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Indian fighter jet pilot dies in crash during Dubai airshow.

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A pilot has died after an Indian fighter jet crashed while performing a display at an airshow in Dubai, officials have said.

The Indian Air Force said in a statement: “IAF deeply regrets the loss of life and stands firmly with the bereaved family in this time of grief.

“A court of inquiry is being constituted, to ascertain the cause of the accident.”

The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s Teja jet crashed about about 14:10 local time (10:10 GMT), according to the Associated Press.

Hungary Reveals 22-Member Team for European Short Course Championships

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By Retta Race on SwimSwam

The Hungarian Swimming Association has revealed its 22-strong lineup of athletes set to represent the nation at this year’s European Short Course Championships.

12 women and 9 men comprise the roster headed to Lublin, Poland this December, with representatives primarily determined at the recently concluded Hungarian Short Course Championships.

Mainstays David Betlehem, Balazs Hollo, Nandor Nemeth and Zalan Sarkany are among the men named to the roster, with Adam Jaszo holding the most individual events.

19-year-old Laura Zsebok headlines the women’s roster, with the teen having earned a quartet of medals in Debrecen.

Missing from the roster are Olympic champions Kristof Milak and Hubi Kos. The former has reportedly not been in the water since having withdrawn from the World Championships, while the latter will remain in the United States at the University of Texas.

Hungary finished 12th in the overall swimming medal table at the last edition of the European Short Course Championships. There in Otopeni, Romania, the nation collected 5 medals, including 2 silver and 3 bronze.

Szebasztian Szabo secured silver in the men’s 50m free and 50m fly as Richard Marton grabbed bronze in the men’s 200m fly. Ajna Kesely bagged bronze in both the women’s 800m and 1500m free events.

Men

David Betlehem (400-800-1500m freestyle)
Balázs Holló (200m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 400m individual medley)
Ádám Jászó (50-100m freestyle, 50-100-200m backstroke)
Benedek Kovács (50-100-200m backstroke)
Richárd Márton (400m freestyle, 100-200m butterfly)
Nándor Németh (50-100-200m freestyle)
Zalán Sárkány (400-800-1500m freestyle, 400m medley)
Szebasztián Szabó (50m freestyle, 50m butterfly)
Gábor Zombori (100-200-400m medley, 200m breaststroke)

Women

Minna Lilla Ábrahám (50-100-200-400m freestyle)
Henrietta Fangli (50-100-200m breaststroke)
Laura Ilyés (200m butterfly)
Ajna Késely (400-800-1500m freestyle)
Lora Komoróczy (50m butterfly, 50-100m backstroke)
Viktória Mihályvári-Farkas (1500m freestyle)
Dóra Molnár (50-100-200m backstroke)
Nikolett Pádár (100-200-400m freestyle)
Dalma Sebestyén (100-200m individual medley, 50m breaststroke)
Petra Senánszky (50-100m freestyle)
Eszter Szabó-Feltóthy (200m backstroke, 200-400m medley)
Panna Ugrai (100-200m freestyle, 100-200m butterfly)
Laura Zsebők (200-400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley)

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Hungary Announces 22-Strong Lineup For European Short Course Championships

FDA Approves Paradromics BCI Trial to Restore Speech

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US brain-computer-interface startup Paradromics is quickly establishing itself as a major player in the neural-device space, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) green-lighting a human trial to test its ability in restoring speech in people with paralysis.

The Austin-based company, which has already received several Breakthrough Device approvals from the FDA, has been granted Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) status for the Connect-One Early Feasibility Study (EFS) using the Connexus BCI. It’s the first company to be given IDE approval for speech restoration with a fully implantable BCI.

Researchers will investigate the safety and efficacy of the Connexus BCI, aiming to help paralyzed patients regain speech and computer control capabilities, allowing people to communicate either through text or synthesized voice.

“Built for long-term medical use, Connexus is the first high-data-rate BCI designed to deliver high performance for the user,” the company states.

The device is built out of medical-implant-grade metals, with a titanium-alloy body and more than 400 platinum-iridium electrodes that will be positioned next to neurons, with on-chip processing to record a large amount of brain signals. Each electrode is smaller than 40 microns – thinner than a human hair.

