Human Times

European Edition

27th July 2026

THE HOT STORY

Lindt accused of misleading consumers on child labour

Swiss chocolatier Lindt has been sued in a US federal court over allegations that it misled consumers by claiming it was committed to eliminating child labour from its cocoa supply chain while knowingly sourcing cocoa produced using child labour in Ghana and Ivory Coast. The lawsuit, filed by International Rights Advocates, alleges the company has been aware of the issue for more than 20 years and seeks to stop the alleged misleading practices, but does not seek damages. Lindt has denied the allegations, saying it strongly condemns child labour, has supplier protocols in place, and systematically investigates suspected cases in its supply chain. The company also pointed to its 2030 Sustainability Plan and Modern Slavery Statement, which outline measures to support cocoa farmers and reduce child labour risks.

Bloomberg

Reuters

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STRATEGY

Reckitt to take £175m hit from sale of Russian hygiene business

Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to sell its Russian hygiene business to local consumer goods manufacturer Arnest Management, marking a further step in its planned exit from Russia. The transaction includes a production facility in Moscow, locally owned brand intellectual property and the transfer of around 400 employees, while Reckitt will retain its global brand intellectual property and its Russian health business. The company expects to record a post-tax loss of around £175m on the disposal, including approximately £125m in its first-half results due on July 29th. Reckitt said the sale is not expected to have a material impact on adjusted operating profit or adjusted earnings per share.

Financial Times

Reuters

Uber cuts 10% of customer service roles to ‘embrace’ AI

Uber has cut 10% of jobs within its customer service operations team, saying it is working “to simplify operations, strengthen in-person collaboration, and continue to embrace AI.” Employees who had been working remotely for the team were also asked to relocate to a hub office, consistent with the company’s return-to-office mandate, an Uber spokesperson said. “Our organisation has become too complex and siloed,” Megha Yethadka, Uber’s vice president of global community operations, wrote in a memo. She said the department “has made some strides” in using AI, “but to unlock this potential, we need an effective organisation to layer AI on. We cannot scale frontier technology on top of fragmented processes.”

Bloomberg

Engadget

LEGAL

Swiss court orders fresh ruling in multi-billion fraud case

Switzerland's Federal Supreme Court has ordered a new ruling in the case of three men accused of breaching banking secrecy laws linked to the cum-ex tax fraud scandal. Initially convicted in 2019, their verdict was overturned in 2021. The Zurich High Court had previously dropped the case, citing lengthy delays and finding the investigating prosecutor had been biased. However, the Supreme Court ruled that these issues did not justify halting proceedings, saying: "The case is remanded to the lower court for a new decision."

U.S. News

Doctors in UK take legal action over exam blunder

Twenty-one doctors in the UK are suing the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) for professional negligence after being wrongly informed that they had passed a key exam. The error affected hundreds who sat the Membership of Royal Colleges of Physicians written exam in September 2023. Many of the doctors worked for more than a year without being aware that they were not qualified to do so. Those affected by the error "suffered immediate career uncertainty, professional embarrassment and emotional distress, health consequences and financial consequences", accord to the "Letter of Claim" seen by the Sunday Telegraph.

The Sunday Telegraph

The Times

ECONOMY

Eurozone firms struggle to pass higher costs on to consumers, ECB finds

Eurozone businesses are finding it difficult to raise consumer prices despite higher fuel costs following the Iran conflict, as households remain highly price-sensitive and competition from low-cost Chinese imports intensifies, according to a European Central Bank (ECB) survey. Around 40% of companies said their profit margins were being squeezed because higher input costs could not be fully passed on to customers. The ECB found that while prices had risen for sectors directly exposed to higher energy costs, including transport and petrochemicals, consumer-facing businesses had made little adjustment, with some electronics prices even falling due to cheaper Asian imports. The survey also highlighted that higher fuel costs are encouraging consumers to switch from branded goods to private-label products, while companies said investment in artificial intelligence remains strong despite broader concerns over European competitiveness.

