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North American Edition
4th March 2026
 
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THE HOT STORY

Paramount's move on Warner Bros. Discovery sparks job fears

Concerns about potential layoffs have surfaced following the announcement of Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Andy Gordon, Paramount's Chief Strategy Officer, assured analysts that the anticipated $6bn in merger "synergies" would not come from job cuts but rather from consolidating streaming technology and optimizing real estate. However, many industry observers, including Kevin Klowden from the Milken Institute think tank, predict significant layoffs due to overlapping functions in the merged company. The deal, valued at over $111bn, includes $79bn in net debt, raising fears of a repeat of past debt-laden media mergers that have resulted in substantial job losses.
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HIRING

ICE faces vetting challenges amid hiring surge

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing significant challenges in vetting new hires amid a historic recruitment push. An internal email reveals concerns about the “high volume of new hires” and stalled background checks, which could create uncertainty for field ‌offices when allegations arise related to actions before joining ‌ICE. “If a Field Office receives derogatory information about a newly hired employee's conduct prior to . . . employment, please refer the matter to [the internal Integrity Investigations Unit],” the email stated. Despite hiring 12,000 officers, critics, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, warn that accelerated recruitment may allow unqualified candidates into the agency, potentially increasing officer misconduct. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official, emphasized the importance of thorough background checks, saying: “To speed, shortcut, or limit background checks or training puts the public and other law enforcement officers at risk.”
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STRATEGY

Starbucks plans Nashville office to support U.S. expansion

Starbucks plans to open a new southeastern U.S. corporate office in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of its strategy to expand across North America. The Seattle-based coffee chain said the office will serve as a regional base for growth in the southern United States, citing Nashville’s strong workforce and pro-business environment, though it has not yet disclosed a timeline, location or job numbers. The move follows recent restructuring efforts, including the closure of about 1% of North American stores. Starbucks reported 3% growth in North American revenue to $7.3bn in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. 
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REGULATION

FDA introduces bonus scheme to expedite drug reviews

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to implement a bonus program for its scientific staff, rewarding those who complete drug reviews ahead of schedule. The initiative, which is expected to be announced in an upcoming internal meeting, could see reviewers receiving substantial quarterly bonuses for high-quality work. The move is part of a broader strategy to accelerate drug evaluations, alongside plans to hire over 1,000 new scientists.
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TAX

IRS under fire for sharing taxpayer data

A federal judge ruled last week that the IRS unlawfully shared taxpayer addresses with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) approximately 42,695 times. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found that the IRS violated IRS Code 6103, which protects taxpayer confidentiality, by disclosing information to ICE without meeting statutory requirements. Under the government’s process, she wrote, ICE could have submitted a request with an address like “Don’t Care 12345” or simply “00000” and still received a taxpayer’s home address from the agency. Dottie Romo, the IRS' chief risk and control officer, revealed that the agency provided data on 47,000 individuals from a request for 1.28m.
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LEGAL

Goldman Sachs lawyer Ruemmler to testify to House panel

Goldman Sachs' departing top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, is to testify before the U.S. House Oversight ​Committee after having resigned over links to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Ms. Ruemmler welcomes the opportunity to appear before the Committee,” said Jennifer Connelly, her spokeswoman. “At the time she interacted with Jeffrey Epstein, she was a practicing criminal defense attorney and shared a client with him,” Connelly said. “She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part.” Documents recently released by the U.S. Justice Department ​showed Ruemmler accepted gifts from Epstein and ​advised him on handling media inquiries about ⁠his crimes.
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TECHNOLOGY

Jeff Bezos’s $30bn AI lab seeks tens of billions for industrial sector deals

Jeff Bezos’ artificial intelligence (AI) lab, Project Prometheus, is seeking to raise tens of billions of dollars to acquire industrial businesses disrupted by AI, as the Amazon founder looks to capitalize on the technology’s transformative impact on manufacturing. Prometheus, led by Mr Bezos and former Google executive Vikram Bajaj, raised $6.2bn late last year in a funding round that valued the business at about $30bn. The group is now in early discussions with major sovereign wealth funds, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and has also held talks with JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon about backing a new holding company designed as a “manufacturing transformation vehicle.” Prometheus has hired more than 100 staff from companies including OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Meta, and has acquired start-up General Agents as part of its push into advanced AI systems capable of interacting with the physical world.
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INTERNATIONAL

Australian state to enshrine the right to work from home

The Australian state of Victoria is to launch legislation ‌to give employees the legal right to work from home two days ​per week. The legislation is to be introduced to Parliament in July, and is expected to take effect in September. "Work from home works for families, because it saves time and money and it gets more parents working," said Premier Jacinta Allan. "That's why we will protect work from home in law from 1 September." Prof Peter Holland, a human resource management expert at the Swinburne University of Technology, observed: “This is something the workforce actively wants, and employers who ignore that do so at their own risk.” Allan revealed that small businesses will not be exempt from the laws. She said the government had consulted extensively with businesses and decided that applying the policy to all employers was a matter of “fairness.”

Groupe SEB to cut 7% of workforce in AI-driven turnaround plan

French cookware maker Groupe SEB, the owner of the Tefal brand, plans to cut nearly 7% of its global workforce, up to 2,100 jobs, as part of a strategic overhaul aimed at boosting efficiency through artificial intelligence and digital growth initiatives. The company, which employed around 31,000 people at the end of 2024, said approximately 1,400 of the affected roles will be in Europe, including about 500 potential voluntary redundancies in France. The restructuring measures will largely be implemented in 2026, with associated costs scheduled for 2027. The company's like-for-like sales in 2025 edged up 0.3% to €8.17bn in 2025, while operating profit fell 25% to €601m, reflecting weaker profitability amid tougher market conditions.

Mizuho to replace 5,000 clerical jobs with AI in a decade

Mizuho Financial Group plans to use artificial intelligence to replace approximately 5,000 administrative positions in Japan over the next ten years in an effort to enhance productivity. Affected employees will be transferred to other roles, the bank said. “We are planning to enhance our earnings capabilities by shifting human resources to our focus areas by fully utilizing AI,” Mizuho said in a statement. “It is not a headcount reduction.” Mizuho CEO Masahiro Kihara said in October: “I don’t think humans will lose their value . . . They can aim for more value-added work.”

Norway's wealth fund employs AI to identify ESG risks

Norway's $2.2trn sovereign wealth fund is leveraging artificial intelligence to screen companies for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, including potential links to forced labour and corruption. The fund, which invests in around 7,200 companies globally, reported that “within 24 hours of our investment, the AI tools flag new companies” that may present risks, enabling proactive measures to avoid potential financial losses. This innovative use of large language models significantly enhances the fund's ability to assess smaller companies in emerging markets, where data coverage is often limited.
 
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