business 31 - The Latremie Post

Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ sets 2nd-largest sales week in history

**Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Achieves 2nd-Largest Sales Week in History**

*By Apoorva Rastogi | October 7, 2025*

Taylor Swift’s latest album, *The Life of a Showgirl*, has made an extraordinary impact, reportedly selling an astonishing 2.7 million copies on its first day in the United States. This marks Swift’s biggest single-day sales week ever and the second-highest sales week for any album since Luminate began tracking data in 1991.

The only album to surpass this feat is Adele’s *25*, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week back in 2015, underscoring the magnitude of Swift’s achievement.

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### Vinyl Sales Record Broken

In addition to digital and physical sales, *The Life of a Showgirl* has shattered vinyl album sales records. The album sold 1.2 million vinyl copies in its first week, surpassing the previous record held by Swift herself. Her 2024 album, *The Tortured Poets Department*, had sold 859,000 vinyl copies during its debut week.

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### Box Office Success for Concert Film

Swift’s momentum extends beyond music sales. Her concert film, *The Official Release Party of a Showgirl*, topped the box office during its opening weekend, generating $33 million in North America, according to estimates from Comscore.

Internationally, the film earned an additional $13 million through AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., playing for over three days in all 540 AMC theaters across the US.

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### Historic Career Milestone

Adding to her list of accomplishments, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently announced that Taylor Swift has become the first and only female artist to surpass 100 million album sales in the United States.

To date, Swift has sold an impressive 105 million albums, ranking her sixth among the highest-selling artists worldwide. She follows iconic legends such as The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Eagles, and Led Zeppelin.

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Taylor Swift continues to break records and redefine success in the music industry with *The Life of a Showgirl* era, further cementing her status as one of the top artists of all time.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/entertainment/swift-s-the-life-of-a-showgirl-shatters-sales-records/story

Bank Insider Gets 9-Year Jail Term for Gold and Cash Theft

TOKYO, Oct 7 — The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Mitsubishi UFJ Bank assistant branch manager Yukari Yamazaki to nine years in prison on October 6 for stealing approximately 400 million yen worth of gold bars and cash from a bank safe deposit vault.

During the trial, the defense argued that weaknesses in the bank’s security system had allowed Yamazaki to repeatedly commit the thefts. However, the court dismissed this claim in its ruling.

The court stated that the defendant, who had earned the bank’s trust and held a position of responsibility, exploited security systems in a way that only someone in her limited position could, effectively rendering the safeguards powerless.

The court further declared that Yamazaki’s actions were strongly deserving of condemnation.

https://newsonjapan.com/article/147179.php

Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ sets 2nd-largest sales week in history

**Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Achieves 2nd-Largest Sales Week in History**

*By Apoorva Rastogi | October 7, 2025*

Taylor Swift has done it again. Her latest album, *The Life of a Showgirl*, has reportedly sold an astounding 2.7 million copies on its first day in the United States alone. This marks Swift’s biggest single-day sales week ever and the second-highest sales week for any album since Luminate began tracking in 1991.

The only album with a larger sales week is Adele’s *25*, which sold 3.378 million copies in its first week back in 2015.

**Vinyl Sales Record Broken**

In addition to dominating digital and physical sales, *The Life of a Showgirl* has also shattered the record for the most vinyl album sales in a single week. The album sold 1.2 million vinyl copies, surpassing the previous record held by Swift’s own 2024 release, *The Tortured Poets Department*, which sold 859,000 vinyl copies in its first week.

**Box Office Success**

Swift’s success extends beyond music sales. Her concert film, *The Official Release Party of a Showgirl*, topped the box office during its opening weekend. The film earned an impressive $33 million in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore.

Internationally, it added another $13 million through AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., playing in all 540 AMC theaters across the U.S. for over three days.

**A Historic Milestone**

In further recognition of her remarkable career, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced last week that Taylor Swift is the first and only female artist to surpass 100 million album sales.

To date, she has sold 105 million albums, placing her sixth among the highest-selling artists in history. She follows legendary acts such as The Beatles, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Eagles, and Led Zeppelin.

With *The Life of a Showgirl*, Swift continues to solidify her place as one of the most influential and successful artists of her generation.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/entertainment/swift-s-the-life-of-a-showgirl-shatters-sales-records/story

Canara Robeco AMC’s Rs 1,326 cr IPO to open on Oct 9

Canara Robeco Asset Management Company has set a price band of Rs 253-266 per share for its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO), valuing the company at approximately Rs 5,300 crore at the upper end. The Rs 1,326 crore IPO is scheduled to open for subscription on October 9 and will close on October 13. Additionally, anchor investors will be able to participate in a one-day bidding session on October 8, as per the company’s public announcement.

