Little improvement in US jobless claims before vote

Thu, 5 November 2020

Jobless claims showed little improvement in the week before US President Donald Trump stood for reelection against his challenger Joe Biden

New US jobless claim data released Thursday showed little improvement in the week before President Donald Trump stood for reelection against challenger Joe Biden, indicating widespread unemployment persists months after business shutdowns to stop Covid-19 began.

The Labor Department reported 751,000 seasonally adjusted new applications filed in the week ended October 31, more than expected and essentially flat from the previous week's upwardly revised rate.

Jobless claims spiked into the millions beginning in March after businesses began shutting down to stop Covid-19 from spreading, and while they've since dropped dramatically, the latest reading remains above the worst single week of the 2008-2010 global financial crisis.

Trump presided over an expanding economy that achieved record low unemployment until the business shutdowns began, and while vote counting hasn't been completed, Biden has pulled ahead in several key states needed to win the presidency.

As Covid-19 cases surge across the nation, analysts warn of a deteriorating economic situation as the year draws to a close.

"The labor market remains under stress from an elevated pace of layoffs," Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics said.

"A resurgence in virus cases that will result in business closures and job losses will further damage the labor market and will slow the pace of rebound going forward."

The data showed an additional 362,883 people, not seasonally adjusted, filing under a special program for workers not normally eligible for aid.

All told, more than 21.5 million people were receiving government benefits as of the week ended October 17, the latest week for which data was available.

The data also showed the number of people receiving benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program designed for long-term joblessness rising by 277,564 to nearly four million, indicating many people were having trouble finding work.

The data was released one day after the United States reported more than 99,000 new coronavirus cases, worsening what is already the world's largest outbreak.

Also worrying analysts is Congress's failure to pass another spending package to bolster the economy's recovery, with the expanded unemployment programs set to lapse at the end of the year.

"The initial unemployment number not falling as much as expected is just the tip of the iceberg, as the economy's ability to add jobs and keep people off assistance is quickly weakening," Robert Frick of Navy Federal Credit Union said.

"More stimulus is needed to help these Americans and keep the unemployment numbers from starting to rise."

cs/bfm

Up to 700 manufacturing jobs to go in Northern Ireland


Michael McHugh, PA
Thu, 5 November 2020

Up to 700 manufacturing workers are in line to lose their jobs in Northern Ireland.
Some roles at Caterpillar in the Co Antrim town of Larne may be outsourced to India and employees’ representatives dubbed it a “scandalous profit grab” at the expense of local staff.

First Minister Arlene Foster expressed her sympathy for the workers and their families, and said the Executive will “look to see what we can do to help”.

“This is a global restructuring, Caterpillar have always been a very good company to work with, we’ll continue to work with Caterpillar,” she said.

“As I understand it, it is a relocation of some business to other parts of the world, I regret that. There is a need for us to absolutely engage and see what it is we can do to help.”

Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill described the move as a “huge blow to the workers and their families”, and echoed Ms Foster pledge to try to help.

Unite the union’s George Brash said some people had spent 30 years with the generator-building firm.

He said: “They are absolutely devastated that in the midst of a pandemic what we are looking at is jobs lost in the mouth of Christmas.”

The process is expected to be completed within 18 months and is designed to ensure the competitive future of the multinational firm.

Consultations with workers’ unions begin next week.

The announcement is part of the company’s plans to better utilise existing capacity and improve cost competitiveness.

Managers said the proposal was unrelated to Brexit or Covid-19.

Mr Brash said: “That is families, that is Larne, that is the wider community that is going to take a hit.

“They are angry that potentially jobs could be outsourced to foreign countries.”

The union’s regional officer said the workforce was highly skilled and motivated and added it would be unacceptable if some of the positions were moved to India.

He hoped there would be opportunities for redeployment or alternative work.

“They are on a slippery slope when there are 700 jobs at risk.

“The fear for the workers is that this is just the first of other announcements.”

Larne is a port town and major industrial base in East Antrim.

Northern Ireland has lost a host of manufacturing jobs in recent years including a major tyre manufacturer in the wider Co Antrim area.

Co Antrim’s Wrightbus, the firm which built London’s doubledecker Routemaster buses, was saved from liquidation this time last year with some 1,200 jobs hanging in the balance.

Stormont assembly member John Stewart said Caterpillar’s announcement had come completely out of the blue and caused deep worry locally.

“To take 700 workers out of this small, average-sized town of Larne will have a huge impact, that is undoubtedly the case and there are a lot of people really fearful about what the future will bring in terms of that.”

Caterpillar is an Illinois-based heavy machinery maker working in areas like mining.

Its manufacturing facility in Springvale in Belfast will not be affected by the job cuts.

The total number of employees in Northern Ireland is currently about 1,600.

Joe Creed, vice president of Caterpillar’s electric power division, said: “We recognise that what we are considering is difficult for our employees, their families and the community.

“We do not take these contemplations lightly; however, we must plan for future business needs to be competitive.”

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim council, Councillor Peter Johnston, said they were working closely with the firm and would do everything they could to support those affected.

“Caterpillar is a major employer within our local economy, and is a giant of our manufacturing sector.

“The wider economic benefit it provides is hugely significant, including the supply chain.”

Shell closing Convent, Louisiana, refinery as pandemic takes toll

Thu, 5 November 2020

Filled oil drums are seen at Royal Dutch Shell Plc's lubricants blending plant in the town of Torzhok


By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> said on Thursday it was closing its refinery in Convent, Louisiana, the largest such U.S. facility and first on the U.S. Gulf Coast to shut down since the coronavirus pandemic devastated worldwide demand.

