Michelin stars attests to culinary excellence: one star signifies "a very good restaurant in its category," two stars are "excellent cooking" that is "worth a detour," and three denote "exceptional&ensp;cuisine" that is "worth a special journey." Bib Gourmands recognize restaurants that&ensp;offer quality food at a good value, and Green Stars call attention to restaurants with sustainable practices. Stars and Rising Stars Bottiglieria 1881 in Krakow, too, once again topped the national&ensp;rankings, keeping its hard-earned two-star ranking and its lofty status. Michelin lauded the sophistication of its plates, its&ensp;small, cozy setting and its very fine use of Polish products in its century-old cellar location. In Warsaw, hub. praga joined the ranks, winning&ensp;its first star. Michelin inspectors were&ensp;wowed at the restaurant by a standout dish, Polish Crayfish Royale, plus bold and well-balanced flavours and adventurous wine pairings. Other&ensp;capital city bright lights: They include Nuta and Rozbrat 20, and they kept their stars. Nuta was praised for Chef Andrea Camastra's mix of Polish,&ensp;Italian and Asian, and even the in-house lab for culinary experiments and developments. Rozbrat 20 was praised for its eclectic blend of cozy&ensp;neighborhood charm and sophisticated dining options. In&ensp;the meantime, Poznań's Muga remained the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the city. The tire giant Michelin praised its elegant French-inflected menu,&ensp;and, of course, the flawless execution of seasonal ingredients white asparagus with pistachio and, bilberry. Giewont, a restaurant with mountain views&ensp;south of Krakow, south of Krakow, also retained its one-star rating for its well-seasoned mix of Polish and French cuisines. In Gdańsk, Arco by Paco P&eacute;rez rose to the occasion &mdash; both literally and metaphorically &mdash; wowing&ensp;judges with its high-rise dining, panoramic views and Mediterranean-accented Polish cuisine. Wrocław Makes the&ensp;Guide, Wins Bib Gourmands Wrocław debuted in the Michelin Guide with three Bib Gourmands awarded&ensp;to Baba, Tarasowa and IDA Kuchnia i Wino. Baba earned notice in part for&ensp;a nostalgic approach to meatloaf and Polish wines, while IDA won recognition for its straightforward, no-nonsense cooking. Tarasowa received&ensp;acclaim for sensibly executed, inexpensive dishes. Bib Gourmands and Sustainability Honorees The restaurant guide as a whole handed out 21 Bib&ensp;Gourmands, highlighting good value for money throughout Poland. Some of the best ones are Le Braci and Ceviche&ensp;Bar in Warsaw, Molam and Folga in Krakow, Spot and Fromazeria in Poznań. Gdańsk's Eliksir in Poland was awarded&ensp;the country's lone Green Star this year for its sustainability and use of local products. A Sunny Twinkle for Polish Food Thanks to this new record, Poland's culinary scene is in its golden&ensp;era. What the country's chefs and restaurants are receiving recognition for is&ensp;no longer simply innovation; it's for tradition, for sustainability, and for setting a new standard in European dining.

Poland's food scene is rejoicing in&ensp;a historic achievement after seven of its restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars &mdash; the most in its history. The 2025 edition of&ensp;the Michelin Guide covers Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Gdańsk, and (for the first time) Wrocław. Michelin awarded Poland with eight stars, 21 Bib Gourmands, 79 recommendations and one Green Star, indicating the country's&ensp;increasing influence on the global gastronomic scene.

Poland Sets Record with Seven Michelin-Starred Restaurants in 2025

Role of Smart&ensp;Software in Your Business Growth How software decisions drive business success One of the key topics at the conference was the role&ensp;software has in driving business success. The conversations underscored the need to select the appropriate tools to run a tight ship and&ensp;remain competitive. Attendees looked at how to use technology to be more productive and successful in an overcrowded&ensp;marketplace.
 AI &amp; Cloud Solutions For New-Age Customer&ensp;Service Cloud-based software and artificial intelligence to&ensp;enhance customer service were a major focus of the conference. Experts provided insights on how current tools can enable companies to respond more quickly, understand customer needs more deeply, and&ensp;provide personalized support. The event demonstrated that nimble use of technology&ensp;can help businesses accommodate today&rsquo;s requirements and prepare for future expansion.

What is the impact of software on business health; being ahead in a competitive market; and the nuances of production excellence &ndash; were just some of the important conversations had at the IFS Connect&ensp;2025 Conference. It took place in Warsaw on May 20&ndash;21, 2025, and gathered practitioners interested in the&ensp;future of technology in business / Oct 27, 2015, &middot; KPMG Spark is the online accounting service for small and midsized businesses providing bookkeeping, tax prep, and facilitating access to payroll services.

AI and Cloud Software in Focus at IFS Connect 2025

Outlook of Futher&ensp;Rate Cuts Hinges on Key Economic Indicators Some members of&ensp;the MPC are said to be considering another rate cut as soon as July, but the Bank would prefer to see more data and it would depend on the availability of key data when it could make another cut. "We are waiting for the draft budget for 2025 and the fixation of the price of energy in&ensp;the fourth quarter and then we have to make a decision on this," National Bank of Poland President Adam Glapiński said. He also emphasised that the July NBP as&ensp;well as additional wage, retail sales and inflation data will be key to formulating the Council's decisions going forward. Under-review: Inflation and the Growth Trends. Inflation has begun to moderate but is still higher than&ensp;the central bank's target. At&ensp;the same time, the Polish economy is still booming, with GDP growth of more than 3%. Retail sales showed&ensp;robust consumer demand in April. Wage growthy is also&ensp;staying strong at 10%, with corporate sector salaries recently going up. In view of&ensp;these conflicting economic indicators, the MPC has decided to remain on hold and neutral for the time being.

