Hundreds of solar panels could be fitted to eight historic hydro power stations across the south west of Scotland.
Renewable energy giant Drax is exploring the option for its sites in Galloway and Lanark – some of which date back nearly 100 years.
If the plans go ahead they would meet the back-up power needs of the hydro sites which it currently pays to get from the local electricity grid.
The company said that although its proposals were at an early stage the potential impact was “significant”.
Drax
The solar panels would provide back-up power for the historic hydro power stations
Drax bought the hydro scheme – which provides enough energy to power more than 400,000 homes – in late December 2018.
The Lanark system is made up of two power stations – one at Bonnington near New Lanark and one at Stonebyres near Lanark.
It is one of the oldest in the UK and was commissioned in 1926.
The Galloway scheme opened nine years later and comprises six power stations at Drumjohn, Kendoon, Carsfad, Earlstoun, Glenlee and Tongland which run from north of Carsphairn to near Kirkcudbright.
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The Galloway scheme opened in 1935
Plant manager for Drax’s hydro-electric power schemes in Galloway and Lanark, Martin McGhie, confirmed its proposals.
“By generating renewable electricity on-site, we aim to power the schemes’ auxiliary systems sustainably, supporting the operation of the core power generation components at each plant,” he explained
“Although these proposals are still at an early stage and subject to final design work and planning approvals, the potential is significant.
“The solar installations could generate up to 482 MWh of clean electricity each year, enabling us to generate hydro power with solar energy, and further reinforce our commitment to renewable generation.”
Drax
The plants are dotted across the south west of Scotland
If they go ahead, the plans would see about 1,500 solar panels installed across the eight hydro power stations.
The panels would be fitted to the rooftops of the sites and be able to meet the auxiliary power needs of the facilities.
DUBAI: Stock markets in the Gulf ended mixed on Wednesday as investors monitored global trade developments ahead of the United States’ potential re-imposition of sweeping tariffs on July 9.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was not thinking of extending the July 9 deadline for countries to negotiate trade deals with the US, and continued to express doubt that an agreement could be reached with Japan.
Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index edged 0.1% higher, after two consecutive sessions of losses, helped by 1.7% rise in Saudi Arabian Mining Company.
The cautious mood dominating the region contributed to mixed sector performances, said Joseph Dahrieh, managing principal at Tickmill.
“Investors are awaiting further developments to gain more clarity, while low oil prices continue to pose a risk, despite a positive economic outlook,” he said.
Among gainers, oil giant Saudi Aramco rose 0.8%.
Oil futures edged up as Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and markets weighed expectations of more supply from major producers next month, while the US dollar softened further.
Dubai’s main share index dropped 0.4%, hit by a 1.3% fall in toll operator Salik Company.
Separately, Dubai commuters may soon have a new way to beat traffic, as Joby Aviation successfully completed the first test flight of its fully-electric air taxi in the emirate this week – a significant step toward the city’s goal of integrating airborne transport into its mobility network as early as next year.
In Abu Dhabi, the index eased 0.1%, while the Qatari index closed flat.
A report on Tuesday suggested that the US labour market stayed resilient in May, sharpening the focus on US nonfarm payrolls figures due on Thursday as investors try to gauge when the Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates next.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday reiterated the US central bank’s plans to “wait and learn more” before lowering rates.
Microsoft says it is laying off about 9,000 workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years.
The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company’s Xbox video game business and other divisions.
Among those losing their jobs are 830 workers tied to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, according to a notice sent to state officials Wednesday.
Microsoft said the cuts will affect multiple teams around the world, including its sales division, part of “organizational changes” needed to succeed in a “dynamic marketplace.” The company won’t say the total number of layoffs except that it was about 4% of the workforce it had a year ago.
READ MORE: Trump’s tariffs would cost U.S. employers $82.3 billion, potentially causing price hikes and layoffs
A memo to gaming division employees Wednesday from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said the cuts would position the video game business “for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas.”
Xbox would “follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness,” Spencer wrote.
Microsoft employed 228,000 full-time workers as of June 2024, the last time it reported its annual headcount. Its latest layoffs would cut fewer than 4% of that workforce, according to Microsoft. But it has already had at least three layoffs this year and it’s unlikely that new hiring has matched the amount lost. Either way, a 4% cut would amount to somewhere in the range of 9,000 people.
Until now, this year’s biggest layoff was in May, when Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers, nearly 3% of its global workforce and its largest job cuts in more than two years.
The cutbacks come as Microsoft continues to invest huge amounts of money in the data centers, specialized computer chips and other infrastructure needed to advance its AI ambitions. The company anticipated those expenses would cost it about $80 billion in the last fiscal year. Its new fiscal year began Tuesday.
