Britain's Lloyds shake-up puts around 2,500 jobs at risk

 25 Nov 2023

Lloyds is poised to begin a consultation with staff in a number of roles, including analysts and product managers, the source said, adding many would go through a selection process and it was unclear how many would ultimately be cut.

 A pedestrian walks past a branch of Lloyds Bank, in central London

 (Photo by Justin TALLIS / AFP)

Britain's biggest high street bank Lloyds is putting around 2,500 jobs at risk as part of a shake-up, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, amid a renewed push by lenders to slash costs.

Lloyds is poised to begin a consultation with staff in a number of roles, including analysts and product managers, the source said, adding many would go through a selection process and it was unclear how many would ultimately be cut.

Staff are expected to be informed of the process as early as next week, the source said, adding it would also involve the creation of 120 roles.

Also Read: UK's Lloyds Banking Group to set up tech centre in Hyderabad

The Guardian first reported on the process.

"We are evolving and transforming our business to ensure we can do more for our customers and deliver the products and services they need," a Lloyds spokesperson said, adding the bank was reviewing how teams worked without elaborating on potential cuts.

The news comes after Reuters reported on Thursday that Lloyds' rival Barclays is working on plans to save up to 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2,000 jobs.

Also Read | Lloyd's Register withdraws certification of Indian carrier importing Russian oil: Report

Most British banks have reported a run of strong profits as higher rates lifted lending revenue. But investor concerns about tougher competition for savers' cash and potential loan defaults amid a cost-of-living crisis are weighing on the sector.

A Copper Age woman underwent two separate surgical procedures that left two overlapping holes in her skull. –and Survived Both Procedures

By Andy Corbley
-Nov 24, 2023

(Image credit Sonia Díaz-Navarro et al. via Live Science)

Researchers don’t know why, but a late-Neolithic, early-Copper Age woman underwent two cranial surgeries throughout her adult life—newly found archaeological remains from Spain have revealed.

Imagine for a moment everything that a successful surgery requires: orderlies, razor-sharp implements, anesthetic, disinfectant, and anatomical knowledge of the affected are the bare necessities for a procedure, none of which are common finds among Stone Age habitations

Yet in a burial site at Camino del Molino, located in Caravaca de la Cruz in Southeastern Spain, the skull of a 35 to 40-year-old woman was found with expertly made trepanations, or surgical entries into the cranium.

Trepanations mean the surgeon was trying to access the dura mater, the outermost layer of tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and forensic analysis showed it was neither a wound of violence, nor some form of ritual cannibalism, because the areas around the trepanations were clean; without fractures, and the woman lived months after the second of the two procedures was finished.

It’s a stunning demonstration of medical knowledge and acumen for a people who had only just barely worked out the smithing of copper tools.

It also demonstrates the value that these primitive societies placed on the lives of loved ones, as this woman might already have been a grandmother and near the end of her life, yet was operated on twice in her twilight years, which would have included a substantial period of recovery during which she contributed no food or labor to the community while still consuming food collected by others.

The funerary site of Camino del Molino contains 1,348 individuals, and this woman who had lived a full life for a Neolithic/Copper Age human, lived months after the second of two surgeries in the same part of the brain was concluded. She eventually died during the period of the funerary pit’s second use phase which stretched from 2566 to 2239 BCE.The Copper Age woman’s skeleton as seen at the burial site. (Image credit: Sonia Díaz-Navarro et al. via Live Science)

“This is a cranial region rarely documented in prehistoric trepanations, as it contains the temporalis muscles and important blood vessels,” the authors write in their paper on the discovery in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

One of the authors spoke to Live Science about their discovery, describing the full extent of the procedure and what it must have required in a Paleolithic environment.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: 24,000-Year-Old Cave Art Suddenly Found in Well-Known Paleolithic Cave Shelter in Spain

“This [trepanation] involves rubbing a rough-surfaced lithic [stone] instrument against the cranial vault, gradually eroding it along all its edges to create the hole,” said Sonia Díaz-Navarro, corresponding author on the paper from the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology, and Anthropology at the University of Valladolid.

