News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Gas Spikes Ignite Tesla's Order Surge Amid U.S.-Iran War Chaos
Tesla's electric vehicles suddenly look like a bargain. Soaring gasoline prices, sparked by the U.S. strike on Iran and the ensuing Strait of Hormuz blockade, have handed the company its highest first-quarter order backlog in two years. CFO Vaibhav Taneja pinned part of the uptick directly on those pump prices during the Q1 2026 earnings call. Global demand rebounded. Even in the U.S., where buyers lost federal tax credits under the Trump administration, orders ticked higher. The timeline tells the story. On February 28, U.S. forces hit Iran. Tehran retaliated by choking off most traffic through the world's oil chokepoint. Prices rocketed. Experts now say normalization could take months, even after President Trump's indefinite ceasefire declaration left the strait clogged. This mess -- the biggest energy crisis on record -- exposed gas cars' Achilles' heel. And Tesla pounced. Gizmodo broke the news first, quoting Taneja on how the war-fueled surge helped 'inch those numbers up.' Deliveries climbed too. Tesla moved 358,023 vehicles worldwide in Q1 2026, topping the prior year's 336,681, as The New York Times reported. National averages topped $4 a gallon. In California, they neared $6. Consumers recalculated. Used EVs joined the party. Sales jumped 20% in the first quarter versus last year, per Los Angeles Times. Buyers like nurse Tan ditched SUVs for secondhand Teslas. 'Gas has been absolutely too expensive,' he said. Tesla models dominated searches on Cars.com. Prices for used Model Ys rose over 3% in a month, bucking broader used-car trends, according to Forbes. But not everyone cheered. EV consideration grew -- Edmunds clocked 11.6% in March -- but actual buys lagged. New sales dipped 26.8% year-over-year in spots, with used up 28.8%. Tesla's own deliveries beat expectations yet missed some Wall Street hopes, sending shares down 3% initially. Higher EV prices and borrowing costs bit back, as MarketWatch noted. Charging stayed steady while gas flew. Geopolitics amplified everything. Iran's Hormuz play disrupted 20% of global oil. Trump's ceasefire bought time, but skeptics doubt quick fixes. X chatter lit up. Gizmodo posted the story to instant buzz. Users tied APAC and South America growth to fuel strains. One analyst called it Tesla's 'operational leverage' in crisis mode. Tesla isn't coasting. Elon Musk unveiled massive spending ahead. Capex jumps to over $25 billion in 2026, from $8.5 billion last year. That's double prior forecasts. Why? A $3 billion Terafab chip plant with SpaceX for AI self-reliance. 'We just anticipate hitting the wall if we don't make chips ourselves,' Musk said. Hardware 3 can't handle unsupervised full self-driving -- only one-eighth the memory bandwidth of Hardware 4. Customers get trade-in discounts via urban micro-factories. Rivals felt the heat too. China's BYD saw accelerated sales in oil-hit regions, per AOL. Global EV sales hit records in places like Australia (14.5% share) and France (28%), fueled by discounts and steady electricity costs. Filling a BMW 3 Series? Over $110 in the UK. Charging a Model 3? About $4. History rhymes. Past spikes -- like 2008's Prius boom -- favored efficient rides. Edmunds data shows spikes nudge interest: 11.3% in August 2025 to 11.6% in March 2026. Yet America's SUV love endures. GM pushes cheap options like the $28,995 Bolt. Nissan Leaf starts at $31,485 with 303 miles range. Tesla's rebound masks headwinds. Inventory built up -- 408,000 produced versus 358,000 delivered. Tax credit axe stung. Musk's self-driving promises? Spotty, drawing lawsuits. Still, demand signals resilience. APAC and South America grew steadily. EMEA and North America snapped back. Investors watch capex warily. Tech peers pour billions into AI sans instant payoff. Tesla bets on chips, autonomy, robotaxis. If gas stays punishing, EVs win. Ceasefire or not. War drags? Orders pile higher. Tesla's playbook: spend big, deliver amid chaos. America's pump pain funds the shift.
