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Escalating Middle East tensions are driving crude (USO) (BNO) prices sharply higher and triggering what Nomura’s Charlie McElligott calls a “vicious rate vol impulse”—creating treacherous conditions heading into next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
McElligott is dismissing the buyside’s interpretation that
Hollywood’s biggest deal in decades is on hold.
On Monday, a federal judge temporarily blocked Paramount Skydance’s efforts to complete its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, ruling that the proposed $111-billion merger “raises serious questions” about whether the combination violates U.S. antitrust law.
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, based in Oakland, granted a request for a temporary restraining order from a coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, to freeze the deal while the court delves more closely into its impact on markets.
The order pauses the deal for 14 days. Martínez-Olguín’s ruling sets up a showdown for Aug. 3, when she considers a motion for a preliminary injunction — which, if granted, could tie up the deal for months in advance of a trial.
“This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day,” Bonta said in a statement. “History tells the tale of what happens when a few people have great power over markets that are central to Americans’ lives: fewer opportunities for more people, worse products and services for all people.”
Two century-old film studios — with rights to Harry Potter, Batman, Scooby-Doo, “Top Gun,” “Ted Lasso” and “Game of Thrones” — would be combined, and HBO, CNN and HGTV would come under new ownership.
“The judge basically said, ‘Look, let’s not race to the finish line here,’” Eric Talley, a Columbia Law School professor, said in an interview. “At the end of the day, maybe this thing gets signed off on, but I think the AGs are going to be given a fair chance to bring their claims forward.”
The ruling dealt a blow to tech scion David Ellison’s efforts to quickly finalize his massive merger, which has the support of President Trump. Ellison wants to complete the deal by September to avoid a higher payout to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders.
Paramount, in a statement, said the restraining order simply preserves the status quo, which Paramount had already pledged to do in court papers last week that offered to hold off on finalizing the transaction.
“We are confident the evidence will demonstrate that the State AGs’ antitrust arguments are without merit as their alleged markets and claims of anticompetitive effects are without any basis in modern market realities,” Paramount said in the statement.
Larry Ellison, co-founder of software giant Oracle, is bankrolling his son’s ambitions to acquire a second major entertainment company in less than a year. The Ellison family acquired the smaller Paramount in August.
The Democratic state attorneys general, including from New York, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, filed their lawsuit a week ago.
The 37-page lawsuit alleges that Paramount’s proposed takeover — the largest Hollywood deal in decades — would violate the U.S. Clayton Antitrust Act, a century-old law to prevent mergers that weaken competition and raise costs for consumers.
The lawsuit represents the stiffest challenge to a deal that had been swiftly clearing its various regulatory hurdles. Nearly two dozen regulators from around the globe, including Australia, Austria and Saudi Arabia, have already signed off.
The U.S. Justice Department last month approved the merger, saying the combination would probably bolster competition — not harm it. That decision wasn’t a surprise because Trump has been rooting for a CNN shakeup. The president told the network’s Jake Tapper earlier this month: “We’re trying to have CNN go on a normal path.”
“This merger is lawful, pro-competitive, and will benefit consumers, creators, workers, and the entertainment industry,” Paramount said. “We will continue to vigorously defend the transaction and will look forward to the hearings on the substance of the State AGs’ action.”
Paramount shares slid 2% to $8.57 on Monday. Warner shares tumbled nearly 4% to $25.86 — the stock’s lowest mark this year.
Martínez-Olguín’s order came after a hearing in Oakland on Friday that represented an opening salvo between the two sides in the fight over a merger that would dramatically reshape the entertainment industry.
“In many ways this case is a poster child for a much larger set of questions — some of which are specific to the entertainment industry but many are more specific to our regulatory state in general,” Talley said.
Because of the case’s expedited status, the judge said she looked closely at only one of the three markets where the plaintiff states allege the merger could bring anticompetitive harms — wide-release Hollywood films.
“Plaintiffs present compelling evidence that the combined firm resulting from the transaction will possess substantial market share in the wide-release theatrical distribution market,” Martínez-Olguín wrote in her 10-page order.
If allowed to merge, Paramount-Warner Bros. would control about 27% of the market of films that are initially released into more than 3,000 theaters.
“On this combined firm market share alone, the Court is persuaded that it can presume the proposed merger is likely to violate antitrust laws,” the judge wrote.
The ruling doesn’t signal that the states will win but, Talley said: “This is an important mark in the road that suggests that, in the eyes of the judge, at least one of their allegations has the seeds of a valid case.”
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are “temporarily enjoined and restrained from closing or consummating the transaction or taking any steps, directly or indirectly, to integrate or consolidate their operations pursuant to the transaction,” the judge wrote.
The order extends to all officers, attorneys, and “other persons who are in active concert or participation with Defendants,” Martínez-Olguín wrote.
The merger is far from dead, Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said in a statement after the ruling.
“The order is likely to be a speed bump,” Benes wrote. “Thanks to the company’s symbiotic relationship with Trump, most challenges ahead that could stop the deal will be steamrolled.”
July 13 (UPI) — Mexico announced the United States will begin to restore Mexican sugar’s access to its market, a measure that could significantly increase exports during the 2026-2027 season and boost income for about 170,000 sugarcane producers.
Mexico’s presidency said in a statement released Friday that the measure is the result of talks with U.S. authorities led by President Claudia Sheinbaum since November 2025.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the country will need to import up to 1,152,000 tons of Mexican sugar during the 2026-2027 marketing year, an amount 512% higher than the estimate for the current marketing year, according to the statement.
The estimate appears in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 10, the Mexican government said.
The presidency said the new conditions could generate a potential increase of up to 4.76 billion pesos, about $272 million, in the price paid by the sugar industry to about 170,000 Mexican sugarcane producers.
The talks that led to the announcement began in November 2025 during a visit by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to Sheinbaum, the statement said.
The Mexican government said the outcome demonstrates that “through dialogue it is possible to build important agreements” benefiting agricultural producers and food consumers in both countries.
Sugar trade between Mexico and the United States has been regulated since late 2014 under the so-called suspension agreements, according to background information published by the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System.
In June 2017, the governments of both countries reached an agreement in principle that reduced the share of refined Mexican sugar to 30% of total imports from the previous 53% limit, while increasing the share of raw sugar, the regional organization reported.
The U.S. sugar industry initially refused to support that agreement. Then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Mexico had accepted nearly all of the requests made by the industry, but U.S. producers still did not support the proposed terms.
