Latest Developments

Europe
The Guardian

Top US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine it

People wait to vote in Columbia, South Carolina, in May 2026. Photograph: Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenPeople wait to vote in Columbia, South Carolina, in May 2026. Photograph: Sean Rayford/Getty ImagesUS politicsTop US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine itWatchdog data shared with Guardian shows contributions to Republican Attorneys General Association and others Over a dozen US companies that signed a 2021 letter urging Congress to strengthen the Voting Rights Act continue to contribute to state political groups that are actively working to undermine the legislation, according to a campaign finance watchdog. Researchers at the Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a nonpartisan organization that tracks financial disclosures, found that companies – including Airbnb, DoorDash, Target and Zillow – that signed the letter are contributing to groups known as 527 organizations that prop up key state races, according to data provided exclusively to the Guardian. Four longtime donors to these groups, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft, had either stopped contributing entirely or lowered their contributions to Republican and Democratic groups for the 2022 midterms, but have resumed contributions for the current election cycle. The January 6 insurrection created a brief reckoning among corporate leaders, many of whom criticized Donald Trump’s role in inciting the violence. The Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga), a 527 organization, was under scrutiny after reports revealed the group sent out robocalls to people encouraging them to attend a “Stop the Steal” rally in front of Congress on 6 January 2021 – which preceded the insurrection. Raga leaders later said they had no knowledge of the robocalls. But the companies have resumed their donations to Raga and, in some cases, have become new contributors to the group. Google’s contribution went from $100,400 in the 2018 election down to $50,000 in 2022. So far this election, the company has donated $325,000 to Raga. The donations reflect a broader U-turn trend seen among many in corporate America who were publicly critical of Trump and Republicans after the January 6 insurrection and then did an about-face as soon as he was elected back into office. The 527 organizations are classified as tax-exempt political groups overseen by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They often fly under the radar compared to political action committees (Pacs) that are overseen by the Federal Election Commission, but political experts say these 527 groups have enormous influence on the state level by supporting key swing races – and public corporations tend to be their dominant funders. Compared with their counterparts in Washington, who are often stalled in gridlock, state leaders and legislators often have greater influence in advancing policies that ultimately have a national impact. State attorneys general have been key in fighting cases in front of the US supreme court that overturn decades of precedent. The court gave a Republican attorney general from Alabama a huge victory when it ruled in her favor in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization – the case that overturned Roe v Wade and gave states the power to legislate abortion access. Earlier this summer, the court gave a win to a Republican Louisiana attorney general when it ruled in her favor in Louisiana v Callais that overturned key components of the Voting Rights Act. Raga praised the ruling, saying in a May statement that “no group of elected officials make a bigger impact than Republican AGs”.

Top US firms that backed Voting Rights Act donate to groups working to undermine it
Europe
The Guardian

Washington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk posts

Karen Attiah leads a discussion at the Oslo Freedom Forum on 28 May 2019 in Oslo, Norway. Photograph: Julia Reinhart/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenKaren Attiah leads a discussion at the Oslo Freedom Forum on 28 May 2019 in Oslo, Norway. Photograph: Julia Reinhart/Getty ImagesBusinessWashington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk postsArbitrator determined the Post improperly fired Karen Attiah, a union-protected employee, over social media posts An independent arbitrator has ordered the Washington Post to rehire the high-profile opinion columnist Karen Attiah, abruptly fired by the news organization last September over comments she made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the then recently killed conservative activist. On Monday, an arbitrator ruled that the Post had violated her rights as a union-protected employee and ordered the newspaper to reinstate her and compensate her for lost wages. “This decision confirms what we’ve said from the start: I was doing my job as an opinion journalist, and doing that job is not misconduct,” Attiah said in a statement. “After spending over a decade of my career at the Post as an editor and an opinion columnist focusing on race, gender and global human rights, I’m relieved to finally have that record set straight … I hope that this win sends a message to journalists and media institutions everywhere that freedom of expression is always worth fighting for.” A Post spokesperson said the company respects the arbitration process but declined to comment further. It’s unclear if the company plans to appeal the reinstatement ruling. Attiah was backed by the union that represents most Post employees, the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, and Democracy Defenders Fund, a legal advocacy group co-founded by Norm Eisen. In his own statement, Eisen called it a “thunderous win” for Attiah and “a landmark decision for every journalist who refuses to be silenced”. The Post had argued that Attiah was fired for cause after violating the company’s social media policy, which dictates that employees “must not harm the editorial integrity or journalistic reputation of The Post”. After Kirk was shot and killed on 10 September 2025, Attiah took to social media and wrote: “Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence.” She also posted: “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.” According to the arbitrator’s record of the case, Adam O’Neal, the Post’s opinion editor, had emailed the company’s head of human relations the following morning and said that Attiah’s posts were “beyond the pale- completely unacceptable for someone associated with Opinions”, calling for an urgent meeting. A few hours later, the Post’s top brass, including Will Lewis, then the publisher, met and decided that Attiah’s employment should be terminated because of her social media conduct. O’Neal also testified in the case that Attiah’s posts created security risks for the Post and its journalists. “People were at this intense moment of violence in America, and we didn’t know what was coming next,” he said in a hearing for the case. “And we’re walking into a building that says Washington Post on top of it, and here there’s a columnist at Washington Post on this account that’s making these horrific comments and that was of deep security concern beyond the professional – beyond the publication standards and our policies.” Attiah was emailed a copy of her termination letter – “for gross misconduct” – later that day on 11 September. The union representing Attiah charged that she had not engaged in any kind of misconduct, “let alone gross misconduct”, and that her professional mandate included expressing opinions.

