Asda-owning Issa brothers go their separate ways amid family rift

Union warns of risks to shoppers and staff after Zuber Issa sells 22.5% supermarket stake to private equity co-owners TDR Capital

The billionaire brothers who part-own Asda have gone their separate ways, with Zuber Issa selling his shares in the supermarket to the private equity firm TDR Capital amid a rift between the siblings.

Zuber owned 22.5% of the Leeds-based grocery chain after a £6.8bn takeover alongside his older brother Mohsin and TDR three years ago. The sale of his stake had been expected for months, but was thought to have been complicated by lock-in agreements.

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‘Diabolical actions’: Snoop Dogg and Master P sue Walmart in breakfast cereal spat

Rappers entered breakfast market with Snoop Cereal in 2023, and allege conspiracy between manufacturer Post Consumer Brands and supermarket chain Walmart to ‘choke’ startup brand

Rappers Snoop Dogg and Master P are suing US supermarket chain Walmart and food manufacturer Post Consumer Brands, claiming that the two companies conspired to sabotage the success of the pair’s new breakfast cereal enterprise.

Snoop Cereal launched last summer, with Master P hailing parent company Broadus Foods as the first Black-owned cereal company in the US: “This has been going on for over 100 years, that we’ve been consumers and never owners, so we’re changing that game.” The rappers partnered with Post to produce the cereal itself.

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Gunman who killed 23 in racist attack at Texas Walmart given 90 life sentences

Police say the shooter drove more than 700 miles from his home to target Hispanic people with an AK-style assault rifle at the store

A white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in a Texas border city was sentenced on Friday to 90 consecutive life sentences but could still face more punishment, including the death penalty.

Patrick Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty earlier this year to nearly 50 federal hate crime charges in the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, making it one of the US government’s largest hate crime cases.

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Walmart announces $3.1bn plan to settle opioids lawsuits

Retail giant is latest major chain to settle lawsuits with state and local governments across the US over toll of opioids sold at its pharmacies

Retail giant Walmart on Tuesday become the latest major player in the drug industry to announce a plan to settle lawsuits filed by state and local governments over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies with state and local governments across the US.

The $3.1bn proposal follows similar announcements on 2 November from the two largest US pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co, which each said they would pay about $5bn.

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Walmart expands abortion coverage for employees after Roe overturned

Memo to staff says that new healthcare policy will also offer ‘travel support’ for workers seeking abortions

The US’s largest private employer, Walmart, is expanding its abortion coverage for employees after staying largely mum on the issue following the supreme court ruling that in June scrapped a nationwide right to abortion.

In a memo sent to employees Friday, the retail giant said its healthcare plans will cover abortion for employees “when there is a health risk to the mother, rape or incest, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or lack of fetal viability”. The plans will be “effective immediately”, the memo added.

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Prickly present: dancing cactus toy that raps in Polish about cocaine goes viral

Walmart removes listing by third-party seller after Ontario woman discovers one of toy’s songs is about cocaine and hopelessness

A word of warning before you go toy shopping this Christmas: beware the rapping cactus.

The toy, marketed as educational, may teach your children more than you want them to know, as a woman in Brampton, Ontario, discovered the hard way. The miniature, bright-green dancing cactus Ania Tanner bought sings in English, Spanish and Polish while squirming to the beat. After buying it for her granddaughter, Tanner discovered that one of the songs in its repertoire was an explicit tune about cocaine and hopelessness.

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Two weeks’ paid sick leave at Walmart could have prevented 7,500 Covid cases, report finds

Largest US employer could have saved 133 lives with policy as workers fear calling in sick could lead to firing, advocates say

More than 7,500 Covid-19 infections and 133 deaths could have been prevented if Walmart offered employees two weeks of paid sick leave, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The public health not-for-profit Human Impact Partners calculated the impact that better paid sick leave could have had for employees of Walmart, the largest employer in the US, using findings from the University of Wisconsin that universal sick leave could lead to a nearly 6% reduction in coronavirus infections and deaths for workers in Wisconsin.

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Walmart selling beef from firm linked to Amazon deforestation

Exclusive: US chains Walmart, Costco and Kroger selling Brazilian beef produced by JBS linked to destruction of Brazilian rainforest

Three of the biggest US grocery chains sell Brazilian beef produced by a controversial meat company linked to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, an investigation has revealed.

Food giants Walmart, Costco and Kroger – which together totalled net sales worth more than half a trillion dollars last year – are selling Brazilian beef products imported from JBS, the world’s largest meat company, which has been linked to deforestation.

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