“To perform this surgery, the affected individual likely had to be strongly immobilized by other members of the community or previously treated with a psychoactive substance that would alleviate pain or render them unconscious,” she said, adding that plants with natural antibacterial properties must have been used to prevent the obvious and serious risk of infection

Two overlapping holes were discovered between the woman’s temple and the top of her ear. The first was 2.1 inches wide by 1.2 inches long, and the second was smaller, at 1.3 by 0.47 inches, created into the already-healed bone tissue of the first trepanation.

ANOTHER CASE OF PREHISTORIC SURGERY: Evidence of Amputation in Prehistoric Times Shows Patient Surviving for a Decade–Proves Medical Expertise Existed

The authors determined that it must have been this rubbing or scraping technique that was used, rather than drilling, as it was safer and presented a lower risk of bleeding out. Despite the obvious difficulty in the act, the authors note that the whole literature of ancient or prehistoric surgery has demonstrated little detectable error in the use of the bladed stones.

While holes in her head were not the result of a wound inflicted by another human or animal, the authors can’t rule out the possibility that the surgery was performed as the result of a wound or injury, as other skeletons in the Camino de Molino bear signs of trauma.

Ramaswamy: I Have Been Sounding Alarm on Northern Border

'EVIL COMES FROM THE NORTH'

THE LOG LADY, TWIN PEAKS

By Nicole Wells    |   Wednesday, 22 November 2023 

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, repeated his concerns about security at the U.S. border with Canada shortly after a vehicle exploded in a possible terrorist attack at a Niagara Falls, New York, border checkpoint on Wednesday.

The Republican presidential candidate told Fox News he has been calling for "secure" borders and reiterated his message about the northern border, which he described as the "new frontier of the border crisis."

"I have been sounding the alarm bell about the northern border for a long time," Ramaswamy said. "I visited the northern border earlier; I'm the only presidential candidate to do it. That's where the new frontier of the border crisis is actually going. We have a bad crisis at the northern border."

"More fentanyl was captured at the northern border last year than could kill 3 million Americans," he continued. "And, in fact, in New Hampshire last fall, there was a Brazilian ex-military man who was captured and apprehended who had killed 11 people. So this is a mounting crisis. We are ignoring it.

"The crisis at the southern border needs to be dealt with, but it can't cause complacency to the northern border either. I think it's sad what’s happening."

The blast at Rainbow Bridge, which connects the United States to Canada across the Niagara River, reportedly occurred on the U.S. side of the crossing. Ramaswamy said the facts are "evolving," but border security should be increased regardless.

"These are facts that are evolving in real time," he said. "But I want to take the lessons we can learn early on. The security at that northern border ... it's not nearly as serious as the southern border, and I think we need to take that more seriously. Border security goes for all security near the border, not just the other side but on ours as well.

"And we have a situation in the country. We have a number of people, tens of thousands, who have entered the country with bad intentions — and not just coming from the southern border, they are coming from the northern border, too," he said. 

"So I do think protecting our homeland has not been a priority for a long time, frankly, in either political party," Ramaswamy continued. "That needs to change now. I hope that we will get more facts as the situation evolves, but this is unfortunately another startling reminder of that reality."

The vehicle explosion on Wednesday caused four border crossings in the area to be shut down, authorities said.

The two occupants of the vehicle were killed in the blast when it went the wrong way into an inspection booth; one border protection agent suffered injuries that were not life-threatening in the explosion as well.

The car explosion came at the height of the pre-Thanksgiving travel rush, which is forecast to be the third-busiest since 2000. According to AAA, 55.4 million Americans are expected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, which is an increase of 2.3% over last year.

 

Fighting for Israel does not shield Druze from marginalisation, demolition orders

While Israel’s Druze minority serves in the military and fights and dies for the country, many of them say their communities are marginalised and deprived of public investment.