U.S. refiners argued that high-quality Mexican raw sugar was reaching consumers directly instead of passing through their plants, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System.
The dispute involved a coalition of U.S. sugarcane and sugar beet producers, as well as ASR Group, maker of Domino Sugar, and Imperial Sugar.
ASR Group and Imperial Sugar said at the time that the 2014 agreement did not provide sufficient supplies for their refining operations and had asked the U.S. government to end the pact, the regional organization reported.
At least 27 people were killed and 63 injured, many critically, after a fire ripped through a popular pub in Bangkok. Authorities are investigating whether the pub, located near the iconic Chatuchak Weekend Market, had adequate escape routes.
Published On 13 Jul 202613 Jul 2026
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In a draft regulation obtained by Euronews and due to be presented in September, the European Commission plans to tighten access to the EU market by allowing public authorities to exclude foreign companies that present risks of interference from public procurement.
The draft proposal comes amid heightened geopolitical tensions, with concerns over data leaks from sensitive public services to Beijing and Washington and as well as the weaponisation of the EU’s dependence on rare earths and technology products from China.
The draft document proposes that “public buyers shall take appropriate measures, where relevant at any stage of the procurement procedure, from planning and market consultation to contract award and execution, to ensure the protection of the security and public safety interests of the Union.”
The document adds that risks to security or public safety in a public contract may arise from firms whose “ownership, control, or financing structure” bears “risks of undue interference or influence over it,” as well as companies whose “exposure to third-country legislation […] may compel disclosure of sensitive information or interference with contract performance.”
Finally, public buyers would be allowed to introduce a European preference in public procurement, although the draft regulation would not make it compulsory.
Such provisions could confirm the EU’s protectionist shift towards a “Made in Europe” strategy, which the EU executive already proposed last March for strategic sectors such as clean technologies, the automotive industry and energy-intensive industries.
The risks of foreign interference and data transfer have become more acute in recent years, with the US and China both adopting legislation allowing them to request that companies under their jurisdiction transfer data stored in the EU.
Some European governments are already taking steps to mitigate these risks. In April, the French government ended its contract with Microsoft to protect French health data, and in June, it replaced US tech company Palantir with French company ChapsVision for the processing of sensitive information held by the the country’s domestic intelligence service, the Directorate General for Internal Security.
Over the last few years, several EU countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Denmark, have also cancelled or denied public contracts to the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei over security concerns.
The draft regulation also seeks to protect “critical infrastructure, critical supply chains, critical technologies or essential services, resilience against physical, cyber, or hybrid threats, and prevention and protection against risks of their disruption including due to harmful strategic dependencies on third-country suppliers.”
Last year, China cut off the EU from exports of rare earth minerals, which are essential for green technologies and the defence sector. It also stopped the Dutch-based Nexperia, owned by China’s Wingtech, from importing Chinese chips essential to the EU’s car industry.
Published on •Updated
The South Korean technology giant Samsung said on Tuesday it expects operating profit of about 89.4 trillion won (€51bn) for the April-June quarter, roughly nineteen times the 4.7tr won (€2.7bn) it earned a year earlier and more than it made in the previous three years combined.
The extraordinary numbers reflect the same force reshaping the memory industry worldwide: the race to build AI data centres has pushed chip prices to record highs.
According to Citi Research, average selling prices for DRAM memory rose 44% quarter on quarter, and NAND flash 53%, as AI demand spilled beyond specialised high-bandwidth memory into the conventional chips that go into phones, servers and PCs, with customers now chasing longer-term supply contracts.
The estimate beat analyst forecasts, but far from celebrating, the market sold.
Samsung shares fell by over 10% before closing nearly 7% lower, dragging rival SK Hynix and the wider Kospi index down with them.
Samsung’s stock has more than doubled this year alone, so a historic quarter was already priced in, and leveraged local ETF products tracking the shares have made them prone to outsized moves.
There was also a blemish in the numbers as revenue of 171tr won (€97.6bn), though up 129% year on year, came in slightly below forecasts.
“We believe the slight revenue miss was largely driven by more moderate DRAM price hikes than expected, which likely spooked investors who are increasingly pricing in structural strength in memory prices,” said Jing Jie Yu, an analyst at Morningstar.
Hanging over everything is durability.
Investors are increasingly asking whether the technology giants bankrolling the AI build-out can sustain their spending without piling up debt against a payoff that remains unproven, the worry behind last week’s chip sell-off across Asia.
Samsung publishes its full results, with a breakdown by division, on 30 July, a report the market will scour for clues about whether the boom is structural or simply another memory cycle nearing its peak.
Additional sources • AP
July 6 (UPI) — Stock in Dell Technologies jumped Monday morning after President Donald Trump promoted the company while opening the stock exchange from the Oval Office.
Dell CEO Michael Dell and Susan Dell were in the Oval Office along with investor Brad Gerstner, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as Trump rang the opening bell. The president used the moment to encourage the purchase of Dell computers, preceding a 7% increase in Dell stock.
“Go out and buy a Dell computer,” Trump said. “Michael and Susan Dell, they are truly incredible.
The Dells donated $6 billion to the Trump Accounts program for children. Public financial disclosures show that Trump actively traded Dell stock in 2025, making 24 trades and purchasing stock 16 times.
We’re going to get him that money back one way or the other,” Trump said. “Then I’ll ask for another $6 billion. We’ll start the whole process all over again.”
Monday’s Oval Office event recognized the opening of the Trump Accounts on Saturday. The accounts are available to children 18 or younger and include a $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury Department for babies born from 2025 through 2028.
“The American dream belongs to every child, and today we are equipping the next generation with the right to claim their rightful share of it,” Bessent said.
New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin was also in attendance in the Oval Office.
13:44, 06 Jul 2026Updated 13:48, 06 Jul 2026
Ludlow is known for having lots of quirky independent shops(Image: Getty)
While many people splash out on pricey holidays this summer, you can have an equally magical experience right here in the UK. With a wealth of stunning destinations to discover, there are countless charming towns ideal for a short break but this gem, nestled in the West Midlands, deserves to be at the very top of your list.
This historic market town is brimming with character and as you stroll through its centre you’ll uncover a breath-taking blend of medieval, Tudor and Georgian architecture. It has been named by The Guardian among Britain’s 10 “best independent high streets”, not for its looks alone, but for being “full of cool independents rather than the usual chains”.
