Starbucks stores in South Korea will close for half a day next week so all staff can take a history lesson. This follows public anger over a "Tank Day" promotion that was seen as insensitive to a deadly 1980 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Key Facts
Starbucks Korea will close all stores at 3 p.m. local time for three hours next Wednesday for staff training on historical awareness.
The training includes watching videos to teach about the social and historical sensitivity of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising.
The "Tank Day" campaign promoted reusable tumblers called the Tank Series and coincided with the anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, where at least 165 civilians were killed by military forces.
The campaign caused strong public backlash, protests outside stores, and a significant drop in Starbucks Korea sales.
Starbucks Korea's CEO was fired immediately after the controversy.
Shinsegae Group, which operates Starbucks in South Korea, said they used an AI tool to help create the promotion slogan.
South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung publicly condemned the campaign as inhumane and disgraceful.
The Gwangju Uprising is a key event in South Korea’s move toward democracy and involved serious human rights abuses by the military.
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Veeraswamy, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant in London, is suing the Crown Estate in court to try to stop its eviction. The Crown Estate wants to renovate the building and use the space for offices, but the restaurant owners say they can share the space and are willing to pay higher rent.
Key Facts
Veeraswamy has operated on Regent Street since 1926 and has a Michelin star.
The restaurant has served famous guests including Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II.
The Crown Estate owns the building and refused to renew Veeraswamy’s £205,000-a-year lease.
The Crown Estate plans to refurbish the building for office use, including combining entrances.
Veeraswamy’s parent company MW Eat argues the refurbishment could happen without eviction.
MW Eat offered to pay higher rent and share the entrance, but the Crown Estate declined.
The Crown Estate offered financial help and alternative premises, but the restaurant says they are unsuitable.
Relocation and closure costs for the restaurant could reach about £5 million, higher than the compensation offered.
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BBC News is preparing to announce a large number of job cuts as part of a plan to save £500 million across the corporation. These job losses, which could reach into the hundreds, are part of the biggest cost-saving effort at the BBC in 15 years and come amid funding talks with government ministers.
Key Facts
The BBC aims to save £500 million in costs over the next two years.
Job cuts could be made public as soon as Wednesday and may affect hundreds of employees.
BBC News employs about 25% of the corporation’s 21,500 workers and faces deeper cuts than other departments.
The director general, Matt Brittin, moved away from gradual cuts and plans more significant changes, including cutting whole services or programs.
The BBC expects to reduce staff by up to 2,000 people across the corporation.
Current funding talks involve considering extending the TV licence fee to cover users of private streaming services.
The corporation has already made budget adjustments during the World Cup by having presenters work from Salford instead of on-location.
BBC staff and union leaders emphasize the importance of maintaining high-quality independent news amid the cuts.
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State laws in New York and California banning the use of PFAS chemicals in clothing and textiles have led to a big drop in these harmful chemicals in products. Most tested items showed low or no intentional PFAS use, but some companies still sold products with higher levels, possibly from contamination or ignoring rules.
Key Facts
PFAS are chemicals used to make clothes water, stain, and grease resistant but are harmful to health and the environment.
New York and California passed laws in 2022 to ban adding PFAS to clothing, effective January 1, 2025.
Testing found about 80% of 115 products complied with these state bans.
Brands like Levi’s, Patagonia, and LL Bean stopped using PFAS by the end of 2024.
Some products still had low PFAS levels due to contamination from factory machinery or unclear reasons.
About 70% of products with PFAS had levels suggesting unintentional contamination; about 10% were uncertain.
Companies making diapers, outdoor furniture, and pet products had most violations.
States may take legal action against companies that break the bans; California will start enforcing rules soon.
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Fox Corp. is buying the streaming platform Roku in a deal worth about $22 billion that includes cash and stock. This purchase will give Fox access to Roku’s large streaming audience and data, creating a major company in U.S. television viewing.
Key Facts
Fox Corp. will buy Roku for about $22 billion, including debt.
The deal includes $96 in cash plus 0.9693 shares of Fox stock per Roku share.
The combined company will be the third-largest TV viewer in the United States.
Roku will keep operating as an open platform that works with many partners.
Fox shareholders will own around 73% of the new company; Roku shareholders will own about 27%.
Fox owns major media properties including sports, news, entertainment, and the streaming service Tubi.
The acquisition is expected to finish in the first half of next year after approvals.