The Monetary Policy Council (MPC) voted to&ensp;keep rates unchanged at 5.25% after cutting the main rate to that level by 50 basis points in May. The decision is an exercise in prudence, as the Council will wait to see&ensp;more data on inflation and growth before making any more adjustments.

MPC Holds Rates Steady Amid Uncertain Outlook

Procedures&ensp;were turned digital and deadlines tightened The updated rules now require employers to use digital systems&ensp;via the praca.gov.pl platform. The labor market test requirement has been removed to&ensp;help facilitate the start of the hiring process. But new rules also require tighter deadlines for&ensp;reporting. Employers must deliver contracts of employment by electronic means, and are required to notify&ensp;both early termination of a contract and any relevant changes in employment conditions within two months (rather than three). Larger fines and&ensp;more restrictions The rules also include stricter&ensp;protections to stop misuse. There are new requirements&ensp;for the refusal of permissions under some visa categories, while companies that outsource work will end up with new constraints. Temporary work agencies must be established for&ensp;at least two years when recruiting foreigner workers and are required to pay a PLN 1,000 fee if they are not entered into a register by June 1, 2025. Under the new regulations, employers found to have hired undocumented&ensp;workers may be fined up to PLN 50,000 for each such worker. Businesses are warned to strictly observe the rules, perhaps consulting a lawyer to ensure&ensp;they do not incur heavy fines.

German An Entry Into Force on June 1, new&ensp;regulations intended to facilitate the employment of foreigners in Poland have been introduced. The changes are meant to streamline the process of work legalization while increasing monitoring and&ensp;employer accountability.

Poland Tightens Foreign Worker Hiring Rules

Eastern and Central European&ensp;countries, including those in proximity to Russia, are leading the push for Europe to bolster its military capabilities. Poland is NATO&rsquo;s most spendy nation, devoting 4.7% of its GDP to defense &mdash; more than&ensp;two times the alliance&rsquo;s target of 2%. The country&ensp;is aiming to boost this to 5 percent in the year following, which falls in line with Trump&rsquo;s past insistence on greater defense spending from NATO members.
Boosting EU Defense Spending(text) For More&ensp;Europe: Triple EU Defense Spending
 Teresa Czerwińska, EIB Vice-President said: &ldquo;Security and defense have become an important concern&ensp;for many EU Member States today, in particular along NATO&rsquo;s eastern border. She also announced the EIB is already prepared to triple its financing for projects in the defense sector across the union&ensp;by 2024.
 Although the EIB&ensp;does not finance the manufacture of weapons or ammunition, Czerwińska stipulated that the EIB may finance projects funding dual-use technologies and the protection of critical infrastructure.
 These include projects that can be used for both military and civilian purposes, including road and rail at the EU&rsquo;s eastern border, infrastructure for military hospitals, and army barracks, which often exceed&ensp;the budgets of national budgets.
 Satellite Programs and&ensp;Regional Projects And Czerwińska added that some of the purchases of military equipment &mdash; such as&ensp;drones and helicopters &mdash; might be eligible for co-financing. The bank&ensp;is now examining more than 20 potential projects, some of them proposed by Poland. One of the projects most likely to receive EIB backing is a military&ensp;base to be built in Lithuania.
 Projects involving the cooperation of two or more countries are also more likely to be approved because the bank takes a pan-European approach, she&ensp;said. From a regional perspective, projects that contribute&ensp;to EU defense have better prospects for being funded.&rdquo;
 In 2024, the EIB earmarked &euro;1 billion for the security and defense sector&ensp;in Europe. The biggest amount&mdash;&euro;300 million&mdash;went to Poland for its first&ensp;national satellite program. Under this program, two Earth observation satellites would be launched, offering premium image qualities for civilian&ensp;and military customers.

The EU&rsquo;s&ensp;European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to jack up support for defence-related projects in every member state this year. The decision is driven by concerns about security, following Russia&rsquo;s full-scale invasion&ensp;of Ukraine in 2022, and uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump&rsquo;s commitment to NATO.

EU Investment Bank to Triple Defense Funding in 2024

P&eacute;ter Szijj&aacute;rt&oacute; highlighted the role of the automotive industry in&ensp;Hungary's economy. And with several key investments already happening, Hungary will be capable of producing one million&ensp;cars and one million engines annually there, making it one of the leading actors worldwide in the field of electric battery production. Halms is also working on a second electric vehicle parts plant&ensp;in Debrecen, in western Hungary.
 Solid Automotive Expansion and Industry&ensp;Backing In the past 15&ensp;years, investments into the automotive sector have driven Hungary&rsquo;s economic growth. Today, it supports approximately 160,000 jobs and delivers&ensp;an annual production value of more than &euro;32.5 billion. Domestic policy, and international cooperation&mdash;particularly with&ensp;Chinese companies&mdash;has driven that steady growth.
 The Hungarian government is a strong&ensp;backer of Chinese business activity, which has delivered 64 large-scale Chinese investments cumulatively valued at almost HUF 5,500 bln (about &euro;13.75 bln) over the last 15 years. Morocco said the projects had created tens of thousands of&ensp;jobs and had reinforced cooperation between the two countries.
 BYD's Growth and Plans for&ensp;New Factories In May, China's electric car&ensp;manufacturer BYD said it would open its first European electric bus assembly site in the Hungarian capital and create a new research and development center. This &euro;250 million investment is proposed to create 2,000 jobs,&ensp;and 2,000 highly-skilled engineers in particular.
 Work has already begun in the Hungarian city of Szeged in the&ensp;country&rsquo;s south, where the steel frame of the forthcoming BYD factory is taking shape.
The plant is expected to be onstream&ensp;by October and produce electric vehicles for the European market, further sealing Hungary&rsquo;s position as a critical node in the global automotive supply chain.
&nbsp;