Thursday 23/11/2023

A woman walks past a mural depicting Lebanese Druze politician Walid Jumblatt (bottom, R) and Syrian Druze nationalist leader Sultan al-Atrash, in the predominantly Druze city of Beit Jann, Israel. AFP

Beit Jann, Israel

In black robes, white moustaches and traditional hats, Druze religious elders stood before the coffin of Israeli soldier Adi Malik Harb, killed fighting Hamas militants in Gaza.

But while Israel’s Druze minority serve in the military and fight and die for the country, many of them say their communities are marginalised and deprived of public investment while families are fined crippling sums for building homes due to selective enforcement of planning rules.

Around 150,000 Druze, Arab adherents of an esoteric offshoot of Shia Islam, live in Israel. Most identify as Israelis and the men, not women, are conscripted into the military, many serving in combat units.

The Druze community is concentrated in 16 villages in northern Israel, among them Beit Jann, where Harb’s funeral took place on Sunday.

“Don’t Adi’s friends and acquaintances deserve to work and raise a home in Beit Jann without interference, without worrying about orders and fines?” the Druze religious leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif said at the funeral.

At least six Druze soldiers were among the 390 Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.

That has renewed debate around the contentious Nation State law which in 2018 enshrined Israel’s primary status as a state for Jews, legislation that Druze and other Arab citizens, find denigrating.

·    Demolition orders

Activists say that after decades of underinvestment Druze villagers have to contend with poor electricity networks, sewage systems and roads.

Residents are rarely granted permits to build houses, and according to Salah Abu Rukun, one of the leaders of a months-long Druze protest against demolition orders, around two-third of Druze homes in Israel were built without proper permits in recent decades, leaving them under constant threat of demolition orders or huge fines.

The Druze are “left with very limited private lands that cannot provide for the continued existence of the Druze community with its character and its villages”, he said.

Increased enforcement since a 2017 law to deter unregulated construction in recent years had become “insufferable”, he added.

Nisreen Abu Asale, a lawyer from Beit Jann, said residents were left with no choice but to live in houses without permits.

“We don’t want to leave our community, culture or religion,” she said, adding that urban planning had not moved on for decades.

“We’re living on the needs from 20 or 30 years ago.”

In practice, houses are rarely demolished, but financial penalties are enforced rigorously.

Ashraf Halabi, a basketball trainer at Haifa’s Technion University is paying off around 600,000 shekels (more than $160,000) in fines for building his home and a swimming pool, where he has held swimming classes for local youth, on his land on the outskirts of Beit Jann.

“Who needs to demolish the building, they are destroying our wallets, destroying the bank account,” he told AFP.

“We have mobilisation orders and we have demolition orders. These are the two things we excel at, unfortunately,” he added.

·    “Racist and inconsiderate”

Selective enforcement of the planning laws is indicative of the increased marginalisation of non-Jewish minorities in Israel under right-wing governments in recent years, activists say.

In 2018, parliament passed the “Nation-State law” which declared that only Jews had a “right to national self determination in the State of Israel” and downgraded Arabic from an official language to one with a “special status”.

The Druze vociferously opposed the Nation-State Law. Beit Jann Mayor Radi Najam calls it a “racist, unequal and inconsiderate of anyone who isn’t Jewish”.

But the law has come under increasing scrutiny as Druze fight and die in the war.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel last week appointed a Druze attorney to advise on the issue of planning and housing in Druze communities. On Monday, a Knesset committee green-lit 1,000 new housing units in the Druze village of Daliat al-Carmel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the Druze were “a precious community. They are fighting, they are falling in combat” and pledged to “give them everything they deserve”.

Majdi Hatib runs a restaurant and therapeutic horse farm outside Beit Jann, and says he served four months in prison for non-payment of building fines.

A former combat soldier, he provides an Iron Dome missile battery detachment near his land with food and showers.

“Whether it’s deliberate discrimination or not doesn’t matter to me,” he said. “Just as I fought for my country, and I love my country, I will fight for my rights.”

His house was built decades ago by his father, without a permit, and his adult son lives under the same roof.