Shale Bosses Lament Iran War 'Chaos' Engulfing Oil Market
(Bloomberg) -- Despite higher oil prices, US shale executives are complaining that the market volatility arising from the conflict in the Middle East isn't making their job any easier. Most Read from Bloomberg In a series of anonymous comments published Thursday from a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, energy executives cited chronic uncertainty over the outcome of the war and its effect on supply and demand. Some of the people, who were respondents in a survey carried out by the bank, criticized what they characterized as the inability of President Donald Trump to explain the rationale behind the conflict. "If the administration feels that we need to prolong the conflict, it needs to better articulate the long-term strategic goal and the risk of inaction," one respondent was quoted as saying. "This cannot be solely about barrels." The bank, which typically conducts a quarterly survey of energy firms in Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico, took the unusual step of asking additional questions following the publication of the first quarter survey in March. The updated responses come at a time of high volatility in energy prices amid the conflict in the Middle East. The insights, published days before the Fed's April meeting, will give policymakers a fresh look into a rapidly evolving market. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark for oil, has climbed by more than a third since the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February. Although US drillers are generally expected to ramp up output in response to the price spike, the largest publicly traded oil companies have yet to announce any updates to drilling plans. Some in the shale patch have expressed concern with the mixed signals that future oil prices are giving the market. "The difference between the gyration of paper market oil prices versus what seems to be substantially higher physical prices sends conflicting signals to operators who cannot plan rigs and capital budgets when prices swing wildly based on tweets," one respondent said. While higher oil prices had raised expectations that energy companies would increase production in the US, bolstering employment in that sector at least, most executives said in the latest survey they expect to keep employment steady or increase it only slightly this year. That's unwelcome news, since the drag on all other forms of consumer spending created by higher fuel costs could threaten jobs outside the energy sector.
Shale Bosses Lament Iran War 'Chaos' Engulfing Oil Market
(Bloomberg) -- Despite higher oil prices, US shale executives are complaining that the market volatility arising from the conflict in the Middle East isn't making their job any easier. Most Read from Bloomberg In a series of anonymous comments published Thursday from a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, energy executives cited chronic uncertainty over the outcome of the war and its effect on supply and demand. Some of the people, who were respondents in a survey carried out by the bank, criticized what they characterized as the inability of President Donald Trump to explain the rationale behind the conflict. "If the administration feels that we need to prolong the conflict, it needs to better articulate the long-term strategic goal and the risk of inaction," one respondent was quoted as saying. "This cannot be solely about barrels." The bank, which typically conducts a quarterly survey of energy firms in Texas, northern Louisiana and southern New Mexico, took the unusual step of asking additional questions following the publication of the first quarter survey in March. The updated responses come at a time of high volatility in energy prices amid the conflict in the Middle East. The insights, published days before the Fed's April meeting, will give policymakers a fresh look into a rapidly evolving market. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark for oil, has climbed by more than a third since the US-Israel war with Iran began in late February. Although US drillers are generally expected to ramp up output in response to the price spike, the largest publicly traded oil companies have yet to announce any updates to drilling plans. Some in the shale patch have expressed concern with the mixed signals that future oil prices are giving the market. "The difference between the gyration of paper market oil prices versus what seems to be substantially higher physical prices sends conflicting signals to operators who cannot plan rigs and capital budgets when prices swing wildly based on tweets," one respondent said. While higher oil prices had raised expectations that energy companies would increase production in the US, bolstering employment in that sector at least, most executives said in the latest survey they expect to keep employment steady or increase it only slightly this year. That's unwelcome news, since the drag on all other forms of consumer spending created by higher fuel costs could threaten jobs outside the energy sector.
Pentagon Secretly Makes Dire Prediction About Trump's War Chaos
The Pentagon warned Congress that clearing the Strait of Hormuz could take six months, despite President Donald Trump's insistence just days ago that Iran was removing all the mines from the critical oil passage. The dire assessment on the longer timeline was shared with House lawmakers during a classified briefing on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported. It suggests that oil and gas prices could remain high through the summer and into the fall, right as voters are heading to the polls for the midterms, even if a peace deal is reached. According to three officials who spoke to The Post, lawmakers were told Iran may have placed 20 mines in or around the Strait of Hormuz, either remotely using GPS technology or by Iranians forces using small boats. It suggests that oil and gas prices could remain high through the summer and into the fall, right as voters are heading to the polls for the midterms, even if a peace deal is reached. According to three officials who spoke to The Post, lawmakers were told Iran may have placed 20 mines in or around the Strait of Hormuz, either remotely using GPS technology or by Iranians forces using small boats. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pentagon-secretly-makes-dire-prediction-210552453.html
