News Topic: Business brief
New euro banknote designs revealed
NEWS SUMMARY The European Central Bank has unveiled ten possible designs of new euro banknotes. They include five proposals on the culture theme and five proposals on the nature theme. The culture theme features figures from European history in the fields of art, music, science and literature, and the nature theme features six bird species, […]
World Cup ticket prices under fire
NEWS SUMMARY FIFA is under investigation over its ticket sales practices for the 2026 World Cup. Critics have accused the organisation of charging extremely high prices and using a confusing sales process. For the first time, FIFA introduced dynamic pricing, causing ticket prices to increase significantly as demand grew. Some tickets for the final rose […]
Patagonia vs Pattie Gonia lawsuit
NEWS SUMMARY Outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has filed a trademark lawsuit against environmental activist Pattie Gonia, the drag persona of the photographer Wyn Wiley, to prevent them from officially registering their stage name. Patagonia argues that Wiley’s move to expand from an online persona into commercial events and products directly competes with their brand and […]
Crowds gather for new Swatch watch
NEWS SUMMARY People rushed to buy a limited-edition £335 pocket watch from a collaboration between Swatch and luxury brand Audemars Piguet. The design was inspired by Pop Art. The product quickly became highly sought after, with some people reselling it online for as much as £16,000. Because of safety concerns, Swatch temporarily closed many of […]
Rising oil and gas prices worldwide
NEWS SUMMARY Due to the ongoing US-Iran conflict, global oil and gas prices have increased sharply. Countries around the world are taking action to reduce the impact on their citizens: Source: Sky News ACTIVITY 1 Ask students if they know what is happening on the global oil market. Follow up by asking if they are […]
Musk liable for misleading investors
NEWS SUMMARY A San Francisco jury found Elon Musk liable for misleading investors with his tweets during his 2022 acquisition of Twitter. In the tweets, Musk expressed his concerns about the actual number of bot accounts on the platform and stated that the deal was ‘temporarily on hold’. Shareholders who sold their stock after the […]
Soaring gold prices
NEWS SUMMARY Gold prices have reached record highs, signalling increased economic and geopolitical uncertainty, as investors tend to turn to gold as a safe-haven asset. The surge appears to be driven by factors such as the changing trade policies and tariffs, future interest rates and investor speculation. Market speculations often peak near major market tops, […]
Farewell to the penny
NEWS SUMMARY The US Mint has produced its last penny (1-cent coin). Pennies are no longer minted because producing them costs almost four times more than they’re worth. The coin itself has very little value and nothing can be bought for a penny anymore. However, since the penny is still legal tender, it will continue […]
The world’s first $5tn company
NEWS SUMMARY The US company Nvidia has become the first company with a market value of $5 trillion. Their chips (Graphic Processing Units) are the backbone of AI data centres around the world. Nvidia’s value now exceeds the GDP of nearly every country, except for the US and China. The second- and third- most valued […]
Shein to open first physical stores
NEWS SUMMARY Online, ultra fast-fashion retailer Shein has announced that it is going to open its first permanent physical stores next month. The shops will be located in several French cities. Shein said that they chose France because it’s an “influential global fashion market”. The idea has drawn criticism from many French people. Shein, founded […]