In the trial, the BCI and its components – cortical module, internal transceiver and extension lead – will be surgically implanted under the skin, with the electrodes extending just below the brain’s surface in order to collect signals from individual neurons in the motor cortex. This information is then sent along the thin subcutaneous cable that connects to the implanted transceiver in the chest, which then wirelessly transmits data by a secure optical link to a second transceiver worn by the patient. This external transceiver powers the system through inductive charging, not unlike wireless smartphone charging. Finally, the data is transmitted to a small computer with advanced language models and AI, which analyzes the brain data to determine what the patient wanted to say or do and turns it into words (text on a screen/synthesized speech) or enables control of digital devices.

“We’re very excited about bringing this new hardware into a trial,” says Matt Angle, chief executive of Paradromics.

The trial is very small – just two people to begin with – and they’ll have the 7.5-mm-wide BCI inserted 1.5 mm into the brain to record signals from individual neurons. The volunteers will each have one electrode array implanted in the motor cortex region that controls the lips, tongue and larynx. The participants will then imagine speaking sentences presented to them, with the information being relayed from the neurons to the external computer. The system then learns what patterns of neural activity correspond to each intended speech sound, personalizing the technology.

It’s the first BCI trial targeting synthetic-voice generation – where the information will be converted to audio in real time, based on old recordings of the participants’ talking.

The trial will also investigate whether the BCI can detect activity from imagined hand movements – this would make operating a computer cursor feasible.

If the initial stage of the trial delivers positive outcomes, it’s expected to expand to a study group of 10, with two participants receiving two implants to boost signal-capturing power.

“It’s an exciting step,” says Mariska Vansteensel, a BCI researcher at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. “For the field to move forward towards clinical applications, a fully implantable system is the only way to go.”

Sources: Nature, Paradromics

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Meeting between Trump and Mamdani Scheduled at the White House

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Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House

President Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, were expected to meet on Friday at the White House. The meeting comes after months of trading insults.

“My team reached out to the White House to set up this meeting because I will work with anyone to make life more affordable for the more than 8.5 million people who call this city home.” “Good afternoon, everybody. It speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to the White House. I also think it speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone.”

President Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, were expected to meet on Friday at the White House. The meeting comes after months of trading insults.

By Jiawei Wang

November 20, 2025

IDX Composite Index decreases by 0.53% as Indonesia stocks finish lower at the end of trading.

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Indonesia stocks lower at close of trade; IDX Composite Index down 0.53%

China’s Leadership Opportunity at G20 in Light of Trump’s Absence | Business and Economy News

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US President Donald Trump’s decision to snub the G20 summit in South Africa this year has handed an opportunity to China, as it seeks to expand its growing influence in the African continent and position itself as an alternative to the dangers of a unilateralist United States.

Washington said it would not attend the two-day summit set to kick off on Saturday over widely discredited claims that the host country, previously ruled by its white minority under an apartheid system until 1994, now mistreats white people.

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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa hit back at Trump’s claim that hosting the summit in Johannesburg was a “total disgrace”. “Boycott politics doesn’t work,” Ramaphosa said, adding that the US was “giving up the very important role that they should be playing as the biggest economy in the world”.

By Friday morning, Trump appeared to have backtracked on his stance somewhat, when speculation that Washington might send a US official to Johannesburg after all circulated.

Regardless, the spat comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping sends Premier Li Qiang to represent him on the world stage. China’s 72-year-old president has dialled back foreign visits, increasingly delegating his top emissary.

“The US is giving China an opportunity to expand its global influence,” Zhiqun Zhu, professor of political science and international relations at Bucknell University, told Al Jazeera. “With the absence of the US, China and EU countries will be the focus of the summit and other countries will look for leadership [from them].”

But observers say that while Trump’s absence will direct heightened attention to Beijing’s statements and behaviour, it does not spell the end of the US-led order altogether.

Jing Gu, a political economist at the United Kingdom-based Institute of Development Studies, said the US’s failure to attend “does not automatically make China the new leader, but it creates visible space for China to present itself as a more stable, reliable partner in governance”.

“It reinforces the perception that the US is stepping back from multilateralism and the shared management of global problems,” she said. “In that context, China can present itself as a more predictable, stable actor and emphasise continuity, support for open trade and engagement with the Global South.”

Expanding influence in the African continent

This year’s G20 will, for the first time, have an African chair and take place on the African continent. The African Union (AU) will also participate fully as a member.

South Africa, which holds the G20 presidency, is expected to push for consensus and action on priority issues for African countries, including debt relief, economic growth, climate change and transition to clean energy.

