UNION SHOP
Sainsbury’s to hike hourly pay for 120,000 staff across UK

Anna Wise, PA
Thu, 4 January 2024




Sainsbury’s has revealed plans to hike the hourly wages of 120,000 staff as part of £200 million worth of investment in pay increases.

The supermarket chain, which also owns Argos, said hourly paid employees will see their salaries increase from £11 per hour to £12 per hour in March.

Staff in London, where living costs are typically higher, will be paid £13.15 per hour, up from £11.95.


The National Living Wage is set to rise from £10.42 to £11.44 from April, and for the first time will apply to 21 and 22-year-olds.

The move from Sainsbury’s will mean its staff are paid 56p more per hour than the Government minimum wage, and a month earlier than the official rate comes into effect.

The UK’s Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was “great to see Sainsbury’s rewarding hard work” with the nationwide pay increase.

Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said: “Our colleagues do a brilliant job delivering for our customers every day and at the same time they are continuing to face the rising costs of living.

“So, in addition to investing to keep our prices low for customers, I’m delighted to confirm an industry-leading pay increase again this year for all our hourly paid colleagues.”

The retail giant has increased employee pay by 50% since 2018 and by 9% since last year.

It also offers workers free food during shifts, and a discount of 15% for Sainsbury’s staff every Friday and Saturday and Argos staff every payday.

Bally Auluk, the national officer of trade union USDAW, said: “The continuing strong working relationship between USDAW and Sainsbury’s has resulted in an inflation-busting pay award of over 9%, despite inflation falling and following on from the significant pay increases over the previous couple of years.”

Sainsbury’s injects £200m for staff pay as bumper Christmas helps stave off Lidl and Aldi threats


Laura McGuire
Thu, 4 January 2024 

Sainsbury's has been battling it out to retain customers hit by inflation. The relaunch of Sainsbury’s Nectar card, which now offers customers lower prices on 300 items, represents an attempt to gain ground back

Some 120,000 employees at Sainsbury’s and Argos are set to have their hourly wage increase, as the supermarket injects £200m into improving pay.

Staff at the ‘Big Four’ grocer will now be handed £12 per hour, in line with the Real Living Wage. For workers in London this will leap to £13.15.

Sainsbury’s has increased pay by 50 per cent since 2018 and by nine per cent in the last year. Employees are expected to see the increase come March.

Simon Roberts, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, said that for a full time colleague, this is an extra £1,910 a year.

“This increase is well ahead of inflation and the government’s 2024 national living wage of £11.44,” he said.

“We continue to lead our industry in the level of reward and benefits we provide for our people and this remains a clear priority for us at Sainsbury’s.”

“We believe well rewarded, engaged colleagues deliver the best service and attracting and retaining the best talent will be crucial to our success in delivering the next phase of our business strategy,” he added.

Sainsbury’s said the investment of £200m brings the three year total investment in colleague pay to over £500m.

In recent years the British retailer has had to compete with German discounters Lidl and Aldi, who are amongst the highest payers for supermarket roles.

Inflation led prices rises also weakened consumer confidence in the brand as shoppers feared big players in the grocery space were not passing cost cuts on to customers.

However, Sainsbury’s was one of the big winners over the Christmas period with the company’s market share hitting 15 per cent over the festive per

Britain's artillery assembly lines whir back to life amid global warfare

Matt Oliver
Thu, 4 January 2024 


The M777 howitzer is a 155mm gun capable of hitting targets up to 30 kilometres away - AP Photo/Libkos, File

The last M777 howitzer to be made in Britain rolled off the production line early last year, as BAE Systems quietly concluded that demand for the towed guns had dried up.

But soon the lines will be fired up again as heavy use of the towed-artillery pieces by Ukrainian forces against Russia revives interest in them.

Kyiv was given the lightweight guns by the US, Canada and Australia and many are now in need of refurbishment or repair.


