chair of governors and their academy trust or employer first. Some parents may already have had a message from their schools saying uniform rules are being relaxed and children can instead wear PE kits. Schools can also look at changing start and finish times to avoid the worst of the heat. Lessons may be moved to cooler areas of the school and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recommends children should not take part in vigorous physical activity when it is very hot, so PE lessons maybe be a bit more sedentary than normal.

Can you keep your kids off school or refuse to work during a heatwave?
North America
CNBC Finance

Lucid to lay off roughly 18% of U.S. workforce, COO Marc Winterhoff leaves

Lucid Group said Monday it is cutting its U.S. workforce by approximately 18% as part of a cost-savings plan. The all-electric vehicle maker said its plan would give it annualized cost savings of approximately $158 million. The company also said Monday that its chief operating officer, Marc Winterhoff, is leaving the company effective immediately. Winterhoff was interim CEO at the company until Silvio Napoli took over the top job on June 1. The role of COO has been eliminated, Lucid said. Lucid's workforce reductions include full-time employees, contractors and hourly production workers in manufacturing, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The automaker had about 9,000 employees globally as of Dec. 31. "These are difficult decisions taken to align production with demand, reduce inventory, and adapt to declining market conditions," a Lucid spokesperson said in a statement. "They are part of a broader effort to simplify the company, sharpen execution, and position Lucid to become more competitive over time." In February, Lucid laid off about 12% of its U.S. workforce in a push for profitability. Lucid said Monday it expects to incur cash charges of approximately $32 million related to severance, employee benefits and employee transition associated with the latest cuts, according to its filing. The automaker also said it would be eliminating the second shift of production at its AMP-1 factory in Arizona. Lucid said last month that Napoli would be evaluating the company's business operations. It suspended its guidance as a result, adding that it needs to lower its "elevated inventory" of vehicles, which for automakers has historically meant decreasing or idling vehicle production. Lucid held its first investor day in nearly five years in March. It said at the time that it expects to be cash-flow positive by later this decade. While Lucid has been able to increase sales and narrow losses, the company lost $2.7 billion on revenue of $1.35 billion in 2025. It had negative free cash flow of $3.8 billion last year, roughly 31% larger than the year earlier. Lucid and its electric vehicle peers are increasingly facing a more challenging market than they did in recent years amid slower-than-expected adoption of EVs and changing regulations under the Trump administration, including the elimination of a $7,500 federal incentive for purchasing an EV.

Lucid to lay off roughly 18% of U.S. workforce, COO Marc Winterhoff leaves
Europe
BBC Business

Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI

Oracle shed about 21,000 roles globally in the last year as the US technology giant reshapes its business around artificial intelligence (AI), the firm's latest annual report shows. The software and cloud computing firm says it had around 141,000 full-time employees as of 31 May 2026, down from about 162,000 workers at the same time last year. The "deployment of AI technologies across our operations have resulted, and may continue to result, in reductions to our workforce," the report says. The cuts, which amount to about 13% of Oracle's workforce, are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars on building AI infrastructure like data centres. Amazon and Facebook-owner Meta have cut thousands of job in recent months as they invest heavily in AI. More than 100,000 tech workers have been laid off in the past year, according to estimates from employment tracking firms. Oracle made "significant" job cuts in April, according to senior employees posting online, but the full extent of the layoffs had not been revealed until its annual report was filed. The firm said the cuts have led to about $1.8bn (£1.36bn) in severance payments and other restructuring costs in the past year. The sum is significantly higher than the $374m restructuring bill in the previous financial year. Oracle said that its restructuring efforts "can be disruptive". It warned that the reorganisation may lead to a shortage in skilled workers in certain roles, resulting in a loss of productivity that could impact its earnings. Oracle has been in a race to roll out data centres for AI giants like OpenAI and Meta. The BBC previously reported that Oracle planned to spend at least $50bn on infrastructure this year.