Chinese High-Tech Automotive Company To Invest HUF 80 Billion In Hungarian Province 22 February 2018 Squire Patton Boggs A large Chinese automotive company&ensp;is planning to invest HUF 80 billion (approximately &euro;200 million) in the construction of an automotive parts manufacturing factory in northeastern Hungary. The project will come in three stages and will result in more than&ensp;1,000 new jobs, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade P&eacute;ter Szijj&aacute;rt&oacute; announced.
&nbsp;

Chinese Auto Giant Invests €200M in Hungary Plant

However,&ensp;it has raised concerns among international metal exporters and local industries that rely on imports. Many business leaders were caught off guard by the hike, instead having anticipated that the increase would be temporary, or at least used&ensp;as a negotiating tactic.
 The UK was exempted and American allies must pay a&ensp;25% levy on steel imports as part of ongoing trade talks, but companies elsewhere are expecting huge hits to their bottom lines. Rick Huether, chief executive of the Independent Can Co in Maryland, which imports European steel to produce metal&ensp;containers, said his operations had been disrupted by uncertainty. He fears that higher prices will send customers seeking cheaper alternatives, such as plastic&ensp;and paper.
 Impact on Trade and Business The United States is one&ensp;of the largest steel importers in the world, ranking second only to the European Union. Its steel comes mostly from&ensp;countries including Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea. During&ensp;Trump&rsquo;s first term, he introduced 25% tariffs on steel and 10% levies on aluminum under national security legislation.
 Some of those imports have since been exempted after&ensp;trade deals or requests from companies. But Trump withdrew those carve-outs in March, saying they undercut&ensp;the protection measures. In&ensp;a rally, he said the 50 percent tariff would be &ldquo;so high that your competitors are going to be forced to buy you pipes. Otherwise, you&rsquo;re not going to have an industry left.&rdquo; &ldquo;We&rsquo;re bringing back your industry, don&rsquo;t you worry about it,&rdquo; he added.
 The reaction has been swift. In April, steel imports were 17%&ensp;behind March. Suppliers are bracing for even more demand destruction as a result&ensp;of the new tariff. Canada&ensp;and the European Union already have drawn up lists of retaliatory tariffs in response to the earlier hikes.
 In the&ensp;UK, pressure is mounting on the government to wrap up a trade deal that would protect its exports. It comes after Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds held a meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to secure the UK&rsquo;s exemption from&ensp;the levies. &ldquo;Even&ensp;at 25 percent, the U.S. tariffs have already forced the cancellation or suspension of orders, the financial losses of which are not recoverable,&rdquo; said Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, warning &ldquo;a 50 percent hit to our steel exports would be catastrophic.&rdquo;
 Economic Fallout and Industry&ensp;Struggle Some experts have warned that the tariff&ensp;hikes could backfire. An earlier analysis found that although the Trump tariff raisers helped create about 1,000 steel jobs, the US economy lost around&ensp;75,000 jobs in other fields. &ldquo;One can only assume &mdash; and this was part of the intention &mdash; that manufacturers are going to absorb less out of their margins in the second round,&rdquo; Erica York, vice president for federal tax policy&ensp;at the Tax Foundation, said of the new tariffs.
 She noted that higher costs for intermediate inputs such as steel and aluminum make US manufacturing and construction more&ensp;expensive.
 Small businesses are already getting&ensp;hit. Chad Bartusek, director of supply chain for Drill Rod &amp; Tool Steels in Illinois, said his company imports about 800,000 pounds of steel from Austria a year that he can&rsquo;t&ensp;find in the United States. His anticipated tariff bill doubled, increasing from $72,000 to almost $145,000, as a result&ensp;of the new rate.
 He&ensp;also had to increase prices earlier in the year by as much as 14% and is now noticing more cautious buying among customers. As&ensp;a consequence, he has cut worker hours. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one&ensp;punch after the next,&rdquo; he said, adding that he hoped the situation would stabilize soon. Trump&ensp;Doubles Down on Metals, Roiling Small Rock&rsquo;s World
 Import Duties Raised to 50% President Donald Trump has issued an order to double tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from Turkey&ensp;to 50% and 20% respectively, over a dispute about Ankara's treatment of a US pastor and a human rights activist. The new raise, which took effect on&ensp;Wednesday, was the second major hike since March. Trump said that the decision was intended to protect the future of&ensp;the American steel industry.
 However the move has alarmed metal exporters around&ensp;the world and domestic industries that use imported metals. The hike came as a surprise to many business leaders, who had hoped it would be either temporary or a&ensp;bargaining tactic.
 The UK, which was exempt due to ongoing trade negotiations, has continued to charge the 25% tariff, but companies in other countries are expecting&ensp;heavy losses. Operations have been upended by uncertainty,&ensp;said Rick Huether, the chief executive of Independent Can Co in Maryland, whose company imports European steel to make metal containers. He fears higher prices will&ensp;push customers to cheaper options like plastic and paper.
 Impact on Trade and Business Indeed, the United States is among the largest importers of steel in the world, behind only the European&ensp;Union. It primarily consumes&ensp;steel from nations like Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and South Korea. In Trump&rsquo;s&ensp;first term, he slapped 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminum, alleging national security laws as justification.
 Most of those imports&ensp;eventually were granted exemptions through trade deals or petitioning companies. But Trump stripped away those exemptions in March, explaining that they diminished the effectiveness&ensp;of protective measures. He declared at a rally that the 50% tax would&ensp;be high enough to coerce companies to buy from American producers instead, imagining:
&nbsp;
 &ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s going to be able to steal your industry&rdquo; anymore. The reaction has been swift. Steel imports in April fell&ensp;17 percent from March. Suppliers say demand&ensp;is poised to plummet again in the wake of the new tariff. Canada and the European Union have also readied counter-tariffs&ensp;in retaliation for the earlier hikes.
 In the United Kingdom, the government is racing to secure a trade agreement that would protect its&ensp;exports. The latest round of tariffs threatens to add billions of pounds to&ensp;the cost of the British fish and chip trade and in the meantime Government ministers have been working to extract the market from those tariffs. Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds this week held talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a bid to make sure the UK remains exempt from the latest tariffs. The 25% rate has&ensp;brought about canceled and delayed orders, not least because of the uncertainty that the market faces, according to UK Steel&rsquo;s director general, Gareth Stace, while even a 50% rate proposed by the UK would be &ldquo;catastrophic&rdquo; for UK steel exporters, 7% of the total, he said.
 Damage&ensp;to the Economy, Industry Shuttering Experts have warned that increasing tariffs may cause more&ensp;harm than good. A previous study found that for every job created by Trump&rsquo;s tariffs, 75 were lost in other industries across the&ensp;US thanks to his tariffs. A second round of tariffs could cause even&ensp;bigger losses, said Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation.
 &ldquo;What&rsquo;s getting more expensive is intermediate inputs&ensp;like steel and aluminum,&rdquo; she said, adding that it penalizes manufacturing and construction, making US production more expensive.
 Small businesses&ensp;are already suffering. The company Chad Bartusek works for, Drill Rod &amp; Tool Steels in Illinois, imports about&ensp;800,000 pounds of a type of steel from Austria a year that is not available at home. His&ensp;projected tariff bill jumped to roughly $145,000 from $72,000 thanks to the new rate.
 He also had to raise prices by as much as&ensp;14% earlier in the year and is now being met with more guarded purchasing by customers. As a result, he has&ensp;cut worker hours. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a&ensp;blow after blow,&rdquo; he said, adding that he hoped the situation would stabilize soon.
&nbsp;