Could TSA Chaos Return to the Atlanta Airport? DHS Funding to Run Out
More than 60 days into a partial government shutdown, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the agency may have to stop paying salaries in May. "Fortunately, what President Trump did through an executive order allowed us to grab emergency funding that came out of the One Big Beautiful Bill ... but that money is dried up, if I continue down this path, the first week of May," Mullin said in an interview with Fox News. When paychecks last went unpaid, officers with the Transportation Security Administration began calling out of their shifts, leaving just a few officers to handle security lines at airports across the country. At airports like Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, lines to get through airport security lasted hours and passengers missed flights as they waited for their identities to be checked and bags scanned. If funding runs out before the partial shutdown is over, will chaos return to Atlanta? President Trump ordered funds to be rerouted to pay airport security on March 27, after the agency had already been running unfunded for weeks. The order used "funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led shutdown," according to the decree. TSA officers did start to receive paychecks after the order, but many have not received backpay for the hours they worked before the order was signed and after the government was shut down, meaning many are still short significant wages. In Atlanta, city officials have voted to prevent power from being cut off in homes of TSA workers who have missed payments, and the shutdown has become a major talking point in the Georgia race for U.S. Senate. TSA officers were also working at the end of March unpaid while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were providing support, but were being paid. In some cases, paid ICE officers were scanning IDs while unpaid TSA workers were working the security scanning machines at Hartsfield-Jackson. Last week, TSA's deputy administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill argued privatizing TSA could be a way to keep officers' salaries from being at the whim of political actions. "As of today, TSA has been shut down for 109 days, nearly 60% of FY26. If this year demonstrates anything, it is that the TSA workforce and our operations cannot depend on predictable Congressional funding," Nguyen McNeill said in the April 16 hearing. The deputy administrator argued airports that have already started some form of privatization were spared the long lines seen in other airports like Hartsfield-Jackson. Privatization of TSA was also included in the controversial Project 2025, a conservative playbook from the Heritage Foundation for the second Trump presidency. The plan argues the current system makes officers both the regulators and the regulated organization, and that it is too costly. In the early hours Thursday, Senate Republicans adopted a budget resolution that would allow Congress to vote on a budget reconciliation package next month. The package would reopen DHS and fund immigration enforcement, The Hill reported. The resolution passed along party lines, with Lisa Murkowski (AK-R) and Rand Paul (KY-R) voting against the resolution with Democrats.
Brits Brace for Holiday Chaos as Jet Fuel Crisis Hits Airlines
Brit holidaymakers face a summer of cancelled flights and soaring ticket prices. The closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz has triggered a severe jet fuel shortage, forcing airlines worldwide to slash schedules and hike fares. EU Warns of Travel Carnage EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen delivered a grim forecast. Speaking to Sky News, he said disruption to summer getaways is now "very likely." "Unfortunately, it's very likely that many people's holidays will be affected, either by flight cancellations or very, very expensive tickets," He warned. "Even if we do everything we can do, if the jet fuel is not there, then it's not there." Jet Fuel Shortage Looms Over Europe The International Energy Agency (IEA) says physical jet fuel shortages could hit Europe as early as June. IEA chief Fatih Birol revealed Europe relies on Middle Eastern refineries for 75% of its jet fuel -- and that supply has plummeted to nearly zero. Europe scrambles to find alternatives from the US and Nigeria, but summer demand spikes by around 40%, risking a full-blown crisis. "If the supply stays where it is now, the challenge can be even bigger," Costly Consequences for Passengers * Jet fuel prices have doubled since February, peaking at $209 per barrel in April. * Airlines are passing on the pain: United Airlines may raise ticket prices by 20%, Air France-KLM adds €50 on long-haul flights, and Delta plus Southwest hike baggage fees. * Major carriers cut flights: Lufthansa axed 20,000 short-haul services, KLM cancelled 160 European flights in one month, and SAS scrapped 1,000 departures in April. Aviation expert Richard Evans says cuts are down to soaring fuel prices and Middle East disruptions, with more cancellations "extremely likely." Ryanair hints at 5-10% schedule cuts if prices stay high. Delta has dropped plans to grow flight capacity in 2026. Calls to Rethink Travel Plans Italy's Civil Aviation Authority chief, Pierluigi di Palma, suggests Europeans ditch foreign trips for domestic holidays. "The psychological effect is having a destructive effect on passengers," Airports Council International warns that without reopening the Strait of Hormuz within three weeks, jet fuel shortages will hit the EU hard. Airlines UK urges UK ministers to act now before the crisis deepens. The ongoing war is already costing Europe around €500 million daily, and summer travel looks set to suffer big time.