The shutdown will occur this month after Shell failed to find a buyer.

The refinery is the ninth in North America targeted for a shutdown or to be idled since the pandemic, which has dealt a heavy blow to fuel demand globally. The United States is the world's largest fuel consumer.

Shell said it failed to find a buyer for the 211,000-barrel-per-day refinery after announcing plans to sell it in July.

“After looking at all aspects of our business, including financial performance, we made the difficult decision to shut down the site,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in an emailed statement.

Refining margins have been down substantially since the pandemic started. The gasoline refining margin is currently at $8.79 per barrel, below the threshold where most refiners can profit.

Once the shutdown is complete, Shell will continue to try to divest the refinery, the company said. It expects to sell all but six refineries and chemical plants globally and is considering closing facilities it cannot sell, the company told investors on its quarterly earnings call this week.

"We recognize the market is not great at the moment in terms of divesting assets ... if it's not possible, we'll consider closing and shutting down. That's ultimately, the last option we'd like to pull," said Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl.

The company said in 2019 it would structure its operations to match the future market for downstream products with a focus on its chemicals business.

In February, Shell sold its 156,400 bpd Martinez, California, refinery and logistics assets to PBF Energy for $960 million (£731 million) plus the price for oil and refined products on hand.

Shell said it will open a selective voluntary severance program to potentially create other roles for workers.

Convent's closure adds to the almost 2 million bpd of refinery capacity globally that has been permanently shuttered globally due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Another 1.4 million bpd is temporarily out of commission or being converted in terminal and other facilities, U.S. refiner Phillips 66 said on its third quarter earnings call earlier this week.

Late last month PBF Energy <PBF.N> said it will shut most refining units at its Paulsboro, New Jersey, refinery.

Elsewhere, Canada’s Come-by-Chance plant in Newfoundland and Labrador has been idled since May. HollyFrontier <HFC.N> shut down its Cheyenne, Wyoming, refinery, Marathon Petroleum <MPC.N> began closing refineries in Martinez, California, and Gallup, New Mexico, while Calcasieu Refining <CRC.UL> idled its Lake Charles refinery in southwest Louisiana.

Phillips 66 announced plans to shut its plant in Arroyo Grande, California, in 2023 and plans to reconfigure its San Francisco Refinery to produce renewable fuels.

SELLING AN IDLED REFINERY

It is unusual for an oil company to sell a refinery that it has already idled, in part because the value of the asset is deemed to be lower if it is not operating.

North Atlantic Refinery Limited is actively trying to sell its Come-by-Chance refinery, after a deal with Irving Oil fell through last month for undisclosed reasons.

"Refineries aren't light switches, they're extremely expensive to shut and restart," said Zachary Rogers, senior oil analyst at Rapidan Energy Group.

"The fact it's shutting down (for however long) underscores the weakness of refining economics as COVID persists," he added.

(Reporting by Laura Sanicola; Additional reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar; Editing by Dan Grebler and Tom Brown)



TRENDING
1.
NHC Reports Third Quarter 2020 Earnings

2.
Rivers ready for another big showdown with Jackson, Ravens

3.
How Much Is Aus Tin Mining's (ASX:ANW) CEO Getting Paid?

4.
Schneider Recognized by EPA With 2020 SmartWay Excellence Award for 11th Time

5.
Ex-Mexican military boss pleads not guilty in US drug case

Sorry Sainsbury's, but the pandemic also created a financial windfall


Nils Pratley
Thu, 5 November 2020

Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Another day, another supermarket chief executive pleading that his company somehow deserves its business rates freebie because it’s had to suffer extra costs in “feeding the nation”. All that hand sanitiser, plus the burden of paying so many staff to shield at home, adds up, don’t you know?

Simon Roberts of Sainsbury’s offered other arguments: in the age of Amazon, the business rates system is unfair on bricks and mortar retailers. As if to reinforce his point, he unveiled plans to shut the doors permanently on 420 Argos standalone shops, with the potential loss of 3,500 jobs.

You can understand why he’s so prickly. The symmetry is awkward: Sainsbury’s received relief on business rates worth £230m in the first half of its financial year, and now it’s paying £231m in dividends to shareholders. Since the Qatar Investment Authority, with a 21% stake, will be the biggest beneficiary, it’s not too much of a stretch to say Sainsbury’s is also feeding the nation of Qatar with dividends.

To be scrupulously fair, a few of Roberts’ points were accurate. Yes, the business rates system is rotten. Yes, the biggest chunk of the divi, worth £160m, relates to the pre-Covid financial period. And, yes, one shouldn’t mix apples and pears: dividends and relief on rates are different items.

But those arguments all miss the glaring inconsistency at heart of this issue. Rishi Sunak gave retailers relief on a property-based tax because most shops had to close during the first lockdown. But supermarkets remained open and, indeed, enjoyed a boom. They should never have been included in the rates giveaway.

Sainsbury’s revenues, like Tesco’s and Morrisons’, were the strongest in years. With the rates freebie covering most of the extra Covid costs, Sainsbury’s underlying pre-tax profits surged by 26% to £301m in the half-year. The pandemic created a logistical challenge, but also a financial windfall.

The mistake is really the chancellor’s, of course. Over a full year, the supermarket industry will benefit from rates relief worth roughly £1.5bn, money that would surely have been better directed at the hospitality or events industries. There is roughly zero chance of Sainsbury’s, Tesco or Morrisons’s returning a few quid to the Treasury – but they should.
WH Smith board joins list of indecent packages

Remuneration committees need to calm down. The pandemic has crumpled a lot of companies’ share prices, and thus the value of many executives’ share-based incentives. But the apparent rush to reload directors with new bumper pay packages is indecent.