Washington Post ordered to reinstate opinion writer fired over Charlie Kirk posts
Europe
BBC Business

Graduate job vacancies drop by almost 50% in a year

The number of graduate jobs has fallen almost in half in the past year, according to new figures, as employers cut entry-level roles in favour of AI and battle rising costs. Jobs website Adzuna said it had just 8,383 graduate vacancies listed in July, down from 15,397 at the same point last year. Adzuna also found competition among job seekers across all levels is rising, with an average of 2.14 job seekers per vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier. Businesses have said employer national insurance and minimum wage hikes have made hiring more expensive, particularly for junior staff. The number of graduate vacancies listed hit its lowest level since Adzuna started recording such data in 2016. The firm pointed to a peak for graduate roles in 2017, when it had more than 55,800 listed on its website. That is more than six times the number of roles listed on the site in July. Andrew Hunter, the co-founder of Adzuna, said the figures show "employers still haven't found a reason to open up hiring" for recent graduates. Official figures show the UK's youth unemployment rate - which covers 16-to-24-year-olds - was 16.2% in the three months to March 2026. The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) is now over one million. Young people have told BBC News previously they have applied for hundreds of jobs before even receiving a response. They also expressed frustration at the growing number of employers using AI to screen applications. Former government minister Alan Milburn is leading a major review of the youth unemployment crisis. He has previously said the number of entry-level jobs is shrinking, as is the number of part-time jobs traditionally filled by teenagers and students. The Adzuna data also showed vacancies for jobs in travel, teaching and construction rose in recent weeks. But sectors including healthcare, nursing, hospitality and logistics posted fewer vacancies.

Graduate job vacancies drop by almost 50% in a year
Europe
BBC Business

'What you see is what you pay' - why some US restaurants are banning tips

Wine waiter Caroline Kraetzer earns $40 (£30) an hour, double what most service staff in San Francisco are paid but then it costs a lot to eat at her restaurant. At a set price of $140 (£100) per person, La Cigale is one of a small number of restaurants charging higher prices so it can pay high salaries - and it doesn't allow tips. It tells customers: "What you see is what you pay. We do not accept tips, your kind words and return visits will suffice." Kraetzer says it is good to no longer be "reliant on the generosity of strangers to pay the bills". While waiting staff at other restaurants can make a lot of money from tips, she says "you're often there two hours before service, and again when you're closing after the guests have left, so you are making minimum wage during that time". On the other side of the US, Rachel Miller, chef and owner of Nightshade Noodle Bar in the town Lynn, Massachusetts, moved to a tip-free model five years ago when they reopened after the Covid-19 pandemic. "The people breaking their backs and minds in the kitchen - often the least visible and the least celebrated - were taking home a fraction of what the front staff made on tips for the same hours," she says. Miller says she found it "deeply unsettling" to see higher tips going to white male staff and lower tips to everyone else. "Tipping lets guests, consciously or not, pay people differently based on gender, race, or sexuality and I was not willing to let that decide my team's income." To pay the staff higher wages, Miller also increased prices at the French-Vietnamese restaurant. Its tasting menus now start from $102 (£75) for seven courses before 18:00, and $126 (£92) for nine courses. "Our prices are higher than a comparable restaurant's because they carry the full cost of paying people properly," says Miller. "That is the trade, and I stand behind it." Yet not every restaurant that has switched to a tipless model has made a success of it, as sometimes customers don't appreciate the higher menu prices.

'What you see is what you pay' - why some US restaurants are banning tips
Europe
BBC Business

New 10p coin enters circulation - will you spot one?