Zhu, who also serves as editor-in-chief of the academic journal, China and the World, said South Africa’s themes were a “natural fit” for China, Africa’s largest trading partner.

“China aims to become a leader in green energy, and there’s a lot of room for China and African countries to work on that,” he said.

The African continent, with its mineral wealth, booming population and fast-growing economies, offers huge potential for Chinese firms. Li, China’s premier, travelled to Zambia this week, marking the first visit to the country by a Chinese premier in 28 years. The copper-rich nation has Beijing as its largest official creditor for $5.7bn.

Eager to secure access to Zambia’s commodities and expand its exports from resource-rich East Africa, China signed a $1.4bn deal in September to rehabilitate the Tazara Railway, built in the 1970s and connecting Tanzania and Zambia, to improve rail-sea transportation in the region.

“The Chinese economy and African economy are complementary; they both benefit from trade,” Zhu said. The G20 “is a great platform for China to project its global influence and seek opportunities to work with other countries”, he added.

Africa’s growing demand for energy and China’s dominance in manufacturing make the two a good fit, observers say. This is playing out. A report by energy think tank Ember, for instance, found Africa’s imports of solar panels from China rose a whopping 60 percent in the 12 months to June 2025.

According to Gu at the Institute of Development Studies, China will be looking to tap into this growing synergy with Africa and will deliver a three-fold message at this year’s G20.

“First, it will stress stability and the importance of global rules and regulations,” she said. Second, “it will link the G20 to the Global South and highlight issues like development and green transformation”.

Third, “by offering issue-based leadership on topics such as digital economy, artificial intelligence and governance, it will position itself as a problem-solver rather than a disruptor”, the economist added.

China as a bastion of multilateralism

An absence of American officials at this year’s G20 – after skipping the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Korea as well as the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil – would be “another opportunity for China”, Rosemary Foot, professor of politics and international relations at the University of Oxford, told Al Jazeera.

“It can contrast, yet again, its declared commitment to multilateralism and responsible behaviour as a major state versus the dangers of a unilateralist America focusing not on public goods but on benefits to itself only.”

China has been looking to expand its influence in Africa as a counterweight to the US-led world order. In stark contrast to Trump’s decision to end Africa’s duty-free era and slap 15-30 percent tariffs on 22 nations, Xi announced at the APEC summit last month a zero-tariff policy for all African nations with diplomatic ties to Beijing.

On that occasion, Xi emphasised China’s commitment “to joint development and shared prosperity with all countries”, stressing the country’s goal to “support more developing countries in achieving modernisation and opening up new avenues for global development”.

Similarly, Li, China’s premier, marked the United Nations’ 80th anniversary at the General Assembly in September by expressing the need for stronger collective action on climate change and emerging technologies, calling for greater solidarity to “[lift] everyone up, while division drags all down”.

His remarks were in stark contrast to Trump’s, who, in his speech, described climate change as the “greatest con job ever perpetrated” and called renewable sources of energy a “joke” and “pathetic”.

Foot said the spotlight will now be on Beijing as it seeks to strike a similar conciliatory pose – and in doing so, set itself apart from the US – at the G20. “Whether Beijing will have a major impact on the G20 agenda is more difficult to determine,” she said.

GLP-1s: A Potential Breakthrough as the World Tackles an Increasing Obesity Crisis, Could Become the First True Longevity Drug

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GLP-1s are the hottest drugs on the market. While doctors have prescribed these drugs to treat type-2 diabetes for decades, these treatments broke into the public consciousness when they started to be used for weight loss.

U.S. approval of Novo Nordisk’s anti-obesity drug Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound has fueled the meteoric growth of both companies. 

Now, this lucrative discovery could offer a new benefit to patients: longevity.

“There are signals that GLP-1s could be the first true longevity drug,” Alex Zhavoronkov, the founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine, said Monday at the Fortune Innovation Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Top scientists from both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have suggested that GLP-1s could have broader effects than just tackling obesity and diabetes. “They found that the regular intake of this drug may reduce the incidence of many age-related diseases, including some CNS (central nervous system) disorders, liver disease, and kidney disease,” Zhavoronkov said. 

Global spread

Obesity rates are rising worldwide as emerging markets grow wealthier, leading to greater food consumption and more sedentary lifestyles. 