But BAE is hoping that restarting production will create economies of scale, prompting other customers to bolster their own arsenals with new orders for full guns.

It is the latest boost to Britain’s booming defence industry, which has benefitted from a rush of orders in the past two years as rising global tensions fuel more spending on defence.

That was reflected in Britain’s stock market on Tuesday, the first day of trading in 2024, when shares in UK defence companies surged to a new record.

“There’s a pressure to compete and keep up and maintain an advantage”, says James Black, assistant director for defence and security research at RAND Europe.

The shift towards re-armament was under way before the Ukraine war, he explains, but it is undoubtedly being accelerated by the conflict, as well as the recent Israel-Gaza war, attacks on ships by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, and China’s growing assertiveness toward the West.

Since the 1990s, most of the wars fought by Nato countries were either counter-insurgency operations or against foes who were vastly outgunned by western forces.

In these conflicts, for example against the Taliban in Afghanistan or Saddam Hussein’s forces in Iraq, the UK and its allies could count on having superior air power.

But that will all change in western confrontations with the likes of Russia and China, which are peer competitors with air defences and advanced warfighting capabilities of their own.

“The Taliban, or ISIS or whoever, didn’t have air forces of their own and they didn’t have any meaningful kind of ground-based air defences,” says Black.

“So in that context, Nato got quite used to operating in places like Iraq and Afghanistan with air power rather than artillery as the one of the primary tools that it would fall back upon for any given kind of mission.

“If troops in Afghanistan were on a patrol, and they were engaged by the Taliban and they needed support, they would probably have been more likely to call in an Apache helicopter for support, with missiles and guns on it.

“That all changes as soon as you’re fighting someone like Russia, because you don’t have uncontested superiority of the domain.

“So there is a need to shift back towards territorial defence, towards preparing for large-scale conventional warfighting against near-peer adversaries – rather than against non-state actors and terrorists.”

Both Russia and China have spent the past two decades beefing up their armed forces and modernising them. They have also developed weapons designed to target the gaps in Nato’s armour, such as the alliance’s dependence on satellite systems and US aircraft carriers.

In Ukraine, the challenges posed by a peer competitor like Russia have been starkly illustrated.

But the war has also highlighted the importance of having mobile artillery platforms, for example, in situations where air strikes are far more difficult and expensive.

Russia has been firing up to an estimated 60,000 shells a day, while Ukraine was reportedly firing 6,000 back at the height of its counter-offensive last year.

“You can’t rely on air power….So in that context, artillery becomes key,” Black adds.

It gives forces longer range, allowing them to attack and suppress ground forces, or fire defensively at closer range, engaging in “shoot and scoop” manoeuvres where the guns are quickly deployed, fired and then driven away at speed to a new position.

They can also engage in “deep battle” – the targeting of higher-value targets at the back of enemy lines such as ammo depots, logistic hubs, fuel depots, command and control centres, or infrastructure such as bridges and railway sidings.

“That then gets you into an artillery duel, where both sides are trying to use artillery to shape the battle” says Black.

In this way, Ukraine has acted as something of a showcase for the most effective western weapons, from shoulder-fired Starstreak and NLAW missiles to Leopard 2 tanks and Patriot missile defence systems.

“Weapons that get visibility and credibility during a conflict often generate foreign sales,” Mark Cancian, an adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

It has also prompted Nato countries to focus on improving and modernising their arsenal of “fires” – mobile guns, tanks and missile launchers.

On the battlefield in Ukraine, soldiers have reportedly come to favour the M777, which must be towed into position, for its reliability and the speed with which it can be moved.

The guns are made of a titanium-aluminium alloy and so weigh only 4.5 tonnes, which is lightweight for artillery.

But intensive use by Ukrainian forces now means some will soon need repairs or refurbishment, which is the primary goal of the $50m contract sealed by BAE and the US Army.

It comes off the back of a separate contract inked last year with the American military to produce a string of other components for the M777, which has around 1,500 parts including the three large chassis pieces.