This IPO is a pure Offer For Sale (OFS) of 4.98 crore equity shares, with no fresh issue component. Under the OFS, the promoters—Canara Bank and ORIX Corporation Europe NV (formerly Robeco Groep NV)—will be selling 2.59 crore and 2.39 crore shares respectively. Canara Bank currently holds a 51% stake in Canara Robeco, while ORIX Corporation owns the remaining shares.

Since the IPO is entirely an OFS, Canara Robeco will not receive any proceeds from the public issue. Instead, the funds raised will go directly to the selling shareholders.

**About Canara Robeco**

Canara Robeco’s core activities include managing mutual funds and providing investment advice focused on Indian equities. It holds the distinction of being the country’s second-oldest asset management company. The state-run lender Canara Bank initially floated the company in 1993, later partnering with Robeco (now part of ORIX) in 2007.

The company operates in a competitive market alongside established players such as HDFC Asset Management Company, Nippon Life India Asset Management, and UTI Asset Management Company.

**Issue Allocation and Management**

The IPO has been allocated as follows:
– 50% reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs)
– 35% for retail investors
– 15% for non-institutional investors

SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, and JM Financial will act as the book running lead managers for this issue.

Shares of Canara Robeco are expected to be listed on stock exchanges on October 16.

**Additional Context**

In December 2024, Canara Bank received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to divest its stake in life insurance and mutual fund ventures. Following this, the IPO of Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company—a complete OFS comprising 23.75 crore equity shares—is set to open for public subscription from October 10 to October 14.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/corporate-gallery/canara-robeco-amcs-rs-1326-cr-ipo-to-open-on-oct-9

US researchers: Choose Europe, but part-time

Amid the European rush to attract disenchanted US researchers, the Volkswagen Foundation is experimenting with a different approach: grants for US researchers to split their time between the US and Germany.

The funding scheme, set to open in January, will award up to €300,000 to US-based professors specializing in democracy and fundamental rights. Recipients will spend three to six months a year in Germany, with the rest of the time maintaining ties with the US.

The new Transatlantic Bridge Professorships scheme is the Volkswagen Foundation’s contribution to the conversation about how Europe can respond to the Trump administration’s obstruction of academic freedom and science funding in the US.

“We felt we wanted to offer the opportunity and provide continuous support for research cooperation. We want to add to what others are doing, in general,” said Johanna Brumberg.
https://sciencebusiness.net/news/r-d-funding/horizon-europe/us-researchers-choose-europe-part-time

Canara Robeco AMC’s Rs 1,326 cr IPO to open on Oct 9

Canara Robeco Asset Management Company has fixed a price band of Rs 253-266 per share for its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO), valuing the company at approximately Rs 5,300 crore at the upper end. The IPO, amounting to Rs 1,326 crore, is scheduled to open for subscription on October 9 and close on October 13.

Ahead of the public subscription, the one-day bidding for anchor investors will take place on October 8, as per the company’s public announcement.

This IPO is a complete Offer For Sale (OFS) of 4.98 crore equity shares, with no fresh issue component. Under the OFS, the promoters—Canara Bank and ORIX Corporation Europe NV (formerly Robeco Groep NV)—will sell 2.59 crore shares and 2.39 crore shares, respectively. Canara Bank currently holds a 51% stake in Canara Robeco, while ORIX Corporation owns the remaining stake in the asset management company.

Since the IPO is entirely an OFS, Canara Robeco will not receive any funds from the public issue. Instead, the proceeds from the sale will go directly to the selling shareholders.

Canara Robeco primarily engages in managing mutual funds and providing investment advice on Indian equities. It is recognized as the country’s second oldest asset manager. The state-run lender, Canara Bank, originally founded the company in 1993 and later partnered with Robeco—now part of ORIX—in 2007.

Operating in a highly competitive space, Canara Robeco faces competition from established listed players such as HDFC Asset Management Company, Nippon Life India Asset Management, and UTI Asset Management Company.

The IPO allocation is divided as follows: 50% reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), 35% for retail investors, and 15% for non-institutional investors. SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, and JM Financial are appointed as the book running lead managers for this issue.