Something new might appear in your change when you pay in cash from now on: a 10p coin featuring the portrait of King Charles and the world's largest grouse. Sufficient demand for the coins mean newly-minted 10p pieces are entering circulation for the first time for about four years, this time with a new design. The Royal Mint says shoppers and collectors should discover the coins, which were minted and dated in 2023 and 2026, across the country. The reverse side of the coin depicts an image of the capercaillie which is found in a small part of Scotland and threatened with extinction. The redesigned suite of coins to celebrate the King's love of the natural world were unveiled in October 2023 by The Royal Mint. The tails side of every newly-minted coin from the 1p to the £2 now features the country's flora and fauna - from bees to an oak tree leaf. Coins in circulation in the UK carrying the portrait of King Charles have so far been limited to the 5p, 50p and £1. Old coins with the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II can still be used, so the new coins are only struck in response to demand. That is why, with 1.4 billion 10p coins in circulation, there has been no need for the new 10p to be released until now by The Royal Mint. Now. 600,000 of these coins, dated 2023, and 6.5 million dated 2026 have been released to banks and post offices nationwide. However, King Charles III coins still only represent about 1% of the 24.1 billion coins in circulation across the UK, making any new ones highly sought after by seasoned numismatists and new coin collectors. The capercaillie design on the tails side of the coin is based on an illustration by the artist Mike Langman who previously worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). His illustrations are seen across the charity's nature reserves.

New 10p coin enters circulation - will you spot one?
North America
CNBC Finance

New York unseats San Francisco as the top market for tech talent, CBRE reports

It should come as no surprise that the number of artificial intelligence-specific tech workers is growing rapidly, and the effect of this growth on regional office markets is substantial. For the first time, New York's office market is home to the most tech workers, thanks in large part to AI, according to a new report from CBRE. New York's 394,300 tech talent jobs edged out the San Francisco Bay Area's 375,730 jobs, CBRE found. The report analyzes tech-specific workers in 75 metropolitan markets in the U.S. and Canada. It's the first time New York has taken the lead in the 13 years of this analysis. "The story there is that there's been cuts in the Bay Area, so the tech industry has contracted the size of the tech talent workforce, and the finance sector [in New York] has hired a lot of tech talent and a lot of AI workers," said Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insights Center in San Francisco. For both the U.S. and Canada, AI tech roles grew by 45% in the past year, with San Francisco and New York each adding more than 20,000 AI-specific jobs since mid-2025, according to CBRE. As of June, there were 751,000 AI-related workers across the two countries, the report found. Those include both new jobs and conversions from existing jobs. AI-related roles now account for nearly one-third of all tech-talent job listings in the U.S., per the findings. By market, 37% of AI jobs in the U.S. are in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Washington. While New York leads in overall tech talent, San Francisco still leads in AI, specifically. In Canada, there is greater concentration of AI employment, with 60% of those jobs based in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Office leasing is rising accordingly in those markets where AI workers are most in demand. CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. In San Francisco, AI companies made up 58% of all leasing in the first half of this year and have accounted for 30% of leasing activity, totaling about 10 million square feet, since 2023, according to CBRE. While overall tech drove the Bay Area's office market over the past few decades, the pandemic pushed many of those workers to remote jobs. AI, however, has a more office-centric culture and is now fueling the market's recovery. "It's more of the sort of startup innovation culture that we've seen, where people are in the office [a] minimum of four, but usually like five or six days a week," said Yasukochi. "Through this whole innovation process, being together and working in person is just much more efficient and innovative."

New York unseats San Francisco as the top market for tech talent, CBRE reports
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Markets set for cautious start; MSCI rejig, HDFC Bank in focus

Financial Analysts and Day Traders Working on a Computers with Multi-Monitor Workstations with Real-Time Stocks, Commodities and Exchange Market Charts. Team of Brokers at Work in Agency. istock photo for BL | Photo Credit: iStockphoto Indian shares were set for a muted open on Monday, with investors bracing for potential volatility from MSCI’s index rejig under the new closing auction system, while an escalation in the Iran war and HDFC Bank’s CEO resignation could also weigh on sentiment. GIFT Nifty futures were at 24,222.5 points as of 8:11 am IST, indicating a muted start for the Nifty 50. The benchmark index closed at 24,175.65 on Friday and posted its third straight weekly decline. MSCI’s quarterly index changes will be implemented at Monday’s close and take effect on September 1. As part of its August review, the index provider added four Indian stocks to its widely tracked Global Standard index and removed three. This would be the first MSCI rebalancing under India’s new closing auction system, which has led to sharp swings in benchmark indexes, especially on monthly derivatives expiry days. “With these (passive fund) flows executed around the closing auction, the final half-hour could see outsized moves in affected stocks and the broader index, potentially making the closing print less representative of underlying market sentiment,” said Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth. Meanwhile, global sentiment soured after US forces struck two Iranian launchers, marking the first known American strikes on Iran since late July. Brent crude futures jumped about 2.5 per cent to $90 per barrel, while Asian markets were down 0.7 per cent. Among stocks, the focus will be on HDFC Bank. India’s largest private lender said on Saturday that its Chief Executive Sashidhar Jagdishan will not seek reappointment when his term ends in October. The bank is likely to name Deputy Managing Director Kaizad Bharucha as one of two options for its next CEO, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Markets set for cautious start; MSCI rejig, HDFC Bank in focus
North America
CNBC Finance