The latest example is WH Smith. The board had the notion that now would be a fine moment to hand the chief executive, Carl Cowling, a share-incentive package worth almost £5m, Sky News reported on Thursday.

The thin justification, it seems, was that there’s a big rebuilding job to do at WH Smith after the hit to the stores in airports and train stations; a three-year arrangement, in place of annual awards, would keep Cowling keen for the long-term, went the thinking.

Forget it. The board cannot possibly know when normal service will resume in the travel market. WH Smith had to raise £165m from shareholders for pandemic protection as recently as April. Setting fair performance hurdles is virtually impossible at the moment.

Fund managers killed the board’s proposal before it could become formalised – quite right too. A £5m package would have been wildly over the top in the current climate. If Cowling has to rub along for a while on his basic salary of £525,000, so be it.
Insurers don’t stir patriotic feelings

Stephen Hester’s decluttering and cost-cutting strategy at RSA, the FTSE 100 insurer, always seemed designed to attract a bid, and now it’s happened. Canada’s Intact Financial and Denmark’s Tryg are in talks to agree a joint-offer at £7.1bn.

RSA’s board says it’s minded to accept, which is no surprise whatsoever. At 685p a share, the bid would equate to a takeover premium of roughly 50%, which doesn’t come along often in the insurance game.

Nor, one suspects, will there be any wailing over the loss of a large British company to an overseas predator. Insurers don’t stir patriotic feelings. Nobody was bothered back in 2015 when Zurich attempted a bid for RSA before walking away.

It feels a shame, though. RSA has had setbacks in the last couple of years. But, slimmed to its UK, Canada and Scandinavia core, it looked a more coherent and promising set-up than, say, Aviva. Too late now.

 

UK Job losses: Major cuts since the start of the pandemicPA City Staff

Thu, 5 November 2020

At least 4,200 major job redundancies were announced on Thursday as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the country.

Sainsbury’s said that it would axe 3,500 jobs, while US giant Caterpillar is set to cut 700 jobs in Northern Ireland, according to reports.

Rolls-Royce also plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the UK, however this is part of a 9,000 jobs cut already announced in May

It adds to more than 200,000 job losses since the start of the pandemic.

Here is a list of some of the major British employers that have announced major cuts since the start of the lockdown.

– Major potential job losses announced since March 23: 

Total: 248,385

November 5 – Sainsbury’s – 3,500
November 5 – Caterpillar – 700
November 4 – John Lewis Partnership – 1,500
November 4 – Lloyds – 1,070
October 29 – Pizza Express – 1,300
October 27 – Revolution Bars – 130
October 16 – Pret a Manger – 400
October 15 – Marston’s – 2,150
October 14 – Gourmet Burger Kitchen – 362
October 9 – Edinburgh Woollen Mill – 24,000 at risk
October 8 – National Trust – 1,300
October 8 – HSS Hire – 300
October 7 – Manchester Airport Group – 892
October 7 – Greene King – 800
October 6 – Virgin Money – 400
October 6 – Vp – 150
October 5 – Cineworld – 5,500 (many cuts likely to be temporary)
September 30 – TSB – 900
September 30 – Shell – 9,000 worldwide
September 29 – Ferguson – 1,200
September 22 – Wetherspoon – 400 to 450
September 22 – Whitbread – 6,000
September 18 – Investec – 210
September 15 – Waitrose – 124
September 14 – London City Airport – 239
September 9 – Lloyds Bank – 865
September 9 – Pizza Hut – 450
September 4 – Virgin Atlantic – 1,150
September 3 – Costa – 1,650
August 27 – Pret a Manger – 2,800 (includes 1,000 announced on July 6)
August 26 – Gatwick Airport – 600
August 25 – Co-operative Bank – 350
August 20 – Alexander Dennis – 650
August 18 – Bombardier – 95
August 18 – Marks & Spencer – 7,000
August 14 – Yo! Sushi – 250
August 14 – River Island – 350
August 12 – NatWest – 550
August 11 – InterContinental Hotels – 650 worldwide
August 11 – Debenhams – 2,500
August 7 – Evening Standard – 115
August 6 – Travelex – 1,300
August 6 – Wetherspoons – 110 to 130
August 5 – M&Co – 380
August 5 – Arsenal FC – 55
August 5 – WH Smith – 1,500
August 4 – Dixons Carphone – 800
August 4 – Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
August 3 – Hays Travel – up to 878
August 3 – DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
July 31 – Byron – 651
July 30 – Pendragon – 1,800
July 29 – Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
July 28 – Selfridges – 450
July 27 – Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
July 23 – Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22 – Mears – fewer than 200
July 20 – Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
July 17 – Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
July 16 – Genting – 1,642 at risk
July 16 – Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15 – Banks Mining – 250 at risk
July 15 – Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
July 14 – Vertu – 345
July 14 – DFS – up to 200 at risk
July 9 – General Electric – 369
July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
July 9 – Boots – 4,000
July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
July 9 – Burger King – 1,600 at risk
July 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
July 1 – Harrods – 700
July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
June 30 – Smiths Group – “some job losses”
June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
June 24 – Jet2 – 102
June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
June 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
June 11 – Bombardier – 600
June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
June 10 – Quiz – 93
June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny’s) – 3,000
June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
June 8 – Mulberry – 375
June 5 – Victoria’s Secret – 800 at risk
June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
May 28 – Debenhams (in second announcement) – “hundreds” of jobs
May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
May 22 – Carluccio’s – 1,000
May 21 – Clarks – 900
May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
May 19 – Antler – 164
May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
May 11 – P&O Ferries – 1,100 worldwide
May 5 – Virgin Atlantic – 3,150
May 1 – Ryanair – 3,000 worldwide
April 30 – Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
April 29 – WPP – unknown number
April 28 – British Airways – 12,000
April 23 – Safran Seats – 400
April 23 – Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
April 21 – Cath Kidston – 900
April 17 – Debenhams – 422
March 31 – Laura Ashley – 268
March 30 – BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
March 27 – Chiquito – 1,500 at risk.