'Multiple measurement currencies create chaos, need single source of truth': Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen
At a time when the domestic media landscape is fragmenting across TV, mobile and digital platforms and being reshaped by AI -- audience measurement is under scrutiny. The complexities of the market here, says Karthik Rao, chief executive officer, Nielsen, a global leader in measuring viewership, presents an opportunity for the company to fine-tune its products and services. In an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto, Rao outlines his priorities for India. Excerpts: Why is India so critical to Nielsen right now? India is unlike any other market. Print remains resilient, linear TV hasn't declined as sharply as in other regions, and yet streaming and mobile viewership are growing rapidly. Add AI into the mix, and you have a highly complex media ecosystem. For us, that complexity is an advantage. If we can build solutions here, we can scale them globally. That's why we see India not just as a market, but as an innovation hub for the world. What does that translate to in terms of investment? We've grown to nearly 6,000 employees in just three years, and we're still growing. But the more significant shift is structural -- India is now a decision-making hub. Global leaders across technology, finance, and marketing are based here, shaping decisions for the entire company. This is no longer the traditional offshore model; India is central to how we operate globally. There's a growing push for multiple measurement currencies in India. What is your view on this? Multiple currencies create chaos and confusion. If the same show has four different numbers, which one is the truth? You need a single source of truth because trust comes from a single, transparent standard. You can layer other metrics on top of that. But the base has to be one common truth. Otherwise, you fragment the market and devalue content. How is AI changing your business? AI will fundamentally reshape both consumption and measurement. On the consumer side, discovery will become seamless -- you won't need to jump across apps. On our side, we're building AI-first systems, enhancing metadata to go deeper into content, and even exploring synthetic panelists to scale insights. We're also starting to measure how people use AI itself. That's becoming a new layer of media consumption. What are the key innovations coming out of India? Cross-media measurement is a major focus. Take our work on the Indian Premier League -- we're integrating streaming, mobile, and linear TV data to deliver a unified view of audiences across platforms. This is being done in partnership with the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India. It's a challenge the industry has been trying to solve for years. While we began with sports, the model can extend across all forms of content. Tell us about your new 'Streaming Plus' audience measurement panel. With the rise of big data, is panel-based measurement still relevant? 'Streaming Plus' is our next-generation system, launched first in India. It tracks viewing across mobile and connected TV, captures app-switching behaviour, and measures both ads and content -- while also beginning to map actions such as shopping. Over time, we plan to scale this to more than 100,000 panelists. The idea is simple: combine human-observed data with big data to get both accuracy and scale. To your question on relevance of panel-based measurement, I think it is more than ever relevant today. While big data tells you about volume of viewership, panels tell you who is viewing. And media is fundamentally about people. The future is not one or the other -- it's panel plus big data. That's our global approach. Short-form content like micro-dramas is exploding in India. How do you measure that? That's precisely what systems like 'Streaming Plus' are designed for. Consumption is rapidly shifting toward these formats, particularly on mobile. The key is to capture not just what people watch, but why they move across apps and formats. That's where the next level of insight comes from. Indian advertisers are still heavily focused on reach. Is that a limitation? Reach is foundational in a market of this size. If you can't reach people, you can't sell anything. But over time, we'll see a shift towards fandom and community. Look at the Indian Premier League -- it's not just about viewership anymore. It's about year-round engagement and monetisation.
Oil's New Security Premium: Trading Geopolitical Chaos for Institutional Panic
All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here The market is accustomed to pricing in simple math. A war in the Middle East represents a risk premium. Accordingly, a peace agreement should logically trigger an instant price collapse. Traders and speculators are holding their breath for de-escalation, expecting that a return to geopolitical calm will send oil tumbling back to familiar pre-crisis lows. Expecting a return to cheap oil relies on ignoring a new physical and psychological reality. Even under the most optimistic scenario, the structural terrain of the oil market has likely shifted beyond repair. We will probably never see pre-crisis oil again. We need to soberly assess the physical damage. A ceasefire does not rebuild blown-up pumping stations and damaged export terminals with the snap of a finger. The infrastructure in the conflict zone took a critical hit. While diplomats might need just a few days to sign papers, engineers will likely require months -- or perhaps even years -- to conduct massive repair operations. A physical supply deficit seems to be already baked into the system. The market will probably experience a severe shortage of actual barrels long before export capacities revert to their historical baseline. The world survived this recent crisis almost exclusively by eating through its own stockpiles. Strategic petroleum reserves of developed nations were drained to multi-year lows well before the escalation began, and recent months merely worsened the picture. Once logistical chains begin to stabilize, a colossal pent-up demand is expected to flood the market. Governments will likely start aggressively buying oil on any minor price dip, offering massive support to quotes. But a simple return of stockpiles to previous levels is just the tip of the iceberg. The main catalyst that will likely alter oil pricing forever lies in the realm of psychology. This global crisis exposed the sheer energy vulnerability of the world's top economies. Governments experienced a genuine shock, realizing just how close they came to the edge of industrial paralysis. The era of Just-in-Time logistics is essentially dead. We are entering the "Just-in-Case" epoch. Fear is a powerful multiplier. The sudden awareness of their own fragility will likely force nations not just to replace what was spent. They will probably want to dramatically increase the base volume of their reserves. Nobody wants to be a hostage to a single blocked strait or an isolated regional war anymore. Over the next few years, we have a high probability of witnessing a massive investment boom in the construction of new oil storage facilities globally. China, Europe, and the U.S. will likely be ready to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars in underground tanks and concrete bunkers -- buying themselves national security. What does this mean for the market? This widespread anxiety is expected to create a massive overhang of demand for years to come. Millions of barrels will likely be diverted daily away from refineries and straight into strategic vaults. Investors should probably recalibrate their expectations. The military premium might indeed fade from the quotes, but a security premium will almost instantly replace it. The structural demand from states trying to build excess inventories seems to have already poured a new, solid concrete floor under crude prices. A return to cheap energy appears to be officially canceled.
