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1. Irish developer wins £700 million claim over London hotels
Irish real estate developer Paddy McKillen has won through a three-person arbitration panel a £700 million ($943.3 million) claim against the Qatari owners of three luxury hotels in London, The Times reports. The owners include Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, the billionaire former prime minister of Qatar.
McKillen had renovated and managed Claridge’s, the Berkeley and the Connaught in partnership with the Maybourne Hotel Group, which the Qatari group bought in 2015. They retained ownership but kept on McKillen, who was an investor in the company, on a seven-year consultancy contract.
The dispute was over how much McKillen was due at the end of his contract in 2022. He estimated he was owed more than £1 billion for his work, but the owners came in with a lower amount.
2. Trump attempts to fire Fed governor
President Donald Trump is trying to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, alleging she submitted fraudulent information on her mortgage applications, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cook denies the accusation and has said the president has no authority to fire her.
The president has pushed the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates to ease the cost of borrowing. Removing a governor and replacing her with an ally would result in more rate-cut-friendly voices on the board of governors, but it would also damage the Fed's independence, according to the newspaper.
“To the extent that Fed independence stands for anything, it stands for the idea that monetary policy should not be made by the whims of the sitting president,” said Peter Conti-Brown, a financial and legal scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “If we allow this to become the norm, then this is the end of Federal Reserve independence as we know it.”
3. Insights into the Fed's interest rate decisions
Uncertainty remains one of the biggest factors in how the U.S. Federal Reserve will decide on future interest rate decisions, said Anoop Mishra, regional executive and vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. During an interview at the recent Hotel Data Conference, Mishra said the Fed must sift through all sorts of data that will affect banks, businesses, consumers and more.
“Rates going forwards, we’re at 4.5% now, and the target this year is to stay where we are or come down 50 basis points, but there is uncertainty, and how that rate might move might depend on what we think are the most concerning elements, be it labor or inflation, or some other data,” Mishra said.
4. Arizona dust storm disrupts travel
A dust storm, known as a haboob, hit Phoenix and other parts of Arizona Monday night, leaving thousands without power and grounding flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, NBC News reports. Such a dust storm is caused by storm winds over dry open spaces.
Following the dust storm's passing through came heavy winds and rain. Along with flight delays, the airport also experienced some damage to a terminal roof.
5. UK sees jump in food price inflation
According to the British Retail Consortium, the price of food staples, such as eggs and butter, rose significantly this month in the United Kingdom, The Guardian reports. This resulted in an overall 4.2% year-over-year increase in food prices. In July, food prices increased by 4%.
“Staples such as butter and eggs saw significant increases due to high demand, tightening supply and increased labor costs,” BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said. “Chocolate also got more expensive as global prices of cocoa remain high owing to poor harvests.”