Rolls-Royce axing nearly 1,400 jobs under major overhaul

Holly Williams, PA Deputy City Editor
Thu, 5 November 2020,



Nearly 1,400 jobs are being cut in the UK and globally at engine maker Rolls-Royce as it continues to swing the axe under a plan to slash its workforce by 9,000.

The Derby-based group confirmed proposals to cut around 1,370 jobs worldwide in its civil aerospace division, with 950 going across its organisational structure, largely affecting managers, and 420 across global facilities.

It said the job losses come as part of the 9,000 revealed in May, over 3,000 of which are in the UK, under a major reorganisation in the face of the pandemic.

Around two-thirds of the firm’s UK employees work in the civil aerospace division, but the group declined to comment on which British sites would feel the brunt of the latest cuts.

The group employs 15,700 civil aerospace staff in the UK, with the division headquartered in Derby and other main locations including Bristol, Solihull and Heathrow.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “The global pandemic has hit our business hard.

“Although we have taken swift action and put many, often painful, mitigation plans in place, we must continue to further reduce our cost base so that we can safeguard the future of Rolls-Royce, return to breakeven and work towards our target of reaching positive cashflow in the second half of 2021.

“We are already undertaking the largest-ever restructuring of our civil aerospace business and have today proposed further measures to protect our business.”

He added: “We have opened up a voluntary severance programme to all civil aerospace employees in the UK.”

Rolls announced a £2 billion investor cash call in October as part of a mammoth package to bolster its balance sheet in the face of the pandemic.

The engine maker announced the rights issue alongside a bond sale to raise at least a further £1 billion, as well as another £2 billion in loan support.

It is also slashing costs across the business to weather the impact on the aerospace sector, which sent it slumping to a £5.4 billion loss in the first half of 2020.

The group, which employs nearly 52,000 globally, had already ditched 4,800 roles by the end of the summer.

And in August, it revealed plans to shut its aerospace factory in Nottinghamshire and merge sites in Lancashire as part of the overhaul.

The firm is planning to close its site in Annesley by the end of 2022 in a move impacting around 120 staff, though the group is hoping most will transfer to its base in Derby.

TikTok denies parent company helps Chinese government spy on and persecute Uighur Muslims


Jon Stone
Thu, 5 November 2020,

TikTok has a Chinese parent company

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Social media giant TikTok has denied allegations that its parent company is supplying the China's authoritarian state with surveillance equipment to persecute Uighur Muslims.

Reports dating back to last year accused ByteDance of working with authorities in Xinjiang after it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

MPs on the House of Commons business committee, who are investigating what role industry has in human rights abuses in the Uighur autonomous region, questioned executives about the issue on Thursday.

Elizabeth Kanter, UK director of government relations and public policy at TikTok, told MPs: "Because of the seriousness of the allegation, I've spoken to colleagues who run the douyin app in China and I can unequivocally deny the allegations against the company.

"ByteDance Ltd nor any of its subsidiaries produce, operate or disseminate any sort of surveillance equipment.

"The company does not have any personnel related to surveillance, so those allegations are false. I was first made aware of the allegations when I read the reports and saw the statements you have made."

TikTok is one of the world's fastest growing social networks has in October surpassed over two billion mobile downloads worldwide. It is the international version of Douyin, a Chinese app with similar functionality that was first released in 2016.

The app, on which users share short videos set to music, has faced criticising in the past for allegedly censoring political content – though the firm denies this is its policy and has attributed high-profile instances of content being delete to errors by its moderators.

US president Donald Trump has said he will ban the app, and it has also been restricted in India in the context of a border dispute between the Indian and Chinese governments.

At the same committee hearing MPs also grilled representatives of clothing retailers on what they were doing to prevent cotton or fabric produced with forced labour of Uighur Muslims from entering their supply chains.

Andrew Reaney, group director of responsible sourcing at online clothes store Boohoo, said the firm was "shocked" at the allegations.

"Our Boohoo code of conduct explicitly prohibits any bonded, forced or involuntary labour in any part of our supply chain," he said.


"We were quite shocked by the revelations around the Uighurs and what's happening in the Xinjiang province.

"One of the things we did was, we wrote to all our suppliers across the supply chain to confirm that we have no manufacturing or fabric links to that particular region.

"That was done and all of our suppliers confirmed that they have no manufacturing or fabric links to that region."

Human rights groups have accused China of mass detention, surveillance and reeducation of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), with higher estimates claiming as many one million people have been directly persecuted. China denies some of the allegations and says it operates a targeted programme to root out political extremism.

Read more

TikTok will now tell you exactly why your video has been removed

Boohoo, Nike and H&M deny Uighur forced labour in supply chains

Henry Saker-Clark, PA City Reporter
Thu, 5 November 2020

Fashion brands including Boohoo and Nike have denied the use of suppliers or manufacturing in the Xinjiang region of China as they expressed “shock” surrounding allegations regarding the forced labour of Uighur Muslims.

The brands and retailers, which also included H&M and North Face-owner VF, were brought before MPs at the Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) committee to address reports that products involving Uighur slave labour could be sold to UK consumers.

