£25m funding package agreed

Plans for a major redevelopment of Bury Interchange are moving forward with a £25m cash injection.

The money will go towards phase one of the works, which includes building a new footbridge, access improvements, and upgrades to facilities.

This part of the overhaul was granted planning permission in July last year.

The new bridge will allow continued access to the trams when the anticipated demolition of the current interchange and building of the new one happens.

It’s expected that the interchange will close for redevelopment in either late 2027 or early 2028.

A Bee Network Committee meeting on June 25 confirmed the funding for phase one of the works.

The changes at the interchange are aimed at ‘transforming the passenger experience and bringing the standard of Bury’s transport offer in line with that of the wider city region.’

Detailed designs and a full business case review for phase one of the works have been completed, with a contract to be awarded this summer.

The money will also be used to help create a blueprint for future works included in phase two of the redevelopment, which will include new housing.

A report stated: ‘Agreement has been reached with Bury Council and GMCA [Greater Manchester Combined Authority] colleagues to the adoption of an ‘affordable rental’ tenure for the residential development, and steps are currently being taken to procure a development partner/registered provider for this element of the scheme.’

The report added: ‘The Bury town centre masterplan and local transport strategy identify the redevelopment of Bury Interchange as a priority project, recognising the scheme as a catalyst for wider town centre regeneration.’

Bury Interchange opened in 1980, but according to planning reports parts of the facility have ‘reached and surpassed their intended lifespan.’

Chris Barnes, infrastructure delivery director at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The redevelopment of Bury Interchange is a major step forward in transforming the passenger experience, creating a modern, high-quality transport hub at the heart of the town.

“The inclusion of new residential apartments will further enhance the scheme, helping to create a thriving, mixed-use destination.

“We are particularly pleased that this will deliver much-needed affordable rental homes, supporting Bury’s wider regeneration ambitions and making it easier for people to live alongside excellent public transport. We are now progressing plans to procure a partner to help bring this exciting element of the scheme forward.”

The funding is being drawn from a government scheme called the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. Bury council was approached for comment.

To find all the planning applications, traffic diversions, road layout changes, alcohol licence applications and more in your community, visit the Public Notices Portal.

Apple on Thursday announced that it raised prices on its iPad and MacBook devices because of rising memory and chip costs amid the rapid buildout of the AI industry.

The tech giant excluded its primary cash cow, the iPhone, from the price hikes but will raise prices on the other devices as Apple said it couldn’t afford to continue insulating consumers from the mounting cost of memory and storage chips.

“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for the iPad and Mac.”

The price hikes show that even the world’s most valuable consumer electronics company and its strong supply chain relationships are not immune to the surge in prices for memory chips that has dampened the outlook for smartphone and PC sales.

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Apple is raising prices on MacBooks and iPads, as well as other devices, amid mounting memory chip costs. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Memory chipmakers such as Micron have moved to prioritize orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia in recent months, which has helped them earn record profits but has constrained supplies available for the makers of electronic devices and prompted them to raise prices.

Apple’s Neo, the company’s lowest priced laptop that aims to compete with affordable versions of Windows and Chromebook laptops, is one of the products that will be subject to the price hikes and will go from $599 to $699 months after launch.

The company also raised the price of the MacBook Air with 512 gigabytes of storage from $1,099 to $1,299; while the MacBook Pro with 1 terabyte of storage price rose from $1,699 to $1,999; and the price of the iPad Air with 128 gigabytes of storage rose from $599 to $749.

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Apple also hiked prices for both versions of its HomePod smart speaker and Apple TV set-top box.

The announcement comes after Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an interview earlier this month that “price increases are unavoidable.”

“We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable,” Cook said in the interview.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down on September 1. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cook also said on a late April conference call with analysts that, “Where we don’t give color beyond June, I can tell you that beyond the June quarter, we believe memory costs will drive an increasing impact on our business.”

Rival device makers may be forced to raise prices even more sharply than Apple, whose deep supplier ties have cushioned it from the full hit, several analysts said.

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“The memory environment is tough and remains structurally tough for the foreseeable future,” said Ben Bajarin, CEO of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are trading guard Isaiah Joe to the Detroit Pistons for two second-round picks, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania on Friday, continuing the defending champions’ offseason effort to trim payroll after winning last year’s NBA title.

The Thunder will receive second-round selections in 2030, via the Minnesota Timberwolves, and 2031, sources said, in exchange for one of the league’s most reliable three-point specialists.

A financially driven move for the champions

For Oklahoma City, the trade is straightforwardly about money rather than basketball fit. It’s a financially motivated move for the Thunder that addresses the Pistons’ need to add perimeter shooting alongside superstar point guard Cade Cunningham.

