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SIT DOWN? PAY UP! A new Starbucks China policy took effect across all 8,000 of its stores on Thursday: if you want a seat, you have to buy something, the BBC reported.

The company says it’s about improving the “in-store experience.” Translation: it’s fighting for its life against cheaper homegrown chains like Luckin Coffee, which overtook Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee chain in 2023 with an app-first, grab-and-go model.

Chinese social media mostly said: about time. “Finally, there won’t be peak periods where people are just sitting there not ordering anything, drinking Luckin coffee, playing games and yelling on the phone,” read one top-liked Weibo comment.

The seat wars have been brewing. Last month a Starbucks in Sichuan province sparked debate when video showed its outdoor tables and chairs chained up. In South Korea, Starbucks told customers to stop bringing “bulky items” after patrons reportedly hogged seats with printers and desktop computers. In North America, it already scrapped its open-door policy to “prioritise” paying customers.

China is Starbucks’ second-largest market, but the company said last year it would sell a 60% stake in its China business in a $4bn deal with investment firm Boyu Capital. Starbucks China says it will also add staff and upgrade digital systems so customers get “timely and warm service even during peak hours.”

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THE SKINNY JAB HAS COME FOR THE MAKEUP COUNTER! Beauty giant L’Oréal says the boom in weight-loss drugs is affecting beauty and skincare sales, the BBC reported.

Boss Nicolas Hieronimus told investors the use of GLP-1 drugs is “a very important phenomenon for us” and is “having an impact on beauty consumption and skin care consumption in particular.” Those are the diabetes drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro that took off once people found they suppress appetite and drive serious weight loss.

Here’s the angle: rapid weight loss can, for some people, leave loose skin, including around the face. It isn’t caused by the drugs directly, but L’Oréal is happy to help anyway. Hieronimus said its SkinCeuticals and Kiehl’s brands have products “designed to work alongside and complement GLP-1 and its side-effects on skin sagging.”

And it’s going deeper. L’Oréal raised its stake in dermatology firm Galderma, maker of the injectables Sculptra and Restylane, to 20% last December, and Reuters reports both companies have been testing products on GLP-1 users worried about loose skin.

The money looks fine, for now: L’Oréal, which also owns Maybelline and La Roche-Posay, said sales in the three months to September rose 7.7%, beating analyst expectations.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THE FIRST LADY JUST WALKED ONTO THE FRONT LINE! The White House says Melania Trump has “successfully secured” a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, the BBC reported.

The White House called it a “front-line war city on the brink of disaster,” without medicine, food or clean water, and said the truce would begin on 29 October. Ukraine and Russia both confirmed the deal to evacuate residents and deliver aid, and both said their forces would stop firing at 02:00 GMT on 27 October.

How bad is it? Oleshky was seized in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and sits trapped between Ukrainian positions across the Dnipro River and Russian forces to the east. Residents have resorted to eating garden weeds. The city has had no gas or electricity since 2023, and residents told the BBC only one hospital was partly working, a few days a week, to perform critical amputations. Ukraine estimates about 6,000 people remain in and around the city, including 200 children, down from 24,000 before the invasion.

The White House says the first lady and a representative worked “directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership” on the terms. “Residents who wish to evacuate will receive co-ordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine,” she said, adding that without her intervention, bringing in aid and evacuating the elderly “would be impossible.”

Kyiv’s Davyd Arakhamia said an operation to unblock Oleshky will begin “in the near future,” and the Kremlin’s spokesman confirmed “those who wish to do so will be able to leave.” The catch: the statement didn’t say how long the ceasefire will last.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THE GRANNIES HAVE TAKEN OVER! Lillian Droniak, 96, known online as Grandma Droniak, has 15 million followers and earns enough from social media to cover her nursing home fees of $12,000 a month, the BBC reported.