Fox’s stock fell slightly before trading, while Roku’s shares rose nearly 3% after the announcement.
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The Big 12 conference started a federal lawsuit in Texas against Texas Tech and the Texas Attorney General. The lawsuit asks the court to confirm the league's right to use its rules to possibly discipline a person named Sorsby.
Key Facts
The Big 12 is a college sports conference.
The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Texas.
The Big 12 wants a court decision that confirms its legal power.
The case involves using the league’s bylaws (official rules).
The goal is to allow possible punishment of someone named Sorsby.
Texas Tech and the Texas Attorney General are named defendants in the lawsuit.
The legal actions requested include a declaratory judgment (a court statement on legal rights) and injunctive relief (a court order to stop or require actions).
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SpaceX has started trading its shares on the stock market with a small percentage (around 5%) of its total shares available to buy. This initial public offering (IPO) has attracted strong interest from many investors, especially individual buyers, and is expected to influence other big tech IPOs in the future.
Key Facts
SpaceX released about 5% of its shares to the public, less than the usual 10-20% in IPOs.
The total valuation of SpaceX is very high, reported around $2 trillion, making a larger share release potentially disruptive.
Retail investors bought a record $117.6 million of SpaceX shares on the first day of trading.
SpaceX shares made up about 56% of all retail net buying on that day.
Forty actively managed ETFs now include SpaceX in their portfolios.
SpaceX is expected to join the Nasdaq 100 index around July 6, forcing index funds tracking it to buy shares.
It will also be added to the Russell 1000 index later in the year.
The smooth IPO opens the way for other large IPOs from companies like Anthropic and OpenAI.
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President Donald Trump said he will place a 100 percent tax on French wine and champagne if France does not remove its digital services tax. This tax affects large tech companies like Facebook and Amazon operating in France. The tariff could hurt French wine exports to the United States, which is a major market for them.
Key Facts
France introduced a 3 percent tax on revenues from tech companies in 2019.
President Trump opposes this digital tax and wants it removed.
He warned of a 100 percent tariff on all French wine and champagne if the tax remains.
The United States imports the most French wine and spirits, making up 21% of France’s export market.
French wines already face a 15 percent tariff in the U.S., up from 10 percent before.
Exports of French wine and spirits to the U.S. fell by 21 percent last year.
Canada dropped its digital services tax after pressure from the U.S. to continue trade talks.
The dispute could impact trade relations between France and the United States.
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Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh is preparing for his first meeting to decide interest rates after a report showed high inflation in May. The central bank's committee is expected to keep rates steady despite the rising prices.
Key Facts
Kevin Warsh is the new Chair of the Federal Reserve.
The upcoming meeting will last two days, ending on Wednesday.
The May inflation report showed higher than expected price increases.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is likely to keep interest rates unchanged.
Inflation refers to the overall increase in prices of goods and services.
Changing interest rates is a tool the Fed uses to control inflation.
Keeping rates steady means they will not raise or lower them this time.
Warsh faces pressure to balance controlling inflation without harming the economy.
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A new set of luxury electric SUVs is launching in the U.S. market, targeting suburban families living in single-family homes. These vehicles fit the daily needs of families by offering convenient electric driving and home charging options, despite the current slow growth in U.S. electric vehicle sales.
Key Facts
Four new luxury electric SUVs coming in 2026 include BMW iX3, Volvo EX60, Mercedes-Benz Electric GLC, and Rivian R2.
About 40% of U.S. single-family homes have children under 18, making family-friendly SUVs a key market.
Luxury SUVs make up about 12% of new vehicle sales in the U.S., roughly 2 million cars per year.
Early electric SUV models like Tesla Model X, Cadillac Lyriq, and Rivian R1S helped normalize electric vehicle ownership.
EV sales in the U.S. dropped 26% in the first five months of 2026 but reached a peak of 12.1% of new car sales in late 2025.
Most EV charging (86%) happens at home, which is crucial for suburban buyers with driveways.
Customers who already own EVs are very likely (96%) to buy another EV in the future.
Lack of public charging and no access to home charging are major reasons some shoppers avoid electric vehicles.
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The Trump administration has restarted its tariff policy by using a different legal method to impose tariffs on imports from over 80 countries. This new approach targets goods made with forced labor and affects many nations, including some U.S. allies, with tariffs of up to 12.5 percent.