“The gun is performing well,” says John Borton, vice president and general manager of BAE Weapons Systems UK, which manages the manufacture and assembly of the M777 lightweight howitzers.

“But everything has an engineering useful life attached to it, and because of the rate of usage we’re seeing actually we’re getting close to a point we haven’t seen before.”

Now that BAE is restarting production, at least eight unnamed countries are understood to have expressed an interest in placing new orders for the guns.

“Everybody’s looking at how they look forward to having a well-rounded military capability,” Borton adds.

For now, he is remaining tight-lipped about whether the US Army deal could lead to howitzers being built once again at Barrow-in-Furness.

However, other deals struck with the UK Government to restock national ammunition supplies, including 155mm shells used by the M777s, have already led to expansion at another one of BAE’s facilities in North East England.

And the M777 is expected to involve at least some UK manufacturing.

“We have a mix of the US and the UK supply chain,” Borton says. “And therefore UK jobs and US jobs will support the [M777] programme, as well as bringing some critical capabilities into the UK with regards to titanium fabrication.”

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Telegraph bidder vows Abu Dhabi will be ‘passive investor’


August Graham, PA Business Reporter
Fri, 5 January 2024 



The company which is bidding to own The Daily Telegraph has said the newspaper’s journalists would have complete editorial freedom from its backers in Abu Dhabi.

Former CNN executive Jeff Zucker, who is leading the bid, told the BBC that United Arab Emirates deputy prime minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan would be a “passive investor”.

The sheikh is providing around three quarters of the money needed to buy the newspaper title and its sister publication The Sunday Telegraph.


Last year the Government got involved in the deal, amid worries that the authoritarian Gulf State could get a say over the journalism of an influential UK paper.

Mr Zucker, who works for investor RedBird IMI, said the bid was “American led”.

“We are confident that our commitments and the incredibly robust legally underpinned editorial protections that we have submitted will be sufficient to address any concerns,” he told the BBC.

“I think that taken collectively, there’s no UK newspaper that has stronger protections of editorial independence,” Mr Zucker said.

He promised to set up an editorial trust board which would ensure the titles’ independence and handle disputes.

The deal, which also includes The Spectator magazine, was hammered out after the Telegraph’s then owners the Barclay family did not pay back a £1 billion loan to Lloyds Bank.

The bank seized the titles and started trying to find someone to buy them.

However the Barclays were later able to pay off the debts and reclaim them thanks to money from Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

As part of that deal the Barclays agreed to transfer ownership to RedBird IMI, which is set up as a joint venture between US investor RedBird Capital and Abu Dhabi’s International Media Investments.

UK

Migrant workers paid below minimum wage or 'given meals only' at Balham restaurant

Jordan King
Sat, 6 January 2024 at 7:41 am GMT-7·2-min read

A south London restaurant has been stripped of its late-night licence after it was exposed for exploiting migrant workers.

The owner of Lebanese Garden Lounge on Balham High Road has been fined nearly £15,000 after the establishment was found to have employed five people without a legal right to work in the UK.

The workers said they were being paid well below the minimum wage, while one man said he was only receiving meals from the restaurant as pay.

The restaurant was raided by Home Office officials on March 10 last year.

The Home Office successfully applied to have the establishment’s late-night licence revoked from Wandsworth Borough Council last June and the owner, Karim Ali, appealed.

But just before Christmas his appeal was rejected, meaning the venue is no longer allowed to sell late-night refreshments after 11pm.

Mr Ali has also been ordered to pay the council’s legal costs, which amounts to just under £15,000.

Head of Licensing Caroline Sharkey said: “This case sends out two strong messages to licence holders that they must not employ people whose immigration status means they are not allowed to work and they must not exploit any staff members by paying them less than the minimum wage.

“Business owners who flout these simple rules run the very real risk of losing their licence.”