Shares of Canara Robeco are expected to list on stock exchanges on October 16.

In a related development, Canara Bank announced in December 2024 that it had received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to divest its stakes in life insurance and mutual fund ventures. The IPO of Canara HSBC Life Insurance Company, a complete OFS involving 23.75 crore equity shares, is scheduled to open for public subscription from October 10 to October 14.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/corporate-gallery/canara-robeco-amcs-rs-1326-cr-ipo-to-open-on-oct-9

Pi Network sheds $18B in six months: ‘That’s basically a rug pull’

**Key Takeaways**

– Pi Network’s token, PI, has plunged over 90%, erasing nearly $18 billion in market capitalization and fueling fresh rug pull claims.
– Without addressing community concerns and supply growth issues, PI could remain under downward pressure in the coming months.

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**Why Is Pi Network Facing Rug Pull Claims Again?**

Since its debut in March, the Pi Network [PI] price has crashed over 90%, reigniting allegations that the project might be a rug pull. At launch, the price soared to $2.79, pushing the market capitalization to approximately $18 billion amid a wave of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). However, the price has since slipped below $1 and plunged further to around $0.26, wiping out more than $16 billion in market cap over the past six months.

A pseudonymous crypto market commentator known as Mr Spock weighed in on the situation, stating, “Pi crashed over 90% from its highest position, that’s basically a rug pull.”

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**Hype and Speculative Interest Fade**

Back in May, Pi Network faced similar rug pull accusations after the team allegedly established a $100 million venture fund amid more than six years of unmet expectations and broken promises. Many community members believed that this fund—partly sourced from internal revenue and mining activities—was diverted for external purposes rather than being reinvested into the ecosystem.

This backlash contributed to the token’s inability to rebound in May, dragging the price down below $0.50. Despite the sour market sentiment, data from Pi Scan indicated some continued accumulation of PI tokens. Over the past 24 hours alone, a net flow of $112.3 million was recorded, meaning more PI tokens flowed out of exchanges than into them, which suggests buying activity.

—

**Derivatives Data Show Collapse in Speculative Interest**

Despite signs of accumulation, speculative interest has sharply declined. While there has been some improvement in the futures market demand, overall speculative interest dropped by more than 10 times. According to Glassnode, PI’s Open Interest (OI)—the total value of open contracts in the derivatives market—plummeted from nearly $120 million to about $20 million.

This sustained bearish pressure reflects the community’s growing frustration and feeling of being sidelined by the Pi Network team.

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**Inflationary Pressure Weighs on Price**

Another major factor dragging down PI’s price is inflationary pressure. Since May, the circulating supply of PI tokens has surged by over 1 billion tokens, exacerbating downward price pressure.

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**What’s Next for PI?**

Unless the Pi Network team addresses community concerns and carefully manages token supply growth, PI could continue to face heavy downward pressure. Rebuilding trust and stabilizing the token economy will be critical to any future recovery efforts.

—

*Stay tuned for updates on Pi Network and other cryptocurrency developments.*
https://ambcrypto.com/pi-network-sheds-18b-in-six-months-thats-basically-a-rug-pull

All set for Maynilad’s P45.8-B stock debut

MANILA, Philippines – Maynilad Water Services Inc. is moving closer to its P45.8-billion initial public offering (IPO) this month after receiving approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The operator of the local bourse announced in an advisory on Monday that Maynilad would offer up to 2.3 billion shares at a price of up to P20 each.

This development marks a significant step for Maynilad as it prepares to enter the public market, aiming to raise substantial capital through the IPO.
https://business.inquirer.net/551033/all-set-for-maynilads-p-45-8-b-stock-debut

Solo Sikoa to introduce WWE megastar as the missing part of MFT? Exploring the possibility

Solo Sikoa Could Completely Shift the Dynamic of WWE SmackDown Soon

After losing the United States Championship to Sami Zayn on the August 29 episode of SmackDown, Solo Sikoa, known as The Street Champion, has been regrouping with his MFTs (Maximum Family Ties) in a series of cryptic vignettes. Over the past three weeks, Sikoa has reintroduced Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga to the WWE Universe. The 32-year-old thanked them for their loyalty and acknowledged their contributions to the faction.

However, last week, Sikoa hinted that something is missing from his family. He claimed that once he has that missing part, everyone will be on notice. This mysterious reference has sparked significant speculation among fans and insiders alike.