President&ensp;Donald Trump has signed a new order doubling tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Turkey, raising them to 50% and 20%, respectively. The latest rise, which took effect&ensp;on Wednesday, is the second huge increase since March. The decision is aimed at&ensp;protecting the future of the American steel industry, Trump said.

Trump Doubles Metal Tariffs to 50 Percent

Simon Williams, chief executive of Anaphylaxis UK, said the lack of&ensp;clear information on ingredients and allergens could put people with allergies in danger. He also asked consumers&ensp;not to buy any food products that do not contain this important data. Although TikTok says it has controls in place to check food safety, undercover investigations also found that sellers are&ensp;still able to list items without specifying their ingredients.
 Seller Violations&ensp;of TOS Examples Mega Buy UK, one seller, advertised a snack based on the Netflix series Squid Game, with its allergen and&ensp;ingredient sections listed as &ldquo;not applicable.&rdquo; Another, The Nashville Burger, included a burger kit&ensp;with milk and wheat, regulated allergens, that it did not clearly list, instead listing &ldquo;spices&rdquo; and &ldquo;flour.&rdquo; &ldquo;UK Snack Supply was also advertising lollipops and crisps with&ensp;no detail on the ingredients.
 Though TikTok took down the flagged products, all three sellers are still active on the platform, selling&ensp;other food products without full labeling. Photo: Seth Williams&ensp;It's not certain that all of these sellers are located within the UK, but advocates for those with allergies say there should be no compromise on consumer safety, wherever they are based.
 Allergy Activists&ensp;Call for Better Confinement Kate Lancaster, who has two children with milk allergies and advises on TikTok&ensp;as The Dairy Free Mum, said the platform needed to police labeling. She said she is&ensp;disturbed by the lack of accountability and oversight, calling such an oversight "totally unacceptable."
 Tanya Ednan-Laperouse, co-founder of The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, which she launched after her daughter died from an allergic reaction, said it is the responsibility of social media platforms such as TikTok to ensure that food sellers meet legal&ensp;standards. She insisted on strict checks to stop unsafe products from&ensp;appearing online in the first place.
 Since Natasha died, the UK passed &ldquo;Natasha&rsquo;s Law,&rdquo; which mandates written ingredients and allergen information on pre-packed foods prepared and&ensp;sold on the premises. But critics say the current system of reaching buyers on TikTok&ensp;allows sellers to sidestep that law.
 Seller Responsibilities Emphasized by&ensp;the Authorities Dr&ensp;James Cooper at the FSA said businesses have a legal responsibility to register with their local authority and comply with food safety laws. The FSA tells us that information about allergies must be provided twice during online&ensp;purchases: in the product details and through on-pack labels.
 Some sellers are still abusing the platform to make money at the&ensp;expense of safety, Simon Williams observed, despite some regulation of the platform. The onus is mainly on sellers but TikTok should also do more&ensp;to enforce a policy that safeguards public health,&rdquo; he said.
&nbsp;

TikTok Shop is under fire for allowing food to be sold&ensp;without information about its allergens, which some say could put users&rsquo; lives at risk. Many listings did not specify whether products include any of the 14 allergens UK&ensp;businesses are, by law, supposed to declare. The listings were taken off the platform after&ensp;reports of those violations and TikTok issued a statement reiterating its dedication to consumer safety.