The council said Mr Ali denied claims that his staff were working illegally, but was able to "offer no evidence to support his denials and no adequate explanation was given for his paying employees less than the minimum wage".

"Mr Ali disputed the wage rates given by employees when they had been interviewed by the Home Office Enforcement Team. He insisted that all employees were paid at least the minimum wage and food was not included as part of their pay," the licencing sub-committee decision said.

"One man was on a trial shift and was not being paid but did receive a free meal at the end of the shift."

But the council committee "felt that paying less than minimum wage is indicative that Mr Ali was aware that his employees did not have the right to work in the UK", the decision stated.

It added: "It was clear that such workers would struggle to find alternative employment and are unlikely to complain. It was found that it was most likely that the licence holder did know that workers were being employed illegally."

The Home Office has been approached for comment.

Selfridges tycoon’s property empire auctions off doormats in scramble for cash


Riya Makwana
Fri, 5 January 2024 

Rene Benko was ousted from Signa late last year - GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty Images

The troubled property empire founded by the Selfridges tycoon Rene Benko is auctioning off doormats and coat hangers in a bid to raise funds.

Assets owned by Signa are up for sale as it battles a cash crunch that forced the company into insolvency in November last year, with administrators also seeking €350m (£301m) from investors.

The request for cash was made in December, the Financial Times reported, as Signa’s administrator Erhard Grossnigg urged investors to provide money “quickly” to help tide the business over until April.

It comes as 465 Signa products were recently put up for sale online, including branded snow globes, office plants and dustbins. Some items costing as little as €3 have received bids of up to €500.

Signa snow globes are among auction items fetching hundreds of euros

Aurena, the Austrian company running the auction, said in an online listing: “Anyone who would like to secure a small share of the prestigious Signa properties can bid on elaborately designed project brochures, images or 3D building models from Park Hyatt Vienna.”

“Less glamorous items such as a Signa doormat, Signa clothes hangers or office supplies are also being auctioned.”

The collapse of Signa has left many firms facing steep losses, including a host of European banks that lent Mr Benko’s empire almost £7bn.

Bidding for Signa branded doormats is currently at €650

Among those most exposed is the Austrian bank Raiffeisen, which is thought to have lent Signa more than €750m, and the Swiss lender Julius Baer, which is reportedly on the hook for €640m. Italy’s Unicredit, Credit Suisse, and Germany’s Commerzbank are also believed to be facing heavy losses.

It emerged earlier this week Mr Benko also risks losing his luxury alpine villa after tax officials placed a claim against the property.

Mr Benko was ousted from Signa late last year.

The embattled property company had amassed some of the world’s most iconic properties, including the Chrysler Building in New York and Berlin’s KaDeWe luxury department store - some of which could be up for grabs in a looming fire sale.

Signa boomed in the era of cheap debt, although high interest rates and plummeting valuations pushed the company to the brink.

The business bought Selfridges in a £4bn deal in 2021 with Thailand’s Central Group.

However, the Thai retailer has since seized control of the British retailer after it became a majority shareholder in November last year.

Signa was contacted for comment.

McDonald’s: Middle East boycott over free meals for Israeli soldiers hits sales

Laura McGuire
Fri, 5 January 2024 

McDonald’s chief executive, Chris Kempczinski, has blamed “misinformation” surrounding the Israel-Gaza war for flattening sales in the Middle-East.

McDonald’s chief executive, Chris Kempczinski, has blamed “misinformation” surrounding the Israel-Gaza war for flattening sales in the Middle-East.

In a post on LinkedIn, the head of the fast food chain said calls for boycott have led to “meaningful business impact”.

Kempczinski, said: “Several markets in the Middle East and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war and associated misinformation that is affecting brands like McDonald’s.

“This is disheartening and ill-founded In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens.”

The popular chain has been scrutinised by pro-Palestinian groups after it emerged that McDonald’s gave free meals to Israeli soldiers following the October 7th attack on the country by Hamas.