Microsoft just last month cut another 300 workers based out of its Redmond headquarters, on top of nearly 2,000 who lost their jobs in the Puget Sound region in May, most of them in software engineering and product management roles, according to information it sent to Washington state employment officials.
Microsoft’s chief financial officer Amy Hood said on an April earnings call that the company was focused on “building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
The company has repeatedly characterized its recent layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers, but the May focus on cutting software engineering jobs has fueled worries about how the company’s own AI code-writing products could reduce the number of people needed for programming work.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this year that “maybe 20, 30% of the code” for some of Microsoft’s coding projects “are probably all written by software.”
The latest layoffs, however, seemed centered on slower-growing areas of the company’s business, said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
“They’re focused more and more on AI, cloud and next-generation Microsoft and really looking to cut costs around Xbox and some of the more legacy areas,” Ives said. “I think they overhired over the years. This is Nadella and team making sure that they’re keeping with efficiency and that’s the name of the game in Wall Street.”
The trimming of the Xbox staff follows Microsoft’s years-long expansion of the business surrounding its gaming console, culminating in 2023 with the $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard — the California-based maker of hit franchises like Call of Duty and Candy Crush.
Before that, in a bid to compete with Sony’s PlayStation, it spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Maryland-based video game publisher Bethesda Softworks.
Many of those game studios, which have locations across North America and Europe, were struggling with the layoffs Wednesday, according to social media posts from employees who announced they were looking for new jobs.
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NEW YORK — Sales of Tesla electric cars fell sharply in the last three months as boycotts over Elon Musk’s political views continue to keep buyers away.
The 13% plunge in global sales over a year earlier suggests the damage to Tesla’s brand from Musk’s embrace of U.S. President Donald Trump and far-right European politicians is much deeper, widespread and lasting than some investors had expected. The figures reported by Tesla on Wednesday also signal that its quarterly earnings report due later this month could disappoint as rival electric-vehicle makers pounce on its weakness and steal market share. v
Sales fell to 384,122 in April through June, down from 443,956 in the same three months last year.
During the latest period, Musk formally left the Trump administration as a cost-cutting czar, and hopes rose that sales would recover. The Tesla CEO himself recently said the company was in the midst of a “major rebound” in sales, a statement contradicted by the latest figures.
Still, some parts of the report were encouraging. Sales of the Models 3 and Y totaled 373,728, above the estimate of 356,000 from Wall Street analysts. Tesla shares rose 5% on the news.
“The numbers weren’t as bad as thought with all the analyst forecast cuts we saw over the past week,” said Morningstar’s Seth Goldstein, though he added the report overall showed the company faces big challenges. “The current product lineup is at market saturation and Tesla will need the new affordable vehicle to grow deliveries.”
Musk has promised a cheaper EV model would be coming this year that would boost sales.
It’s not clear yet if Musk’s latest feud with Trump will help lure back buyers who have been angry at the billionaire’s political positions. After Musk once again took to social media to criticize Trump’s budget bill, the president threatened Tuesday to use the power of his office to hurt his companies, including Tesla, pushing its stock down more than 5%.
A June AP-NORC poll showed about half of U.S. adults have an unfavorable opinion of Tesla, including 30% of Republicans.
The new figures come as Tesla is focusing less on new models and more on robots, self-driving technology and robotaxis ferrying passengers around without anyone behind the wheel.
Tesla is in the midst of a test run of robotaxis in Austin, Texas, that seems to have gone smoothly for the most part. But it also has drawn the scrutiny of federal car safety regulators because of a few mishaps, including one case in which a Tesla cab was shown on a video heading down an opposing lane.
The competition from rival EV makers is especially fierce in Europe where China’s BYD has taken a bite out of its market share. Tesla sales fell 28% in May in 30 European countries even as the overall market for electric vehicles expanded sharply, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
Musk has acknowledged that his work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency and his embrace of European far-right candidates have hurt the company. But he said earlier this year that much of the sales plunge is due to customers holding off while they waited for an ugrade to Tesla’s best selling Model Y. That new version has been out for months now.
Tesla reports second quarter financial results on July 23. In the first quarter, net income fell 71%.
Kirkland & Ellis advised LevelBlue, a global leader in cloud-based, AI-driven managed security services, on a definitive agreement to acquire Trustwave, a global provider of cybersecurity and managed detection and response services from the MC2 Security Fund, a private equity fund sponsored by The Chertoff Group, an internationally recognized security and growth advisory firm. This strategic acquisition further strengthens LevelBlue’s market leadership, uniting two leading Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) to deliver unparalleled cybersecurity outcomes through a comprehensive and expanded suite of services designed to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving threat landscape. The acquisition will create the largest pure-play MSSP in the industry.
Read the transaction press release
The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Jeremy Mandell, John Kaercher, Corey Fox, Meredith Bennett and Alex Knight; debt finance lawyers Maureen Dixon and Jacob Klapholz; and tax lawyers Adam Kool, Steven Cantor and Liv Schmertzler.