TikTok Food Listings Lack Allergen Info, Raise Safety Fears

After offering sweeteners to&ensp;international EV players from March last year, India has finally got down on its knees admitting that the bait did not work in the case of Tesla. Kumaraswamy also noted that two Tesla showrooms will be set in India to keep retail operations&ensp;alive in the country.
 Other carmakers show interest Speaking to reporters, Kumaraswamy&ensp;said, "We have received an interest from other global automotive manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz, Skoda-Volkswagen, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motor Company for manufacturing electric vehicles in India. Such&ensp;production plans would not include Tesla, he said.
 A person involved in&ensp;the discussions said a Tesla representative attended the first round of stakeholder talks but did not participate in subsequent meetings. India lowered import taxes for EV makers&ensp;last year, providing incentives to those that commit to investing $500 million and produce locally within three years. These&ensp;developments are a result of Musk's earlier concerns over high import duties crippling Tesla's aspiration to for enter the Indian market.
 Obstacles to&ensp;Indian EV market Over the years, Tesla has had several rounds of discussion&ensp;with India. Initial forays into the market were shelved in 2022 after the Indian government said it wanted to see local manufacturing, a move in which Tesla, which wanted to start with&ensp;exports to gauge demand, wasn't quite on board with.
 Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year in Washington DC and discussed the possibilities&ensp;of deploying technology together, but the Indian electric vehicle space has its share of challenges. Sales of electric vehicles today represent less than 3 percent of total passenger vehicle sales and cheaper&ensp;options are most popular.
 Moreover, the nation&rsquo;s poor road system and underdeveloped EV charging system could prove challenging for more premium brands such as&ensp;Tesla. Currently, Tata Motors is the leader of the&ensp;Indian EV market with over 60 per cent share, followed by MG Motors at 22 per cent.
 Worldwide, Tesla&ensp;has been under pressure from growing competition in China from local companies such as BYD. Its global sales fell to a three-year low in early 2025, after criticism of Musk&rsquo;s relationship with the Trump administration, the role from which he said last&ensp;week that he was departing.
&nbsp;

Tesla, the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company, is looking to set up manufacturing operations&ensp;in India, the country&rsquo;s government confirmed at end of this week. His remarks come even as the Indian government unveiled elaborate guidelines&ensp;for a new policy that promotes local production of electric vehicles.

Tesla rules out EV manufacturing plans in India

&ldquo;In the entertainment industry, the competition for consumer attention has never been fiercer, and new entrants must hit the ground running with high-quality, high-profile content,&rdquo; a Disney spokeswoman said in a&ensp;statement to the Hollywood Reporter. The shift comes after mass firings in 2023 in which about 7,000 jobs were eliminated as part of a $5.5 billion savings campaign spearheaded&ensp;by CEO Bob Iger.
 Industry Changes&ensp;and Firm Performance And the continuing layoffs are part of the broader move&ensp;away from traditional cable TV toward streaming. Disney, the owner of popular brands like Marvel, ESPN and Hulu, is responding to those changes&ensp;as more fans gravitate to digital content.
 The company now has about 233,000&ensp;employees, more than 60,000 of them working outside the United States. Disney reported robust financial results earlier this&ensp;year despite the cost-cutting efforts. In the first three months of 2025, the company earned $23.6 billion in sales, a 7 percent increase, from the same period in&ensp;2024. The increase&ensp;was primarily on a surge in Disney+ streaming subscribers.
 Box Office Malaise&ensp;Was Mixed This year Disney came&ensp;out with several new titles, including Captain America: Brave New World and a live-action reimagining of Snow White. While Snow White&ensp;was a box office disappointment, and was critically panned.
Conversely, the animated film Lilo&ensp;&amp; Stitch was very successful, taking the U.S. holiday weekend box office by storm. The movie has taken in more than $610&ensp;million worldwide since its May release, according to industry data.
 Although Disney&ensp;is grappling with a shift in viewing habits, its most recent financial results and successful releases show that the company is trying to strike a balance between being innovative and controlling costs.
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The Walt Disney Company is laying off&ensp;several hundred additional employees worldwide as it continues to reduce costs. The job cuts apply&ensp;across the company&rsquo;s film, television, casting, development, marketing and corporate finance teams. While the company has said that no complete teams will be eliminated, the layoffs are part of a larger effort to respond to&ensp;significant changes in the entertainment business.

Disney Announces More Layoffs Amid Industry Restructuring

The government introduced a law last week that included the deconstruction as a task for a state-owned company, Adam Hlebowicz, the head of a team supervising the&ensp;event, told a news conference on Wednesday."Development and technology minister Krzysztof Paszyk said the government began the work in March at a news conference last week. The bill is anticipated to come together in the final version over the next couple&ensp;of weeks, he said. &ldquo;Woods' recognition as a strategic resource will&ensp;contribute to their accessibility for domestic processing industries and will stop the drain of raw materials,&rdquo; Paszyk said.
 Broader Scrutiny and&ensp;EU-Level Proposal The oncoming law is also expected to bring in more&ensp;stringent control over the wood supply chain, thus enabling the authorities to monitor where the wood is coming from and where it is going. Paszyk also expressed worries that a large part of the Polish wood is currently exported&ensp;to countries like China and re-imported back to the country as products, like furniture.
 He also stressed that the domestic wood industry &mdash; which comprises some 40,000 companies&ensp;and directly or indirectly employs nearly a million people &mdash; was important. More than 5% of Poland&rsquo;s GDP&ensp;comes from that sector.
 To bolster the local industry further, the ministry also intends to call for similar export restrictions across the European Union, in an effort to stop the export of raw wood from outside the&ensp;bloc.
 Export Figures See Sharp Rise In 2024, Poland sold abroad 4.2 million cubic meters of raw wood, 900 thousand cubic meters more than&ensp;in 2023. This is up over 26%&ensp;according to Polish Economic Chamber of the Wood Industry figures. The government hopes the new rule will help manage domestic demand and support a critical slice of&ensp;the Polish economy.
&nbsp;

The Polish government is about to create a new law to&ensp;restrict the export of wood and to designate it as a strategic commodity. This move follows last year&rsquo;s dramatic growth in&ensp;volumes of raw wood resources being exported out of the country.
&nbsp;