“Whom will he wait for?” he asked. “For God? The Messiah? For them to come and solve our problems?”

 

Oil firms will face ‘moment of truth’ about climate crisis at COP28

In a report, the Paris-based energy watchdog said the industry’s engagement has been “minimal” so far, accounting for less than one percent of global clean energy investment.

Friday 24/11/2023

VIENNA

 

Oil and gas firms will face a crucial choice at UN climate talks next week between contributing to the climate crisis or embracing the clean energy transition, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.

The future of fossil fuels that play a massive role in climate change will be at the heart of COP28 negotiations in Dubai, as the world struggles to meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“The oil and gas industry is facing a moment of truth at COP28 in Dubai,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said ahead of the November 30-December 12 conference.

“With the world suffering the impacts of a worsening climate crisis, continuing with business as usual is neither socially nor environmentally responsible,” he said.

In a report, the Paris-based energy watchdog said the industry’s engagement has been “minimal” so far, accounting for less than one percent of global clean energy investment.

It invested $20 billion in clean energy last year, or just 2.7 percent of its total capital spending.

To meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C target, the oil and gas sector must devote 50 percent of its investments on clean energy projects by 2030.

By comparison, $800 billion is invested in the oil and gas sector each year.

While investment in oil and gas supply is still needed, the figure is twice as high as what should be spent to respect the Paris goals, the agency said.

“Producers must choose between contributing to a deepening climate crisis or becoming part of the solution by embracing the shift to clean energy,” the IEA said.

• Oil sector stalling

 

Oil and gas use would fall by 75 percent by 2050 if governments successfully pursued the 1.5C target and emissions from the energy sector reached net zero by then, the report said.

Instead of cutting fossil fuels outright, oil giants have touted several once-marginal technologies as promising solutions to cut emissions.

They include carbon capture and storage (CCS), direct air capture and carbon credit trading.

CCS prevents CO2 from entering the atmosphere by siphoning exhaust from power plants, while direct air capture pulls CO2 from thin air.

Both technologies have been demonstrated to work, but remain far from maturity and commercial scalability.

“The industry needs to commit to genuinely helping the world meet its energy needs and climate goals, which means letting go of the illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture are the solution,” Birol said.

The think tank Carbon Tracker said in September that oil and gas sector emission reduction pledges have stalled and in some cases gone backwards.

Oil major BP watered down a previous 2030 production cut target and Shell said its “liquids” output would remain stable, both angering climate campaigners.

– Tripling renewables capacity –

Campaigners have raised concerns over the influence of fossil fuel interests at the UN climate conference, noting that COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber is both UAE climate envoy and head of state-owned oil firm ADNOC.

Jaber has proposed tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

“The fossil fuel sector must make tough decisions now, and their choices will have consequences for decades to come,” Birol said.

“Clean energy progress will continue with or without oil and gas producers. However, the journey to net zero emissions will be more costly, and harder to navigate, if the sector is not on board.”

Get ready for austerity part two: 

Economists warn the UK should brace itself for public spending cuts on the scale of George Osborne's measures following Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement

Ministers would have to find £20 billion in 2028/29 to avoid cuts

By HARRIET LINE DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR
PUBLISHED 23 November 2023 

Britain should brace itself for public spending cuts on the scale of George Osborne's austerity measures, a group of economists warned yesterday.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies said Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement tax cuts will be paid for by 'planned real cuts in public service spending'.

Ministers would have to find £20billion in 2028/29 to avoid cuts to government departments such as justice and local government.

The Chancellor yesterday said he wanted to create a 'more productive state, not a bigger one' as he outlined his plan to grow the economy. But IFS economists claimed Mr Hunt had 'pencilled in numbers that suggest he wants to try to wrestle the size of the state back down towards where it was in 2019' before the pandemic.

They warned his plans were 'broadly comparable in scale' to Mr Osborne's controversial austerity programme when he was chancellor between 2010 and 2016.

