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ChatGPT quite baffled me by commanding me to stop eating batteries and definitely not put one in the microwave again. It sent a page of instructions on how to remove a battery after it had been heated in an oven, and asked whether there was any burning, irritation, or metallic taste in my mouth. It urged me to get to a doctor on the double.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.A trader couldn’t hope for better timing.Moments before President Trump postponed strikes on Tehran’s energy infrastructure in a morning social-media post on March 23, a spasm of trades hit the market during off-hours. More than $800 million worth of U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: Consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton, among others, is in talks to acquire a stake in Bengaluru-based restaurant chain Nandhana Palace, three people familiar with the matter said.“The investment firm may likely acquire a minority stake in the business,” one person said.“The Andhra-cuisine restaurant chain is also in discussions with other funds, but L Catterton may likely have an edge, given its deep expertise in the consumer sector,” a second person said.Mint reported in December that Nandhana had sought a valuation of ₹2,000 crore when it was in talks with Dubai-based investment firm Pulsar Capital, but that did not materialize.That valuation was at the higher end and may evolve or change, depending on the buyer, two of the people said.“While the final terms are yet to be signed, the deal is still undergoing due diligence,” a third person said.L Catterton and Nandhana did not respond to Mint’s requests for comment till the time of publishing.L Catterton is 60% owned by private equity firm Catterton and the remaining 40% is jointly owned by French luxury brand LVMH and Groupe Arnault. The firm manages $40 billion of equity capital and has made over 300 investments in consumer brands globally and in India.Its portfolio companies include Drools, Sugar Cosmetics, Farmley, Haldiram’s, Healing Hands Clinic and Jio Platforms.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.It began with Tintin. Hergé’s comic books about a globe-trotting journalist who keeps getting into scrapes was irresistible source material at a time when cinema’s latest attraction was splashy travelogue adventures. But Tintin was a big enough deal that Francophone filmmakers were wary of not doing it justice.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Jim Courier, former World No.1, called it the revenge tour. Last year, Jannik Sinner missed out on some of the biggest events on the tennis tour—Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid—since he was serving a three-month doping ban.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Tata Cliq, the flagship e-commerce platform of Tata Group, is focusing on premium brands, luxury shopping, and franchising marquee international brands in India as the size and scope of the country's e-commerce business grow rapidly.The company is betting on the upcoming India launch of the US premium athleisure brand Lululemon, expanding its luxury offerings, and introducing new categories such as supplements and other wellbeing products.This comes at a time when India’s e-commerce sector, with major players such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho, continues to battle for scale while offering deep discounts. Tata Cliq is positioning itself around affluent consumers, curated offerings and premium experiences.Tata Cliq, which has been in business for ten years, is preparing to launch the first few stores of Lululemon in three months, chief executive Gopal Asthana told Mint.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.STOCKHOLM, Sweden—This paragon of collectivism is pivoting toward rugged individualism.For decades, Sweden was shorthand for the brand of high-tax, high-spend government that managed people’s lives from cradle to grave through state-run hospitals, schools and care homes.No longer. With little fanfare, this Nordic country of 11 million has embraced capitalism.Today, nearly half of primary healthcare clinics are privately owned, many by private-equity firms.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.FINANCE IS PEPPERED with jargon that doesn’t make much sense: “investment-grade bonds” (unlike those other, uninvestible ones), “forward guidance” (as opposed to the backward kind), “convexity adjustments” (translation: your trader wants more money) and so on. Still, it can be exasperating to hear an investment adviser sagely recommend “quality” stocks, as if without their wisdom you would seek out dross.In fact, now is the moment to do just that. An eccentric conclusion to draw, you might think, as the world’s rules-based order breaks down, its dominant superpower attacks enemies with impunity and vital shipping lanes are blocked by war.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For years, the potato has been one of the most misunderstood foods, dismissed by wellness culture as a “bad carb,” a supposed culprit behind weight gain, insulin spikes and metabolic woes. Yet new research, and medical experts are offering a newer, more nuanced perspective: the problem, it seems, was never the potato itself, but how we cook and consume it.Dr.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Across Europe, voters are fed up and taking it out on their leaders.This week, Britain’s ruling Labour Party had its worst result ever in local elections as voters angry about a persistently weak economy and high immigration punished Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is backed by just 20% of voters.Last month, Europe’s longest-serving leader, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, was swept out of office by a wave of discontent over the sluggish economy and a government that many saw as corrupt.Elsewhere in Europe, the picture is similarly bleak for those now in power. In Germany, a left-right government that is breaking public spending records is also plumbing uncharted popularity lows.The diminished incumbents can do little to placate an angry electorate, as they contend with melting parliamentary majorities, internal divisions and empty public coffers.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Accor, the French hospitality giant, is betting big on the quiet shift in India's luxury hotel industry, where domestic travellers, not foreign tourists, are the primary engine of the high-end hospitality market.India’s luxury hotel boom still has room to run, according to the chairman of Accor India and group CEO, Ennismore, Gaurav Bhushan, who said the country is only ‘just getting started’ as affluent domestic travellers increasingly spend on high-end experiences and boutique hospitality.