Death toll rises to 17 in South Korea as rains cause landslide and floods
Two people were confirmed dead and five missing in Gapyeong, South Korea, on Sunday, after heavy rain triggered landslides and flooding, raising the c...
Amazon removes diversity references from annual report, shifting DEI focus to "proven outcomes". Meta, Google and Disney are among those rolling back DEI initiatives and programs.
Amazon.com opens new tab removed a reference to "inclusion and diversity" in its annual report filed on Thursday, after it told employees in a December memo that it was winding down its programs as part of corporate America's broader retreat from such policies.
Some of America's biggest businesses have been scaling back diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests against the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
President Donald Trump and his administration have targeted diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies inside and outside the government. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday in a note to staff said the Justice Department would "investigate, eliminate, and penalize" illegal diversity programs in the private sector.
For the last two years, Amazon's "human capital" section of its annual report said: "As we strive to be Earth's best employer, we focus on investment and innovation, inclusion and diversity, safety, and engagement to hire and develop the best talent."
In the 2024 version, that sentence has been cut.
The company also cut a reference to a goal to "promote equity" in a sentence about continuing efforts to refine employee hiring and development.
Amazon's website states it is "committed to creating a diverse and inclusive company.
In December, Amazon executive Candi Castleberry said in a letter to employees that it is "winding down outdated programs and materials" related to DEI by the end of 2024. As part of the change, individual groups would no longer be responsible for building programs and initiatives would be integrated into "existing processes."
"Rather than have individual groups build programs, we are focusing on programs with proven outcomes – and we also aim to foster a more truly inclusive culture," Castleberry said in the note.
Amazon did not comment on whether it would remove or rename DEI employee positions.
Big technology companies Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google are among those rolling back programs in the face of attacks from conservative groups, who have threatened to sue firms over them.
Disney's 2024 annual report, which was published in September, removed mentions of its "Reimagine Tomorrow" program, which was an online space for "amplifying underrepresented voices" featuring some of Disney's diversity, equality and inclusion commitments and actions.
However, it added a DEI initiative to hire U.S. military veterans.
Twelve state attorneys general, including New York, California and Washington, last week issued a joint statement in opposition to Trump's characterization of DEI saying they are "committed to enforcing federal and state civil rights laws to protect" workers from discriminatory practices.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
Iran launched 18 ballistic missiles late Sunday targeting the U.S. military’s Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest American installation in the Middle East.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
Australian researchers have created a groundbreaking “biological AI” platform that could revolutionise drug discovery by rapidly evolving molecules within mammalian cells.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
Two people were confirmed dead and five missing in Gapyeong, South Korea, on Sunday, after heavy rain triggered landslides and flooding, raising the country’s storm-related death toll to 17.
U.S. President Donald Trump may meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea or China this autumn, with talks expected around the late October APEC summit as both sides seek progress on ending their tariff dispute.
President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he would intervene to assist Afghans who have been detained in the United Arab Emirates for years after fleeing their country when the Taliban seized control.
Bangladesh has signed a deal to import 700,000 tonnes of wheat annually from the United States over the next five years, aiming to ease trade tensions and secure tariff relief from the Trump administration, officials confirmed on Sunday.
Iran and the E3, Britain, France, and Germany, may hold nuclear talks next week, Tasnim reported, amid European warnings that failure to resume negotiations could trigger renewed international sanctions.
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