Jeremy Hunt meets apprentices on the Airbus A350 wing manufacturing production line during a visit to the Airbus Broughton plant in Chester on November 23, 2023


IFS economists claimed Mr Hunt had 'pencilled in numbers that suggest he wants to try to wrestle the size of the state back down towards where it was in 2019' before the pandemic. They warned his plans were 'broadly comparable in scale' to Mr Osborne's controversial austerity programme when he was chancellor (File Photo)

Ben Zaranko, senior research economist at the IFS, said: 'During the early 2010s, non-health budgets were cut by just shy of 3 per cent per year in real terms.

'We've shown that on a set of what we think are credible assumptions, unprotected budgets could be facing cuts of around 3 per cent or so each year post-2025.'

Mr Zaranko said that Mr Hunt's proposals were 'broadly similar' but cautioned that there will be 'much less fat to trim to begin with'.

He added: 'We can expect some very real impacts – particularly as the pandemic has added some pressure to some of those budgets.'

Downing Street yesterday played down concerns that public spending plans for the next parliament will damage services.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman said last night: 'Total departmental spending will be £85billion higher in real terms over the next five years compared to the start of this parliament.

'Departmental spending will continue to grow. You've also heard the Chancellor talk about the need to improve productivity and to reduce the size of the civil service.'

The spokesman also rejected suggestions that cuts to public spending would be similar in scale to the peak years of austerity. He said: 'I don't think when departmental spending is significantly increasing that is a claim that adds up.'



Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt presenting his Autumn Budget Statement at the House of Commons, in London, on November 22, 2023

The spokesman went on to say that significant sums are being invested into 'priority areas' such as the NHS.

The IFS was more positive about the Chancellor's two major tax cuts announced in his Autumn Statement – reducing employee national insurance contributions by 2p and making full expensing in corporation tax permanent.

However Paul Johnson, the institute's director, said: 'Yet the projected tax burden is still set to reach 37.7 per cent of GDP by the end of the forecast period – its highest ever level in the UK.

'Effectively those cuts offset the additional revenue generated by that additional inflation.'

He also said the economy would be 'no bigger' in a few years' time than the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was forecasting in March but with 'higher debt interest spending, and with new tax cuts, and with debt falling by a similarly tiny margin to that previously forecast'.

The Resolution Foundation yesterday said this Parliament is 'on track to be the first in which real household disposable incomes have fallen'. It said disposable incomes will have dropped by 3.1 per cent from December 2019 to January 2025, meaning households will be £1,900 poorer on average at the end of this Parliament than at its start.

Meanwhile, the OBR said ministers are on course to miss by £8.6 billion the welfare cap, which sets a limit on the amount the Government can spend on certain social security benefits. However, the OBR has to make only a 'formal assessment' of performance against the cap in the first budget of a Parliament.

Europe's Ariane 6 rocket rated 'ready to rumble' after passing hot fire test

Still not reusable, but at least it's getting closer to long-delayed launch

Simon Sharwood
Fri 24 Nov 2023

The Ariane 6 launcher has successfully conducted a hot fire test –, an important achievement for the Arianespace and the European Space Agency (ESA).

"ESA's new Ariane 6 rocket passed a major full-scale rehearsal today [November 23] in preparation for its first flight, when teams on the ground went through a complete launch countdown followed by a seven-minute full firing of the core stage's engine, as it would fire on a launch into space," states an ESA announcement posted in the wee small hours on Friday the 24 and thrillingly titled "Hot fire: Ariane 6 ready to rumble."

The test, the longest "full stack" run for Ariane 6's lower liquid propulsion module with a Vulcain 2.1 engine, was conducted on the launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

"The teams from ArianeGroup, CNES and ESA have now run through every step of the rocket's flight without it leaving Earth," explained ESA director general Josef Aschbacher, who declared success means "We are back on track towards resecuring Europe's autonomous access to space."

That outcome is not yet certain, as the ESA has planned another hot-fire test of the rocket's upper stage for December 2023.

