‘No contract, no coffee’: what to know about the Starbucks workers’ strike in over 40 US cities

Unionized Starbucks workers are threatening to expand a US strike against the world’s biggest coffee chain into “the largest and longest” in the company’s history – and urging customers to steer clear.Starbucks has said the vast majority of its cafes remain open, and expressed disappointment that Starbucks Workers United launched the strike.Negotiations over the ever first union contract for Starbucks workers in the US broke down in recent months. Both sides have blamed the other.Prominent politicians including Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor-elect, have backed the striking workers

UK inflation dips to 3.6% despite accelerating food price growth – as it happened

BREAKING: UK inflation dropped to 3.6% in October, easing pressure on households and providing a boost for Rachel Reeves as the chancellor prepares for her make-or-break budget next week.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual inflation as measured by the consumer prices index cooled for the first time in five months, declining from a peak of 3.8% over July, August and September.Reeves has vowed to cut living costs in her highly anticipated tax and spending statement on 26 November, including measures to bring down the inflation rate to smooth the path for the Bank of England to cut interest rates

WH Smith CEO quits after accounting error that wiped almost £600m off value

WH Smith’s chief executive has stepped down with immediate effect after a review found accounting failures in its North American division, prompting the travel shop chain to slash its profit outlook.Nearly £600m was wiped off the retailer’s market value in a 42% one-day share price fall when the blunder emerged in August. It came shortly after the sale of its high street business, which has since been rebranded as TGJones by its new owners.WH Smith shares climbed by more than 7% on Wednesday after Carl Cowling’s departure was announced, although they are still trading substantially below the levels seen before the August sell-off.Cowling, who had been group chief executive for six years, will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s UK chief executive, Andrew Harrison, until a permanent replacement is found

Harvard to investigate Larry Summers’s Epstein ties as he exits OpenAI board

Harvard is set to launch a new investigation into its former university president and Bill Clinton economic adviser Larry Summers about his ties to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as it also emerged Summers has resigned from the board of OpenAI.The moves comes after Summers said he would be stepping back from public engagements after emails revealed the extent of his relationship with the late sex offender.A Harvard spokesperson confirmed to the Harvard Crimson on Tuesday night that a new investigation into Summers’s connections with the accused child sex trafficker was under way. The inquiry will also look at other university affiliates named in the documents, including Summers’s wife and nearly a dozen others. A Harvard spokesperson, Jonathan Swain, told the student newspaper that “the University is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted

The days of 4% pay rises are behind us – wages are now barely growing faster than inflation | Greg Jericho

The latest wage figures show no sign of wages growth powering inflation, as the real value of private-sector wages fell in the September quarter.Other than inflation, the figures the Reserve Bank of Australia most keeps an eye on are the quarterly wages growth figures. These give us a sense of whether there is so much competition for jobs that employers are offering higher wages and workers can demand higher wages without fear of their hours being cut.The RBA likes to think that the current level of unemployment means the job market is still “tight” (a polite way of saying they would like to see more unemployment). They believe there is too much competition for workers, and so wage growth will be strong and drive up prices

UK inflation eases for first time in five months to 3.6% before crunch budget

UK inflation fell to 3.6% in October, easing the path for the Bank of England to cut interest rates after the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s make-or-break budget next week.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said annual inflation as measured by the consumer prices index cooled for the first time in five months, falling back from a peak of 3.8% over July, August and September.The latest snapshot showed gas and electricity prices rising at a slower pace than a year earlier contributed most to the decline, alongside a fall in hotel prices