Authorities in Pakistan launch operation to clear Khan supporters from capitalBy ALEXANDRA OLSON and CATHY BUSSEWITZ NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart’s sweeping rollback of its diversity policies is the strongest indication yet of a profound shift taking hold at U.S. companies that are revaluating the legal and political risks associated with bold programs to bolster historically underrepresented groups in business. The changes announced by the world’s biggest retailer followed a string of legal victories by conservative groups that have filed an onslaught of lawsuits challenging corporate and federal programs aimed at elevating minority and women-owned businesses and employees. The risk associated with some of programs crystalized with the election of former President Donald Trump, whose administration is certain to make dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programs a priority. Trump’s incoming deputy chief of policy will be his former adviser Stephen Miller , who leads a group called America First Legal that has aggressively challenged corporate DEI policies. “There has been a lot of reassessment of risk looking at programs that could be deemed to constitute reverse discrimination,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher the Human Capital Center at the Conference Board. “This is another domino to fall and it is a rather large domino,” he added. Among other changes, Walmart said it will no longer give priority treatment to suppliers owned by women or minorities. The company also will not renew a five-year commitment for a racial equity center set up in 2020 after the police killing of George Floyd. And it pulled out of a prominent gay rights index . Schweyer said the biggest trigger for companies making such changes is simply a reassessment of their legal risk exposure, which began after U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions. Since then, conservative groups using similar arguments have secured court victories against various diversity programs, especially those that steer contracts to minority or women-owned businesses. Most recently, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty won a victory in a case against the U.S. Department of Transportation over its use of a program that gives priority to minority-owned businesses when it awards contracts. Companies are seeing a big legal risk in continuing with DEI efforts, said Dan Lennington, a deputy counsel at the institute. His organization says it has identified more than 60 programs in the federal government that it considers discriminatory, he said. “We have a legal landscape within the entire federal government, all three branches — the U.S. Supreme Court, the Congress and the President — are all now firmly pointed in the direction towards equality of individuals and individualized treatment of all Americans, instead of diversity, equity and inclusion treating people as members of racial groups,” Lennington said. The Trump administration is also likely to take direct aim at DEI initiatives through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors. “The impact of the election on DEI policies is huge. It can’t be overstated,” said Jason Schwartz, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group at law firm Gibson Dunn. With Miller returning to the White House, rolling back DEI initiatives is likely to be a priority, Schwartz said. “Companies are trying to strike the right balance to make clear they’ve got an inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome, and they want to get the best talent, while at the same time trying not to alienate various parts of their employees and customer base who might feel one way or the other. It’s a virtually impossible dilemma,” Schwartz said. A recent survey by Pew Research Center showed that workers are divided on the merits of DEI policies. While still broadly popular, the share of workers who said focusing on workplace diversity was mostly a good thing fell to 52% in the November survey, compared to 56% in a similar survey in February 2023. Rachel Minkin, a research associated at Pew called it a small but significant shift in short amount of time. There will be more companies pulling back from their DEI policies, but it likely won’t be a retreat across the board, said David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University. “There are vastly more companies that are sticking with DEI,” Glasgow said. “The only reason you don’t hear about it is most of them are doing it by stealth. They’re putting their heads down and doing DEI work and hoping not to attract attention.” Glasgow advises organizations to stick to their own core values, because attitudes toward the topic can change quickly in the span of four years. “It’s going to leave them looking a little bit weak if there’s a kind of flip-flopping, depending on whichever direction the political winds are blowing,” he said. One reason DEI programs exist is because without those programs, companies may be vulnerable to lawsuits for traditional discrimination. “Really think carefully about the risks in all directions on this topic,” Glasgow said. Walmart confirmed will no longer consider race and gender as a litmus test to improve diversity when it offers supplier contracts. Last fiscal year, Walmart said it spent more than $13 billion on minority, women or veteran-owned good and service suppliers. It was unclear how its relationships with such business would change going forward. Organizations that that have partnered with Walmart on its diversity initiatives offered a cautious response. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, a non-profit that last year named Walmart one of America’s top corporation for women-owned enterprises, said it was still evaluating the impact of Walmart’s announcement. Pamela Prince-Eason, the president and CEO of the organization, said she hoped Walmart’s need to cater to its diverse customer base will continue to drive contracts to women-owned suppliers even if the company no longer has explicit dollar goals. “I suspect Walmart will continue to have one of the most inclusive supply chains in the World,” Prince-Eason wrote. “Any retailer’s ability to serve the communities they operate in will continue to value understanding their customers, (many of which are women), in order to better provide products and services desired and no one understands customers better than Walmart.” Walmart’s announcement came after the company spoke directly with conservative political commentator and activist Robby Starbuck, who has been going after corporate DEI policies, calling out individual companies on the social media platform X. Several of those companies have subsequently announced that they are pulling back their initiatives, including Ford , Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s and Tractor Supply . Walmart confirmed to The Associated Press that it will better monitor its third-party marketplace items to make sure they don’t feature sexual and transgender products aimed at minors. The company also will stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees. A Walmart spokesperson added that some of the changes were already in progress and not as a result of conversations that it had with Starbuck. RaShawn “Shawnie” Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, said companies that “abandon” their commitments workplace inclusion policies “are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders.” She said the buying power of LGBTQ customers is powerful and noted that the index will have record participation of more than 1,400 companies in 2025.