They said: “Ludlow has long been known as a gastro-hub, with specialist producers dotted along the high street and market place. Visit the Mousetrap Cheese Shop, Harp Lane Deli and the Chocolate Gourmet for festive eats, or browse around Bodenhams, which sells clothes in a quirky, 600-year-old building.”
There are so many one-of-a-kind businesses to explore when you arrive in Ludlow, but your first port of call should be the traditional marketplace sitting right at the heart of the town square.
Having been trading for over 900 years, it boasts all manner of stalls ranging from flea markets to artisan crafts, ensuring there is something to suit every pocket.
Ludlow Market is a treasure trove of finds, and is also well regarded for its monthly specialist events, including the Food and Craft Market, the Local to Ludlow Producers’ Market, and an Antique Market.
Once you’ve had a good rummage through the local shops, your suitcase will be packed to the brim with gifts to take home, thanks to a wealth of family-run businesses such as Bensons, which stocks jewellery, and Florabunda, a florist.
If you work up an appetite, head to the Ludlow Farmshop, selling locally sourced meats, cheeses, baked goods and other regional delicacies you won’t find anywhere else.
Ludlow has built a reputation for championing independent businesses, but should you tire of shopping and eating, there is plenty more to discover. Perhaps the most unmissable attraction is Ludlow Castle, a stunning 11th-century ruin built by the Normans that boasts breathtaking views across the surrounding countryside.
It is also well worth taking a leisurely stroll along the River Teme to admire Ludford Bridge, which not only looks spectacular but also dates back to medieval times.
Just a short drive away lies Mortimer Forest, offering miles of gorgeous scenery, whether you fancy a gentle woodland walk or fancy tackling the climb up to High Vinnalls, the loftiest point within the forest.
Ludlow ticks every box for those seeking a quintessential English town getaway, boasting historic streets, charming independent shops, mouth-watering local cuisine and stunning countryside right on its doorstep — making it an ideal destination for anyone in search of a laid-back summer staycation.
Jodie Deakin, who owns local independent business, Eclectica, and is chair of Ludlow Chamber of Trade and Commerce, which members pay £50 a year to join, told a visiting journalist earlier this year: “We are over 100 businesses strong and have everything from retail businesses like mine to professional services like solicitors.”
Of the market, she said: “These are permanent market stores, so they’re here seven days a week. It’s owned by our town council, so it’s the revenue stream for them and they run the market most days, but also lease it. Ludlow Local Produce Market is one of the leased markets. To be a vendor, you have to produce everything within a 30-mile radius.”
Manager Tish Dockerty said of Ludlow Local Produce Market at the same time: “Everything that’s sold is either made by the person on the stall or the person that’s selling it, so they can tell you how it’s made.”
The Lakers are trading center Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks, in 2031 and 2032, people not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Times on Friday.
Ayton had returned to the Lakers after an up-and-down first season with the team, picking up his player option for $8.1 million last Sunday. But he became expendable once the Lakers agreed to acquire 24-year-old center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz and sign him to a four-year, $130-million contract.
The Ayton trade leaves the Lakers in the market for a backup center. Several veterans including Jonas Valanciunas and Kevon Looney still are available.
The Lakers acquired Ayton before last season after the Portland Trail Blazers bought out his contract, signing him to a two-year, $16-million deal. He averaged career lows of 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds last season, but shot 67.1% from the field while starting 72 games, both career highs.
The Wizards believe the 7-foot Ayton will be a good fit alongside centers Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr.
The 6-3 Hardy, who spent three-plus seasons with the Dallas Mavericks before being traded to Washington in February, averaged 9.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 42.4% from the field and 39.7% from three-point range last season.
When Klarna chose New York over Europe for its stock market listing, it highlighted a challenge Brussels has been trying to solve for years: Europe’s fastest-growing companies often look across the Atlantic for deeper pools of capital.
As the EU seeks to build its own AI champions, strengthen its defence industry and keep more high-growth companies raising money at home, one question remains: why does a bloc with €37tn in household savings still struggle to finance its own fastest-growing businesses?
Now the European Union has stepped up efforts to reform its capital markets, aiming to make capital flow more freely across the bloc.
Policymakers are pursuing incremental reforms, including greater supervisory alignment, but a fully unified capital market is likely to take many years, as member states struggle to agree on key technical details, slowing the process.
The current speed of negotiations does not reflect the urgency being expressed by the EU’s political leadership: Europe needs more integrated capital markets to compete globally with major powers such as the US and China.
To do so, billions need to be invested in strategic sectors such as AI and defence, amid intense geopolitical uncertainty, including wars and trade tensions.
Lacking strategic industrial and technological leadership means sacrificing geopolitical power and economic resilience, especially in a global landscape where dominance, or even survival, depends on control over resources and expertise.
This narrative has been championed by leading EU politicians, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose goal of making Europe more competitive on the global stage has become the North Star of her political mandate.
For this reason, von der Leyen tasked former European Central Bank President and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi with preparing a report on EU competitiveness, which identified capital markets reform as one of its central recommendations.
Presented in autumn 2024, the report says Europe needs €750bn-€800bn in investment each year, equivalent to up to 5% of GDP, to fulfil its competitiveness goals and remain globally competitive.
“It’s ‘Do this,’ or it’s a slow agony,” Draghi warned in one of his best-known remarks. Draghi describes this “agony” as a prolonged and cumulative erosion of Europe’s economic position, driven by structural weaknesses such as high energy costs and a fragmented single market, which together make the continent less conducive to investment and innovation.
The EU is focusing on two priorities to unlock the potential of its capital markets.
The first is convincing households to invest, mobilising a small percentage of the estimated €37tn in savings. The second is integrating national financial markets across the EU to reduce barriers within the single market, making it easier for businesses to raise funding and for investors to put their money to work.
For this to happen, households need better access to capital markets, along with a better understanding of how to invest and the potential benefits involved. For example, greater participation in financial markets can help individuals build their retirement savings.
At the same time, Brussels must advance the legislative framework — known as the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) — to enable these reforms to take place.
Capital markets are marketplaces where individuals, institutions and governments buy and sell long-term financial instruments, such as equities or debt.
They offer businesses a way to raise funds and support their growth. However, scaling up in Europe remains challenging. Cross-border operations can be costly, time-consuming and involve significant administrative burdens. This is because rules differ between member states, and even where they are the same, their implementation may differ.