### Could The Rock Be the Missing Piece?

One shocking possibility is that the missing piece Solo mentioned could be none other than The Rock. Last year, on October 5, The Rock made a memorable return to WWE following the main event of Bad Blood 2024. In that match, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns defeated Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in a tag team bout. After the match, The Brahma Bull walked out and stared down everyone in the ring from the stage.

Although many fans criticized this moment for lacking any immediate payoff, recent developments suggest it could finally lead to something significant. During The Rock’s return, Solo Sikoa was shown in the crowd, hinting that it was all part of some larger plan. Now, over a year later, Solo — known as The Final Boss — could be revealed as the ultimate mastermind behind the MFT.

Sikoa’s faction has struggled to live up to expectations and is in desperate need of revitalization. Introducing The Rock as the leader would instantly raise the group’s profile and “put everyone on notice,” as Solo himself claimed. While many fans expect Tama Tonga to be revealed as the missing piece of the MFT, WWE’s creative team might surprise everyone with a swerve by bringing The Great One into the mix.

That said, this remains purely speculative at this point.

### Former WWE Writer Criticizes Solo Sikoa’s Video Packages on SmackDown

As mentioned earlier, Solo Sikoa has been building momentum for his stable through video packages on SmackDown over the past few weeks. In one segment, The Street Champion urged Talla Tonga to “unleash the monster inside” and destroy anyone who stands in the MFT’s path.

Despite the hype, former WWE writer Vince Russo has expressed criticism of these vignettes. Speaking on last week’s episode of Sportskeeda WrestleBinge’s “BroDown” hosted by Mac Davis, Russo argued that the creative team is booking the faction backward.

He stated,
“It’s comical to me that now we’re doing Solo Sikoa and his whole group — and now we’re doing vignettes on these guys, and now introducing these guys — how many months after the fact? Isn’t that the first thing you’re supposed to do? Shouldn’t we have had Solo introduce these guys one by one before we saw them as a group? That right there just tells you they have no clue what they’re doing. You don’t give these guys introductions after you’ve seen them on television for six months. That doesn’t make any sense.”

### Looking Ahead

Despite the criticisms, it will be intriguing to see what the future holds for Solo Sikoa and his villainous stable on WWE SmackDown. Whether or not The Rock becomes involved, the MFT is clearly heading toward a pivotal moment that could reshape the blue brand’s landscape.

Stay tuned for further updates as this storyline develops.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/solo-sikoa-introduce-wwe-megastar-missing-part-mft-exploring-possibility

Rishabh Pant set for Ranji Trophy return in late October

**Rishabh Pant Set for Ranji Trophy Return in Late October**

*By Rajdeep Saha | October 6, 2025, 6:59 PM*

Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant is on the verge of making a comeback to competitive cricket through the Ranji Trophy. According to The Times of India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to evaluate his recovery status this week, with a potential clearance expected by October 10. If approved, Pant could be back playing for Delhi starting October 25.

**Assessment and Clearance**

A BCCI source revealed, “As of now, there is a likelihood he could be cleared by October 10. An assessment is due this week. It has been a long recovery for him. The BCCI medical team doesn’t want to take any chances.” Pant’s return will be contingent upon his fitness level and official approval from the BCCI.

**Recovery Progress and Injury Details**

Pant has been sidelined since July due to a fractured foot sustained during the fourth Test against England. Initially, the injury was expected to heal within six weeks; however, complications arose when the metatarsal bone in his right foot broke again under pressure as he attempted to bat the very next day after the injury.

Despite these setbacks, Pant has made significant strides in his recovery over the past 20 days, giving hope for his return to the field soon.

**Impact on Matches and Upcoming Schedule**

Pant has missed the ongoing two-Test series against the West Indies as well as the forthcoming white-ball tour of Australia. Nevertheless, depending on the clearance from the Center of Excellence (CoE) and his preparedness, he could participate in two Ranji Trophy matches before November 5.

This potential return is particularly important as India prepares for a home Test series against South Africa starting November 14.

**Pant’s Performance Against England**

In the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, Pant delivered an impressive performance across four Test matches. In seven innings, he amassed 479 runs at an average of 68.42, including two centuries and three half-centuries. Additionally, he showcased his aggressive batting by hitting 17 sixes throughout the series.

Pant’s imminent return is eagerly awaited by fans and selectors alike, as he remains a key player for Indian cricket’s future.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/sports/rishabh-pant-could-make-return-to-cricket-soon-details-here/story