Tech giant Oracle cuts 21,000 jobs as it embraces AI
North America
CNBC Finance

UPS to invest $48 million in temperature-controlled facilities amid healthcare boom

United Parcel Service is investing $48 million in 27 temperature‑controlled facilities as the industry sees a boom in healthcare logistics, CNBC has learned exclusively. The facilities, located across the Americas, Europe and Asia, are optimized for moving around shipments that need to be kept at certain temperatures. The company said the investment will help it stay ahead of a boom in medicines and pharmaceuticals — like some GLP-1s — that have to be kept at certain temperatures by improving speed and end-to-end chain of custody. "Our global cross-dock facilities strengthen our end-to-end cold-chain capabilities to ensure critical treatments are delivered safely and reliably to patients around the world," said Kate Gutmann, UPS' president of international, healthcare and supply chain solutions. "This effort – and all of our work in healthcare logistics – extends from a deep understanding that we're doing more than moving packages." The demand for temperature-sensitive biologics is projected to grow at an 8.3% compound annual growth rate through 2033 and reach a market value of roughly $39.1 billion, according to Growth Market Reports. Many new medicines are required to be stored at specific temperatures to maintain efficacy, UPS said, making healthcare logistics more crucial than before. According to the World Health Organization, up to 50% of global vaccines are wasted every year, with a significant portion of that coming from cold-chain storage issues. "These investments reflect our commitment to continue to align our leading end-to-end supply chain to protect innovative treatments and diagnostics, supporting better patient outcomes," UPS Healthcare President John Bolla said in a statement. UPS' move comes as the industry overall has seen growing investments in the space, especially with the meteoric rise of GLP-1 drugs. Medicines like Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic require strict refrigeration and temperature control during transit. A November KFF poll found that 1 in 8 Americans are taking GLP-1s. UPS CEO Carol Tomé said on the company's first-quarter earnings call in April that healthcare remains one of the company's top priorities and biggest areas of growth. "Our global healthcare portfolio has gained market share every year since 2021," she said on the call. "And in the first quarter of this year, we generated our first $3 billion healthcare revenue quarter ever, with all three of our segments delivering year-over-year revenue growth." Tomé added that UPS is committed to continuing to "lean into that space in a meaningful way." 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.

UPS to invest $48 million in temperature-controlled facilities amid healthcare boom
Europe
BBC Business

Do you know your 'sweat score'? The rise of hydration tech

Booing fans and disgruntled pundits. One of the biggest controversies of the 2026 World Cup so far has been the hydration breaks, which – while not entirely new – are for the first time occurring twice during every match in the tournament. The breaks aren't really about hydration, some spectators say. They're just an opportunity for certain broadcasters to show more ads, they break up the natural flow of games, and are unnecessary in air conditioned stadiums. Whether or not you agree with these complaints, there's no doubt that hydration itself is an increasingly prominent point of discussion worldwide. "Hydration is a key issue," says Andreas Flouris at the University of Thessaly in Greece. "We definitely see it, from a scientific point of view, gaining more and more attention." Climate change is intensifying heatwaves, and in response public health campaigns, external are encouraging people to drink more fluids. It is in this context that hydration-focused gadgets have flooded the consumer electronics market in recent years. They range from sweat monitors to toilet bowl urine-analysers. But do they work? Not drinking sufficient water is a common problem. A 2023 study suggested, external that one in four UK adults aged 65 or older were dehydrated, due to not drinking sufficient fluids. And a 2018 study by Flouris, external and colleagues assessed hydration levels in 139 workers around Europe. They found that 70% were dehydrated to a level that could negatively affect their thinking and control of their movements. Purveyors of hydration tech say their products can help. Years ago, gadgets such as the Apple Watch and Fitbit made step-counting popular, says Roozbeh Ghaffari, co-founder and chief executive of US-based Epicore Biosystems. But why stop there? "Sweat has been the next chapter," he asserts. His company is one of several that makes sweat-analysing devices. In Epicore Biosystems' case, that includes single-use sticky patches and sleeve-like wearables, which track the flow rate of sweat as it emerges from your skin, the sweat's sodium (salt) content, and skin temperature, among other metrics. A new armband and app combo also offer to evaluate your "hydration readiness" based on "real-time sweat data". The idea is to avoid dehydration creeping up on you. "With this new generation of our wearables, we could figure out what type of risk profile you have based on your sweat score," says Ghaffari.