But the success of this test is good news. The ESA flew the last Ariane 5 in July 2023, leaving it with only the Vega launcher family and its modest payload capacity of 2,300kg. Ariane 5 could carry 20,000kg to low Earth orbit (LEO) – capacity that made it competitive with SpaceX's Falcon 9. The 64 variant of Ariane 6 is specced to haul 21.6 tonnes to LEO, 12T into geostationary orbit, 8.5T into a lunar transfer orbit, or 7.6T for an "Earth escape mission."

Elon Musk's space concern is one reason Ariane 6 was developed – the new rocket lowers costs to compete better with SpaceX's re-usable launchers.

Among the tweaks used to cut costs for Ariane 6 is the Vulcain 2.1 – a modification of the Vulcain 2 engine used on the Ariane 5. Vulcain 2.1 boasts what the ESA describes as "a simplified and cheaper design, and new technology in the engine nozzle and ignition system has been moved from the engine to the launchpad structure, to make the stage perform better and cost less."

But the Euro-rocket was slow to launch, blowing its development budget and slipping well behind its projected 2020 target for a maiden flight.

It's now hoped Ariane 6 will fly in 2024.

Which will be a relief for Arianespace, given it's in the launch business. And also good news for ESA member nations, as they realize that sovereign launch capability is necessary for national security. Astroboffins will also be smiling at the prospect of future ESA science missions riding the rocket, instead of having to fly with SpaceX. ®

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 UK

Boots offloads £4.8bn pension pot paving way for sale revival

• High Street chemist was put up for sale with a £7billion price tag last year
• But US owner Walgreens Boots Alliance backtracked a few months later
• Experts say pension scheme deal could make it easier for Walgreens to sell 

By CITY & FINANCE REPORTER

UPDATED: 24 November 2023

Boots has sold its pension scheme to Legal & General for £4.8billion, clearing the way for a potential sale of the 174-year-old pharmacy chain.

The High Street chemist was put up for sale with a £7billion price tag last year but US owner Walgreens Boots Alliance backtracked a few months later.

It said an 'unexpected and dramatic change' in market conditions had caused it to scrap the sales process

Experts said yesterday that the pension scheme deal, which was one of the largest of its kind, could make it easier for Walgreens to sell.

Private equity giants Apollo, TDR Capital and Sycamore made pitches for Boots when it was on the market early last year.

+1

Iron grip: Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina, Walgreens shareholder, and his partner Ornella Barra

Walgreens later said no third party was able to make an adequate offer due to the turmoil in global financial markets.

Former Boots corporate finance boss John Ralfe said selling the retirement pot had removed a 'stumbling block' to a sale. But he warned that 'it doesn't make the underlying fundamentals more attractive'.

Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said Walgreens could 'revive' a sale as 'you could argue that the picture is a bit different now'. He said inflation is cooling, interest rates may be peaking, and the stock and bond markets 'are rallying amid wider optimism'.

'From the point of view of any buyer, the fewer liabilities that come with an asset, the more attractive it might be. When a firm buys another company, it inherits not just its assets but its liabilities as well, including debt, leases and any pension deficit.'

Legal & General will take over responsibility for Boots' defined benefit scheme following the deal. It insures all 53,000 members in the Boots pension scheme, making it the largest single transaction of its kind.

Boots will bring forward around £170m of payments it had already agreed to funnel into the scheme and will hand over an extra £500m. The company said it explored 'a range' of options and this is 'the best way to safeguard members' benefit against market uncertainty, improved life expectancies and other risks'. A previous agreement by Walgreens to guarantee the scheme has been scrapped and replaced with a smaller, temporary guarantee.

Baker, chairman of trustees for the scheme, said: 'This agreement with Legal & General gives added protection to our members' long-term benefits by removing market uncertainty and other financial exposures. 'We welcome the additional payment from Boots in addition to the sum it has already committed. As a result, the scheme will not be reliant on Boots to pay benefits for members and pensions will be protected for decades to come.'

Boots managing director Sebastian James said: 'This will provide greater certainty to both the scheme members and to Boots.'