These are among the reasons why firms in Europe obtain most of their financing through bank credit.
“What we need to develop is a more diversified funding source,” the head of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), Verena Ross, told Euronews in an exclusive interview with Euronews Business editor Angela Barnes.
Without enough diversification, businesses look for other markets where funding is more readily available, such as the US.
“The US capital market benefits from a more consolidated supervisory approach. There are fewer layers of bureaucracy and red tape because the US uses a single currency,” Rebecca Christie, senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told Euronews.
Christie also said the US benefits from having a long-established federal system and from the dollar’s status as the world’s dominant reserve currency, both of which reduce barriers and increase its attractiveness.
“Anybody who needs financing has an incentive to go to US markets because that’s where the money is,” she said.
A less fragmented European capital market would have far-reaching implications, including making more capital available for strategic investments and strengthening the euro’s international role as a global currency — another major ambition of the current EU leadership amid the dollar’s declining role.
“We live in a global world and, particularly, capital markets are global by their nature. We also need to be attractive to overseas investors, whether they are American, Asian or from wherever they come, and make sure that Europe is a destination for that investment capital,” Ross told Euronews.
Despite broad agreement that capital markets need greater integration, there is still strong disagreement over how to make it happen.
The capital markets union legislation forms part of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU), a package of legislative proposals currently under negotiation.
One of the key pieces of legislation aimed at harmonising capital markets is the Market Integration and Supervision Package, known as MISP.
Despite the intensification of talks on MISP in recent months, member states have yet to reach a common position, particularly on how to harmonise capital markets supervision.
Last spring, the six largest European economies — Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands — made a proposal setting out how to centralise supervisory powers.
In particular, they propose transferring some supervisory powers to ESMA, but there is no consensus on whether to proceed, an EU diplomat told Euronews on condition of anonymity. Even among those who agree, there are differing views on how and over what timeframe this should be implemented.
“The problem with the integration of capital markets is not even a political one; it is more a national issue,” Aurore Lalucq, chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, who played an important role in the legislation, told Euronews.
“I think there will be progress in supervision, but there are a lot of details that will be tough to negotiate due to very different perspectives,” Lalucq added, referring to the fact that member states have very different capital market cultures.
Klarna’s decision to look across the Atlantic for deeper capital markets illustrates the challenge Europe faces. While there is broad agreement that the bloc needs to mobilise more private investment, national interests continue to slow progress towards a truly unified capital market.
Earnings Call Insights: Elite Pharmaceuticals (ELTP) Q4 fiscal 2026
“Total revenues for the year were $149 million” and Elite delivered “operating income was $49 million” while “operating cash flow this year was positive $23.7 million,” CFO Carter Ward (CFO Carter Ward) said, adding that cash was “$29.8 million” and “long-term debt was
Seeking Alpha’s Disclaimer: This article was automatically generated by an AI tool based on content available on the Seeking Alpha website, and has not been curated or reviewed by humans. Due to inherent limitations in using AI-based tools, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such articles cannot be guaranteed. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
Mercedes’ George Russell took his second win of the season with victory from pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen recovered from a crash in the final part of qualifying to finish second at Red Bull’s home race, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in third.
Russell’s win moves him back up to second in the drivers’ standings, 40 points behind team-mate Antonelli.
BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions before this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
I think a pole position under a yellow flag sets a dangerous precedent, because it’s clear that from now on, everyone will continue to push hard after a small slow down, or else their lap will be cancelled. I’d be curious to hear your opinion – Lorenzo
George Russell’s pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix, the foundation for his victory on Sunday, came about in controversial circumstances.
According to the rules, Russell did nothing wrong.
Marshals trackside initially waved a single yellow flag when Max Verstappen crashed at Turn Nine.
Kimi Antonelli mis-read the light board as a double yellow, and backed out of his lap – the correct response for what he thought to be the case. Under a double yellow, drivers have to “slow down and be prepared to stop”.
But under a single yellow, a driver does not have to abandon their lap. They only have to not set a fastest time in the relevant section of the track.
Russell complied with this, but the rest of his lap was fast enough to put him on pole anyway.
The concern here is less the specifics of these rules, but whether the correct flag was shown in the circumstances.
The answer to that has to be no.
Verstappen crashed at the fastest corner on the track, which is taken at close to 140mph.
Turn Nine is notoriously challenging, with its downhill entry, and an exit kerb that’s easy to over-run.
Both Verstappen and Antonelli questioned the decision to show only a single yellow at the time, when Verstappen’s car was in the barrier at this corner as other drivers were seeking to set what would be their fastest laps of the weekend.
Verstappen described it as “quite crazy”.
Antonelli said: “There was a car in the wall in a fast corner. I don’t know why it didn’t go double-yellow straight away, because it’s a super-quick corner, and if you go off at the same time, it can end up very badly. That was a bit confusing.
“For sure it’s something that needs to be reviewed, especially when it happens in a high-speed corner.
“If it’s a slow-speed [corner], single yellow can be OK but fast corners should be double yellow straight away.”
To underline the point, within 20 seconds, race control upgraded the flag to a double yellow, but everyone had completed their laps by then.
Riverside-based radio station, 99.1 KGGI, has lost its last local on-air host.
Longtime radio personalities Evelyn Erives, Nick Nack and Garrison King were all cut from the Inland Empire station last week as part of iHeartMedia’s latest round of national layoffs. In an internal memo, the media giant said it would restructure its radio programming to better “leverage” the company’s technology.
iHeartMedia declined to comment on how many people lost their jobs, but dozens of on-air and other staff positions have reportedly been cut across the country.
The memo — attributed to Chief Programming Officer Tom Poleman and Ann Marie Licata, the chief executive of the company’s multiplatform group — framed the changes as a way to “move faster and operate with greater precision across markets,” and to “position us not just to adapt to the future, but to lead it.”
The cuts are part of a broader push to reduce costs. In May, iHeartMedia launched a new savings program, set to begin in the second half of 2026, aimed at trimming an additional $50 million on top of the $100 million in savings the company had already announced.
iHeartMedia is the nation’s largest radio operator, with more than 850 stations across 160 markets and a sizable presence in Burbank. Its Los Angeles–area stations include KFI-AM 640, KLAC-AM 570, KOST-FM 103.5 and KIIS-FM 102.7.
As the media landscape continues to evolve, the company has leaned harder into podcasting, home to hallmark shows like “Stuff You Should Know,” “Questlove Supreme” and “Las Culturistas.”