Do you know your 'sweat score'? The rise of hydration tech
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

US-Iran talks set for Sunday in Switzerland as Tehran shuts Strait of Hormuz amid Lebanon fighting

Iran has announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing the US and Israel of violating commitments linked to an interim agreement. The move came as Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, increasing pressure on a fragile ceasefire involving Israel and Hezbollah. (a file photo) | Photo Credit: Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA Iran dealt two quick blows to the interim agreement with the United States on Saturday, angered by Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon, saying it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and also announcing that while its negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks, not much is likely to happen there. Key mediator Pakistan, meanwhile, said the technical-level talks will begin on Sunday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with Qatari mediators also participating. In Tehran’s first salvo, Iran’s joint military command said the strait had been closed, citing the Israeli attacks and US “bad faith” and “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. Its statement on state television warned that “if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned.” Shortly after that, the state broadcaster announced that Iran’s negotiating team was heading to Switzerland “in the coming minutes,” a trip that had been originally planned for Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Bagahei, however, signalled that little might happen until Iran feels the US is living up to the deal. “This trip is therefore about demanding that the other side fulfil its obligations,” he said, adding that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin only once key commitments are upheld. If they are not, he said, “then the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardised.” In Washington, Vice President JD Vance confirmed on Saturday that the top US negotiators — Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — were already in Switzerland and have been working through technical details of the anticipated negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland “sometime the next couple of days” but acknowledged that “it’s always a delicate coordination dance.” Meanwhile, the global economy braced for more uncertainty. Ships had begun transiting the strait after the interim US-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that has left plenty of questions unanswered. Earlier Saturday, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement there. Seven people remained trapped under the rubble after the strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. The death toll in the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah has now surpassed 4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced. Mediators were scrambling to halt the fighting between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group after a heavy exchange on Friday killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers. An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. The official spoke anonymously in line with regulations. Israel’s army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants in southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah command centres. On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases hostilities.

US-Iran talks set for Sunday in Switzerland as Tehran shuts Strait of Hormuz amid Lebanon fighting
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

NLC India, Indian Oil join hands for solar, wind and storage projects in Tamil Nadu

NLC India Ltd has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd to form a joint venture for developing large-scale renewable energy projects in Tamil Nadu. State-run NLC India Ltd (NLCIL) on Tuesday said that it has partnered with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) to form a joint venture for developing large-scale green energy projects in Tamil Nadu. NLCIL, which has a presence in mining and power generation, has been diversifying into large-scale renewable and green energy initiatives, including solar, wind, pumped hydro storage, Battery Energy Storage Systems and others. "The MoU was signed on 22 June, 2026 at New Delhi...for the development of large scale Renewable Energy (RE) projects including solar, wind, hybrid power with or without energy storage such as battery storage and pumped storage projects...and any other opportunity in the renewable energy sector in the State of Tamil Nadu... ," the company said in a filing to BSE. NLCIL Chairman & Managing Director Prasanna Kumar Motupalli said that the partnership with IOCL marks a significant milestone in the Navratna PSU's strategic diversification into clean and sustainable energy sectors. The strategic collaboration marks a major milestone in strengthening India's clean energy ecosystem and reflects the shared commitment of both organisations towards sustainable development, technological advancement and nation-building through reliable and green energy solutions, the filing said. 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.

NLC India, Indian Oil join hands for solar, wind and storage projects in Tamil Nadu