She went viral in June after claiming her retirement home threatened to evict her for throwing parties. The home later confirmed it, then settled: she can keep partying, just not supply alcoholic drinks. “I always knew I had it in me to be famous, I just didn’t think it would happen in my 90s,” she said. Her grandson started helping her post in 2020, and the brand money also feeds a college fund for her great-grandchildren.

She’s not alone. Viv Truran, 82, from Cardiff, shows off her outfits, 22 pairs of glasses and two drawers of scarves to more than 800,000 followers, posting two videos a day and tracking her numbers in a notebook that’s now on book five. Grace Geramita, 85, aka Nonna Gracie, cooks for millions and now earns more than she did in any previous job. And 77-year-old former teacher Barbara Costello of Brunch with Babs says followers call her “the mom I never had”.

Why brands love them: older creators have “deeply established, highly loyal” communities with more purchasing power, which “carries a massive premium,” said Naomi Baker of agency We Are Social. Droniak’s own pitch is simpler: “They think old people just sit and stare at a wall but I’m showing it’s not that bad to get old.”

The only crowd not impressed? Her fellow residents. “They don’t get it as they don’t go on TikTok.”

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THE PAPER TRAIL JUST GOT A BADGE! Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into the financial affairs of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, the BBC reported.

It follows a BBC Panorama and Bureau of Investigative Journalism report alleging that accountancy giant Deloitte helped falsify documents to hide his wealth and evade tax. According to that report, accounts signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus in 2006 meant assets such as superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) vanished from his company accounts.

A Cypriot Ministry of Justice official told MPs the police Financial Intelligence Unit will look at the findings to determine whether any crimes were committed. Police representative Andreas Anastasiades said evidence-gathering has already begun, the probe should last several months, and “We will look at any company or person who may be involved.”

The other side: Abramovich’s lawyers say he denies evading tax or concealing his fortune, that Panorama has shown no evidence he knew about or directed any falsification, and that it was legitimate to rely on professional advice. Deloitte Cyprus says it acts “in compliance with applicable laws” and can’t comment because the documents are more than 20 years old.

Not the first round, either: after earlier reporting on a yacht tax scheme, two former company directors were indicted and are due to stand trial in Cyprus next month over €25m in unpaid VAT.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THIS ONE IS PERSONAL! A cancer vaccine tailored to each patient, given alongside the immunotherapy drug Keytruda, cut the risk of patients dying or their skin cancer coming back by 42% in a major clinical trial, the BBC reported.

The trial enrolled 1,137 adults with melanoma who had already had their tumour surgically removed. All got Keytruda; about two-thirds also got the experimental jab, called Intismeran, while the rest got a placebo. The combination also cut the risk of the melanoma spreading by 38% over two years compared with immunotherapy alone.

How it works: the vaccine uses the same mRNA technology as some Covid jabs, and it’s built from information in each patient’s own tumour to train their immune system to spot and hit cancer cells if they return. Makers MSD (Merck in the US) and Moderna say the same approach is already being tested in kidney, bladder and lung cancer.

“Personalisation is the next step up and it’s really exciting, it’s a fabulous technology,” said Prof Pippa Corrie of Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, who helped run part of the study.

Now the cold water. Independent experts called the results impressive but said longer studies are needed to show whether it helps patients live longer. “We shouldn’t get ahead of the evidence,” said Prof Alan Melcher of the Institute of Cancer Research. Investors sold off the stocks Thursday after analysts said the results weren’t quite as strong as an earlier, smaller trial. And cost is a big question, since every single patient needs their own tumour analysed and their own vaccine made.

The companies say they’re “engaging with authorities” and could seek approval as soon as next year. Full results are due at the ESMO cancer conference in Madrid on Saturday and haven’t yet been peer-reviewed.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

SHE’S NOT GOING ANYWHERE! A famous dusky shark nicknamed Bukangi is still hanging around a canal in Busan, South Korea, a day after rescuers guided her out, the BBC reported.

The three-metre (10ft) shark turned up in the canal last month and became an instant sensation, drawing more than 1.6 million visitors. The city embraced her as an unofficial mascot.