Poland Plans to Limit Wood Exports, Declare It Strategic

PZU, whose shares have been on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2010,&ensp;is the largest financial group in Central and Eastern Europe. It serves&ensp;about 22 million customers and has more than 300 billion złoty, or over &euro;70.4 billion, in assets under management. The insurer is&ensp;also 34.2% owned by the Polish government. Founded in&ensp;1929, Bank Pekao has some &euro;78.4 billion in assets and the second-largest branch network in Poland. PZU at present holds a 20% stake in Bank Pekao, while the Polish Development&ensp;Fund (PFR) has a 12.8% holding.
 Organization, Methodology, and Market&ensp;Effectiveness Under the proposal, PZU would&ensp;be split into a holding company and an insurance operation. The holding company&ensp;would subsequently combine with Bank Pekao, which would become the leader in the newly combined company. Although PZU and Bank Pekao would maintain their&ensp;brand names, the merged company would be led by the bank.
 Its goal is to streamline ownership, better align banking and insurance and increase sales through bancassurance &ndash; selling&ensp;insurance through banking channels. The companies believe such integration would support effective corporate governance, transparency and operational performance in line with European&ensp;standards.
 The merged company will be quoted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange as a&ensp;single company. This&ensp;should enhance market value and share liquidity.
 Next Steps and Future Outlook The merger project includes also a review of&ensp;business strategy for Alior Bank, where PZU has a 31.91% stake. Shares were lower in the immediate aftermath of the deal announcement and tempered comparisons to the investment bonanza into WeWork that came ahead of its&ensp;failed I.P.O. in 2019. PZU shares fell&ensp;0.62% and Bank Pekao shares declined 3.74% in late Monday morning.
 Both entities in the intervention as parties are expected to engage in the detailed discussions and aimed at finalising all&ensp;necessary approvals so that discussions of the merger process can commence in the following month being April 2016.
&nbsp;
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Poland&rsquo;s largest insurer PZU&ensp;and one of its biggest lenders, Bank Pekao, has agreed to start working on a planned merger by mid-2026. The blueprint, disclosed in a signed memorandum, could create one of the continent&rsquo;s largest financial institutions,&ensp;combining substantial banking as well as insurance operations under one roof.

PZU and Bank Pekao plan major merger by 2026

Wages and jobs&ensp;exceed forecasts. The&ensp;job market showed further improvement in Poland in April. According to the Central Statistical Office, The average&ensp;gross wages in enterprises of 10 or more people employed grew compared to last year by 9.3 percent. This was sharply up from wage growth, which had been running at less&ensp;than 8% for several months. Most economists had&ensp;expected a continued deceleration, so this rise was unmistakably a surprise.
Employment numbers&ensp;too moved up. The ranks of those working for larger companies swelled by&ensp;2,800 from March after drought-like declines over the past year. Higher wages and more people in work typically indicates greater confidence among businesses&ensp;&mdash; but is also a worry for inflation just as the National Bank of Poland had started to cut interest rates. The Monetary Policy Council also suggested that there will&ensp;probably be no more reductions in June, especially after the new wage statistics.
 Industrial production also defied expectations, rising by 1.2% in April year-on-year instead of&ensp;falling, as had been widely predicted. This expansion points to potential stabilization in the&ensp;manufacturing industry.
 But the construction sector&ensp;is still flailing. &ldquo;Output declined 4.2% in April versus the same month a year ago &ndash; the weakest monthly performance&ensp;since December. The sector had shown signs of a recovery in January, but has since experienced more stagnation and decline, and there are doubts about its&ensp;long-term recovery.
 Trends in Early Retirement&ensp;and Pension Participation Poland&ensp;has the highest early retirement rate in the EU. More than half&ensp;of Poles between the ages of 50 and 74 are no longer working, according to Eurostat, compared with an EU average of 39.7 percent. It&rsquo;s a result of Poland&rsquo;s relatively low retirement ages &mdash; 60 for women, and 65 for men &mdash; and a not&ensp;very uncommon habit among Poles who retire almost as soon as they can, even when waiting longer would net them higher monthly pensions.
 By the&ensp;end of 2024, practically 85% of those aged 50-55 in Poland remained economically active. But 55- to 64-year-olds participated at a rate of 61%, and just&ensp;6.3% of respondents over 65 did. Of that oldest group, only 9 percent of men and 4.4 percent&ensp;of women were still working.
 In an attempt to assist the public with retirement planning, the government is pushing through new legislation to give&ensp;more accessible pension information. The proposal is to enable people to check their pension contributions and&ensp;future benefits via the government&rsquo;s mObywatel mobile app. That is a data set that&rsquo;s actually already on ZUS&rsquo;s website, but this time it would be more accessible&ensp;and user-friendly. However the app&rsquo;s new feature could only be used by individuals with a valid ZUS information&ensp;profile.
 EU funds&ensp;for climate transition, and trade tensions Poland itself&ensp;is also gearing up for a big change on environmental policy. The forthcoming ETS II programme, due to go live&ensp;in 2027, will also bring carbon pricing to buildings and road travel. Though the measure aims to cut emissions 42% by 2030 compared with levels in 2005, it&ensp;has faced political pushback over the possible higher costs for households and businesses. In order to facilitate this&ensp;process, the EU promised to provide Poland with as much as PLN 153 billion (around &euro;35.3 billion) in aid. The money will&ensp;be used to modernize infrastructure and aid low-income households hit by higher energy costs, the funds will go toward.
 And trade uncertainty returned after US President Donald Trump out of the blue unveiled a 50 percent tariff on&ensp;EU imports. On a Friday, the decision, announced&ensp;publicly in a Friday statement, sent stock markets across Europe lower, including a 0.8% drop in Warsaw&rsquo;s WIG20 index. Two days later, Trump did an about-face after a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der&ensp;Leyen. He said he&ensp;would press ahead with talks until the original deadline of 9 July, thereby calming financial markets.
 Romania and Bulgaria&ensp;at Eurozone and Fiscal Crossroads Bulgaria is also&ensp;reaching the point of entry towards the euro area, after the publication of the staff working document and convergence report of the European Commission and European Central Bank on 4 June. If sanctioned, the EU could confirm the country&rsquo;s&ensp;membership as early as the middle of June, with the final financial decisions coming in July. Bulgaria&rsquo;s currency, the lev, is already pegged to the euro,&ensp;diminishing the potential for significant economic upheaval.
 In Romania, President Nicușor Dan, newly elected and campaigning on promises to ease&ensp;traffic, has warned the country&rsquo;s budget deficit could hit 7.5% of gross domestic product in 2025 &mdash; among the highest in the EU. This perpetuates a disturbing trend: The deficit exceeded 9&ensp;percent last year. The credit rating agencies are closely following Romania and could downgrade&ensp;the country unless it introduces credible fiscal reforms. In the face of such demands, the president has refused to agree to tax increases, indicating that deficit reduction will&ensp;have to be done more slowly and over time.
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Poland&rsquo;s economy revealed a surprising strength&ensp;in April and labour market data indicated an unexpected rebound. Meanwhile, new policies on pensions and the environment are re-engineering the country&rsquo;s economic and social&ensp;landscape.
&nbsp;

