内容摘要：Leaders in Beijing are trying to send a message to people in China that they are confident the country's economy can grow, even with the threat of a trade war.

Leaders in Beijing are trying to send a message to people in China that they are confident the country's economy can grow, even with the threat of a trade war.

Social media accounts like End Wokeness and conservative activists such as Robby Starbuck seized the moment to target companies accused of being "woke". Mr Starbuck has taken credit for changes in policy at the likes of Ford, John Deere and Harley-Davidson after he publicised details of their DEI initiatives to his social media followers.One of the clearest signs of this movement's strength came in spring 2023, after a Bud Light partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked right-wing outrage and calls for a boycott of the beer and its parent company Anheuser-Busch. In the aftermath of the campaign, Bud Light sales were 28% lower than usual, a Harvard Business Review analysis found.

Another major victory for conservatives arrived in June 2023, when the Supreme Court ruled that race could no longer be considered as a factor in university admissions, reversing decades of affirmative action-based policy.The ruling also cast the legal standing of corporate DEI policies into uncertainty. When Meta made the internal announcement it was cancelling DEI programmes, the company told staff "the legal and policy landscape" surrounding DEI had changed.The speed at which some large corporations have shed their DEI policies raises the question of how genuine their commitment to diversifying their workforces was in the first place.

Martin Whittaker, chief executive at JUST Capital, a non-profit that surveys Americans on workplace issues, says much of the backtracking comes from companies who were "rushing to kind of look good" at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement.But not all are yielding to political and legal pressure. Conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation noted in a November report that although DEI programmes appear to be trending downwards, "nearly all" Fortune 500 companies still list DEI commitments somewhere on their websites. Apple shareholders recently voted to continue diversity programmes at the company.

Surveys that measure Americans' support for DEI offer mixed results. JUST Capital's survey suggests support for DEI has declined, but support for issues closely linked to it - such as fair pay - have not. A 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center suggested most employed adults (56%) believed "focusing on increasing DEI at work is a good thing".

Much rests on the question of whether DEI is actually effective in the first place."Their work goes unnoticed by many but they do such a great job and if I can come away with a world record at the end, then happy days, but the main thing is to raise as much money as I can for Prospect," he said.

Mr Barkham added with the clock running continually throughout he would have to limit his food and drink intake."The main thing is not to try to drink much. I'm not going to drink any alcohol, probably until about 10pm when I know I'm close. Hopefully I can celebrate with a beer at the end."

He said he would continue throwing if he exceeded the 160,000 target, to try to "get as many points as possible".Plans to help critically endangered bats in a nature reserve have moved a step forward.