Franchises in Saudi Arabia and Oman also issued statements distancing themselves from their Israeli counterpart and pledged millions in aid of Gaza.

McDonald’s is one of a host of high street brands which has been targeted by protestors.

Starbucks was also forced to call for peace after its stores were vandalised.

Boss Laxman Narasimhan, said: “We see protestors influenced by misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for.”

“We have worked with local authorities to ensure our partners and customers are safe. Nothing is more important. Our stance is clear. We stand for humanity.”

Some $11bn (£10bn) has been wiped off the coffee outfit’s market value amid calls for a boycott.

McDonald’s chief says anti-Israel boycotts hitting sales

Jabed Ahmed
Fri, 5 January 2024

McDonald’s CEO said ‘our hearts remain with the communities and families impacted by the war in the Middle East’ (REUTERS)

The CEO of McDonald’s, Chris Kempczinski, has said the fast food chain was seeing a “meaningful” hit to business, as customers boycott the firm in the Middle East for its perceived support of Israel.

Mr Kempczinski said calls from pro-Palestinan groups to boycott McDonald’s are based on “misinformation”.

The fast food giant has been targeted by campaigners after posts on social media showed franchised stores in Israel giving free meals to Israeli military forces following the 7 October Hamas attack.

This move sparked grassroots calls for boycotts of the brand by those angered by Israel’s military response in Gaza, prompting owners in Muslim-majority countries such as Kuwait, Malaysia and Pakistan to release statements distancing themselves.

McDonald’s operates a franchising business model, which means it relies on thousands of independent businesses to own and operate most of its more than 40,000 stores globally, with about 5 per cent located in the Middle East.

The company has said it has no position on the conflict and is not responsible for the action of its franchisees, who pay the company a fee to use its brand and recipes.

Mr Kempczinski said in a LinkedIn blog post on Thursday: “Several markets in the Middle East and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war and associated misinformation that is affecting brands like McDonald’s.

“This is disheartening and ill-founded. In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald’s is proudly represented by local owner operators who work tirelessly to serve and support their communities while employing thousands of their fellow citizens.”

“Our hearts remain with the communities and families impacted by the war in the Middle East. We abhor violence of any kind and firmly stand against hate speech, and we will always proudly open our doors to everyone,” he added.

The post from the McDonald’s boss comes as tensions over the boycotts have escalated in recent days. The pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), which had not formally targeted McDonald’s, this week officially called for a boycott of the brand.

Earlier this week, McDonald’s Malaysia sued the Malaysia BDS group for $1.3m (£1m), claiming “false and defamatory statements” had hurt its business, according to Reuters.

In response, BDS Malaysia said it "categorically denies" defaming the fast-food company.

“We cannot let this pass. Let’s show McDonald’s what grassroots boycotts can do,” the group said in a statement.

Mr Kempczinski is the second boss of a major global business to address the toll sparked by Israel-Gaza war tension. Last month, the Starbucks CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, said the company was the victim of “misrepresentation on social media of what we stand for”.

McDonald’s chief says Israel-Gaza ‘misinformation’ is hurting sales

Ayan Omar
Fri, 5 January 2024 

(PA Wire)

McDonald’s chief executive warned “misinformation” about the Israel-Gaza war is having “meaningful impact” on sales in the Middle East.

Chris Kempczinski said calls for boycott has affected the fast-food chain both in the Middle Eastern markets and “some outside of the region.”

Mr Kempczinski said: “Several markets in the Middle East and some outside the region are experiencing a meaningful business impact due to the war and associated misinformation that is affecting brands like McDonald's.”

"This is disheartening and ill-founded."

"In every country where we operate, including in Muslim countries, McDonald's is proudly represented by local owner operators,” he wrote in a blog post on LinkedIn.

The chain has been targeted by Pro-Palestine activists after McDonalds Israel said it had given thousands of free meals to the Israeli military following the October 7 Hamas attack.