Heathrow Faces Criticism Over 'Colossal Failure' in Fire-Related Shutdown - News Directory 3
Heathrow Airport has been accused of a "colossal failure" following a fire at an electricity substation that caused a major power outage and forced the airport to shut down for nearly a day, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The incident occurred when a fire broke out at the North Hyde electrical substation in west London, which supplies power to Heathrow. The blaze led to the loss of electricity across the airport, grounding flights and leaving passengers stranded in terminals and on aircraft. The Daily Telegraph called it the "Colossal failure of Heathrow blackout" next to a photo of the secretary of state for energy, Ed Miliband, who, as the subheading explains, "admits site looks 'vulnerable'". The shutdown affected more than 1,350 flights and disrupted journeys for hundreds of thousands of travellers, with widespread cancellations and delays reported across the UK and internationally. Passengers described scenes of confusion and frustration as they waited for updates and attempted to rebook travel. Heathrow delays - live updates The closure of Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation dominates the front pages of British newspapers on Saturday, with more than 1,350 flights cancelled and journeys disrupted for hundreds of thousands of passengers. The Mirror sums it up with one word - "Grounded" - splashed above a photo of the fire helpfully captioned as an "inferno" and another of a teary passenger. "Fire sparks travel chaos," the strapline says, and "Boss admits airport can't be run on backup" is further down.... British Airways, Heathrow's largest airline, stated it expected to operate about 85% of its 600 scheduled flights on the following day as services gradually resumed. However, airlines warned that full recovery would take several days due to the need to reposition aircraft, crews, and passengers. British Airways, Heathrow's biggest airline, said it expects to operate about 85% of its 600 scheduled flights at the airport on Saturday. The UK government launched an inquiry into the incident amid growing concerns over the resilience of national infrastructure. Officials visited the substation site to assess the damage and investigate the causes of the failure. Officials walk through the North Hyde electrical substation in London on Saturday March 22, 2025, which caught fire Thursday night. UK government orders probe into Heathrow shutdown that sparked concern over energy resilience The event has raised broader questions about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure, particularly the reliance on single points of failure in power supply for major transport hubs. Industry leaders and officials have called for improved contingency planning and investment in grid resilience. Airline chiefs have accused Heathrow of "clear failure" after Europe's busiest airport was shut down by a fire in a single electricity substation.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. An ABM spokesperson said: "We are disappointed that Unite the Union has confirmed, once again, its intention to take industrial action, including over the bank holiday. "This follows a shortfall of just two percentage points in the vote on our structured pay increase - an offer that significantly exceeds the current rate of inflation. "Through comprehensive contingency planning, we will continue delivering services throughout this period with all roles covered, and additional operational and management support in place. "Our focus is on maintaining safety, operational resilience, and service continuity as far as possible for the passengers who rely on our team every day. "We remain open to constructive conversation with Unite the Union and hope that a resolution can be reached in the best interests of our employees and the passengers we serve."