The FDA has granted accelerated approval to sunvozertinib (Zegfrovy) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or following platinum-based chemotherapy.1
The efficacy of the agent was examined in the multinational, open-label WU-KONG1b trial (NCT03974022). Data showed that sunvozertinib elicited an objective response rate of 46% (95% CI, 35%-57%), with a duration of response of 11.1 months (95% CI, 8.2-not evaluable).
About the Trial
WU-KONG1 Part B enrolled patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations confirmed in tumor tissue.2 Patients needed to have an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1 and have received prior treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.
Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive sunvozertinib at 200 mg daily or 300 mg daily. At the interim analysis, 111 patients went on to receive continuous dosing of the agent at 300 mg daily until trial discontinuation criteria were met.
Independent review committee (IRC)–assessed ORR served as the trial’s primary end point. IRC-assessed duration of response (DOR) was a key secondary end point. Other secondary end points included investigator-assessed ORR and DOR.
Safety Spotlight
The most common grade 3 or higher treatment-related adverse effects (TRAEs) observed with the agent at the 300-mg dose included diarrhea (17.1%), increased blood creatinine phosphokinase levels (10.8%), anemia (3.6%), rash (3.6%), increased lipase levels (3.6%), decreased neutrophil counts (2.7%), hypokalemia (2.7%), decreased appetite (2.7%), and asthenia (2.7%). TRAEs led to dose reduction and treatment discontinuation in 36.0% and 6.3% of patients, respectively. Investigators noted that most of the common TRAEs were grade 1 or 2 in severity and clinically manageable. No TRAEs led to fatal outcomes.
What Came Before
Previously, in April 2024, the FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to sunvozertinib for patients with treatment-naive NSCLC harboring an EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation.3
References
FDA grants accelerated approval to sunvozertinib for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. FDA. July 2, 2025. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-grants-accelerated-approval-sunvozertinib-metastatic-non-small-cell-lung-cancer-egfr-exon-20
Yang J CH, Doucet L, Wang M, et al. A multinational pivotal study of sunvozertinib in platinum pretreated non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations: primary analysis of WU-KONG1 study. J Clin Oncol. 2024;42(suppl 16)8513. doi:10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.8513
FDA grants breakthrough therapy designation to sunvozertinib for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations. News Release. Dizal Pharma. April 7, 2024. Accessed July 2, 2025. https://www.dizalpharma.com/news/detail?id=70&search=¤tPage=1
Tesla posted another big drop in quarterly deliveries on Wednesday, putting it on course for its second straight annual sales decline as demand falters due to backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s political stance and an ageing vehicle lineup.
Tesla said it delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter, down 13.5% from 443,956 units a year ago. Analysts had expected it to report deliveries of about 394,378 vehicles, according to an average of 23 estimates from the financial research firm Visible Alpha, though projections went to as low as 360,080 units based on estimates from 10 analysts over the past month. Analysts use the number of vehicles delivered to customers as a metric of success to evaluate both automotive sales and production.
“The market is reacting to the deliveries not being as bad as potentially thought with multiple analysts cutting their forecasts over the past week,” said Seth Goldstein, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.
The stock has lost 25% of its value so far this year as investors feared brand damage in Europe, where sales have slumped most sharply, and in the US from Musk’s embrace of rightwing politics and his role in spearheading the Trump administration’s cost-cutting effort. The day Trump and Musk split publicly in early June, Tesla lost about $150bn in market value. Its share price has somewhat recovered in the ensuing month, but Trump and Musk have likewise reignited their feud as they spar over Trump’s sweeping tax bill.
Tesla’s plummeting deliveries in a steadily growing global EV market come despite Musk saying in April that sales had turned around.
The company refreshed its top-selling Model Y crossover earlier this year to boost demand, but the redesign forced a production halt and prompted some buyers to delay purchases in anticipation of the updated version.
Most of Tesla’s revenue and profit come from its core EV business, and much of its trillion-dollar valuation hangs on Musk’s big bet on converting its vehicles into robotaxis.
Tesla last month rolled out a robotaxi service in limited parts of Austin, Texas, for a select group of invitees and with several restrictions, including having a safety monitor in the front passenger seat. The pilot was limited, though, with only about a dozen Robotaxis on the road. The US National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration opened an investigation into the launch of the autonomous ride service.
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The automaker had said it would start producing a cheaper vehicle, expected to be a pared-down Model Y, by June’s end.
While a cheaper model might help bolster sales, Wall Street expects a second consecutive annual sales decline this year. To achieve Musk’s target of returning to growth this year, Tesla would need to hand over more than a million units in the second half – a record and a tough challenge, according to analysts, despite typically stronger sales in the second half.
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Drax
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Drax