Last year, iHeartMedia introduced its “Guaranteed Human” campaign, an ongoing pledge that no iHeartMedia station or podcast will feature an AI-generated personality or AI-generated music.
How that promise squares with the layoffs is unclear. With stations like Riverside’s 99.1 now stripped of their local hosts, the company has said nothing about who — or what — will replace them.
A Komoto official tests the company’s solar-powered smart flow control system in Kazakhstan. Photo by Komoto
SEOUL, June 25 (UPI) — South Korea’s industrial valve maker Komoto said Thursday that it is seeking to expand into the Kazakh market after wrapping up a field demonstration project in the Central Asian country.
The company said that it completed the installation and operational tests of its solar-powered smart flow control and SCADA system at a demonstration site in Kazakhstan.
Short for supervisory control and data acquisition, SCADA is an industrial automation system that enables operators to monitor, control, and collect real-time data from infrastructure remotely.
Following the successful trial, the system received final field performance certification from Kazvodkhoz, Kazakhstan’s state-owned water resources agency, according to Komoto.
The firm noted that the project confirmed the applicability of its technology to remote agricultural waterways and irrigation facilities not only in Kazakhstan but also across Central Asia.
Komoto CEO Ryan MK Ko said that the company plans to expand its presence in overseas water industry markets, particularly in Central Asia.
“Our biggest competitive edge is that our system allows for the stable operation of water management facilities even in remote areas with limited access to commercial power and communication infrastructure, while significantly reducing costs compared with conventional options,” Ko said in a statement.
“Based on the technology and operational data accumulated through pilot projects both at home and abroad, we will further advance our automated control and intelligent water management features,” he added.
Komoto is not publicly listed. It was founded in 1988 with technology and capital support from Motoyama, one of Japan’s leading manufacturers of industrial equipment, including valves.
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has given the green light to develop a prediction market app, according to the New York Times, as Meta moves to capitalise on one of the fastest-growing sectors in tech and finance.
The app is currently being referred to as Arena internally and would let users earn points for correctly predicting the outcomes of events such as sports results, political developments and stock market moves but without any real money changing hands, at least initially.
It would operate independently of Meta’s existing social platforms, though those could funnel users towards it, according to the reporting.
A prediction market is essentially a financial exchange where people buy and sell contracts or bets tied to the outcome of real-world events.
Each contract is a simple yes-or-no question, such as whether a certain candidate will win an election, a team will come out first in a championship or if a major political figure will pass by a certain date.
On Polymarket and Kalshi, the two most popular prediction market platforms, users buy contracts that pay out $1 if they are right and nothing if they are wrong.
As more people trade those contracts, the price reflects the market’s probability of the event occurring. If a bet is worth 40 cents, there’s a 40% chance of it happening, according to the people who have placed bets.
Fans of prediction markets argue the mechanism produces more accurate forecasts than polls or political analysts because participants have real money on the line.
The two dominant platforms in the space are Polymarket and Kalshi, which together generated around 85–90% of the roughly $44 billion (€40bn) in total trading volume recorded in 2025.
Polymarket, founded in 2020 by New York University dropout Shayne Coplan, operates globally on the blockchain. In October 2025, the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company invested $2 billion (€1.8bn) in the platform, in a major sign that Wall Street was taking the sector seriously.
Kalshi, founded in 2018 by two MIT graduates, spent years winning regulatory approval before launching as the first prediction market sanctioned by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The turning point came in October 2024, when a US court ruled Kalshi could legally offer election contracts 32 days before the presidential election. Monthly trading volume has since surged from less than $5 billion (€4.6bn) in September 2025 to around $24 billion (€21.8bn) in April 2026, overtaking the roughly $14 billion (€12.7bn) wagered monthly through legal or traditional US sportsbooks.
Donald Trump Jr. becoming an investor in Polymarket and a paid adviser to Kalshi, while federal regulators adopted a more permissive stance, also helped fuel the boom.
The boom has not come without controversy and legal cases have mounted, with a former special forces soldier getting arrested over allegations he used insider knowledge of a US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to place a winning trade on Polymarket worth around $400,000 (€365,000).
Some US states have begun suing the platforms, arguing they are running illegal gambling operations without proper licences. The Trump administration has responded by suing the states that have moved to ban prediction markets, creating a messy legal standoff between federal and state authority.
A New York Times review found that Polymarket published hundreds of false and misleading social media posts, while Politico uncovered a campaign to pay influencers to praise the platform’s supposed accuracy.
Whether Meta’s gamified, cashless version of the concept can avoid those pitfalls or will simply serve as a gateway to them remains unclear.
The clock is running down on the most consequential deadline the crypto sector has faced in Europe.
From the start of July, the transitional window under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) closes for good, and companies that have not secured authorisation must either stop serving European customers or wind down altogether.
MiCA is the EU’s first comprehensive law for the crypto industry, bringing exchanges, brokers and digital wallet providers under the kind of formal oversight that has long applied to banks and other financial firms.
It replaces a fragmented mix of national rules with a single rulebook spanning all 27 member states: a company licensed in one EU country earns a “passport” to operate across the bloc, but in return it must meet standards on how much capital it holds, how it is run, how it safeguards customers’ funds and how it prevents money laundering.
“What emerges is a genuine single market replacing the old patchwork of 27 national regimes,” Yamal Kalaf, co-founder of MiCAR Whitepapers Europe, which advises crypto businesses on MiCA authorisation, told Euronews.
Since the core rules took effect at the end of 2024, existing operators have been allowed to keep operating under older national registrations, but that concession was temporary.
The scale of the looming shake-out is striking.
According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which confirmed in April that there would be no extension, only around 210 firms had obtained full authorisation by May, out of more than 1,200 that previously held national crypto registrations across the EU.
That points to a conversion rate of well under a fifth, leaving the vast majority of the old market without a licence as the cut-off arrives in a few days.
Speaking to Euronews, Roshan Dharia, CEO of distressed-investment firm Echo Base, explained that “the low conversion rate suggests that a meaningful portion of the market has concluded that obtaining and maintaining a MiCA licence is not economically viable within its current operating model.”
National regulators have warned that firms operating beyond the deadline without the new licence face enforcement action. France’s markets watchdog has also cautioned that continuing without authorisation could expose companies to criminal prosecution.
ESMA has told unlicensed providers to prepare orderly wind-downs, including transferring customer assets to authorised platforms or self-custody wallets, and to notify clients in advance so they can move funds safely.