Poland Sees Job Growth, Wage Spike, and EU Support Boost

Keeping Promises and Welcoming the World of&ensp;Crypto Although Trump has delivered on many of&ensp;his promises to the crypto space, those returns to office have been mixed. Even though Gensler resigned before Trump could fire him, Vice President JD Vance recently signaled the administration&rsquo;s continued opposition&ensp;to federal meddling. Appearing at a crypto conference, Vance said that getting Gensler sacked and blocking similar regulators was a significant victory for the&ensp;crypto industry.
 More&ensp;recently, Trump&rsquo;s newfound excitement in crypto is drawing attention to his personal finances. Around $2.9 billion of his fortune is now linked to&ensp;digital asset projects, or about 37% of his total wealth, according to reports. Bitcoin,&ensp;the premier cryptocurrency, has surged 67 percent since Trump&rsquo;s appearance in Nashville in 2023.
 Trump&rsquo;s Firm Makes Big Bet&ensp;on Bitcoin Trump&rsquo;s financial ties to crypto advanced another step this&ensp;week. Though&ensp;Trump himself was not at this year&rsquo;s Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, his sons, and Vice President Vance showed up to assure attendees of the strength of the administration&rsquo;s crypto conviction. Don Jr. stressed their big hands by saying they are&ensp;&ldquo;very long crypto.&rdquo;
 Also, the owner of Truth Social, Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (TMTG), revealed intentions to secure $2.5 billion&ensp;for bitcoin acquisition. This is similar to strategies employed by&ensp;companies like Tesla, using Bitcoin as a stern financial and cultural signal. While TMTG still runs in the red and scrapes by very little revenue, the company's market valuation stays skyward thanks to its association&ensp;(a toxic asset, you could call it) with Trump, who remains broadly influential. As for the larger picture, experts say this Bitcoin move bolsters the legitimacy of crypto by giving traditional investors a way to indirectly invest in the stuff&ensp;without having to get in the weeds of managing digital wallets.
 Fears of Conflicts and&ensp;Financial Dangers While Trump&rsquo;s endorsement of crypto may embolden the industry, it also&ensp;raises some ethical concerns. Critics maintain that his personal investments&ensp;and political pull in the industry might lead to a conflict of interest. Legal scholars have also noted that while it is not illegal, thanks to cracks in presidential conflict-of-interest laws, it likely&ensp;exposes Trump to enormous risk. They caution that the administration&rsquo;s&ensp;tight financial connection to crypto could be onerous if the bubble pops.
 But in the face of these warnings, the administration insists that nothing is out&ensp;of kilter. And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt&ensp;rejected the accusations, calling it &ldquo;frankly ridiculous&rdquo; to claim that President Trump had acted in self-interest.
 With the crypto space growing at an exponential rate, when questioning the impact of our current POTUS, it&rsquo;s impossible to deny that Trump has revolutionized the&ensp;political and economic status quo of the space. Whether this transition will result in lasting&ensp;advantages or future risks is yet to be determined.
&nbsp;

Last year saw Donald Trump also enter the fray in his usual style during a campaign visit to the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville where he lobbied the crypto&ensp;community with grandiose assurances. From vowing to make America the epicenter of the cryptocurrency universe to championing a national bitcoin reserve, Trump&rsquo;s&ensp;rhetoric had crypto fans frothing at the mouth. He further promised to dismiss Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and even to pardon Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road&ensp;black market. The pledges marked&ensp;a major change of heart for a man who had previously bashed crypto as unstable and worthless.
&nbsp;

Trump Strengthens Crypto Ties, Keeps Promises to Industry

More Kvass Batches Withdrawn GIS already expanded&ensp;the list of kvass products that were asked to be withdrawn from sale at stores. The most recent update has added several more lots to those now&ensp;flagged for recall. The latest additions come just days after a previous warning about that&ensp;same drink.
 Only One Death Has&ensp;Been Reported To Date, But Use Caution If You Live There Or Plan To Visit! Everyone in America has heard about it by now &ndash; Flint, Michigan, the city that has been seriously poisoned by lead. Kvass products Consumers are advised not to drink the affected kvass&ensp;products, as drinking them may be harmful to health. Sanitary services are continuing to track the situation and encourage the public to consult&ensp;product details before use.
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The Chief Sanitary Inspector (GIS) has warned&ensp;against another popular drink. The warning follows an earlier&ensp;alert about particular kvass products that are already being recalled.