There’s an “obesity pandemic,” said Adele Wong, a dietitian and nutritionist from Nutrition Track, on Monday. 

By 2050, over half of adults worldwide will be obese or overweight, predicts a study published in March by The Lancet.

Malaysia in particular is at risk. Just over half of Malaysians are already obese, thanks to a cuisine that relies on oily food, greater access to processed food, and the rise of a more sedentary, car-centric lifestyle as the country gets wealthier.

This costs the country 64 billion Malaysian ringgit ($15.4 billion) a year, due to treatment and care, the economic cost of premature death, and lost productivity, Wong said. 

Still, emerging regions like Southeast Asia are slow to pick up GLP-1s. “It’s still in its early stages,” Wong noted. She pointed to a widespread stigma around both obesity and a narrative that weight-loss drugs are “the easy way out.” 

“Obesity is a disease, and when you get sick, you do need medication. You do need treatment,” she said.

How GLP-1 drugs work

Technically speaking, treatments like Wegovy aren’t weight loss drugs. Instead, these treatments help obese patients suppress their appetites. Praful Chakkarwar, general manager at Novo Nordisk, says that this helps patients build and sustain healthy habits. 

Wong echoed this sentiment. “Food noise…makes it harder for [obese people] to eat their vegetables and get out the door to exercise. But when they’re on these drugs, it’s amazing—they are able to actually do these healthy habits easier,” Wong said. “In my client’s words, it gives them hope.”

Looking to the future, Chakkarwar said the pharmaceutical industry is at the cusp of several GLP-1 related discoveries. Many companies are developing drugs to counteract side effects from GLP-1s, which include muscle loss and macular degeneration—an eye disease that may cause vision loss. 

They are also working to make the intake of GLP-1s more convenient, he said, such as creating pills which can be consumed less regularly.

“A lot of these patients have other chronic conditions. They may have diabetes, dyslipidemia, or high blood pressure, so they are on multiple drugs. Some of them might actually be very happy to just take it [GLP-1s] once a week or once a month, rather than taking the tablet on a daily basis,” Chakkarwar said.

Fatima Bosch from Mexico wins pageant after walking out on organisers

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Joel Guinto,in Singapore and

Panisa Aemocha,in Bangkok

Getty Images Newly-crowned Miss Universe Fatima Bosh from Mexico points to the sky after she is crownedGetty Images

Fatima Bosch is the fourth Miss Universe winner from Mexico

Miss Mexico Fatima Bosch has been crowned the new Miss Universe in Thailand on Friday – marking the end of an exceptionally scandal filled pageant season.

The 25-year-old contestant had earlier in November walked out of a pageant event after an official publicly berated her in front of dozens of contestants and threatened to disqualify those who supported her.

A week after, two judges resigned, with one of them accusing organisers of rigging the competition.

Miss Universe, founded in the US, is one of the longest-running beauty pageants on the planet. The recent controversies, analysts say, underscore the cultural and strategic differences between the pageant’s Thai and Mexican owners.

The pageant saw Thailand’s Praveenar Singh place second while the rest of the top five included Venezuela, the Philippines and Cote d’Ivoire.

Thailand is hosting Miss Universe for the fourth time and its delegate this year was considered a frontrunner by fan websites.

The crowning of the new Miss Universe, the 74th since 1952, signals the resolve of an organisation to stay relevant and evolve from a once-a-year television spectacle to a media brand that is ready for TikTok.

EPA A Thai beauty queen with hands clasped in prayerEPA

Thailand’s Pravennar Singh was a fan favourite to win the crown

Drama in Bangkok

The pageant events are being organised by Thai media mogul Nawat Itsaragrasil, who is known to fans as the founder and owner of Miss Grand International, a smaller Thai-based contest that is known for its loud social media presence.

Mr Nawat holds the licence to host this year’s Miss Universe pageant, while the organisation is being run out of Mexico by businessman Raul Rocha.

North, Central and South American queens dominated the contest in its early years, but recent decades have seen the rise of fandoms in South East Asia, most especially in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, where pageant crowns have become a way out of poverty or an express pass for girls dreaming of becoming a celebrity.

But things took a dramatic turn at a pre-pageant ceremony early this month, when Mr Nawat told off Miss Mexico, Fatima Bosch, in front of dozens of contestants for failing to post promotional content.