Giving Voice: Thankful for third spacesNone
Seeking to open up an eight-point lead at the top of the Eredivisie standings, high-flying PSV Eindhoven play host to Groningen at the Philips Stadion on Saturday. Having failed to win any of their last nine visits to the Philips Stadion, the Trots van het Noorden will head into the weekend looking to get one over the hosts and secure consecutive league victories for the first time since August. © Imago PSV Eindhoven returned to winning ways in style just before the international break as they edged out NAC Breda 3-0 when the two teams squared off at the Rat Verlegh Stadion on November 9. Having thrashed Spanish outfit Girona 4-0 in the Champions League just four days earlier, Ricardo Pepi , Ismael Saibari and Johan Bakayoko all found the back of the net to fire PSV to another resounding victory. Prior to that, Peter Bosz's men saw their run of 11 back-to-back victories in the Eredivisie come to an end on November 2, when they suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat against Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena. With a third of the season played, PSV are well on course to defend the Eredivisie title as they have picked up 33 points from a possible 36 to sit top of the standings with a five-point cushion over second-placed Utrecht. After two consecutive league matches on the road, the Rood-witten now return home, where they have won each of their last 10 league games, scoring 37 goals and keeping five clean sheets since a 2-2 draw against Feyenoord on Match 3. © Imago Groningen, on the other hand, were one of the few Eredivisie sides in action during the break as they played out a 1-1 draw with German outfit Koln last Thursday, when Mark Uth and Thijs Oosting scored for either side to force a share of the spoils. The Trots van het Noorden now return to action in the Eredivisie, where they will be looking to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since August after picking up a 1-0 victory over Sparta Rotterdam on November 9 Twenty-two-year-old Romano Postema grabbed the headlines for Groningen as he netted the only goal of the game one minute after the half-hour mark at the Euroborg Stadion to snap their six-game losing streak in the league. Dick Lukkien 's men have won just three of their 12 league matches so far while losing six and claiming three draws to collect 12 points and sit 13th in the standings, level on points with PEC Zwolle and Heracles. Next up for Groningen is the daunting challenge of taking on an opposing side who are unbeaten in 18 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams, claiming 13 wins and five draws since December 2008. PSV Eindhoven remain without several players down the spine of the team as Hirving Lozano (muscle) and Fode Fofana (knee) and Adamo Nagalo all continue their spells on the sidelines. Jerdy Schouten has missed the last five matches since coming off with a thigh problem against AZ Alkmaar in October while former Barcelona man Sergino Dest continues his long road to full fitness after picking up a knee injury back in April. Pepi netted two goals across two matches for the United States during the international break and the 21-year-old, who has three goals and six assists in 11 Eredivisie appearances will be one to keep an eye on this weekend. Groningen, meanwhile, will have to cope without experienced defender Marvin Peersman , who is currently suspended after crossing the yellow card threshold with his booking against Sparta Rotterdam on November 9. In his absence, AZ Alkmaar loanee Finn Stam should come into the fold, forming the back four with Leandro Bacuna , Marco Rente and 20-year-old Wouter Prins , while Postema and Thom van Bergen should team up in attack. On the injury front, Lukkien will be unable to name 21-year-old midfielder Tika de Jonge , who has missed each of the last two matches since picking up an injury against NEC Nijmegen on November 3. Team News text here PSV Eindhoven possible starting lineup: Benitez; Karsdorp, Boscagli, Flamingo, Dams; Tillman, Junior, Saibari; Bakayoko, Pepi, Lang Groningen possible starting lineup: Vaessen; Bacuna, Rente, Stam, Prins; Schreuders, Resink, Hove, Valente; Van Bergen, Postema While Groningen will look to continue right from where they dropped off against Sparta Rotterdam before the international break, they are in for a tough 90 minutes against PSV Eindhoven side who have flown out of the blacks in their title defense. Bosz's men head into the weekend on a blistering run of results at the Philips Stadion and we are backing them to extend their dominance over the visitors with another comfortable victory. For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here .It’s almost time for Spotify Wrapped. When can you expect your 2024 recap?