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1. Fed watchers increasingly worried about rate hike
While some thought a change in leadership would directly lead to rate cuts, more watchers of the U.S. Federal Reserve now believe the odds of a rate increase are jumping, CNN reports.
Continuing Middle East conflict and persistent inflation lead the case for a rate hike, although inflation numbers looked better in June.
"The economic crosscurrents have made it difficult to understand where inflation is headed," the news outlet reports. "Compounding that uncertainty, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has declined to offer clear guidance on interest rates. Ahead of this week’s policy meeting, markets are split on whether the Fed will hold its benchmark lending rate steady for the fifth consecutive time or deliver a rate hike."
2. Chinese OTA faces $770 million fine
Shanghai-based Trip.com Group faces 5.2 billion yuan ($770 million) in fines from Chinese regulators contending the online travel agency abused its dominant position in online hotel booking, Reuters reports.
The news agency notes regulators claim the company "used traffic-allocation mechanisms, platform rules and technical measures to strike exclusive deals with some hotels as it sought to offer the lowest prices."
Regulators also forced the OTA to refund 122 million yuan in booking deposits it was withholding from hotels.
3. World Cup brings some surprise wins for hoteliers
Demand displaced by the World Cup helped buoy hotel performance in June, with markets not hosting matches showing a surprising uptick, according to the hosts of the "Tell Me More" podcast.
June hotel revenue per available room in the U.S. grew 8.4% on a 6.7% average daily rate bump compared to June 2025.
4. US consumers adapt to grocery cost spikes
Americans are changing the way they grocery shop — and the things they're eating — in response to ever-increasing grocery costs, the Associated Press reports.
Millions of Americans are couponing, comparison shopping and cutting back to adapt to "the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century," the news agency reports. "Buying food to eat at home has gotten 33% more expensive in U.S. cities since the beginning of 2019, according to government figures. In the 7 1/2 years before that, prices rose 6.4%."
Groceries are also increasingly representing a larger portion of consumer spend despite the fact people are buying less food overall.
5. A look at the world's longest direct flight
CNN recently featured the new longest flight in the world, a nonstop route being tested from Toulouse, France, to Melbourne, Australia. The route could take up to 22 hours and spans more than 10,000 miles on an Airbus A350-1000ULR.
It's unlikely to be the longest route for long, though.
"The plane has been developed to fly the Australian airline Qantas’ upcoming record-breaking route from Sydney to London," CNN reports. "It will be the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight when it launches in October 2027."