“The Indian luxury consumer is spending more on experiences than ever before,” Bhushan, recently appointed chairman for Accor in India, told Mint. “As long as you offer a real product and a real experience, people will spend.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Among all the fashion labels worn by stars on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night, two brands seemed out of place: Gap and Zara.Kendall Jenner wore a flowing, Greek-inspired cotton gown by GapStudio, a premium line the company debuted last year. Bad Bunny wore a black custom tuxedo from Zara (and prosthetics that made him look elderly, seemingly a nod to the “aging bodies” section of the “Costume Art” exhibit the gala feted).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The original 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, adapted from the novel by Lauren Weisberger, was a glossy workplace comedy that quickly became much bigger than its premise of a stressed assistant navigating fashion’s most terrifying boss. Inspired by Weisberger’s own experiences in magazine publishing, the David Frankel-directed film presented a sharp, endlessly quotable pop culture favourite with influence that stretched beyond cinema into fashion, and internet meme history, with Miranda lines like “That’s all” and “By all means, move at a glacial pace.”Over time, the film developed full cult status as both comfort viewing and a story about ambition, identity, and the personal cost of success.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.When France opens their World Cup campaign on 17 June against Senegal at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, they will do so as one of the firm favourites to lift the greatest prize in the game. Winners in 2018 and finalists in 2022, France will arrive on US soil brimming, as usual, with some of the finest players on the global stage right now.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Last year was a major step forward in the clean energy revolution, with installations of renewable sources such as solar panels and wind turbines hitting record highs not only in the developed world, but in emerging economies too. But then came the war in Iran, a global curve ball that’s bound to change our collective future in unpredictable ways.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Last month, France did something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago; certainly before the outbreak of the Ukraine war, when US-led sanctions cut Russia off from the Swift payment system, the main messaging network that enables secure international financial transactions, and froze more than $300 billion of its assets. Its central bank, the Bank of France, pulled out its remaining gold reserves held in New York. Admittedly, no central bank today relies on gold to back its currency.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.TOMBEAU BAY, Mauritius—Over centuries, the people of the remote Chagos Archipelago have been battered by forces beyond their control. Slavery.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Japan has decided to ease restrictions on its sale of weapons to other countries, although this would be limited to the 17 with which it has defence tie-ups. As India is part of the four-nation Quad—with Japan, the US and Australia as other members—Tokyo’s move opens up a possibility worth close consideration by New Delhi. We could diversify our set of high-tech arms suppliers to include a non-hegemonic power with which we have had good relations for eight decades.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mumbai: Life is coming full circle for Suzlon Energy Ltd as the company looks to resume selling wind turbines in Europe, a market where it stopped sales nearly two decades ago as it worked its way out of a debt crisis.The Pune-based company on Tuesday launched two new turbine designs for the European market with capacities of 5 MW and 6.3 MW, based on its new Blue Sky product platform. These add to its portfolio of 2.1 MW and 3 MW machines.The new platform will debut in Europe and the company will take a call later this year on the specifications in which it can be brought to India, Girish Tanti, the executive vice-chairman of Suzlon, told Mint over a call from Madrid.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India is emerging as a key growth market for champagne as the country's appetite for premium spirits grows. And, if the duty cuts planned under the proposed trade deal with the European Union (EU) kick in, the spirit would get more affordable and usher in new growth in a hugely underpenetrated market.Senior representatives of the Comité Champagne, which represents growers and manufacturing houses in France’s Champagne region, said India’s champagne market has climbed back to pre-pandemic levels, with shipments at about 60,000 bottles in 2025, close to a peak of around 65,000 bottles recorded in 2016.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Dozens of world leaders were discussing how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in a videoconference on Friday when a murmur went up among the presidents and prime ministers. Aides off-screen began furiously tapping their shoulders and passing them notes.In the middle of the meeting, led by France and Britain, President Trump declared on social media he had reached a breakthrough with Iran and the strait would be fully reopened.Foreign leaders, aware that Trump has declared victory before, stayed on the line and kept planning.The details of the coalition meeting, described by several officials on the line, underscored the mix of head-spinning confusion and cautious optimism that has gripped foreign leaders and financial markets over Trump’s efforts to strong-arm Iran into a peace deal.For several hours on Friday, through a series of interviews and social-media posts, Trump insisted he got most of what he wanted from Iran after launching a war against the U.S.’s largest Middle Eastern rival: A full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, falling oil prices, a promise from Iran that it would give up its supply of enriched uranium, and commitments for Iran to halt its support for proxy terror groups in the region.Trump’s optimism had followed a social-media post by Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, declaring the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” during the cease-fire.Then walk-backs began.Mahmoud Nabavian, a conservative lawmaker and member of Iran’s negotiating team, rebuffed Trump’s announcement that the strait was fully open.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.George R.R. Martin offers an insightful verdict on leadership through Tywin Lannister of Game of Thrones. His grandson King Joffrey, seated on the Iron Throne, screams in frustration: “I am the King.