John Lewis pays first annual staff bonus in four years as profits rise

The owner of John Lewis and Waitrose has paid an annual bonus to workers for the first time in four years after underlying profits rose by 6%.The retail group’s 69,000 employees – which it calls partners – will receive a bonus of 2% of salary after it recorded an increase in sales and profits.Sales rose 5% to £13.4bn and profits increased to £134m in the year to 31 January, slightly behind expectations in what the chair, Jason Tarry, called “a subdued market”.He said profits had been hit by £40m in additional national insurance contributions and £13m in new packaging levies

Palantir’s NHS England contract ‘opens door to government abuse of power’, health bosses told

Palantir’s NHS contract opens the door to the Big Brother-style data-sharing that Reform UK would use for a version of US immigration raids, health bosses have been told.Palantir Technologies – the data analytics company founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp – won a £330m NHS England contract to deliver the Federated Data Platform in 2023.The UK government is urging health bodies to adopt FDP, which the health secretary, Wes Streeting, says will ensure the NHS is “brought into the digital age”.But there are concerns about Palantir, whose AI tools are used in global conflicts, becoming embedded in the UK public sector.A briefing by the health justice charity Medact said the “highly interoperable nature” of Palantir’s software could enable “data-driven state abuses of power”, including US-style ICE raids

Rapper Lil’ Kim to headline both Vivid Sydney and Melbourne’s 2026 Rising festival

The pioneering female rapper Lil’ Kim will headline both Vivid Sydney and Melbourne’s Rising this year, as each festival revealed its programs on Wednesday.The performances at Sydney’s Carriageworks and Melbourne’s Festival Hall will be Lil’ Kim’s first Australian shows in 15 years, celebrating her landmark multiplatinum records Hard Core – which turns 30 this year – and The Notorious KIM.Both Vivid and Rising are staged annually in winter.Rising’s artistic director and chief executive, Hannah Fox, said the 51-year-old rapper, who broke out as a member of Junior MAFIA and was mentored by the Notorious BIG, was on “a really exciting return to form”.“Hard Core and Notorious KIM really did carve a path – there are so many women rappers and femcees now who absolutely followed in her tiny footsteps, her funked-up, sex-positive vibe,” Fox said

Women receiving worse treatment for back and neck pain – UK study

Women are receiving worse treatment for back and neck pain because their experiences are not factored into “male by default” clinical guidelines in the UK, research has found.The NHS fails to acknowledge sex-specific considerations such as pain being more common among women in its model of care for non-surgical management of chronic neck and back pain, according to research from the University of Lancashire.Lower back pain affects more than 600 million people worldwide, the World Health Organization states. Back pain costs the NHS billions of pounds each year and chronic pain accounts for millions of GP appointments annually, while musculoskeletal disorders remain one of the leading causes of work absence in the UK.A major review of clinical guidance, published in the Physical Therapy Reviews journal, found that by consistently only referring to people, individuals or patients, clinical guidance in the UK ignores the role women’s different skeleton size, hormones, experience of pregnancy or menopause can play in musculoskeletal pain

‘Devastating blow’: Atlassian lays off 1,600 workers ahead of AI push

Software giant Atlassian has announced it is laying off about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 1,600 positions, and replacing its chief technology officer as it restructures to invest further in artificial intelligence.More than 900 affected positions were involved in software research and development, a spokesperson said. Most of Atlassian’s employees work in software engineering and design, accounting for over 50% of its 13,813 full-time workforce in June 2025.About 640 affected employees are in North America, 480 in Australia and 250 in India, with the remainder spread across Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to the spokesperson.The company’s co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, told employees the move was “the right decision for Atlassian” in a note circulated late Wednesday, US time

Rory McIlroy hopes to defend Players Championship despite back injury

Rory McIlroy will make a last‑minute call on Thursday over whether to defend his Players Championship title, with the Northern Irishman still feeling the effects of a weekend back injury. McIlroy will wait until his pre-round range session to determine whether he is fit enough to play.McIlroy arrived here on Wednesday afternoon, having withdrawn shortly before his third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He hit shots for around an hour before walking the back nine with wedge and putter in hand. McIlroy sustained a muscle problem in the gym on Saturday morning, which left him basically inactive for three days