GitHub's Quiet Telemetry Switch: CLI Users Auto-Enrolled in Data Tracking Amid Copilot Chaos
GitHub's command-line tool just flipped the script on user privacy. All users now feed pseudonymous telemetry data to Microsoft servers -- by default, no questions asked. The Microsoft-owned platform rolled out the change in recent CLI updates, slipping it into release notes and a new documentation page without fanfare. Developers firing up commands suddenly contribute to GitHub's analytics, helping the team 'understand feature use' and track how AI agents wield the tool. The Register first flagged the shift on April 22, 2026, noting the lack of a standalone announcement. It's not the first time GitHub has stirred privacy pots this month. Just days earlier, the company halted new sign-ups for Copilot Pro, Pro+, and Student plans, citing runaway agentic workloads that torch compute budgets. 'Agentic workflows have fundamentally changed Copilot's compute demands,' GitHub VP of product Joe Binder explained in a blog post. Long sessions and parallel subagents gobble tokens faster than flat-rate subscriptions can handle, forcing tighter limits on sessions and weekly usage. Pro+ users get over five times the quota of Pro, but hit the wall and you're locked out until reset -- CLI sessions now warn as you approach the edge. Back to the CLI telemetry. Data flows client-side: architecture details, OS version, command invocations, even agent flags. A sample payload glimpsed via logging shows device IDs and metadata zipping to internal endpoints. 'Actual payloads may differ considerably,' the docs warn. GitHub justifies it bluntly: 'As agentic adoption of GitHub CLI grows, our team needs visibility into how features are being used in practice.' Fair enough for product tweaks. But default-on? That's where eyes narrow. Opting out exists. Punch . Or export , or . Simple. Yet buried in a fresh Telemetry page at cli.github.com/telemetry. Enable logging first if you want a peek: , then tail or env vars. No server-side toggle, though. And GitHub didn't respond to The Register's queries. This lands amid broader Copilot turbulence. Individual plans face token caps, Opus models yanked from lineups -- 4.5 and 4.6 gone from Pro+, 4.7 hanging on briefly with a 7.5x premium multiplier. Existing subs can bail for refunds by May 20. CLI ties in directly: Copilot CLI demands a Copilot plan, with org admins flipping the policy switch. Agents in terminals now burn premium requests fast; docs urge sparingly on tools like . The Register detailed the signup freeze, quoting Binder on infrastructure strain. Developers aren't silent. X posts lit up post-Register story. '@Unfilteredledgr' called out the v2.91.0 drop: no announcement, just release notes. '@SebbyCorp' shared a quick video disabling it. Hacker News threads hit 176 comments, debating telemetry's worth versus privacy hits. One user griped payloads evade easy scrutiny without debug hacks. CLI's no side project. Millions rely on for repo ops, PRs, issues -- now laced with Copilot agents for terminal AI. Install via brew or downloads, auth with GitHub, trust dirs for file access. Permissions prompt per tool: approve , , or go for all-in trusted spots. But telemetry? That's always on until you say stop. Privacy hawks see patterns. GitHub's March policy tweak let Copilot train on Free/Pro data unless opted out -- Business/Enterprise spared. Now CLI joins the fray, feeding 'pseudoanonymous' bits amid agent boom. Compute crunches force token billing hints; individuals squeezed while enterprises pay premium. Binder: 'Without further action, service quality degrades for everyone.' Translation: AI's hunger outpaces pricing. So what now? Check your CLI: . If 'enabled', flip it. Scrutinize Copilot quotas via in sessions. Alternatives bubble -- open-source CLIs, self-hosted agents. GitHub CLI stays powerhouse. But defaults matter. Quiet changes erode trust, especially when data flows to Redmond. Developers build the future. They deserve say in who watches.
Travel chaos ahead as major London airport faces strikes - exact dates
Workers at Stansted Airport are set to strike in May after a pay offer was rejected, threatening disruption for travellers. Around 100 employees of ABM are scheduled to take industrial action from May 3 to May 6. The decision to strike follows a dispute over what staff members claim to be an "unacceptable" pay proposal from the company. The industrial action involves staff who perform crucial roles, including escorting passengers on and off flights. These workers are also responsible for assisting passengers through the airport, meaning their absence could impact the smooth operation of services during the four-day walkout. The strike marks a significant escalation in the ongoing pay dispute at the major UK aviation hub. Staff had been scheduled to take industrial action from April 17 to 20, but it was called off to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer, The Mirror reports. But the strike is now going to go ahead with Unite calling the situation "unacceptable". Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." And a statement from Unite reads: "Industrial action by Unite members who look after passengers with disabilities at London Stansted Airport will go ahead next month, after they rejected a new pay offer. "Around 100 workers at ABM will now walk out from 3 May to 6 May, coinciding with the first May bank holiday weekend, after rejecting a substandard pay offer from their employer. ABM staff, who do a crucial job escorting passengers on and off flights and through the airport say the offer failed to tackle low pay. "Many of the workers are paid below the London Living Wage of £14.80. Yet ABM is a highly profitable global company, reporting in March that it made $2.2 billion in revenue, an increase of 6.1 per cent on the previous year." ABM UK is a leading management company that handles the day-to-day operations and maintenance of large-scale commercial and public facilities. The business involves keeping shared spaces clean, safe, and running efficiently behind the scenes. They provide a massive range of on-site services including professional cleaning, technical engineering maintenance, and physical security for anything from corporate offices, shopping centres and airports to distribution hubs.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
