‘It’s sad’: is the UK real living wage under threat as Capita and BrewDog pull out?

Heather Stewart

The Guardian
Tue, 6 February 2024

Brewdog founders Martin Dickie and James Watt say they can no longer afford to pay the real living wage to staff.

Photograph: Alan Richardson/The Guardian

The outsourcing company Capita has become the second high-profile business to inform employees it would be dropping its commitment to the real living wage.

The independently calculated rate, born out of a grassroots campaign to improve the lives of the UK’s poorest citizens, is meant to ensure the lowest-paid can afford the basic necessities of a decent life.

But after two years of 10% increases, as inflation ripped through the economy, Capita has joined the brewer and bar operator BrewDog in telling staff it could no longer afford to pay the real living wage, which increased to £12 an hour. Unions fear more companies may be preparing to follow.

Related: BrewDog faces staff backlash after dropping real living wage pledge

At Capita, the Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents many of the staff – who work on contracts for a range of customers including Virgin Media and Tesco Mobile – is consulting its members about the next steps.

Tracey Fossey of the CWU said: “It’s sad: these are the lowest earners and it makes a big difference to them. Capita are saying that they can’t continue it: that they don’t have the funds to support it – which we don’t agree with, when the CEO can take home more than £1.7m in 2022.”

A spokesperson for Capita said: “Our lowest-paid employees will all receive an above-inflation pay rise. We remain committed to our people and will revisit this decision when appropriate, as part of our continuing review of our cost base.”

In 2015, the then chancellor, George Osborne, rebranded the statutory minimum wage, which all companies must pay, as a “national living wage” in a backhanded tribute to the living wage campaign, which had pushed for better wages, among other demands, including regular hours and fewer antisocial shifts.

But the “real living wage” campaign, as it renamed itself, continues to commission research and set its own, higher wage floor, based on the cost of living for low-paid workers, and to encourage firms to pledge to pay it.

Katherine Chapman, the director of the Living Wage Foundation, which is the guardian of the standard, said she was “disappointed” about Capita and BrewDog’s decisions to drop it, but insisted the movement was still going strong.

“We’ve had two years of significant increases in the rates, because of what has happened to the cost of living. But we’ve had 3,000 employers signed up in the last year alone,” she said.

Chapman argues that consumers and investors are increasingly conscious of firms’ treatment of their employees, and signing up to pay the real living wage is one way they can differentiate themselves. “From what we’re seeing, and from the businesses we’re talking to, there is still growth in the network, and there is a compelling case for this,” she says.

It’s not just the real living wage that has risen sharply to reflect the soaring cost of living – the mandatory “national living wage” is also poised to increase by 10% in April, to £11.44 an hour, as the government continues to pursue a policy of lifting it towards two-thirds of the median rate across the economy.

Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation , says two chunky rises in a row have caused disquiet among some companies.

“I’m getting more on the wires from members about it this year than I’ve ever had before,” he says. “They’re very concerned with, yes, affordability for them, but also fairness across the workforce.”

He adds: “If last year, settlements were 5-8% in the private sector, a 10% minimum wage and living wage increase didn’t feel massively outside the tent. A second one this year means you’ve basically gone up 20% on entry-level wages in two years. What I’m hearing is a lot of concern about fairness across the workforce.”

But Nicola Smith, the director of economics at the TUC, flatly rejects the idea the national living wage is becoming unaffordable. “The TUC continues to call for a minimum wage of at least £15 an hour,” she says. “We’ve got a strong evidence base over the last decade that during some really economically challenging periods, it’s been possible to raise the minimum wage for the lowest paid people in our jobs market with absolutely no negative labour market effects at all.”

In total, 14,000 employers are committed to paying the £12 an hour real living wage (£13.15 in London). Jean-Sébastien Pelland, the executive director of Eland Cables, is one of them. He says as an owner-manager who works alongside his staff, it is “absolutely the right thing to do, both morally, but also economically”.

“I think treating the people well, and looking after them, really makes sense from an economic point of view,” he says. “It requires us to spend less time and money on recruitment. We can build on developing a wider range of skills rather than starting over with the basics over and over again. And it makes Eland Cables a better place to be.”

Mike Turner, the co-founder of Bird & Blend Tea Co, based near Brighton, another company committed to the real living wage, concedes that this year’s 10% rise was costly – particularly once the knock-on impact further up the income scale is taken into account.

Of the approximately 180 staff across the firm’s 17 shops and warehouse, he estimates that about 100 are on the real living wage. “Part of me thinks, yeah, it would have been nice if it was lower, but if it was lower, it wouldn’t be doing what it’s for,” he says. “There’s no point in signing up for a scheme like that if when it starts to bite and have an impact, you pull out of it.”

Coca-Cola HBC follows McDonald’s in feeling the heat of Israel-Gaza war boycotts

Laura McGuire
Tue, 6 February 2024 

Coca-Cola HBC reports strong growth in third quarter results

Shares in Coca Cola HBC edged down this morning amid warnings from analysts that the bottler of the iconic fizzy drink could be the latest to feel the financial pain of boycotts linked to the Israel’s Gaza war.