Andrew Reaney, group director of responsible sourcing at Boohoo, told MPs at the BEIS select committee that the online retailer was “shocked” by reports regarding the forced labour of Uighur Muslims.

He said: “We were quite shocked by the revelations around the Uighurs and what’s happening in the Xinjiang province.

“We wrote to all our suppliers across the supply chain to confirm that we have no manufacturing or fabric links to that particular region.

“That was done and all of our suppliers confirmed that they have no manufacturing or fabric links to that region.”

Mr Reaney stressed that the online retailer does “not knowingly source any yarn or fabric” from the region, as MPs questioned auditing processes at the business following a row over working conditions in its UK supply chain.

Last month, the company published its full report by Alison Levitt QC, which identified “many failings” but freed it from allegations of deliberately allowing poor conditions and low pay for garment workers.

“It’s a matter of regret from the organisation that we obviously didn’t move as fast as we could have,” Mr Reaney said.

“The purpose of being here today and the Levitt report is to demonstrate our sincerity and commitment to absolute 100% supply chain transparency, irrespective of the source and region, whether its Leicester or whether its China.”

David Savman, head of supply chain at H&M, said the Swedish-based retail group worked with accreditation groups for its supply chain which no longer use cotton from the region following the allegations.

“When these serious allegations came up we made investigations into all of our suppliers,” he told MPs.

“We didn’t find any proof of any breach of our sustainability commitments, where we have very clear guidance of how our ethical processes should happen.”

Later in the committee session, Jaycee Pribulsky, vice president of global footwear sourcing and manufacturing at Nike, said the US group was “deeply concerned” regarding the situation in the Chinese region.

She told MPs: “Nike does not source any raw cotton. And regarding Xinjiang, Nike has confirmed with its suppliers that there are no spun yarns or textiles manufactured in the area in our products.”

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
US seizes $1 bn in bitcoin connected to Silk Road

Thu, 5 November 2020

The US Justice Department said the bitcoin was hacked by 'Individual X' from Silk Road


The US has seized more than $1 billion worth of bitcoin connected to the Silk Road criminal syndicate, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The funds were taken by law enforcement on Tuesday after being traced to a bitcoin address by an unnamed "Individual X," according to a US Department of Justice press release.

"It was further determined that Individual X had hacked the funds from Silk Road," the DOJ said.

The DOJ said it filed a civil complaint that the funds are subject to forefeiture, adding that it expects to prove the case to the court.

"Silk Road was the most notorious online criminal marketplace of its day," said US Attorney Kelly Anderson of the Northern District of California.

"The successful prosecution of Silk Road's founder in 2015 left open a billion-dollar question. Where did the money go? Today's forfeiture complaint answers this open question at least in part. $1 billion of these criminal proceeds are now in the United States' possession."

In 2015, Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of masterminding the criminal website Silk Road, which sold $200 million in drugs to customers worldwide.

Ulbricht, who ran Silk Road under the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts" and was accused of commissioning five murders at a cost of $650,000, was sentenced to two life sentences for narcotics distribution and criminal enterprise.

Don't become a pilot as there are no jobs just huge debts, says union

Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent
Thu, 5 November 2020,
   

Photograph: Thomas_EyeDesign/Getty Images

The pilots union, Balpa, has warned prospective pilots from starting any training courses, saying they would be left with huge debts and no prospect of employment.

Trainee pilots could end up owing more than £100,000 and would not find a job to pay back loans, the union said.

About 200 trainee pilots in UK flight schools who were set for jobs with easyJet have already had their conditional offers of employment withdrawn, after the airline looked to cut hundreds of pilot jobs in the summer as the effects of Covid-19 battered the industry.

Balpa said it was an extraordinary step for them to issue the warning, but it would be irresponsible not to act.

Wendy Pursey, its head of membership and careers, said there were about 10,000 unemployed commercial pilots across Europe, including 1,600 in the UK, while many others were working part-time or on reduced pay. The easyJet trainees now had “no clear route to even a licence, far less a job”, she said.

Others attempting to enter the aviation industry have been hard hit, including 122 trainee air traffic controllers at Nats being laid off before gaining a licence.

The difficulties were underlined by British Airways telling staff on Thursday that many more of them would be placed on furlough, as the airline scales back flights through November. Its few remaining long-haul services from Gatwick will be suspended.

Under the lockdown rules that came into effect on Thursday, all holiday or leisure travel is banned with fines for breaches starting at £200.

A BA spokeswoman said the airline had been “urgently reviewing” its schedule but would be operating flights to “bring home thousands of customers currently abroad, and ensuring people who are permitted to travel in and out of the UK can continue to do so.”

The industry body Airlines UK said the extension of the furlough scheme, which announced on Thursday, was welcome but warned that carriers would “urgently need access to further liquidity measures to shore up their balance sheets”, with more flights grounded. EasyJet confirmed it had had talks with the German government about available support measures, but denied it had made a formal request for funds.

Bombardier CEO expects layoffs, capacity cuts after earnings miss

Allison Lampert and Sanjana Shivdas
Thu, 5 November 2020

FILE PHOTO: 

Bombardier's logo is seen on the building of the company's service centre at Biggin Hill


By Allison Lampert and Sanjana Shivdas

(Reuters) - Bombardier's <BBDb.TO> chief executive on Thursday said he expects layoffs as part of broader plans to cut excess capacity, after the plane-and-train maker missed on quarterly operating profits earlier in the day due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bombardier is working on plans to cut costs and capacity as the company sheds assets, including its rail division to French train maker Alstom SA <ALSO.PA>, to become a pure-play business jet maker.