“What we will see after 1 July is a smaller, more institutional market with real passporting. That is not a market in retreat. That is a market growing up,” Miguel Zapatero, Head Counsel at Crossmint, told Euronews.
Crossmint is a crypto infrastructure provider whose licensed rails let developers build wallets, custody and payment products.
Plenty of familiar names have already cleared the bar.
Coinbase has been authorised in Ireland and Kraken in Ireland and Luxembourg. At the same time, the banking app Revolut secured its licence from Cyprus’s regulator late last year, allowing it to offer crypto services across the EU.
For these firms, the new rules promise a reward as unlicensed rivals retreat, the survivors stand to absorb their departing customers.
“MiCA is a genuine regulatory identity shift, not a registration exercise,” Gal Arad Cohen, partner at law firm S. Horowitz & Co, told Euronews.
The most prominent casualty so far may be Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.
According to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the matter, Binance is set to lose permission to serve EU clients because its licence application to Greece’s market regulator, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, is poised to be rejected.
Without approval in any member state, the exchange would be unable to operate across the bloc from July onwards.
Speaking to Euronews, Patrick Mollard, CEO at Fipto, a blockchain-based payments company for businesses, referred to the Binance case by stating that “scale earns you no shortcut to a licence, and that is precisely the point.”
Binance has pushed back, saying it has worked constructively with regulators for 18 months and believes its application met MiCA’s requirements. The company added that it understood the Greek authority had completed its review and found the filing compliant.
The company has promised a further update before 30 June.
The episode has also reputedly taken on a political dimension.
French crypto publication The Big Whale reported, citing unnamed sources, that ECB President Christine Lagarde had opposed Binance’s bid for a Greek MiCA licence.
Euronews could not independently verify the report, and neither the ECB nor the Greek government has publicly commented on the allegations.
The Big Whale also reported that Binance is exploring a potential MiCA application in France after the setback in Greece, a claim that neither Binance nor French regulators have publicly confirmed.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Euronews.
Beyond the biggest names, the deadline is expected to push smaller crypto apps and brokers towards licensed custody providers. Rather than building their own MiCA-compliant systems, many are likely to rely on authorised firms to hold customer assets.
“We will see consolidation and transfer of clients as the deadline will not be met by all currently operating entries,” Floortje Nagelkerke, partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, explained to Euronews.
The result, analysts suggest, will be a smaller, more concentrated European market, with fewer players, higher barriers to entry and a clear advantage for those holding a licence, but stronger consumer protections.
“People who hold crypto in the EU after 1 July will, on balance, hold it on safer rails,” Miguel Zapatero, Head Counsel at Crossmint, concluded.
Published on
SpaceX shares closed at $154.63 on Monday, down around 16% on the day. That leaves them within touching distance of the $150 at which the shares first changed hands when public trading opened, the level set once underwriters finished building the order book, though still some way above the $135 price at which the IPO itself was struck.
The slide has erased more than $600 billion (€524.2bn) in market value over three trading days, dragging the company down from a peak that had lifted it past Amazon and, fleetingly, Microsoft, in terms of market capitalisation.
Its valuation now sits just above $2 trillion (€1.74tn), below Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), making it the seventh most valuable company in the world.
The retreat unwinds a remarkable opening run.
After the open at around $150 on 12 June, shares climbed to almost $226 by 16 June, a gain of roughly two-thirds before the company had published a single set of results as a public firm.
Currently, SpaceX is trading over 30% lower than the intraday high of around $226 and only 3% higher than the opening price.
That rally always rested on a thin pool of freely traded shares and lofty expectations for its AI ambitions, leaving it exposed to a sharp reversal once sentiment turned.
The latest leg down on Monday coincided with SpaceX’s first move into the corporate debt market.
The company announced an inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes, with people familiar with the plans reportedly putting the target at around $20 billion (€17.4bn).
The proceeds are earmarked chiefly to repay a bridge loan taken on during its merger with Elon Musk’s AI venture xAI earlier this year, with the remainder going to general corporate purposes.
The debut bond sale follows the investment-grade credit ratings awarded last Friday by all three major agencies, Moody’s at Baa1, Fitch at BBB+ and S&P Global at BBB, which open the door to cheaper borrowing and a wider pool of institutional lenders.
In documents tied to the offering, SpaceX also disclosed a cash position of roughly $100.8 billion (€88bn) as of 19 June, much of it raised in the IPO, alongside $29.1 billion (€25.4bn) of long-term debt.
That mix of vast cash reserves and fresh borrowing so soon after a record flotation has unsettled some investors, who see the rapid fundraising as a sign of heavy spending ahead as SpaceX scales its AI and data centre plans.
Opting for debt rather than new shares does, however, spare existing shareholders further dilution, preserving their economic stake while the company funds its expansion.
02:23, 19 Jun 2026Updated 07:18, 19 Jun 2026
This beautiful town has so much to offer(Image: CHUNYIP WONG via Getty Images)
Living in London, life can feel rather frenetic at times. I adore city living, but I do make an effort to escape at least a few times each year to properly switch off.
One of my favourite spots I’ve discovered is renowned for its relaxed atmosphere and delightful high street.
Totnes is a market town in Devon, celebrated for its artistic community and flourishing bohemian spirit. It also boasts, in my view, one of the finest high streets in Britain.
If you begin at the lower end of the street, you can cross the bridge spanning the River Dart and really absorb the character of the town from there.
During the summer months, the town is adorned with vibrant bunting, and small vessels glide across the water, reports the Express.
There’s verdant riverside greenery, and the town buzzes with energy. Once you’ve crossed the bridge, pop in for a coffee at The Curator – the first of countless independent shops scattered along the high street.
The coffee is excellent, and they offer a wonderful range of pastries if you fancy settling in for a spot to eat – though don’t overdo it, there’s plenty more to discover.
The high street meanders gently uphill and is flanked by hundreds of independent boutiques, charity shops and tea rooms.
Further up the high street, there’s the Cornish Bakery, which fills the air with the mouthwatering savoury aroma of pasties.
They cater for everyone – even my vegan brother discovered something he adored. As the high street sweeps round to the left, you’ll come across Butterworth’s Vintage Co — a compact yet impressive second-hand shop stocking everything from knitwear to workwear and even vintage magazines.
Once you’ve had a good rummage through the shelves, you might fancy a swift pint or another bite to eat — and you’re in luck.