Pakistan: Rawalpindi Shutdown Triggers Massive Outrage As Citizens Face Chaos, Transport Halt, And Rising Political Tensions
Rawalpindi Shutdown Sparks Chaos as Security Measures Disrupt Daily Life and Economy A sweeping shutdown across Rawalpindi over five consecutive days has thrown normal life into chaos, with authorities reportedly citing security arrangements tied to Iran-US negotiations as justification. However, residents and businesses alike have borne the brunt of these restrictive measures, as reported by The Express Tribune. According to The Express Tribune, public life in the city came to a grinding halt as transport hubs, wholesale markets, commercial districts, hotels, and even wedding venues were forced to close. The suspension of routine activity disrupted not only trade but also education and judicial proceedings, leaving citizens struggling to manage essential commitments. The prolonged restrictions have created widespread uncertainty, with daily wage earners and small traders among the worst affected as economic activity remains frozen. Transport Crisis Deepens Amid Shutdown and Rising Costs Travel has emerged as a major concern. With public transport services suspended, people have been compelled to rely on privately hired vehicles at inflated costs. Families dealing with urgent situations, including funerals, were left with no choice but to rent entire vehicles, often at nearly twice the normal fare. This unusual surge in demand has ironically boosted business for car dealers and showroom operators. The city, which hosts around 1,470 registered car showrooms, reportedly saw all small vehicles booked out at premium rates, especially for travel to destinations such as Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, and others. Meanwhile, the closure of 34 transport terminals has left hundreds of workers jobless, compounding the economic distress. Although authorities verbally allowed transport services to resume on Tuesday evening, public fear and low passenger turnout prevented a meaningful restart. Transport operators remained hesitant to resume operations without clear assurances. Strict security enforcement continued across major roads, including Murree Road and Rawal Road, with heavy police deployment even extending to areas near the airport, as cited by The Express Tribune. Residents within a three-kilometre radius reportedly faced severe restrictions, including limited access to rooftops, while nearby markets remained sealed. Transport Federation leader, Haji Zahoor Arain, has called for a clearer, more balanced policy. He suggested controlled transport operations instead of a blanket shutdown, proposing alternative routes and locations to keep essential mobility intact while maintaining security, as reported by The Express Tribune.
McDermott Says ServiceNow "Converts Chaos to Control" With Context-Driven Enterprise AI
ServiceNow has positioned its AI as a means to bring structure and control to fragmented enterprise environments by combining data context, workflow execution, and governance within a single platform. In its Q1 2026 earnings call, the company said its differentiation comes down to "context," with CEO Bill McDermott arguing that the platform can "convert chaos to control" across complex enterprise systems. With the platform having processed over 95 billion workflows and more than 7 trillion transactions, ServiceNow says it is continuously improving decision-making across its system. McDermott argues that ServiceNow's AI advantage enables it to deliver real outcomes rather than just recommendations: "When people ask, what's the difference between ServiceNow AI and the foundation models, you can boil it down to one word, context." "We're not bolting intelligence onto disconnected systems. We're combining context with execution on a single platform. "It's not recommendations, it's outcomes that matter." AI Trained on Live Enterprise Workflows Having processed large numbers of workflows and transactions, these results reflect ServiceNow's deep integration into enterprise operations, as its AI is not trained in isolation but is continuously refined through real business activity. These scale metrics reveal how ServiceNow's system has improved over time, with each workflow, approval chain, and transaction feeding into the platform's underlying data layer, allowing it to learn patterns tied to assets, identities, vendors, and business rules. As a result, this creates a compounding effect in which every additional workflow strengthens the system's accuracy and decision-making capability, enabling an AI layer to operate with live enterprise context. This places ServiceNow in a strategic position for AI, as its models are grounded in operational data and are directly embedded into the systems where enterprise work is executed. This foundation supports more reliable automation, consistent decision-making, and scalable deployment across complex organizations, laying the foundation for how the company positions its advantage. The "Why We Win" Framework ServiceNow's framework for success requires context, execution, and governance to position its AI as a system of record for decision-making. This combination enables the platform to operate across fragmented enterprise environments while maintaining consistency and auditability, ensuring the company can convert complexity into coordinated workflows. This underpins both customer outcomes and its ability to scale AI adoption commercially. With context, ServiceNow positions this as its primary differentiator, as the platform's knowledge graph can capture relationships across assets, approvals, identities, vendors, and business rules, and is continuously updated through live workflows. This allows AI outputs to be grounded in real enterprise data rather than generic training sets, enabling the system to evaluate which approval chains apply, which dependencies matter, and how prior decisions inform next steps, improving with every transaction. Instilling execution is valuable to the framework, as ServiceNow embeds AI directly into workflows across IT, HR, CRM, and security, so the system is responsible for completing tasks rather than offering recommendations. As a result, the company's internal IT department is currently resolving 90% of employee IT requests autonomously, with specialized AI agents resolving assigned cases 99% faster than human agents. By embedding the AI into