Walgreens, which bought Boots in 2014, is under pressure to sell the chemist to focus on its US business. Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina is the largest single shareholder in Walgreens Boots Alliance, which is one of the world's biggest pharmacy chains.

It is listed on the US stock market but Pessina and his partner Ornella Barra retain an iron grip on the company. The 82-year-old was chief executive of the US retail chain for five years before stepping into the role of executive chairman in 2020.

Pessina built his pharmacy empire in the 1970s and 1980s to create Alliance Sante. He merged it with Britain's Unichem in 1997 before buying Boots in 2006.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

UK
REPORT: Entain shares in reverse after £585m bribery fine

By JOHN ABIONA
 24 November 2023

Shares in Entain dipped after it agreed to pay £585m following a bribery probe into its former Turkish business.

In August, the Ladbrokes and Coral owner told shareholders it had set aside the sum following a Bribery Act investigation by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) that began four years ago.

Authorities investigated the Turkish business that had been sold in 2017 by Entain's previous management, GVC, alongside the activities of former suppliers and employees.

The blue-chip firm was fined for failing to have robust measures in place to prevent bribery.

Entain said it agreed a deal with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to pay the figure over four years. It will also hand £20m to charity and pay £10m to cover the costs of HMRC and the CPS.

Probe: Entain was fined for failing to have robust measures in place to prevent bribery

Entain chairman Barry Gibson said: 'This legacy matter concerns a business which was sold by a former management team six years ago. The Group has changed immeasurably since these events took place.' Shares sank 0.6 per cent, or 5.4p, to 859p.

Gambling stocks were dealt a further blow after HSBC sounded the alarm over a weak set of third-quarter results.

The broker said Entain is struggling to get a grip on a cocktail of woes from an underperforming UK business to tighter regulation and higher tax.

HSBC reduced the target price to 1280p from 1520p but kept its 'buy' rating on the stock as it believes there remains value but warned a turnaround of the business will take time.

Amsterdam Protest: A Stand Against Discrimination in the Wake of Far-Right Victory

By: Justice Nwafor
Published: Nov 24, 2023 


In Amsterdam, a city known for its liberal values and multiculturalism, over a thousand voices came together in a resonant protest against discrimination. This demonstration, fuelled by the recent electoral triumph of a far-right party, was a public outcry against the rising tide of discriminatory and anti-immigrant sentiments that have come to be associated with the far-right in the Netherlands. The event, named ‘Together for Solidarity’, saw a diverse collective of organizations and individuals rallying to express their opposition to the political shift and its potential implications.

A Unified Front Against Discrimination

Organizers of the ‘Together for Solidarity’ protest included prominent international entities like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, alongside local groups supporting gay rights, the arts, peace, and refugees. Anti-racism activists and left-leaning political parties also joined the protest, constructing a unified front against the far-right’s platform. In addition, Muslim groups have announced a demonstration slated for December 2nd, to further express their opposition against the rising ‘populism and sowing of hate’.

Political Shift and Its Implications

The electoral success of Geert Wilders’ PVV Freedom Party, which won a staggering 37 seats in parliament, has stunned the Dutch establishment. Despite a toned-down rhetoric during the election campaign, the party’s manifesto, which advocates for a ban on mosques and the Koran, has ignited concerns about the potential social climate in the country. Hundreds of people gathered in Amsterdam and Utrecht to protest against fascism, Islamophobia, racism, and anti-queer hatred in the aftermath of the election results.

Human Rights at Stake

The Dutch branch of Amnesty International, in a statement released on Thursday, noted that ‘human rights lost’ as the PVV took the lead in the general elections held on November 22. Highlighting the party’s anti-immigrant stance, the statement emphasized how the election manifesto of Wilders’ party undermined the rule of law and the constitution. The far-right’s victory has taken pollsters and politicians across Europe by surprise, and the Dutch people’s reaction to this shift is a testament to the ongoing debates about immigration, national identity, and social cohesion within Dutch society.