Key Facts
The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced tariffs using Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
The tariffs target imports from about 60 economies, totaling over 80 countries including the European Union, Canada, and the UK.
Tariffs of up to 12.5 percent will be imposed on goods linked to forced labor.
The previous tariff policy under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in February.
Section 301 allows the U.S. to investigate foreign trade practices and impose tariffs to protect American businesses.
Critics say these tariffs may push other countries to seek trade deals without the U.S., like recent agreements between the EU and Mercosur or EU and India.
The USTR claims the tariffs level the playing field for American workers facing unfair competition.
The new tariffs were proposed in March after investigations found the targeted countries failed to stop imports made with forced labor.
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Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group made a new offer to buy the Australian footwear company Accent Group, after recently bidding to take over German fashion brand Hugo Boss. Frasers already owns almost 23% of Accent and wants to buy the rest for 65 Australian cents per share, matching the current share price.
Key Facts
Frasers Group owns 22.9% of Accent Group and offered A$0.65 per share for the rest of the company.
The bid values Accent at A$316 million (£166 million).
Last week, Frasers also made a nearly €2 billion (£1.73 billion) offer to buy Hugo Boss.
Frasers owns other brands including Frasers department stores, Sports Direct, and Evans Cycles.
Accent sells brands like Skechers, Lacoste, and Hype through more than 800 stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Accent’s shares dropped about 20% this year due to lower sales and profit margins.
Frasers expressed concerns about Accent’s management decisions, including high executive pay and focus on payouts to shareholders during financial challenges.
Accent said its board is reviewing the offer and will give a recommendation to shareholders later.
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Gina Rinehart’s company, Hancock Prospecting, made a large investment in Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the company started trading on the stock market. SpaceX raised $75 billion in its initial public offering and is now valued at $2.1 trillion.
Key Facts
Hancock Prospecting bought shares in SpaceX during its initial public offering (IPO).
The investment amount was reportedly at least A$1.4 billion (around US$1 billion), though not officially confirmed.
SpaceX raised $75 billion from its IPO and has a market value of $2.1 trillion after its first day of trading.
SpaceX plans include launching up to 1 million data centers in space and creating colonies on the moon and Mars.
The company currently operates at a loss and may never make a profit, according to its investor prospectus.
Hancock Prospecting is interested in working on AI infrastructure with SpaceX and could supply critical minerals for its technology.
SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk owns the majority of shares and became the world's first trillionaire after the IPO.
SpaceX is now the eighth-largest company listed on Nasdaq, bigger than Tesla and Meta.
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Starbucks stores in South Korea will close early next week to give employees lessons on history after a marketing campaign upset many people. The campaign by Starbucks Korea mistakenly referred to an important and painful event in South Korea’s fight for democracy, causing public anger and the firing of the local CEO.
Key Facts
Starbucks Korea used the term “Tank Day” and the date “5/18” to promote coffee tumblers, reminding people of the 1980 military crackdown on a pro-democracy protest in Gwangju.
The 1980 crackdown involved the military violently stopping a student-led protest against a military leader, resulting in hundreds or possibly thousands of deaths.
The campaign caused public outrage because it seemed disrespectful to an important moment in South Korean history.
Starbucks Korea’s CEO, Son Jung-hyun, was fired due to the marketing mistake.
Starbucks’ worldwide headquarters said the error was unintentional but should not have happened.
All Starbucks stores in South Korea will close at 3pm on a Monday next week for employee training on history and social sensitivity.
This is the first time since Starbucks opened in South Korea in 1999 that all stores will close early together.
Shinsegae Group, the operator of Starbucks Korea, said top leaders will also attend the training separately the following Wednesday.
South Korea has over 2,000 Starbucks stores, making it the chain’s second-largest market after China.
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David Munk has been named the new editor of Guardian Australia, replacing Lenore Taylor who resigned after ten years. Munk has significant experience with the Guardian in both Australia and the UK and aims to continue the publication’s focus on independent journalism.
Key Facts
David Munk was appointed editor of Guardian Australia by Guardian News and Media.
Munk previously worked as international news editor and deputy editor under Lenore Taylor.
Lenore Taylor led Guardian Australia for ten years before stepping down in February.
Munk has held senior roles at the Guardian in the UK and the UK Daily and Sunday Telegraph.
Guardian Australia is the fourth most-read news site in the country with 7.4 million unique readers.