The deal marks the second time in a week that Oklahoma City has shed a valued role player from its 2024-25 championship roster purely to manage its salary structure. Oklahoma City traded wing Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two second-round picks, sources told Charania on Sunday, in a similar move that preceded Friday’s trade.

Together, the two deals have meaningfully reshaped Oklahoma City’s financial outlook heading into next season. Those deals trimmed Oklahoma City’s projected salary for next season from $261 million to $234 million, and factoring in luxury tax, the trades will save the Thunder a total of $216 million, according to projections by ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks.

That savings estimate assumes Oklahoma City makes specific decisions on several other roster options in the coming days. Marks is forecasting that Oklahoma City will exercise the team options for center Isaiah Hartenstein, worth $28.5 million, and guard Luguentz Dort, worth $18.2 million, but not for reserve forward Kenrich Williams, whose option is valued at $7.2 million.

Joe’s path from waiver claim to championship sharpshooter

Joe’s four seasons in Oklahoma City represented a remarkable rise for a player who entered the league with little fanfare. He was the Thunder’s pickup from a waiver claim off the Philadelphia 76ers, where he had struggled to find playing time, starting just two games across his first two NBA seasons after being selected in the second round of the 2020 draft.

Once he arrived in Oklahoma City, Joe quickly carved out a role as one of the league’s most efficient shooters. He shot 41.5% from three-point range over the past four seasons, and according to ESPN Research, Joe has the highest three-point percentage among 56 players with at least 1,500 attempts over that stretch.

His final season with the Thunder was also his best individually. Joe set career highs in scoring and three-point percentage during the 2025-26 campaign, averaging 11.1 points per game while shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc across 71 regular-season appearances. He averaged 9.7 points per game overall during his Oklahoma City tenure, primarily coming off the bench.

A reduced role in the playoffs signaled change was coming

Despite his regular-season production, Joe’s role diminished significantly once the postseason arrived, a shift that foreshadowed his departure. His role was reduced during the playoffs, when trade-deadline addition Jared McCain surpassed him in the Thunder’s backcourt rotation. In the playoffs, Joe averaged just 4.8 points in 11.0 minutes across 13 games, playing sparingly as Oklahoma City advanced through the Western Conference, including limited minutes against the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals.

That decline in postseason usage, combined with the Thunder’s pressing need to manage their cap situation, made Joe an obvious trade candidate as the offseason began.

What the Pistons are getting

For Detroit, the acquisition addresses a glaring weakness from a season that otherwise exceeded expectations. The Pistons made 11.0 threes per game last season, which ranked 28th in the NBA and last in the Eastern Conference, despite the team’s broader success on the floor.

That success was considerable: the Pistons are coming off the franchise’s first 60-win season since 2005-06, before falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Detroit had reportedly entered the offseason eyeing free agents like Austin Reaves and Coby White as it searched for outside shooting to pair with Cunningham, before those targets re-signed with their incumbent teams and the Pistons pivoted to a trade for Joe instead.

In Detroit, Joe joins a backcourt that already features some shooting depth, including Duncan Robinson, who shot 41% from three-point range last season, and Daniss Jenkins, who shot 37.4%. Joe is expected to continue filling a similar role for the Pistons that he held in Oklahoma City, providing instant shooting off the bench alongside Cunningham in the starting lineup.

The financial terms of the deal

Joe is due $11.3 million next season and has a team option for $11.3 million in 2027-28, the second-to-last and final seasons, respectively, of the four-year, $48 million contract he originally signed with Oklahoma City in 2022. How Detroit ultimately structures the money to absorb that salary will depend on the team’s other offseason moves, though the Pistons are positioned to operate as an over-the-cap team with several mechanisms available to take Joe’s contract on, including a trade exception generated by an earlier deal sending big man Isaiah Stewart to Memphis.

A franchise still reshaping itself around its core

For Oklahoma City, Friday’s trade is part of a broader offseason recalibration following the franchise’s championship run, one that has already included multiple roster decisions tied to managing the second tax apron. The Thunder also added draft assets through the 2026 draft itself, selecting prospects including Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz and Otega Oweh, even as the front office continued working to balance its books around its core group of stars.

With the Joe and Wiggins trades now official, Oklahoma City has accumulated four second-round picks this offseason through deals involving the two players, giving general manager Sam Presti additional long-term assets even as the team parts ways with two contributors from its title-winning roster. The Thunder’s next major decisions, including the option calls on Hartenstein, Dort and Williams, are expected in the coming days as Oklahoma City continues reshaping its roster and payroll heading into the 2026-27 season.