On Wednesday, in a livestreamed operation, rescuers spent more than eight hours gently steering her with a net toward open water while hundreds of fans cheered and waved goodbye. Then on Thursday morning she reportedly broke through a barrier and swam right back in, getting stuck between two layers of nets until rescuers removed the outer one.

Authorities have fortified the barrier, and say Bukangi is swimming further out but keeps circling back to the mouth of the waterway. A government official told the BBC rescuers have now concluded their operations.

Why the fuss? She appeared injured and wasn’t eating, and falling water temperatures could weaken her further. Not everyone wanted her gone: one visitor called her “a rare gift” to Busan. Another fan put it best: “she should go and live her normal shark life.”

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

THE SPIES ARE BUSY! Germany is the target of “intensive” espionage, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday after a Ukrainian national was arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia, the BBC reported.

Prosecutors identified the suspect only as Vadym Y., under German privacy law. They say he had been in contact with a Russian intelligence service through an intermediary since at least July 2025, and collected information “on the production of armoured vehicles, ammunition, and explosives.” He is due before an investigating judge on Friday.

Merz called the bust a “success” but didn’t sugarcoat it: “let us not delude ourselves – the activities of Russian intelligence services in Germany remain at a consistently high level.” And: “We will likely see more such cases in the coming months and years.”

It’s been a year of it. A woman was arrested in Berlin in January over alleged work for an officer at the Russian embassy. And earlier this month former BND spy chief August Hanning was arrested on suspicion of espionage and treason, with investigators not saying which foreign powers were involved.

Germany is one of Europe’s leading weapons suppliers to Ukraine, and it has accused Russia of launching an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport in September. Putin claims Germany planted the evidence.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT! Meta has struck a new deal with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to keep him from leaving California over a proposed state tax on billionaires, the BBC reported Thursday.

The ballot measure, up for a vote in November, would slap a one-time 5% tax on residents worth more than $1bn. For Zuckerberg, whose fortune is estimated at over $200bn, that likely means around $10bn in extra state taxes.

So what happened? Last month Zuckerberg told Meta’s board he was thinking of moving his primary residence out of the state, warning a move “would be public and inevitably noted and commented upon by company employees.” The board’s answer: a stock split that created an entirely new type of share, one for every existing shareholder. Zuckerberg gets more stock, more often, and can sell it quarterly. His control over Meta doesn’t change.

Meta calls it the “Founder Alignment Agreement.” A company filing says it came out of “robust” and “at several points, contentious” talks with a special committee. It runs for eight years as long as he stays a California resident, and appears to apply even if the tax fails.

Meanwhile Meta says it could spend up to $145bn on AI this year and posted negative cash flow for the first time since going public. Investors weren’t thrilled: shares fell more than 7% Thursday, wiping more than $100bn off its market value.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News

A FIRST — AND NOT THE GOOD KIND! French authorities say they’ve detected the first known human case of the Shamonda virus, in a patient who died in early October, the BBC reported Thursday.

Shamonda mostly hits cattle, spread by infected midges, and has turned up in sheep, goats, alpacas and horses. In cows it causes fever, diarrhoea and poor milk production. Human infections? Previously unheard of. “Until now, the Shamonda virus was considered non-transmissible to humans,” France’s health and agriculture ministries said, despite decades of the virus circulating in Africa and Asia.

Officials think the patient caught it from a midge bite in eastern France, where animal cases were first found in the spring. The person was being treated for a serious illness at a hospital in Lyon and had neurological complications “very likely linked” to the virus, based on early findings.

Now the calm-down part: health officials call it an “exceptional case in a severely immunocompromised patient” and say there is currently no risk to the public.

But the bug is on the move. Europe’s first animal cases showed up in late July, and it has since been found in farm animals in Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain and Jersey. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is monitoring and investigating how it reached a human, and the case has been reported to the World Health Organization.

Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.

Sources: BBC News