Talk Fuse

    Topic: Business

    Britain's boardrooms and balance sheets set the pace for jobs, investment and the everyday cost of living, which is why this hub tracks the deals, disputes and decisions shaping commerce at home and abroad. Expect coverage ranging from regional infrastructure and manufacturing schemes that promise new employment, through to the high-finance manoeuvring of media and technology giants as they buy, sell and jostle for market position.

    Alongside the corporate deal-making, the section also follows the policy and regulatory currents that shape how firms and money move across borders, including scrutiny of sanctions, energy markets and the wider financial fallout of geopolitical events. For entrepreneurs and founders, there's a steady eye kept on practical opportunities, from funding programmes to industry competitions worth knowing about before deadlines pass.

    Together, these stories offer a snapshot of where capital is flowing, who stands to gain or lose, and how business decisions made in boardrooms ultimately ripple out into pay packets, prices and prospects for ordinary readers.

    • Roku raises streaming stick prices by up to 60 percent

      Roku has increased the list prices of its streaming sticks, boxes and soundbar by between 33 and 60 per cent, citing a memory and component shortage linked to demand from the artificial-intelligence sector. The move matters because Roku has long positioned its hardware as an affordable option, so higher prices could make its products less…

    • Paramount delays $111bn Warner Bros deal pending antitrust trial

      Paramount Skydance has agreed to postpone its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery until after an antitrust trial, abandoning its previous effort to secure rapid approval. The decision gives a coalition of state attorneys general more time to pursue claims that the merger would weaken competition in cable television and the cinema market. Paramount…

    • House Democrats Probe StubHub CEO Over Claims of “Market Manipulation and Self-Dealing”

      House Democrats are investigating StubHub chief executive Eric Baker over concerns that his separate ticket-broking company, Andro Capital, may have received preferential treatment on StubHub’s resale platform. The inquiry matters because lawmakers believe the arrangement could have inflated ticket prices, disadvantaged smaller sellers and harmed consumers in an already contentious secondary-ticketing market. Baker is co-owner…

    • Downtown Boys played Baby’s All Right with Ratas en Zelo (pics)

      The article appears to cover a Downtown Boys performance at Baby’s All Right, supported by Ratas en Zelo, with photographs from the show. As the supplied article text contains only a browser-verification notice, no reliable details of the performance, date or reception are available to summarise. The page title indicates this was a concert review…

    • Meta just created a moderation nightmare for its smart glasses

      Meta says it will remove from Instagram some videos filmed with its smart glasses that secretly record, exploit or harass people, particularly “pickup line” pranks targeting women and service workers. The move highlights a problem for the company: glasses designed to make recording effortless are now linked to privacy concerns and abusive content, forcing Meta…

    • Midjourney is buying horoscope app Co-Star, which users will surely be thrilled about

      Midjourney has agreed to buy the astrology app Co-Star and appoint its chief executive, Banu Guler, as Midjourney’s Chief Design Officer. Co-Star is expected to remain under Guler’s control, but will gain Midjourney’s resources; the deal signals Midjourney’s effort to expand beyond AI image and video generation into more consumer-facing products. Guler described the acquisition…

    • SLADE Guitarist DAVE HILL Shares ‘Play It To The Crowd’ Single From Upcoming ‘Dirty Foot Lane’ Solo Album

      Dave Hill, founding lead guitarist of Slade, has released “Play It To The Crowd”, the first single from his debut solo album, “Dirty Foot Lane”, which is due on 30 October. Written during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the song celebrates the return of live music and the shared energy between performers and audiences. The arena-rock track…

    • Midjourney bought the astrology app Co-Star

      Midjourney has acquired Co-Star, a personalised astrology app, expanding the AI image-generation company into consumer apps. The deal matters because Co-Star’s founder and team are expected to help Midjourney develop its first dedicated applications, including an image-generation app beyond its current web and Discord access. Co-Star provides free daily horoscopes and friend-compatibility features, using human…

    • PSN Down for 6+ Hours, PS Store Still Being Repaired

      PlayStation Network experienced widespread disruption for more than six hours on 24 July, affecting sign-ins, friends lists, game downloads and the PlayStation Store. Most PSN functions later began recovering, but Sony said users might still have difficulty obtaining products from the PS Store while repairs continued. The outage appeared linked to issues at Amazon Web…

    • Funko at Comic-Con: Ultra-Rare ‘Invincible’ Pops!, Absolute Batman and a Figure Worth $10,000

      Funko has become one of Comic-Con’s busiest attractions, using exclusive products and carefully limited releases to draw large crowds at the San Diego event. The company says the convention lets it sell directly to genuine fans rather than automated buyers and resellers, while also promoting its wider range of Pop! figures, Mondo posters and vinyl…