"In the weeks to come we will decide all the initiatives we need to do to reduce our cost base," Martel told reporters.

"It's sure there will be layoffs that will come with this."

Martel also said the company is cooperating with an investigation opened by the U.K. Serious Fraud Office in connection with a near decade-old sale of aircraft to Indonesian carrier Garuda.

Bombardier said deliveries of its Global 7500, which lists for around $73 million (£56 million) each, would rise to 12 jets during the last three months of 2020, up from eight during the third quarter.

Bombardier said free cash flow usage was $706 million during the quarter, and it aims to break even during the second half of 2020.

While corporate aircraft deliveries are expected to decline industry-wide by 30% in 2020 due to the pandemic, plane makers see revived activity, including a rebound in private flights.

Martel sees improved order activity for Bombardier's mid-sized Challenger business aircraft, although pricing on large cabin jets "is actually a little bit lower this year" because plane makers had surplus inventory when the pandemic hit.

Corporate jet deliveries fell to 24 units in the quarter from 31 a year earlier. But revenue from business aircraft rose about 10% since higher-priced Global 7500s made up a third of deliveries.

Bombardier's margins and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) took a hit on higher initial production costs for the Global 7500 jets and lower deliveries.

Bombardier reported adjusted EBITDA of $176 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $255 million a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting EBITDA to be $179.8 million, according to Refinitiv data.

Bombardier stock was flat in afternoon trading.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni, Anil D'Silva and Jonathan Oatis)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Canada's Bombardier faces UK bribery probe; shares fall

By Kirstin Ridley, Allison Lamper

(Reuters) - The UK Serious Fraud Office announced on Thursday it was investigating Canadian industrial group Bombardier BBDb.TO over suspected bribery in airplane sales to Garuda Indonesia GIAA.JK, widening a global anti-corruption drive in aerospace.



FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bombardier is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

The plane and train maker is the latest aerospace group to face scrutiny over the use of middlemen after authorities struck a record bribery settlement with Europe's Airbus in January and a 2017 plea deal with British engine maker Rolls-Royce RR.L

Both settlements involved sales of planes or engines to Garuda and airlines in other countries.

“The SFO is investigating Bombardier Inc over suspected bribery and corruption in relation to contracts and/or orders from Garuda Indonesia,” the agency said on Thursday.

“As this is a live investigation, the SFO can provide no further comment,” it added.

Garuda did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Montreal, Bombardier said it had been informed about the SFO probe several weeks ago and would cooperate. It has appointed external lawyers to run an internal review.

Shares in the company, which also reported results on Thursday, fell more than 3% after the SFO’s announcement. In afternoon trade they were down about 1.7%..

At the centre of the case, Bombardier said, are five procurement processes involving different manufacturers, including the 2011-2012 acquisition and lease of Bombardier CRJ1000 regional aircraft by Garuda.

Bombardier, which has undergone several changes of leadership after costly industrial bets in the past decade, said the SFO was investigating the same transactions that led to the former CEO of Garuda Indonesia being convicted in May.

An Indonesian court in May handed Emirsyah Satar, Garuda chief executive from 2005 to 2014, an eight-year jail sentence for bribery and money-laundering related to procurement of planes and engines from Airbus AIR.PA and Rolls-Royce RR.L.

In 2017, Rolls-Royce agreed to pay more than $800 million to defer charges after an investigation by the SFO and U.S. Justice Department into alleged bribery of officials in six countries.

Airbus in February agreed to pay a record $4 billion in fines after reaching a plea bargain with prosecutors in Britain, France and United States over alleged bribery and corruption stretching back at least 15 years.

SFO APPROACHED BOMBARDIER

Under a system of deferred prosecution agreements available to the SFO, companies may be offered the chance to settle cases with a fine and escape corporate criminal charges by helping to investigate themselves and undergoing radical interal changes.

Bombardier Chief Executive Eric Martel, who started his role in April, told reporters the SFO had reached out to the Canadian company a few weeks ago.

“We were not aware of any issue internally,” he said.

Companies can win credit for bringing potential wrongdoing to the attention of authorities themselves, though Rolls-Royce avoided a larger fine by showing what a judge described as “extraordinary” co-operation after being approached by the SFO.

Airbus has undergone a radical overhaul of its top ranks since reporting itself to the SFO in 2016. The four-year probe however weighed on sales and relationships with airlines and led to in-fighting over who should carry the blame for using agents.

Bombardier has already undergone significant upheaval since 2015 while trying to bring a larger narrowbody jet to market.

It completed an exit from commercial aviation this year by completing the sale of its money-losing regional jet business to Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to focus on more profitable business jets.


Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru, Kirstin Ridley in London, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by KirstinRidley and Tim Hpher; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and David Gregorio

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell jailed for tax evasion
BY THEINDUSTRY.FASHION
-5TH NOVEMBER 2020

Dominic Chappell outside court

Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has been jailed for evading more than half a million pounds in taxes on income from his £1 deal to buy the failed high street chain.

The 53-year-old’s offending was an “egregious example” of cheating the public revenue, Southwark Crown Court heard, with the businessman spending a fortune on a luxury lifestyle.

He was jailed for six years for evading VAT, corporation tax and income tax owed on his £2.2 million income from the BHS deal.

His lawyers claimed he became, and still is, “utterly broke” because BHS’s hugely underfunded “pension problem exploded” within two weeks of him controversially buying BHS from retail tycoon Sir Philip Green in 2015.