The decision sparked outrage among those angered by Israel's military response in Gaza, with many calling for a boycott and protesting.

In October, protestors released mice painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag in a Birmingham branch of McDonald's.

McDonald’s franchises in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Turkey have distanced themselves from the move at the time and pledged aid to Gaza.

The Pro-Palestine organisation, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) included McDonalds in their targeted boycott list in November, which included organisations they believe “openly supported” the Israeli military.

This week they have officially called for a boycott of the chain after McDonalds in Malaysia, backed by a Saudi firm, sued the Malaysia BDS group for $1.3 million (£1 million) over “false and defamatory statements” they claim damaged their business.

In a statement the BDS group said McDonalds should end its “shameful franchise agreement” with Israel and accused McDonald's Malaysia and its Saudi owner of “desperately trying to silence voices of peaceful solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle in Malaysia.”

"We cannot let this pass. Let's show McDonald's what grassroots boycotts can do,” they added.

McDonald’s is among several other companies, including Starbucks and retail chain Zara to be hit with boycotts following the Israel-Hamas war.

Last month, Starbucks boss Laxman Narasimhan blamed “misinformation” of the company’s views for its low sales.

Fashion brand Zara was also forced pulled an ad following complaints that it contained pictures resembling images from the Israel-Hamas war.

Laser-powered spacecraft swarm to search for interstellar life


Sarah Knapton
Fri, 5 January 2024 a

An artist's impression shows the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System - European Southern Observatory

A swarm of tiny spacecraft could travel through interstellar space to reach our nearest star beyond the Sun, under plans being funded by Nasa.

Florida-based Space Initiatives is proposing sending thousands of miniature probes to Proxima B, a potentially habitable planet in the Proxima Centauri star system which is nearly 4.3 light years (or 25 trillion miles) from Earth.

With current technology, it would take around 30,000 years to reach the system, but scientists believe the nano-craft could be fitted with tiny sails and pushed by laser beams.


Professor Stephen Hawking proposed a similar idea before his death, who suggested that a 100 gigawatt beam of light could accelerate the tiny craft to speeds of 100 million miles per hour.

It would cut the journey time to around 20 years, and once there, the swarm could sweep over Proxima B, looking for signs of alien life, or even civilisations.

The idea has been picked out for funding by Nasa’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) programme which fosters pioneering ideas, and in the past, has led to developments like the Ingenuity helicopter, currently being flown on Mars.

Nasa’s Innovative Advanced Concepts programme has led to developments such as the Ingenuity helicopter, which currently being flown on Mars - Joel Kowsky/NASA

Thomas Eubanks, of Space Initiatives Inc, said: “Tiny gram-scale interstellar probes pushed by laser light are likely to be the only technology capable of reaching another star this century.

“We presuppose availability by mid-century of a laser beamer powerful enough to boost a few grams to relativistic speed, lasersails robust enough to survive launch, and terrestrial light buckets big enough to catch our optical signals.

“Then our proposed mission is to fly by our nearest neighbour, the potentially habitable world Proxima b, with a large autonomous swarm of 1000s of tiny probes.”

Although Voyager One has ventured outside the Solar System and is currently in interstellar space, no spaceship has ever reached another star system.

However, even if the swarm reached Proxima B and found signs of life, the huge distances mean it would take at least eight years for a signal to return to Earth.

The team hopes to begin testing swarms of laser-powered nanobots closer to home, such as around the Moon and in the Solar System.

Other projects selected for funding were an electric plane that could take off and land on Mars and a sample return mission to Venus using a solar aircraft.
‘NIAC inspires space-tech ideas’

Fauna Bio, a Californian company, has also been given a grant to study hibernating animals on board the International Space Station (ISS) to see if astronauts could be placed in torpor for long journeys without suffering health problems.