California AG tells CNBC that settling Paramount-WBD lawsuit would require 'robust structural remedies'

California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CNBC's David Faber on Thursday that the group of states suing to block Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery would require "robust structural remedies" to reach a settlement in the antitrust case. "[Paramount] wanted to talk about everything except for what this case is about. They want to talk about the streaming market, which we don't allege in our complaint. They want to talk about CNN, which is not a focus of our complaint. They want to talk about the foreign regulators. We want to talk about the three markets that we set forth in our complaint, where we think there's antitrust violation," Bonta said. Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in July seeking to block the merger. The group of suing states also includes Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. In the suit, the group focuses on the size of the combined company and how it would control nearly one-third of films and nearly a third of basic cable TV programming. Paramount, which initially sought to close the deal by Sept. 30, agreed to delay the proposed acquisition of WBD to as late as June 2027. A trial will be heard on the matter in March. There has been widespread speculation about whether Paramount and the states will hold settlement talks to bypass the March trial. "I will say that coming to the table has always been on the table. And if [CEO David] Ellison and Paramount want to come to the table in good faith and talk, we want to talk, too. We're happy to have that conversation," Bonta said. "We do prefer to resolve cases in the boardroom instead of the courtroom, but for now we're bringing our case, and, you know, I hope they can focus on the actual allegations we make in our complaint." If the two companies were to combine, it would unite the famed movie studios Warner Bros. and Paramount, as well as a massive portfolio of TV networks including Paramount's broadcast network CBS and pay TV channels such as its MTV and BET with WBD's CNN, Discovery and others. It would also bring together streaming platforms Paramount+ and HBO Max. "Whether the market is shrinking or growing is really irrelevant," Bonta said Thursday in response to the argument that the pay TV subscriber base has been decreasing due to the rise of streaming. Bonta said a combined Paramount-WBD would create a "presumptively illegal market concentration" in the film and TV markets the group of attorneys general identified in the lawsuit. "We are the ones who've looked at this from a straight-up law and facts perspective in the American economy under American law under Clayton Act Section 7, which applies here as antitrust law," Bonta said. "[The law has] been on the books for over a century. And it's just a straight up, meat-and-potatoes, black-and-white, bread-and-butter, antitrust case." The Clayton Antitrust Act is the more-than-100-year-old law that prohibits anticompetitive mergers and acquisitions. Paramount has previously called the states' lawsuit a "misrepresentation of competition in the entertainment industry today," and said it plans to "vigorously defend the transaction and demonstrate that this challenge is inconsistent with sound competition and policy and the competitive realities of the media marketplace."

California AG tells CNBC that settling Paramount-WBD lawsuit would require 'robust structural remedies'
Europe
BBC Business

Review launched into how pub and hotel business rates calculated

Image source, Getty ImagesByNick EdserBusiness reporterPublished4 hours agoA review is being launched into the way business rates are calculated for pubs and hotels in England and Wales, and could lead to a reform of the system. The Treasury says business rates expert Jerry Schurder will lead the review into rate valuations and report back in March 2027, with the government calling for the views of landlords, hoteliers and business owners to feed in to the process. Last month, Andy Burnham announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England, to come into effect in April. Pub groups have argued they face disproportionately higher rates bills, but other businesses have called for a wider reform of the rates system. According to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), 161 pubs closed in the first three months of this year across England, Scotland and Wales, equating to the loss of around 2,400 jobs. Rising business rates are cited as one issue facing the sector, although there have also been complaints that increases in National Insurance and the minimum wage have made staff costs more expensive. James Murray, financial secretary to the Treasury, said the new review would look at "a rethink of valuations - so that we can build a fairer system for the future". Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the BBPA, said: "For years pubs have paid a disproportionately higher business rates bill which has ground down their ability to keep the doors open, so this review is sorely needed and hugely welcome." The BBPA says pubs are valued differently for rates than retail venues. Instead of being based just on floor area, they are judged by a measure called Fair Maintainable Trade - which means when a pub's turnover increases, so does its rates bill. Schurder is a former business rates policy lead at advisory firm Newmark UK, and his review will feed into the next rates revaluation in 2029. His appointment was welcomed by Craig Beaumont of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) who said he would bring "crucial heavyweight business rates expertise into the Treasury". However, Beaumont said the government needed to address the wider business rates system and exempt more smaller firms by increasing the rates relief threshold for small businesses.

Review launched into how pub and hotel business rates calculated