Rejecting his defence team’s suggestion that, had BHS not failed, he would have had the funds to pay his tax liability, a jury found Chappell guilty of dishonesty after deliberations over three days.

He had denied three charges of cheating the public revenue between January 2014 and September 2016, related to his bankrupt finance company Swiss Rock Limited.

Mr Justice Bryan said Chappell had engaged in a “long and consistent course of conduct designed to cheat the revenue” and that his actions “over a substantial period of time is an egregious example of such offending”.

He said Chappell had “cynically allowed Swiss Rock as a limited liability company to go to the wall, like many others before it, in the hope that HMRC would whistle in the wind for the outstanding tax”.

The judge said not paying VAT or corporation tax, taking receipts out of the company and then putting it into liquidation was “one of the oldest tricks in the book”.

The judge gave the total figure lost to HMRC in unpaid taxes as £583,739.20, and told Chappell his crimes were so serious that “only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate”.

Chappell, wearing a light-coloured shirt, blue suit jacket, jeans and blue, white and orange trainers stood as he was sentenced and had no reaction as he was led, carrying a holdall, from the dock by a prison officer.

The businessman, of Blandford Forum, Dorset, had claimed to be “simply too busy” to sort out his business dealings properly and said he was “let down by others”.

But the judge said: “You were not overwhelmed by your other pressures, and you were not too busy or under too much pressure to spare the time to buy yourself trappings of luxury with monies that would have been better deployed to pay the taxes due.”

He added: “You did not pay your tax. Instead you holidayed in the Bahamas over the Christmas period on a yacht that was purchased in your name.”

The court heard that in an email at that time, Chappell had said: “I am having to slum it in the Bahamas for the next three weeks. I know you will all feel my pain.”

The judge said on his return from the holiday, and a day after income tax should have been paid, Chappell had bought a £91,000 Bentley Continental as well as a pair of Beretta guns for £11,000. He later bought a £33,000 Land Rover.

BHS was losing £1 million a week and had a £250m-£500m pension deficit when Chappell’s consortium bought it in 2015.

It limped on before collapsing and causing the loss of 11,000 jobs in April 2016.



With the benefit of hindsight, Chappell told the jury the BHS deal was “a life-changing catastrophe” and he should “never have touched it with a barge pole”.

He added: “This catastrophe has cost me my marriage, my money and my reputation.”

During his evidence, Chappell repeatedly said he is “not an accountant” and was relying on the advice of his professional financial experts to deal with the situation as he was “firefighting” the pending collapse of BHS.

Chappell claimed that BHS was forced into liquidation because of the actions of Sir Philip in reneging on promises of financial support for the pension fund and going back on a promise to provide working capital to BHS after the sale.

But the judge told him despite being left “penniless and owing millions to The Pension Regulator” Chappell could not “lay all the blame for that at the door of others including Sir Philip Green”.

He said: “It is you, not anyone else, who has ruined your reputation by your offending, however much the actions of others may have damaged you financially.”

Following the verdict, Andrew Fox, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Using evidence gathered by HMRC we were able to show the jury that Chappell simply chose not to pay large amounts of tax which were due and, as a result, they were sure that he had acted dishonestly.”

Simon York, director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, said: “This was deliberate theft from UK citizens.

“Chappell was a high-profile businessman who knew tax had to be paid on his income and profits but chose not to do so.

“That’s money that should have been supporting our vital public services instead of funding his lavish lifestyle.”

In November 2019 Chappell was banned from running a company for 10 years, with the Government’s Insolvency Service saying he had carried out “reckless financial transactions” and “failed to maintain adequate company records”.

And in January this year he was ordered by The Pensions Regulator to pay £9.5 million into BHS’s pension schemes.

Reporting: PA 

Ancient burial hints that prehistoric women may have hunted as much as men
PTI

LOS ANGELES, NOVEMBER 05, 2020




Illustration of female hunter depicting hunters who may have appeared in the Andes 9,000 years ago. | Photo Credit: Matthew Verdolivo/UC Davis IET Academic Technology Services


Scientists have unearthed a 9,000-year-old female hunter burial in the Andes Mountains of South America which counters the long-held belief that when early human groups sought food, men hunted and women gathered.

“An archaeological discovery and analysis of early burial practices overturns the long-held ‘man-the-hunter’ hypothesis,” said Randy Haas, lead author of the study from the University of California (UC), Davis in the U.S.


The researchers believe the findings, published in the journal Science Advances, are particularly timely in light of contemporary conversations surrounding gendered labour practices and inequality.

Sexual division of labour

“Labour practices among recent hunter-gatherer societies are highly gendered, which might lead some to believe that sexist inequalities in things like pay or rank are somehow ‘natural’,” Haas said. “But it’s now clear that sexual division of labour was fundamentally different — likely more equitable — in our species’ deep hunter-gatherer past.”

In 2018, during archaeological excavations at a high-altitude site called Wilamaya Patjxa in what is now Peru, the researchers found an early burial that contained a hunting toolkit with projectile points and animal-processing tools. They said the objects accompanying people in death tended to be those that accompanied them in life. Based on an analysis of the bones and dental proteins, the study found that the hunter was likely female.


This illustration from the study shows tools recovered from the burial pit floor including projectile points (1 to 7), unmodified flakes (8 to 10), retouched flakes (11 to 13), a possible backed knife (14), thumbnail scrapers (15 and 16), scrapers/choppers (17 to 19), burnishing stones (17, 20, and 21), and red ocher nodules (22 to 24). | Photo Credit: Randy Haas/UC Davis

From further examination of records of ancient burials throughout North and South America, the researchers identified 429 individuals from 107 sites. Of those, they said 27 individuals were associated with big-game hunting tools of whom 11 were female and 15 were male.

