Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Crocs shares slump as US shoppers rein in spending
Shares of American footwear firm Crocs have plunged nearly 30% after it warned of a drop in sales as US shoppers rein in their spending.
The rubber clog maker says it expects revenue for the three months to the end of August to fall by about 10% compared with last year, saying that some shoppers are no longer visiting Crocs stores.
The company's share price is now at its lowest level for nearly three years after suffering the worst single-day drop in almost 15 years.
Click here to read more.
Israel's security cabinet approves plan to take control of Gaza City
Early on Friday morning, after a meeting of Israel's security cabinet that lasted several hours in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office released a statement approving a plan to take control of Gaza City.
The security cabinet adopted the plans by majority vote and included "five principles for ending the war", the statement says.
"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," it says.
OpenAI claims GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to 'PhD level'
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has unveiled the long-awaited latest version of its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, GPT-5, saying it can provide PhD-level expertise.
Billed as "smarter, faster, and more useful," OpenAI co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman lauded the company's new model as ushering in a new era of ChatGPT.
"I think having something like GPT-5 would be pretty much unimaginable at any previous time in human history," he said ahead of Thursday's launch.
Scottish secretary attacks ‘snobby’ council over Oasis fans comments
Remarks by Edinburgh city council officials suggesting that Oasis fans are old, raucous and overweight were “snobby” and “classist”, the Scottish secretary has said.
Ian Murray suggested the comments made before the band’s sold-out reunion tour were part of a wider issue, referencing the ban on alcohol at football matches but not rugby, which he also described as “snobby”.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe, the comedian Matt Forde told Murray the council was not “excited” about Oasis after it suggested the city should be “prepared for an influx of overweight, middle-aged men who drink too much”.
Read the full story in The Times.
Rhianna’s Fenty Beauty added to John Lewis’s umbrella
John Lewis is pushing further into the fast-growing beauty market, refurbishing its “beauty halls” and forming a partnership with Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, as part of a wider £800million turnaround plan.
The employee-owned retailer is marking the start of a multimillion-pound investment to upgrade beauty departments in six stores this year to fill the gap on the high street left by the likes of Debenhams.
The drive includes the introduction of Fenty Beauty for the first time at John Lewis, alongside high-end brands such as Byredo, Trinny London and Maison Francis Kurkdjian.