“The daring missions NASA undertakes for the benefit of humanity all begin as just an idea, and NIAC is responsible for inspiring many of those ideas,” said Jim Free, Nasa Associate Administrator.

“The Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars and instruments on the MarCO deep space CubeSats can trace their lineage back to NIAC, proving there is a path from creative idea to mission success.

“And, while not all these concepts will fly, NASA and our partners worldwide can learn from fresh approaches and may eventually use technologies advanced by NIAC.”

Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023

AFP
Fri, 5 January 2024 

Burnt trees are seen after illegal fires were lit by farmers in Manaquiri, Amazonas state in September 2023 (MICHAEL DANTAS)

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell by half last year, according to figures released Friday, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government bolstered environmental policing to crack down on surging destruction.

However, the news was far less bright from the crucial Cerrado savanna below the rainforest, where clear-cutting hit a new annual record last year, rising by 43 percent from 2022, according to the national space research agency's DETER surveillance program.

Satellite monitoring detected 5,152 square kilometers (nearly 2,000 square miles) of forest cover destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon last year, down 50 percent from 2022.

That still represented a loss 29 times the size of Washington DC in Brazil's share of the world's biggest rainforest, whose carbon-absorbing trees play a vital role in curbing climate change.

Meanwhile, the Cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot whose ecosystems are intricately linked with the Amazon's, lost over 7,800 square kilometers of native vegetation last year, the highest since monitoring began in 2018.

"We saw some important victories on the environment in 2023. The significant reduction in deforestation in the Amazon was a highlight," said Mariana Napolitano of environmental group WWF-Brasil.

"But unfortunately we aren't seeing the same trend in the Cerrado... That is harming the biome and the extremely important ecosystem services it provides. And we saw the impact at the end of the year, with extremely high temperatures."

Environmental groups have accused the Lula government of turning a blind eye to the destruction of the lesser-known Cerrado to appease the powerful agribusiness lobby.

The figures for both the Amazon and Cerrado were updated through December 29.

Taken together, the total area razed in the two regions was 12,980 square kilometers in 2023, down 18 percent from 2022.

After beating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a divisive election in 2022, veteran leftist Lula returned to office on January 1, 2023, vowing "Brazil is back" as a partner in the fight against climate change.

Agribusiness ally Bolsonaro (2019-2022) had drawn international criticism for presiding over a 75-percent increase in average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon versus the previous decade.

Experts say the destruction in both the Amazon and Cerrado is driven mainly by farming and cattle ranching in Brazil, the world's top exporter of soybeans and beef.

jhb/md

Greece revives 2,300 year-old palace where Alexander The Great was crowned


AFP
Fri, 5 January 2024

The ancient palace of Macedonian King Philip II and site of Alexander the Great's coronation was inaugurated by Greek officials Friday after a 16-year restoration (Sakis MITROLIDIS)

An ancient palace where Alexander The Great was crowned King of Macedonia will reopen to the public on Sunday after a 16-year 20 million euro renovation aiming to restore its past glory.

At a ceremony on Friday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the Palace of Aigai a "monument of global importance."

The 4th century BC site spreads over 15,000 square meters was one of the most important in classical Greece alongside the Parthenon in Athens.


Aigai was capital of the Macedonian kingdom, the dominant military power of the time, and archeologists say the palace was the kingdom's spiritual centre.

Built by Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, the tombs of Philip and other Macedonian kings are nearby.

After the assassination of his father, Alexander was crowned at the palace in 336 BC before launching a military campaign that created an empire stretching into modern-day India.

The palace "has a cultural and national character, because it confirms the Greek identity of Macedonia throughout the centuries," Mitsotakis said.

The site includes the royal palace and a colonnade that surrounded the palace and the agora, where ancient Macedonians debated important matters.

It was in the courtyard, with an 8,000 capacity, that Alexander was proclaimed king.

The Romans destroyed the palace in 148 BC. Excavations to uncover the site started in 1865 and continued into the 20th century.