Adobe Inc. shares rose more than 3 percent on Friday, closing at $200.83 after gaining $7.42, as investors responded positively to the company’s progress in artificial intelligence features across its creative software suite.

The gain reflected confidence in Adobe’s ability to maintain leadership in creative tools while successfully incorporating AI capabilities that enhance productivity without replacing human creativity. The company’s Firefly AI models and generative features have been well-received by professional users.

Adobe’s core products, including Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro, continue dominating creative industries. Its focus on subscription models and cloud integration has supported recurring revenue growth and customer retention.

The company has reported consistent revenue increases with particular strength in digital media and experience cloud segments. Its ability to innovate while maintaining high margins has sustained investor interest.

AI Integration and Product Innovation

Adobe has integrated artificial intelligence capabilities across its product lineup through Firefly, a family of generative AI models trained on licensed content. This approach addresses copyright concerns while providing powerful creative tools.

Generative fill features in Photoshop and similar tools in other applications have enhanced workflow efficiency for designers and content creators. The company emphasizes responsible AI development with transparency and control for users.

Creative Cloud suite updates regularly incorporate new AI-powered features based on user feedback and industry needs. These enhancements maintain the software’s competitive edge while improving user experience.

The company’s focus on enterprise solutions and digital experience platforms has expanded its addressable market beyond traditional creative professionals. Adobe Experience Cloud serves marketing and customer experience needs for large organizations.

Financial Performance and Strategy

Adobe has demonstrated consistent revenue growth and margin expansion through its subscription-based business model. Its ability to deliver value through continuous innovation supports customer retention and pricing power.

The company’s investments in research and development remain substantial, supporting AI advancement and core product improvement. Its financial discipline has enabled both growth investment and shareholder returns.

Acquisitions have strengthened capabilities in specific areas while integration efforts have enhanced overall portfolio value. Strategic moves have expanded Adobe’s presence in adjacent markets.

International revenue contributes significantly to overall results, with emerging markets offering growth opportunities. Localized offerings and regional partnerships support global expansion.

Market Position and Competition

Adobe maintains dominant positions in professional creative software markets. Its comprehensive suite and industry standards create significant switching costs for users.

Competition from alternative tools and open-source solutions exists but Adobe’s ecosystem advantages and professional features maintain leadership. The company’s focus on quality and innovation supports its premium positioning.

The shift toward cloud-based workflows and collaboration tools has favored Adobe’s subscription model. Its ability to adapt to changing user needs has sustained relevance in evolving creative industries.

Regulatory considerations around AI training data and intellectual property have influenced industry practices. Adobe’s approach using licensed content has positioned it favorably in these discussions.

Investment Considerations

Adobe’s share price performance reflects investor appreciation for its consistent execution and growth potential. The company’s valuation incorporates expectations for AI-driven innovation and market expansion.

The stock appeals to growth-oriented investors seeking exposure to creative software and digital experience trends. Its strong cash flow and profitability support positive long-term outlooks.

Risks include competitive pressures, economic impacts on creative spending and regulatory challenges around AI. Adobe’s market leadership and financial strength provide some resilience.

Analysts generally maintain positive views, citing the company’s innovation track record and recurring revenue model. Continued delivery on growth targets could support further positive sentiment.

Industry Trends

The creative software industry continues evolving with artificial intelligence integration, cloud collaboration and subscription models. Adobe’s leadership in these areas supports its competitive position.

Digital content creation has expanded across industries and platforms, driving demand for professional tools. The proliferation of social media and digital marketing has increased the need for high-quality creative assets.

Remote work and distributed teams have accelerated adoption of cloud-based collaboration tools. Adobe’s solutions address these changing workflow requirements effectively.

Sustainability considerations influence product development and corporate practices. The company’s efforts in responsible AI and environmental initiatives align with stakeholder expectations.

Future Outlook

Adobe’s strategic direction focuses on enhancing its creative tools with AI while expanding its digital experience offerings. Its ability to execute on these priorities will influence long-term performance.

The company continues investing in research and development to maintain technological leadership. Its focus on user-centric innovation supports sustained customer satisfaction and market relevance.

Investors will monitor upcoming financial results and product announcements for signs of continued execution. Management guidance will provide insight into growth priorities and market conditions.

The creative software and digital experience sectors’ fundamental demand drivers remain strong. Adobe’s market leadership, innovation capabilities and recurring revenue model position it for sustained success.

As the company advances its AI integration and platform enhancements, its contribution to creative industries and digital transformation will expand. Adobe’s progress will be watched closely by users, competitors and investors worldwide.