When she objected, Mr Nawat called security and threatened to disqualify those supporting her. Ms Bosch then left the room and others joined her in solidarity.

The Miss Universe Organisation condemned Mr Nawat’s behaviour as “malicious” and Mr Rocha, speaking by video from Mexico, told his Thai business partner to just “stop”.

Mr Nawat later apologised and claimed that some of his words were misunderstood – but a delegation of international executives were sent to take over running the competition.

Watch: Miss Universe contestants stage walkout after organiser berates Miss Mexico

A week later, two judges resigned with one of them accusing organisers of rigging the selection process.

Lebanese-French musician Omar Harfouch, who announced his resignation from the eight-member jury on Instagram, alleged that an “impromptu jury” had pre-selected finalists ahead of the final on Friday. Hours later, former French football star Claude Makelele also announced he’d pulled out, citing “unforeseen personal reasons”.

The Miss Universe Organisation rejected Mr Harfouch’s claims, saying that “no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists”.

It suggested that Mr Harfouch may have been referring to the Beyond the Crown programme – a “social impact initiative” that operates independently from the main Miss Universe competition, and has a separate selection committee.

Then during the preliminary evening gown round on Wednesday night, Miss Jamaica accidentally fell onstage and had to be rushed out of the theatre in a stretcher. She is recovering in hospital.

Turbulence at the top

The string of controversies comes as Miss Universe transitions to a new leadership after Thai transgender media mogul Anne Jakrajutatip resigned as CEO just before the pre-pageant events and was replaced by Guatemalan diplomat Mario Bucaro.

Ms Jakrajutatip acquired the pageant from US entertainment company Endeavor in 2022. She made sweeping changes towards inclusivity, allowing transgender women, married women and women with children to participate. She also scrapped the age cap for contestants.

As audiences declined over the years, she sought to monetise the Miss Universe brand, stamping it on merchandise such as bottled water and bags.

In 2023, her entertainment company JKN, filed for bankruptcy, citing “liquidity problems”.

Getty Images Woman wearing beaded gown standing on stageGetty Images

Former owner Anne Jakrajutatip sought to make Miss Universe more inclusive

Before she resigned, Ms Jakrajutatip brought in Mr Rocha from Mexico as business partner and later tapped Mr Nawat to organise the 2025 pageant.

It has been a “very rocky transition” for the pageant’s leadership, Dani Walker, an American beauty queen and pageant coach told the BBC. She said important roles were now split between leaders in Bangkok and Mexico.

The leadership structure was much clearer when the pageant was being run by Endeavor, and before that, Donald Trump, she said.

“For fans and outsiders, it’s very confusing. No one knows who the real leaders are or who to ask when they have questions, and that’s very damaging to the brand,” Paula Shugart, who served as Miss Universe Organization president under the previous two owners, told the BBC.

Thitiphong Duangkhong, a scholar of women’s and Latin American studies and an expert on beauty pageants, said those behind the pageant should be aware of their cultural differences.

“In our country, we use the Thai language to communicate with our fellow Thais. We understand the social context, we understand social structure, we understand the inequality of power in society, and we constantly try to negotiate with it using the Thai language,” he told the BBC.

Mr Thitiphong said Ms Jakrajutatip being a transwoman might not have sat well with some Latin American fans who subscribe to macho culture.

“There’s talk of women who aren’t women suddenly buying a pageant that’s supposed to be about women’s entertainment. What’s going to happen?”

What’s next for Miss Universe?

For years, audiences for the Miss Universe broadcast have been declining steadily as fans to shift on social media. On TikTok and Instagram, former titleholders, even runners up, maintain accounts with millions of followers, transforming them into influencers.

It is in this e-commerce universe that Mr Nawat’s Miss Grand International queens are expected to embrace – selling merchandise in live broadcasts – which he tried to introduce to Miss Universe.

But on the Latin American side, beauty queens are still regarded as glamorous television celebrities. A Miss Universe reality show was even staged for that audience and the winner – a Dominican crowned Miss Universe Latina – is competing in the main pageant in Bangkok.

Getty Images Beauty queens congratulating the newly-crowned Miss UniverseGetty Images

‘Miss Universe is worthless if you don’t empower and support the women who compete,’ says its former president

But while the controversies highlight the business side of Miss Universe, former queens continue to use their platform to promote their causes. The 2018 titleholder, Catriona Gray, urged her 13.8 million Instagram followers to help a charity bring safe drinking water to thousands left homeless by back-to-back super typhoons in the Philippines.