New Kvass Batches Recalled Over Health Concerns, Warns GIS

At the time of writing, XRP is changing hands&ensp;at $2.33, down 4% over the past 24 hours but still down almost 50% from its previous record high. Should&ensp;XRP muster up the strength to push towards $8, this would mark a 243% upswing from current price levels. For instance, a $60,000 investment&ensp;might balloon to approximately $206,000. Q: How big does my position&ensp;need to be for $300,000 to be this epic trade?A: More than likely higher than $1 million will make it a great milestone trade for big-time investors. Smaller Investors Will See&ensp;Slight Gains While a fourfold gain is significant, smaller retail investors, many of whom own less than $1,000 worth of XRP, could&ensp;experience less of an impact from the gains. The&ensp;fantasy of $1,000 XRP is nowhere near and nothing more than a pipe dream and that&rsquo;s pushing it. It is something for which we maintained hope, but which at best may take&ensp;the next ten years &ndash; if it happens at all &ndash; Matthew Brienen, executive director at CryptoGuard, told Broadband TV News. Growing Interest in Minotaurus&ensp;(MTAUR) With the focus on XRP rising,&ensp;there are also investors who are looking for other altcoins that may have higher potential for growth and for that purpose lower values that we need to work with. One such project that has been catching the eye of investors&ensp;is Minotaurus (MTAUR) a Greek mythology-themed blockchain game platform. MTAUR is catching the attention of traders who are interested in&ensp;higher rewards with a shorter holding period and offers an alternative for users who are new to crypto, want faster execution speed, and provide additional security from MTAUR smart contracts.

Bearable Bull, one of the best known crypto influencers on YouTube, made a bold prediction that&ensp;XRP will hit $8.00 soon. He called thes price achievement the &ldquo;journey to&ensp;generational wealth now complete&rdquo; and that a new chapter had been opened for the XRP community. That has followed years of market uncertainty, legal battles, and muted price performance that have tried both the patience&ensp;and the resolve of its long-term holders.

XRP Could Hit $8 Mark, Says Millionaire Crypto Mentor

CosMc&rsquo;s served as a&ensp;learning experience How did the project go? While CosMc&rsquo;s was unsuccessful at transforming itself into a permanent brand, the fast-food behemoth emphasized that the mission was always about understanding rather building a new&ensp;global chain. McDonald&rsquo;s called the project a &ldquo;launchpad for learning&rdquo; and&ensp;said it helped the company gain better insight into the products that customers preferred and innovate its beverage offerings. These learnings will be put into use immediately in a new U.S. beverage test at existing&ensp;U.S. McDonald&rsquo;s restaurants with curated CosMc&rsquo;s-inspired drinks. Initial Caution, Limited&ensp;Scope From the Start At the time CosMc&rsquo;s opened&ensp;in December 2023, CEO Chris Kempczinski had signaled that expectations should be restrained. He cited previous efforts to diversify, including Boston Market, Donatos Pizza and Chipotle Mexican Grill, all of which&ensp;were eventually divested. CosMc&rsquo;s was deliberately&ensp;cautious, opening just 10 stores, not hundreds. At one time, McDonald&rsquo;s planned to open two smaller CosMc&rsquo;s restaurants in&ensp;Texas, one in Allen. But no firm plans&ensp;for closures and new sites were ever agreed upon. The New Flavors Will&ensp;Stay, the Concept Will Go While CosMc&rsquo;s is ending as a separate brand, the&ensp;effort is not considered a failure. Instead, McDonald&rsquo;s is applying what it&rsquo;s learned to beef up its existing&ensp;business. The coming launch of exclusive, CosMc&rsquo;s-style flavors&ensp;at traditional McDonald&rsquo;s locations signals a change in strategy, as experimental ideas are now being folded into the main brand rather than kept separate. The closure represents the close of a short chapter in McDonald&rsquo;s innovation journey, even as&ensp;it has paved the way for new concepts and new flavors at the company&rsquo;s centuries-old locations.

McDonald&rsquo;s is pulling the plug on its&ensp;trial beverage-heavy brand CosMc&rsquo;s after just 18 months due to coronavirus lockdowns hampering the business. The idea of the space, a way to test out new drinks in a freestanding&ensp;format, will close all five of the pilot locations in the next few weeks. While discontinuing them, McDonald&rsquo;s&ensp;says it will maintain seven of the new drink flavors as it rolls them out in its 13,000+ U.S. restaurants.

McDonald’s Shuts Down CosMc’s After Test Phase Ends

Euroterminal Sławk&oacute;w undergoes&ensp;huge expansion A second inter-modal terminal will form part of the project and will include seven new tracks as well&ensp;as modern transshipment equipment. The terminal&rsquo;s capacity will be more than doubled, from the 285,000 TEU of today to 530,000 TEU, an addition of&ensp;100% of the handling capacity. Twenty-foot&ensp;equivalent unit, or TEU, is a standard unit of measurement for container capacity. The investment will develop the transport and logistics market in Poland, according to the Ministry&ensp;of Infrastructure. Dariusz Klimczak, Minister: Expanding the Terminal&ensp;in Sławk&oacute;w is a strategic move for the national economy.
Strategic Location and Broad-Gauge&ensp;Propensity Euroterminal Sławk&oacute;w is one of the key logistics centres in Poland&ensp;and in Central-Eastern Europe. The only facility in the European Union with&ensp;access to the LHS broad-gauge line, which extends from a border with Ukraine near Hrubiesz&oacute;w to Sławk&oacute;w. Transshipment of goods from Asia is possible here without breaking the railway gauge, which saves time&ensp;and money.
The geographical location of the&ensp;terminal is another factor contributing to its significance. Placed directly on the nodes of pan-european transport corridors,&ensp;Sławk&oacute;w is a key point on the route from the east to the west of the continent and from the north to the south. Prime Minister Tusk stressed today the growing importance of the north-south route &ndash; from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean &ndash; and the priority of destinations in Italy and the Adriatic, with Sławk&oacute;w as the central land nodal point&ensp;on the axis, as for which connecting the Western and Southern Polish provinces with Central and Eastern Europe. Let me&ensp;know if you want the metadata (title description, etc.) for this news too.
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Poland to Construct Europe's Biggest Logistics&ensp;Hub in Sławk&oacute;w Poland's Prime Minister calls a LEANQUIP&ensp;project an important development, even "a logistics breakthrough in Europe". It will invest in expanding the Euroterminal Sławk&oacute;w 180 million PLN&ensp;to build the biggest transshipment logistics center in Europe.

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