Just a short stroll from Butterworth’s sits The Bull Inn — a stunning pub boasting an extensive organic food menu, along with nine rooms available should you need somewhere to rest your head.
The highlight for me at The Bull Inn is its delightful garden, where you can unwind in the sunshine and watch the world go past. Tucked just across the carpark, and much like the rest of the town, it’s frequently adorned with gorgeous bunting.
On a sunny day, it really is hard to beat — and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be more than ready to take the weight off your feet after all that retail therapy along the high street.
Benchmark S&P 500 rises 1.7 percent, while tech-heavy Nasdaq jumps 3.1 percent.
Published On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026
US stocks have rallied on hopes that the tentative deal to end the US-Israel war on Iran will restore stability to energy supply chains roiled by months of disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent on Monday, taking the benchmark index within touching distance of its all-time high.
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The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.1 percent, aided by a 19.6 percent gain by SpaceX, which on Friday made the biggest market debut in history and minted the world’s first trillionaire in Elon Musk.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9 percent, closing at a record high.
Brent crude futures, the primary benchmark for global oil prices, fell nearly 5 percent to just above $83 a barrel, the lowest price since the first week of the conflict.
Asian stock markets were largely flat on Monday morning, after surging the previous day on the back of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his deal with Tehran.
As of 01:30 GMT, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was 0.01 percent lower, while South Korea’s Kospi, the best-performing major index this year, was down 0.06 percent.
In Taiwan, the TAIEX was up 0.2 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.07 percent.
Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst for tech-related equities at the Chicago-based Seaport Research Partners, said the announcement of the US-Iran deal had tilted investors’ risk balancing act towards buying into the market.
“To oversimplify, the debate has been: AI spending is strong, but there’s a war going on,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.
“The war is over, it seems, so that side of the argument falls away. Investors are now feeling better about taking on more risk,” Goldberg said.
While Washington and Tehran’s framework has raised hopes for a return to stability in global energy markets, it is expected to take months before energy flows fully return to normal, due to the massive backlog of vessels around the Strait of Hormuz and the need to ensure the waterway is safe from Iranian naval mines.
According to the International Shipping Chamber, about 500 ships are still waiting to pass through the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas.
SpaceX is set for the largest stock market debut ever.
Elon Musk’s rocket company begins trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SPCX. The company priced its shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion (€64.5bn) and valuing the business at $1.75 trillion (€1.5trn) in the biggest stock market flotation on record.
The deal would comfortably eclipse Saudi Aramco’s previous record of $29.4bn, set in 2019 and later increased through an overallotment option.
SpaceX made an unusually strong push to attract retail investors, including those in Europe. According to Bloomberg, individual investors placed roughly $100bn (€86.6bn) in orders through trading platforms including Robinhood, Fidelity and SoFi during the IPO process.
That demand alone exceeded the company’s $75bn (€64.5bn) fundraising target, underscoring the level of interest from smaller investors ahead of the stock market debut.
Yet beneath the hype, several warning lights are flashing. Here are five risks investors should weigh before the SpaceX IPO goes live.
At a valuation of $1.75tn (€1.5trn), investors would be valuing SpaceX at roughly 94 times its annual revenue, which was $18.7bn (€16.1bn) in 2025. By comparison, Nvidia — one of the market’s most highly valued technology companies — trades at less than a quarter of that level.
The investment research firm Morningstar, which values the company at $780bn (€675bn), called it “significantly overvalued” while Goldman Sachs data suggests sustaining the share price would require revenues above $100bn (€86.6bn) by 2030, implying a compound annual growth of more than 40%.
History offers a note of caution. Research by University of Florida professor Jay Ritter, often referred to as “Mr IPO”, found that while IPOs between 2012 and 2021 rose an average of 23.6% on their first day of trading, they returned just 10.6% over the following three years.
SpaceX’s expected inclusion in major stock indexes has become a point of controversy. Investment officials from four large US states have urged Nasdaq and FTSE Russell to explain recent rule changes that could accelerate the company’s entry into widely tracked benchmarks.
Critics argue the move could expose passive investors to a highly valued stock sooner than expected, while the index providers say the changes reflect broader market developments.
The debate matters because relatively few SpaceX shares will initially be available for trading. Although SpaceX is valued at $1.75tr (€1.5trn), only around 3% to 4% of its shares will initially be available for public trading.
That means the company’s market value will be determined by trading in a relatively small portion of its equity. Reports suggest more than 75% of the $75bn (€64.5bn) offering has already been allocated to existing investors and insiders, leaving fewer shares available on the open market.
According to Morningstar, the limited float and strong demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks could help support the share price in the early stages of trading, even if the company is valued above what the research firm considers fair value. The firm argues that a clearer picture of investor demand may emerge once lock-up restrictions expire and more shares become available for trading.
Some analysts, however, believe the limited float could continue to support the stock. Estimates suggest between $22 billion (€19bn) and $27 billion (€23.4bn) of passive investment could flow into SpaceX once it joins the Nasdaq 100, creating additional demand from index-tracking funds.
SpaceX’s financial results may also give investors pause.
The prospectus shows that the company is growing rapidly but still losing money.
The company owns the Starlink satellite internet service, which generates most of its revenue and is its only profitable business. It also owns the artificial intelligence company xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February.
According to the filing, SpaceX carried an accumulated deficit of $41.3bn (€35.76bn) as of 31 March and reported a net loss of $4.27bn (€3.7bn) in the first quarter of 2026.
This compares with $528mn (€457mn) in the same period a year earlier.
Much of the recent loss stems from xAI. According to SpaceX’s IPO filing, the AI business recorded an operating loss of about $6.4 billion (€5.5bn) in 2025. The filing also showed xAI spent heavily in the opening months of 2026 as it expanded its AI infrastructure.
Morningstar argues the AI unit “poses a material threat of value destruction”, noting that Grok has yet to win meaningful market share against rival chatbots.
Supporters counter that the losses are a choice, not a structural flaw.
Revenue climbed 33% to $18.7bn (€16.2bn) in 2025, up from $14.1 billion (€12.2bn) a year earlier. The underlying launch and satellite business was profitable as recently as 2024. The deficits largely reflect heavy investment in AI infrastructure, spending that supporters say is already beginning to be offset by new compute contracts.
Supporters argue investors are paying for future growth rather than current profits.