The scientists believe this sample is sufficient to “warrant the conclusion that female participation in early big-game hunting was likely non-trivial”. They also found that somewhere between 30% to 50% of hunters in these populations were female.

According to the researchers, this level of participation stands in stark contrast to recent hunter-gatherers, and even farming and capitalist societies, where hunting is a decidedly male activity with low levels of female participation, “certainly under 30%.”

In future studies, the scientists hope to understand how the consequences of sexual division of labour changed in different times and places among the hunter-gatherer populations of the continent.

 

Tel Aviv University says 'environmentally-friendly' tableware harms marine animals

Research also reveals that bioplastics do not degrade rapidly in a marine environment

AMERICAN FRIENDS OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

A new Tel Aviv University study compares the effects of two types of disposable dishes on the marine environment -- regular plastic disposable dishes and more expensive bioplastic disposable dishes certified by various international organizations -- and determines that the bioplastic dishes had a similar effect on marine animals as regular plastic dishes. Moreover, the study finds that bioplastic does not degrade rapidly in the marine environment.

The research was led by research student Guillermo Anderson and Prof. Noa Shenkar of the School of Zoology at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University. The study was published online on August 20, 2020, in the journal Environmental Pollution. It will be published in the print version of the journal in January 2021.

"People buy expensive disposable dishes and utensils with the special bioplastic standard seal of compliance on the assumption that they are being environmentally responsible," Prof. Shenkar says. "Our study proves that while this may be good for their conscience, it can still damage the environment."

Environmental pollution caused by plastics in general and at sea in particular is a well-known crisis. According to various assessments, some 350 million tons of plastic goods are produced every single year, half of which is disposable dishes and utensils thrown away after a single use. Plastic is a very durable polymer made of chemicals derived from fossil fuels. Marine animals ingest plastic microparticles containing toxic additives that are integral to these harmful microparticles.

"In recent decades, substances called 'bioplastics' came on the market," Anderson explains. "Bioplastics are made of natural, renewable materials, and biodegrade relatively fast under certain conditions. Disposable dishes and utensils made of bioplastics were granted various international standard seals and are marketed to consumers as environmentally friendly. We wanted to test the supposedly environmentally friendly disposable dishes to see if they do, in fact, meet expectations."

The study compared disposable cups made of regular plastic and bioplastic and their effects on ascidians, a type of a marine invertebrate; examined the extent, if any, to which these marine invertebrates were capable of digesting particles of the regular plastics and bioplastics; then observed the recruitment of marine organisms to the materials.

At least in the short term, both types of plastic have a similar detrimental effect, Prof. Shenkar says. "Bioplastics are made of natural materials and, in that sense, they are more beneficial environmentally speaking. But they may also contain toxins just like regular plastic dishes and they do not biodegrade quickly in the aquatic habitat. In fact, the standard appearing on the label is dated. It doesn't refer at all to different kinds of plastic additives and speaks of biodegrading within 180 days, but that is specifically under conditions available only in industrial composting settings."

###

 

Coronavirus infection odds twice as high among Black, Latinx hospital workers

Support staff in health care settings have higher infection rates than physicians and nurses, Rutgers study finds

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Support staff and Black and Latinx hospital employees with and without patient care responsibilities are at highest risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in health care settings, a Rutgers study found.

After screening 3,904 employees and clinicians at a New Jersey hospital between late April and late June for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and for lgG-antibodies to the virus, whose presence suggests past recent infection, the study, published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, found that these employees are at higher risk than previously thought.

"The risk to workers in health care settings with little or no patient contact has attracted relatively little attention to date, but our results suggest potentially high infection rates in this group," said lead author Emily S. Barrett, an associate professor at Rutgers School of Public Health and a member of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. "By contrast and to our surprise, physicians, nurses and emergency medical technicians showed much lower infection rates."

Health care workers who live in highly impacted communities may have been susceptible to becoming infected outside of the hospital during the early surge of COVID-19, according to co-lead author Daniel B. Horton, an assistant professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and a member of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research.

"In the early phase of the pandemic, support staff in the hospital may also have had less access to personal protective equipment or less enforcement of safety protocols," he said. "Going forward, as cases of COVID-19 in the hospital rise again, protecting these and all hospital workers from infection both in and out of the hospital is critical."

In the hospital-based study, researchers found that 13 participants tested positive for the virus and 374 tested positive for the antibody, which suggests recent past infection -- nearly 10 percent of those studied -- and that Black and Latinx workers had two times the odds of receiving a positive test for the virus or antibody compared to white workers.

Phlebotomists had the highest proportionate rate of positive tests--nearly 1 in 4 tested--followed by those employed in maintenance/housekeeping, dining/food services and interpersonal/support roles. By comparison, positivity rates were lower among doctors (7 percent) and nurses (9 percent).

Regardless of whether the infections originated in the hospital or in the community, Barrett said, the results suggest a need to enact safety protocols for hospital employees to protect the health care workforce from future waves of infection.

"The 40 percent of infected health care workers who reported having had no symptoms of infection could be a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 spread in hospitals even if their infections were initially acquired in the community," she said.

###

The study was funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

Other Rutgers authors include Jason Roy, Weiyi Xia, Patricia Greenberg, Tracy Andrews, Maria Laura Gennaro, Veenat Parmar, William D. Russell, Nancy Reilly, Priyanka Uprety, John J. Gantner, Lydia Stockman, Stanley Z. Trooskin, Martin J. Blaser, Jeffrey L. Carson and Reynold A. Panettieri Jr.