The publication is known for its political, environmental, and Indigenous reporting and has won several industry awards.
Guardian Australia has 140 editorial staff across four Australian cities and is funded by reader contributions and advertising.
Munk briefly served as acting editor after returning to Sydney before his appointment as editor.
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Australian company Sigma Healthcare has stopped talks to buy the UK pharmacy chain Boots, which was valued at about $10 billion. Sigma said the deal did not fit its business goals, and it will focus on growth in Australia instead.
Key Facts
Sigma Healthcare is an Australian pharmaceutical wholesaler and retailer.
Boots is a UK health and beauty retailer with 1,800 stores and a 177-year history.
The potential deal to buy Boots was reported to be worth around $10 billion.
Sigma said the takeover would not meet its strategic and investment goals.
Boots’ owner, Walgreens Boots Alliance, was sold to US private equity group Sycamore Partners last year.
Canada’s Weston family has also talked to Boots about a possible deal.
Sigma recently merged with Chemist Warehouse, forming a group worth 30 billion Australian dollars.
Sigma shares rose 6% after announcing it dropped the Boots deal, with investors favoring focus on current opportunities.
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Elon Musk became the world’s first person to have a fortune worth $1 trillion after SpaceX started selling its shares to the public. To show how big $1 trillion is, the article gives examples of what that money could do, like help fight famine or provide clean water globally.
Key Facts
Elon Musk’s wealth reached $1 trillion when SpaceX had an initial public offering (IPO).
A trillion is a number with 12 zeros, equal to 1,000 billion.
Spending $1 million every day would take about 2,700 years to use $1 trillion.
With $1 trillion, you could fund global famine relief 166 times.
The money could provide clean water to everyone on Earth for 20 years.
It could also rebuild Gaza 14 times.
Giving $125 to every person in the world would also cost about $1 trillion.
The article offers an interactive way to imagine spending $1 trillion across 35 categories.
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Darren Summers, a barman from Tynewydd, Wales, won a £3.5 million house in Cornwall and £250,000 in cash through a competition by Omaze. He first thought the prize call was a joke but later confirmed his win and celebrated by buying drinks for his pub customers.
Key Facts
Darren Summers is a 50-year-old barman from Tynewydd, Wales.
He won a £3.5 million four-bedroom house on the Cornish coast.
The house includes a heated outdoor pool and hot tub.
The property could rent for £5,000 to £8,000 per month.
Darren also won £250,000 in cash from the competition.
He bought his winning entry ticket for £20.
The announcement happened while Darren was working a busy shift at the pub.
He plans to retire early and stop working in the pub to enjoy his new home.
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A study shows many disabled people with lifelong conditions are being made to go through repeated benefit reassessments even though their conditions do not improve. This practice wastes public money and negatively affects the health of claimants. Recent changes extended reassessment periods but do not stop unnecessary reviews.
Key Facts
Hundreds of thousands of disabled people with lifelong conditions face repeated Personal Independence Payment (PIP) reviews.
73% of people with learning disabilities and 86% of amputees were given fixed-term awards requiring reassessment every three years.
Conditions like multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease, which usually do not get better, still often lead to fixed-term awards.
Almost 75% of reassessments last year did not change payment amounts for claimants.
Only 6.9% of new claims in 2025 received lifetime or long-term awards, which are supposed to reduce reassessments.
The time between reassessments for new claimants changed from two to three years recently.
The Department for Work and Pensions spends over £350 million annually on PIP assessments done by private companies.
The reassessment process can take about 38 weeks on average and often involves reviewing claimants from the beginning instead of focusing on changes in their condition.
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Many manufacturing companies in Britain face bankruptcy or plan to move overseas because of very high energy costs. Industry leaders warn that without government help to lower energy prices, the UK's industrial sector could shrink significantly.
Key Facts
High energy prices in the UK are about twice those in Europe and four times higher than in the US.
A quarter of manufacturing firms plan to move production overseas or already have.
One in ten companies think they might go bankrupt within a year.
Nearly half of the firms have seen energy bills rise due to conflicts in the Middle East.
Most companies have raised prices for customers but still expect lower profits.
About 38% have delayed investments, and over 20% have cut jobs because of high costs.
Larger companies tend to move production to Europe or Asia for cheaper energy; smaller firms cut costs to survive.
Industry group Make UK wants the government to cover energy taxes for factories, like in France and Germany, and expand current subsidy programs.
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