Starlink remains the company’s main source of revenue, while its artificial intelligence business is expected to play a larger role in the years ahead.
Bulls also point to SpaceX’s dominant position in rocket launches and satellite communications, arguing the company is uniquely placed to benefit from growing demand for connectivity, computing power and AI infrastructure.
SpaceX conducts more rocket launches annually than the rest of the world combined and counts over nine million Starlink subscribers, but its newest growth driver is the AI data-centre business acquired through the xAI merger.
Last Friday, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million (€796.6mn) per month for compute capacity at xAI data centres, in a 32-month deal running from October 2026 through June 2029, and covering access to roughly 110,000 Nvidia GPUs.
That followed a May agreement under which Anthropic pays $1.25 billion (€1.08bn) a month to rent the entire output of the Colossus 1 data centre until May 2029, putting combined annualised compute revenue at around $26 billion (€22.5bn).
Bulls argue this contracted income, won in under four months, shows how quickly the company can monetise its infrastructure. Sceptics note that both contracts carry 90-day termination clauses after December 2026, and that Google itself has framed the arrangement as “bridge capacity” rather than a permanent commitment.
SpaceX’s success is closely tied to Elon Musk, whose profile and track record have helped attract investors, customers and business partners. That creates what investors call “key-person risk” — concerns about how the company would fare if he were no longer leading it.
The company’s governance structure reinforces that dependence. Musk’s super-voting Class B shares give him around 85% of voting power, leaving outside shareholders with little influence over major corporate decisions. In practice, that means no one but Musk himself can determine whether he remains chief executive.
Critics also point to SpaceX’s incorporation in Texas, where only investors holding at least 3% of shares can bring derivative lawsuits. The Danish academic pension fund AkademikerPension has blacklisted the stock, describing the governance structure as “catastrophic”.
Supporters argue that dual-class share structures are common among US technology firms, including Meta and Alphabet. They say concentrated voting control allows founders to pursue long-term goals without pressure from short-term investors.
Musk’s prominence also brings political risk. US Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to scrutinise the listing, warning that future index inclusion could expose millions of passive investors to the stock without them actively choosing it.
Others note that the SEC completed its review faster than expected, allowing the IPO process to move ahead without delay and suggesting regulators see no immediate obstacle to the listing.
Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances. Also remember, we are a journalistic website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information here, then you do so entirely at your own risk.
Chey Tae-won, chief of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), speaks during a ceremony marking the 53rd Commerce and Industry Day at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul, South Korea, 31 March 2026. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
June 11 (Asia Today) — South Korea needs to reform its electricity market to respond to surging power demand from artificial intelligence and the expansion of renewable energy, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Wednesday.
The chamber said the current power market structure is not enough to support private investment or the growth of new energy businesses, including energy storage systems and virtual power plants.
The business group raised the issue during a seminar in Seoul co-hosted with the Korean Resource Economics Association. Participants discussed ways to reform the electricity market and promote new energy businesses as AI adoption and renewable power generation expand.
“As the power industry shifts from a centralized structure to a distributed and digital-based system, various new businesses are emerging,” said Cho Hong-jong, president of the Korean Resource Economics Association and a professor at Dankook University. “To make the energy transition a reality, it is necessary to build a competitive system based on market principles.”
Joo Sung-kwan, a professor at Korea University, said South Korea’s current electricity market has structural limits because wholesale prices are set a day before electricity is supplied, based mainly on fuel costs.
“This creates significant rigidity because real-time supply and demand conditions cannot be flexibly reflected in prices,” Joo said.
Joo said the market needs pricing signals that respond to supply and demand. Prices should rise when electricity supply is tight to encourage lower consumption and fall when supply is sufficient to promote use, he said.
For new energy businesses to secure profitability and increase investment, Joo said South Korea should move from the current day-ahead market to a real-time market. He also called for a price-bidding system in which power generators and electricity retailers submit bid prices.
Panelists also said South Korea needs a market environment and regulatory system that can attract private investment.
Lee Seo-jin, a professor at Hongik University, said tailored compensation systems for new energy businesses and a predictable policy environment are more important than simple market opening.
Huh Yoon-ji, a professor at Dankook University, said wholesale price normalization and retail electricity rate reform must proceed together to secure economic viability. She also called for independent governance to supervise the electricity market.
Industry officials said the pace of reform should accelerate.
Lee Hyo-seop, vice president of Encored, said his company is preparing a virtual power plant business using AI-based forecasting technology, but uncertainty over the schedule for electricity market reform is making business development difficult.
Yeom Sung-oh, Seoul representative of Gurin Energy, said power supply flexibility and sustainability will be crucial in the AI era. He called for preemptive institutional support covering power grids, energy storage systems and data centers.
The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said private-sector energy businesses are essential to address rising electricity demand from AI and the growing variability of renewable energy.
“Companies need a more predictable electricity market so they can invest in high-cost new technologies,” said Kim Min-seok, head of the chamber’s Green Energy Center. “Institutional foundations, including regulatory innovation and a supportive market environment, must be established.”
“To secure competitiveness in power infrastructure in the AI era, discussion on electricity market reform can no longer be delayed,” Kim said.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260611010003798
SIA has been spotted looking totally different after she ditched her signature wig and stepped out makeup-free at an LA farmer’s market.
In photos obtained by The U.S. Sun, Sia was seen out and about with her two-year-old, Somersault Wonder.
The Elastic Heart singer wore a pink baseball cap and an oversized trench coat as she strolled through the market picking out produce on Sunday, June 7.
The singer and songwriter is known for wearing elaborate wigs, which would obscure most of her face, for a large part of her career.
The 50-year-old has been intensely private, so when she filed for divorce from her husband, Daniel Bernard, last year, fans were surprised to learn she had also quietly welcomed her son, Somersault.
The couple tied the knot in December 2023 in Italy and ended the marriage just 26 months later.
The documents cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split.
The exes have been caught in a nasty custody battle, with Daniel requesting full custody of Somersault.
According to documents reported by Page Six, Daniel, whose an oncologist, claimed he was the “only safe and reliable parent.”
He also called Sia a “serious and immediate danger” to their child.
“Sia is an unfit and unreliable parent struggling with substance abuse and addiction, rendering her incapable of providing safe or stable care for Summi,” he claimed in the papers.
The judge denied Daniel’s request for full custody and ordered the pair to continue with their previous custody agreement.
Sia has two other sons whom she adopted in 2019 as they were about to age out of the foster care system.