The restoration project began in 2007 with help from the European Union.

Situated near the modern day Greek village of Vergina, the palace and the nearby tombs are listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Greece has boosted investment in its many antique sites which have become an important source of tourist revenue.

For the past three decades, it has been demanding the return of sculptures taken from the Parthenon that are in the British Museum, saying they were looted in the 19th century when Greece was under Ottoman rule.

mr-hec/yap/gv/pvh

BMA allows one junior doctor to cross picket line after hospital request


Michael Searles
Fri, 5 January 2024 

The British Medical Association has allowed one junior doctor to work in neonatal care for a single shift on Friday - Andy Rain/Shutterstock

A single striking junior doctor has been allowed to cross the picket line after around 30 requests by NHS medical directors were turned down.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said it had allowed one junior doctor to work in neonatal care for a single shift on Friday Jan 5, after University Hospital Lewisham, in south-east London, put in its second request for help to the union in two days.

Under strike protocols, hospital trusts can ask unions to allow doctors to return to work and cover shifts if patient safety is compromised. However, all other known requests have so far been rejected by the BMA.


Health authorities were also privately bracing for an increase in vulnerable patients arriving at hospitals this weekend, with cold weather alerts across England and temperatures set to plummet to sub-zero in some parts of the country.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a yellow alert for cold weather across the whole of England, coming into effect on Saturday morning and lasting until Tuesday.

The health agency said the elderly, very young and other vulnerable people were “likely to struggle to cope in these conditions” and warned of an increase in hospital admissions and risk of death during the cold snap.

A surge in winter viruses ahead of the strikes resulted in more than 5,000 patients in hospital with Covid or flu as of the start of the week, according to NHS data published today.

“We have granted a derogation for one junior doctor for the neonatal unit at University Hospital Lewisham for the day shift on 5th January,” the BMA confirmed. “The trust has informed us that alternative sources of staffing have been exhausted. Our priority is patient safety.”

A spokesman for the trust said it would “do what is necessary to keep our hospitals safe” and was “pleased this had been recognised”.

But every other request to the union to allow junior doctors to return to work has been refused, with some hospitals having more than one plea turned down. Senior NHS sources said around 30 requests have been submitted as pressures mount.

Great Western Hospitals Foundation Trust, which declared an “internal incident” even before strikes were under way, was among the trusts making pleas for junior doctors to be allowed to cross the picket line.

The trust, in Swindon, Wiltshire, requested that junior doctors be allowed to work in surgery and in its outpatients’ appointments departments, in order to deal with the most urgent cases. Both requests were rejected.

A spokesman said the trust was focusing all efforts on generating bed capacity and maintaining safe staffing amid “extremely high demand for our services”.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation trust in London is also understood to be among those to have had requests rejected. Other hospitals have issued pleas for the public to help “free up beds” by collecting relatives who can safely go home.

Junior doctors on a picket line at St Thomas’ Hospital, central London - Justin Tallis/AFP

South Warwickshire NHS Trust and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust were among those asking for relatives to take loved ones home, and were among the four hospitals in England at full capacity ahead of the strikes.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, which asked family members to “collect relatives who are ready to go home to free up beds” on Thursday, declared a critical incident on Friday afternoon and urged the public to only seek help with a life-threatening emergency.

The head of the trust was among those hauled in by Victoria Atkins, the Health Secretary, just before Christmas when average delays for ambulances outside A&E had reached five hours.

A row over safety protocols broke out on Wednesday night with the BMA claiming hospital medical directors and NHS officials were bowing to “political pressures” to undermine the strikes without evidence to justify their appeals.

But senior officials at NHS England responded on Thursday by setting out steps to strengthen safety protocols and log evidence of all harm occurring when such requests are rejected.

Hospitals have been told to specifically record all safety incidents during strikes “so that we can evidence harm and near misses that might have been avoided”.