Ineos to cut hundreds of jobs as carmaker struggles with debts

The carmaker owned by the billionaire industrialist Jim Ratcliffe will make hundreds of job cuts across the company’s global workforce as his heavily indebted empire comes under increasing pressure.Ineos Automotive did not specify an exact number of losses from its 1,700-strong workforce, saying only that it would shed “several hundred” head office staff across multiple locations, including the UK and parts of Europe.The company owned by Ratcliffe, who also co-owns Manchester United, said the “strategic measures to structure its business” would help to simplify its head office and improve efficiency.The Guardian understands that the cuts are unlikely to affect the company’s automotive plant in Hambach, France, which is building the Ineos Grenadier, an off-road vehicle that pays homage to the discontinued Land Rover Defender.Ratcliffe has struggled to turn his vision into a profitable business after a string of problems at the French factory, which led the company to recall more than 7,000 of its Grenadier vehicles in the US over faulty doors

‘Whatever it takes’: Starbucks workers launch US strike and call for boycott

More than a thousand Starbucks workers have commenced a strike in more than 40 cities across the US on Thursday amid stagnant negotiations with the world’s largest coffee chain over a first union contract.On the company’s annual “red cup day”, hailing the start of the lucrative holiday season, Starbucks Workers United is launching an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, with rallies planned in locations including New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and Anaheim, California.About 65 stores are initially affected. Organizers plan to expand the strike to more locations should executives hold firm – and want customers to steer clear of the chain as part of a campaign dubbed “no contract, no coffee”.Starbucks said it was “disappointed” that Workers United had voted to strike, rather than continue bargaining, but insisted the “vast majority” of stores would be unaffected by the action

EU investigates Google over ‘demotion’ of commercial content from news media

The EU has opened an investigation into Google Search over concerns the US tech company has been “demoting” commercial content from news media sites.The bloc’s executive arm announced the move after monitoring found that certain content created with advertisers and sponsors was being given such a low priority by Google that it was in effect no longer visible in search results.European Commission officials said this potentially unfair “loss of visibility and of revenue” to media owners could be a result of an anti-spam policy Google operates.Under the rules of the Digital Market Act (DMA), which governs competition in the tech sectors, Google must apply “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers’ websites on Google Search”.Commission officials said the investigation was not into the overall indexing of newspapers or their reporting on Google Search, just into commercial content provided by third parties

Anthropic announces $50bn plan for datacenter construction in US

Artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced a $50bn investment in computing infrastructure on Wednesday that will include new datacenters in Texas and New York.“We’re getting closer to AI that can accelerate scientific discovery and help solve complex problems in ways that weren’t possible before,” Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said in a press release.Building the massive information warehouses takes an average of two years in the US and requires copious amounts of energy to fuel the facilities. The company, maker of the AI chatbot Claude, popular with businesses adopting AI, said in a statement that the “scale of this investment is necessary to meet the growing demand for Claude from hundreds of thousands of businesses while keeping our research at the frontier”. Anthropic said its projects will create about 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs

Carlos Alcaraz beats Lorenzo Musetti to put Alex de Minaur in last four: ATP Finals tennis – as it happened

Carlos Alcaraz was much too good for an exhausted Lorenzo Musetti, beating him 6-4 6-1 to guarantee he ends the year as world no 1, avoids Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of this competition, and confirms the unlikely last-four presence of Alex de Minaur.Like many involving Alcaraz, the first set was tight until it wasn’t, Musetti serving well until, down 4-5, he lost an 11-minute game and with it the set.It was one-way traffic thereafter, an exhausted Musetti, who played through the Asian swing and lost a marathon final in Athens to Novak Djokovic, just last Sunday, unable to cope as Alcaraz upped his level. And though he needed three match points to finish off, the outcome was never in doubt. Next for him: Felix Auger-Aliassime or Alexander Zverev

‘We’re ready for the All Blacks’: Maro Itoje builds belief in improved England

England have endured plenty of agonising near misses against New Zealand in recent years but there is no shortage of belief this time around.The home captain, Maro Itoje, says he believes his side are “ready” to secure a first victory over the All Blacks since 2019 and suggests they now have the rising confidence and mental clarity to extend their winning run to 10 games.Itoje knows from personal experience what it takes to beat New Zealand, having tasted success for the British & Irish Lions in 2017 and again for England in the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Yokohama. On three occasions last year he was part of teams narrowly edged out in the final stages by the All Blacks in Dunedin, Auckland and London but says England are now significantly better placed to seal the deal on Saturday.“I think we’re ready,” said Itoje as England put the finishing touches to their big game preparations at their hotel base in Bagshot