Pageants also continue to face constant criticism for objectifying women. But while majority of contestants wore two piece bikinis for the 2025 contest, those from conservative countries were allowed to wear full-body covering in the swimsuit round.

“Of course, it won’t be for everyone, and there will always be those who disagree. But as long as the core values ​​are intact, I think pageants will always have a role to play in society,” said Ms Shugart, the former president.

She said empowering women should be at the organisation’s core.

“Miss Universe is nothing if you’re not empowering the women that compete.”

UK to implement ban on reselling tickets at prices higher than original

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The UK government has announced plans for legislation to ban the resale of tickets to sports and entertainment above their original price.

In a statement on Wednesday (November 19), the government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the new law “will destroy the operating model of ticket touts,” using the British term for scalpers.

However, the legislation is also likely to damage the business of secondary ticketing platforms like StubHub and Viagogo. StubHub shares fell 14% on Monday, when news first spread of the government’s plans.

The law will make it illegal to sell tickets to concerts, sports, theater, comedy, and other live events above the tickets’ face value. Ticket resale platforms will have a duty to monitor and enforce the rule.

The legislation will also limit the service fees that resale platforms can charge, and individuals will be barred from selling more tickets than they were initially allowed to buy on the primary market.

That last rule is aimed at the now-common practice of using bots to buy up large volumes of tickets during an initial on-sale.

The government says its analysis estimates that the new rules will save UK fans around GBP £112 million (USD $147 million) annually, increase the number of tickets sold on the primary market by around 900,000, and reduce the average price of a ticket, inclusive of fees, by around £37 ($48.50).

“For too long, ticket touts have ripped off fans, using bots to snap up batches of tickets and resell them at sky-high prices. They’ve become a shadow industry on resale sites, acting without consequence,” Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said in a statement.

“This government is putting fans first. Our new proposals will shut down the touts’ racket and make world-class music, comedy, theatre and sport affordable for everyone.”

“Our new proposals will shut down the touts’ racket and make world-class music, comedy, theatre and sport affordable for everyone.”

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

Ticket resale platforms are warning that the law will drive ticket resales underground, potentially creating more problems for consumers than it solves.

“With a price cap on regulated marketplaces, ticket transactions will move to black markets,” said a spokesperson for StubHub International, which is a separate business from StubHub in the US, as quoted by the Financial Times.

“When a regulated market becomes a black market, only bad things happen for consumers.”

Not all secondary ticketing platforms agree. Tixel, which bills itself as an “honest” resale platform that caps prices on resale tickets, has come out in support of the legislation.

“The fear mongering around fair resale policies fueling fraud is just that – fear mongering. Price caps do not create fraud. Poor enforcement and unregulated marketplaces do,” a Tixel spokesperson told MBW in an email.

Banning touts was a part of the ruling Labour Party’s platform in the 2024 election. Earlier this month, a group of artists including Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Radiohead and Sam Fender sent a letter to the prime minister, urging him to make good on the promise.

“Introducing a cap will restore faith in the ticketing system, help democratize public access to the arts in line with the Government’s agenda and make it easier for fans to spot illegal behavior, such as ticketing fraud,” the letter stated.

“When a regulated market becomes a black market, only bad things happen for consumers.”

StubHub International

According to Let’s Stamp It Tout, an anti-scalping campaign launched by Virgin Media O2, touts are costing eventgoers an additional £145 million ($190 million) per year. About one in five event tickets sold in the UK ends up on a resale platform.

The Labour government’s planned legislation comes in the wake of a controversy surrounding the on-sale last year of tickets for Oasis’ reunion tour, in which UK fans complained of unexpected spikes in ticket prices on Tickemaster’s platform.

The spikes were initially attributed in the media to dynamic pricing, in which prices change in real time depending on the level of demand. However, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded in September that Ticketmaster didn’t use dynamic pricing for the on-sale – but nor did it notify buyers that it was using tiered pricing, under which ticket prices rise after a certain amount has been sold.

Ticketmaster agreed to a commitment to change its sales practices so that consumers have at least 24 hours’ notice that a ticket on-sale will involve tiered pricing.

The UK government’s announcement on the new ticketing rules did not address the issue of dynamic or tiered pricing, but the government issued a call for evidence on the issue earlier this year.Music Business Worldwide