VW Approves 50k Job Cuts, Reform Undercover Sting, France’s Food Reckoning

Your morning briefing. All the news you need to start your day.

On today's podcast:

(1) Volkswagen's supervisory board backed a sweeping restructuring that calls for 50,000 additional job cuts, far fewer models and a smaller industrial footprint, giving Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume his clearest mandate yet to overhaul Europe’s biggest carmaker.

(2) Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s hopes of using a keynote speech at his party’s annual convention to arrest a slide in opinion polls were upended after two of his closest allies were covertly filmed discussing avoiding electoral law to secure foreign donations.

(3) OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman says top artificial intelligence developers have fumbled at communicating the benefits of the technology, leaving the industry vulnerable to growing backlash from communities around the world.

(4) South Korea has begun preparations for a possible deployment of a naval support ship and troops to the Strait of Hormuz, local media reports said, as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on the US ally over its lack of support for the war with Iran.

(5) At the Marché International de Rungis, the giant wholesale food market known as “The belly of Paris,” cheese supplier Philippe Ammiche finds it increasingly difficult to navigate the endless stacks of boxes from Italy.

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