Reuters

REGULATION

Paramount scores EU approval for merger

Paramount Skydance has received approval from the European Commission for its $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. The Commission's consent allows the merger to proceed in the EU, with one condition: Paramount must terminate its partnership with Universal Pictures for film distribution in Europe. “The Commission found that, at film production level, enough film studios remain as competitors,” the Commission said in a statement. “These include other major US studios like Disney, NBC Universal . . . and Sony, along with smaller US studios such as Amazon MGM, A24 and Lionsgate, as well as European studios.” Paramount will not be required to divest Cartoon Network, a Warner asset, because of its ownership of Nickelodeon. “The Commission found that streaming platforms offering children's content will continue to act as a competitive constraint on the merged entity's TV channels,” the agency said.

Los Angeles Times

Ryanair CEO chided by US safety agency

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has been rebuked by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for making public comments about a recent flight during which a dislodged window threatened to suck out a passenger. The US safety agency said his comments on a public earnings call violated international rules governing aircraft investigations because they provided opinion and analysis of the yet undetermined cause of the accident. O’Leary had intimated that the incident was caused by “foreign object damage,” rather than the aircraft’s age or maintenance issues, according to the NTSB.

Bloomberg

Irish Times

RISK

Wildberries warehouse hit by fire after drone attack near St Petersburg

A warehouse operated by Russian online retailer Wildberries in the Leningrad region near St Petersburg caught fire following what Russian authorities said was a Ukrainian drone attack, leaving three people injured and forcing the company to suspend operations at two logistics sites in the region. Wildberries also evacuated staff from a warehouse in Crimea, although it said none of its employees were injured in the latest incident. The attack is the latest in a series targeting the retailer's logistics network, with five Wildberries warehouses, representing around 10% of its logistics capacity, having been attacked since July 18th. Ukraine has alleged the company supports Russia's military infrastructure, a claim Wildberries denies. Together with rival Ozon, Wildberries accounts for goods and services worth the equivalent of 8.5% of Russia's GDP and employs around 4m people.

Financial Times

Reuters

INTERNATIONAL

One in four Americans stay in unwanted jobs to keep health insurance, survey finds

Nearly one in four Americans who receive health insurance through their employer remain in jobs they want to leave to avoid losing coverage, according to a new West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America survey. The report estimates that around 23 million workers are experiencing "job lock," up from 16% in 2021, with the problem particularly acute among people with three or more chronic health conditions, 41% of whom say they stay in their jobs for health insurance. Researchers say rising healthcare costs, worsening perceptions of the job market, and the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies have all contributed to the increase. Experts from West Health, KFF, and the Cato Institute, despite differing views on healthcare policy, agree that reforms are needed to reduce workers' dependence on employer-sponsored insurance and improve job mobility, entrepreneurship, and economic productivity.

NPR

US News and World Report

New Korean labour rules are under scrutiny

South Korea's new Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act, also known as the Yellow Envelope Act, faces trenchant criticism just four months after its implementation. Critics warn it could lead to increased labour disputes and uncertainty for businesses. The act broadens the scope of labour disputes beyond traditional issues such as wages, working hours, welfare and dismissals to include “business management decisions affecting working conditions.” This has empowered unions to make demands previously deemed outside their bargaining power. For instance, Samsung Electronics' union has argued that a planned 800 trillion won investment should require union approval due to its potential impact on employee conditions.

South China Morning Post

OTHER

BMW pulls out of Paris car show

BMW is pulling out of this year’s Paris car show “due to a shift in priorities” as new Chief Executive Officer Milan Nedeljkovic cuts costs following a major profit warning. The German automaker said it “remains committed to a selective presence at automotive shows in the future.” Bloomberg notes that BMW’s withdrawal is notable because the company has often used the show for model unveilings.

Bloomberg

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