operational workflows, it can act on decisions immediately, reducing latency between insight and action, and making automation measurable in terms of time saved and tasks completed. Governance ties the system together, meaning every decision is auditable, and the AI control tower provides visibility across agents, models, and workflows in real time, ensuring that every action follows enterprise policies, permissions, and compliance requirements. "This architecture is a big reason why we recently announced the entire ServiceNow portfolio is AI native," McDermott continued. "AI, data, security and governance are now built into every product and package, not a separate purchase. This is a deliberate break from sidecar AI." Embedding governance at the foundation rather than as an add-on supports scaling AI across large organizations without losing control. Customer Results Drive Repeatable AI Adoption Rather than positioning AI as experimental, ServiceNow's AI adoption strategy centers on de-risking enterprise AI through measurable outcomes and repeatable use cases. By grounding AI in operational deployments where automation is already delivering time savings, cost reduction, and higher throughput. In one example, enterprise customer Robinhood was able to deflect 70% of employee requests with ServiceNow AI before they reach human agents, as well as eliminating roughly 2,200 hours of manual effort each month. A leading online travel company had also used ServiceNow's agentic AI capabilities to deliver 11 million autonomous AI resolutions annually for HR and IT alone, resulting in over 230% ROI, generating millions in annual savings, and giving 45,000 hours back to their employees. A British engineering and technology customer enterprise had also used autonomous workflows to deflect 38,000 tickets, reducing the average resolution time by two full days. These repeatable customer outcomes strengthen the platform's AI value proposition and support broader enterprise rollout decisions. Ahead of the earnings call on Wednesday, Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of Valoir, argued that ServiceNow's AI growth depends on reducing customer hesitation by demonstrating real-world success and leveraging a strong partner ecosystem to drive adoption. "As companies move from FOMO to FOMU (fear of messing up) with AI, the way to convince them to trust and adopt AI is to show them how others have been successful with it," she said. "The ecosystem is critical. ServiceNow knows it needs more than just its feet on the street to drive AI adoption." By using early adopters to validate outcomes, these proofs are then reused across similar enterprise environments, lowering perceived implementation risk for new customers and accelerating adoption cycles. $1M+ Contracts Grow as AI Adoption Accelerates Monetization is increasingly being driven by AI adoption, with ServiceNow beginning to see this translate directly into both larger deal sizes and a shift in how revenue is structured, as AI-related workflows are becoming embedded in larger, multi-product platform agreements rather than isolated point solutions. This includes continued strength in high-value enterprise contracts, with deals above $1MN in annual contract value having expanded significantly, rising 130% year over year. McDermott links this directly to accelerating AI demand across the customer base, highlighting the scale of early commitments to the company's AI portfolio. "We had a goal to be $1 billion on our AI commit this year," he explained. "And I think we might have understated that a little bit. We're already talking about $1.5 billion now, and it's on a run." With AI commitments building faster than originally expected, this demand is also reshaping ServiceNow's revenue model, as around half of net new business is now coming from non-seat-based pricing, including usage-based and consumption-driven structures. ServiceNow's hybrid approach links revenue more directly to customer activity on the platform, particularly as AI agents and workflows scale, allowing monetization to expand with the volume of automation, transactions, and AI-driven tasks running through the system. ServiceNow's Key Earnings Results In its quarterly earnings report, ServiceNow saw strong results in customer expansion and large deals.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
Stansted Airport set for bank holiday CHAOS as staff plan four-day walkout over pay
Flight delays could hit Stansted Airport during the first May bank holiday weekend. Strikes will go ahead at the airport after a substandard pay offer was rejected. Around 100 ABM workers, who support passengers with disabilities, will walk out from May 3 to May 6. Unite has warned that the action will cause delays to flights, with longer boarding times expected. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: "ABM staff do a vital job for passengers at the airport, yet they are struggling with low pay while their employer makes huge profits. "This situation is unacceptable and workers at ABM continue to have Unite's full support." Many of the workers are paid below the London living wage of £14.80. They also claim that workloads have increased along with passenger numbers. In January, more than 1.89 million passengers passed through the airport, a two per cent rise on the same month last year. ABM, a global services company, reported $2.2 billion in revenue in March, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. Steve Edwards, Unite regional officer said: "Workers at ABM are increasingly given bigger workloads and deserve pay that reflects this. "Their employer can afford to come back with an offer workers would accept and could end this dispute easily by doing so. "But until then, Unite members will strike until their voices are heard." A previous strike planned for April 17 to 20 was postponed to allow workers to vote on a last-minute pay offer. The agreement came after a strong strike ballot - reported as a 97 per cent vote for action by Unite. Workers said the offer failed to tackle low pay. ABM is a facilities company that provides special assistance services at Stansted - staff who help passengers with reduced mobility such as wheelchair users and those needing extra boarding help. Over 100 Unite union members at ABM rejected a pay offer which would have increased wages by 1p an hour in year one and 2-3p in year two.