Today’s forecast comes just one day after fast-food chain McDonald’s missed key sales targets due to customers steering clear of its restaurants because of their perceived support of Israel.

This comes after Hamas, which is designated as a terror group by the UK, launched an attack on Israel on October 7.

Israel’s response in Gaza has led to at least 25,000 being killed, including many children, while hundreds of Israeli hostages are still in captivity. Recently, Israel was taken to the International Court of Justice, accused of genocide.

On Monday, the American chain said global sales across its stores grew 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter below analyst expectations of 4.7 per cent. While revenue reached $6.41bn (£5.11bn) down 0.7 per cent from estimates of $6.45bn (£5.41bn).

It further solidified the impact boycotts are having on high street favourites after chief Chris Kempczinski said the move had “meaningful business impact”.

In a LinkedIn post last month, the US boss said the giant was “continuing to stand in solidarity with communities around the world”.

“McDonald’s trends are often a good indicator for Coke’s global volume growth,” analysts at Jefferies said.

“We believe that there is likely to be some modest impact towards the end of the fourth quarter from the Middle East conflict with risk of boycotting of western brands, ” they said.

Ahead of the FTSE 100 firm’s trading update next week, analysts agreed that volumes would trade slightly below the market consensus of 1.2 per cent and instead come in 1.0 per cent.

They also predict that for 2024 EBIT growth will come in at 8.7 per cent compared to a consensus reading of 10.9 per cent. However, Jefferies said it believes the business is in a better position to “absorb volatility”.

In October, the bottler announced “strong organic growth” as part of its third-quarter trading update today, with organic revenue being up 15.3 per cent.

Despite criticism and push back from protestors shares in the firm are trading 17 per cent higher than they were a year ago.

Chief Zoran Bogdanović has been quietly trying to rebuild the brand’s reputation after questions were raised about the extent of Coca Cola HBC’s operations in Russia after it pledged it would withdraw from the country following the war. A claim the company disputes.

McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are not the only global brands to be criticised amid the conflict in the Middle-East.

Last week coffee chain Starbucks cut its annual sales forecast due to boycotts impacting sales.

The world’s biggest coffee chain was also forced to call for peace late last year 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.

It’s ‘national sickie day’ – is ill-health holding back the UK economy?

The first Monday of February is apparently the most popular day for employees to call in sick, 

Larry Elliott

THE GUARDIAN
Mon, 5 February 2024 

The first Monday in February is supposedly the day on which the most staff call in sick compared with the rest of the year. Photograph: Jozef Polc/Alamy

The first Monday of February is apparently the most popular day for employees to call in sick, so the timing of the latest labour market health check by Britain’s number crunchers could scarcely have been better.

According to the latest evidence the UK has an even bigger problem with inactivity due to long-term sickness than previously thought.

Fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest there are now 2.8 million people classified as not looking for work because of health issues – up from the 2.6 million previously estimated and a one-third increase on the 2.1 million before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related: The Observer view on the nation’s poor health | Observer editorial

The ONS has rejigged its view of what has been happening to employment, unemployment and inactivity in order to take account of the fact the size of the UK’s population has been revised up. Its tentative conclusions are that the labour market is bigger, sicker and tighter than the old data suggested.

While the ONS was at pains to caution against reading too much into its new estimates, they show that employment is 170,000 higher than was thought but there are more prime age (16- to 64-year-old) people not working or looking for jobs, and long-term sickness now accounts for more than 30% of inactivity.

Hannah Slaughter, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation thinktank, said: “Tackling rising ill-health is a huge social and economic challenges that we’ll be facing throughout the 2020s, as will getting the UK employment back up to and beyond pre-pandemic levels.”

The ONS view of recent short-term developments has also changed. It believes unemployment stood at 3.9% in the three months ending in November last year, lower than its previous 4.2% estimate.

The Bank of England is closely monitoring the labour market for signs of an easing of pay pressure. Analysts said the new ONS estimates might make Threadneedle Street’s monetary policy committee more cautious about cutting interest rates.

“The new figures show that the labour market is tighter than believed previously. Furthermore there is no evidence that conditions have loosened recently,” said Philip Shaw of Investec.

James Moberly of Goldman Sachs said: “The reduction in the unemployment rate suggests that progress on labour market rebalancing may have stalled, which has somewhat hawkish implications for the Bank.”

The reason the ONS warned against reading too much into the new data is that it lacks a complete picture of the labour market after suspending statistics from what had been its main gauge of developments – the Labour Force Survey – on the grounds that weak response rates made the results unreliable.

The LFS was replaced by an experimental series based on a range of sources including the claimant count and PAYE data. It will take until September before the ONS is ready to announce its replacement for the LFS.

Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at Pantheon Macro, said the ONS still had “little faith” in the quality of its figures and was only willing to say that unemployment rate “may have fallen”. He said more recent evidence, including rising redundancy notifications, showed rising unemployment.

With UK dividends disappearing overseas, it’s time to resurrect employee ownership


Bartek Staniszewski
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Aardman Animation, makers of the iconic Wallace and Gromit films, is an employee-owned British company

Promoting employee ownership is an opportunity to empower Brits and boost the economy, writes Bartek Staniszewski

Buying British can be a little, everyday expression of patriotic fervour. By buying British products, the thought process is that one is helping British companies and the plucky Brits that run them. This desire is so strong that, recently, both Aldi and Morrisons added a ‘buy British’ section to their respective websites; around two-thirds of Brits are more inclined to buy a product if it is UK-made. Alas, today, increasingly many UK companies are British in name only.

Over the last few decades, the profits made by UK companies have increasingly gone not into the hands of locals, but to overseas investors. Currently, over 57 per cent of shares in UK firms are held by overseas investors, and increasing. As such, the brand of many UK firms may be British, but the ultimate beneficiaries are not. It is a relatively recent phenomenon; as recently as 1981, the same was true for only 3.6 per cent of UK-quoted shares.

This is not merely a disappointment for civic patriotism, but also a problem for the UK economy. Any profits that end up overseas instead of in the UK will most likely also be spent overseas. Money that could otherwise have gone to a UK greengrocer will instead fuel the retail sector in another country, and investment made from such profits will likely strengthen an economy overseas instead of helping the very country that produced them.

UK individuals, in particular, have lost out. It is they who, once upon a time, owned the majority of UK-quoted shares. In 1963, 54 per cent of shares in UK firms were held by UK individuals. Today, they own less than 11 per cent. The remaining 89 per cent belongs to financial institutions.

But it is UK individuals who need UK shares the most, especially now. Today, about a third of the UK population have less than £1,000 saved. About two-thirds would not be able to last for three months without borrowing money. Savings in the form of shares would be a natural means of remedying that. Dividends from said shares would also boost incomes, and individuals, unlike financial institutions, are overwhelmingly likely to spend said income locally, boosting the local economy.

Conversely, financial institutions are much more likely to spend the profits they derive from dividends abroad. Even when they do spend them in the UK, it is often either to pay their already relatively well-paid staff, or to make investments that are not always beneficial for Britons. Speculative investment in property, for example, has the potential to price out families looking for a home to live in.

The government should attempt to change the situation, but the firms that sold their shares to overseas investors presumably did so because it benefitted them. Any attempt at fixing the issue would have to offer firms some other benefit.

A win-win solution would be for the government to resurrect its effort to promote employee business ownership. Such efforts were made, most recently, by the coalition government, and could allow millions of UK employees to own shares in the businesses they work for. They then benefit from the extra income and savings, while the firms that employ them benefit from as much as 12 per cent extra productivity, superior innovation and much-improved resilience to economic downturns.

Employee ownership would be particularly valuable in sectors where average pay is relatively low – the resultant boost in otherwise low-paid employees’ savings and incomes could go a long way to improving the UK’s wealth and income inequalities, killing two birds with one stone.

Whoever ends up in Number 10 at the end of this year must not let the employee ownership opportunity go amiss.

UK
Failure to deliver insulation and clean tech ‘cost households on energy bills’

Emily Beament, PA Environment Correspondent
Mon, 5 February 2024 



A lack of investment in home insulation and green tech cost households up to £1,900 on their energy bills last year, a report has suggested.

Greater investment and faster moves on insulation, solar panels, renewables, heat pumps and electric cars over the last decade could have delivered savings totalling £70 billion by 2023, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said.

The UK would have saved £56 billion in the first two years of the gas crisis in 2022 and 2023, as insulation and clean tech would have reduced demand for expensive oil and gas, the study from the think tank said.


But successful policies for boosting home insulation and solar were scrapped over the past decade and there has been slow progress and delays on measures for new homes, heat pumps, electric cars and renewables, the ECIU said.

A household with all the available technologies would have saved £1,900 on their bills in 2023, the report calculates.

If Government support schemes for energy efficiency, which were cut in 2013, had been maintained, an extra 10 million homes would have received insulation upgrades, saving £12 billion on bills over the decade, it said.

The average property with a Band D energy efficiency rating would have saved £320 in 2023 if their home had been upgraded to Band C, reducing the impact of soaring costs of the energy crisis.

Almost three quarters of the extra cost hit households, and the remainder was paid by the Government’s price freeze, the report said.

Maintaining solar panel installation rates at their 2011 peak, and speeding up the deployment of renewables such as offshore wind, electric vehicles and heat pumps would also have saved billions of pounds in energy costs.

Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at the ECIU, said: “Investment in these net zero technologies brings returns in the form of lower energy bills, reduced vulnerability to volatile international gas markets and the prospect of real energy independence for the UK.

“A lack of investment leaves families colder and poorer and has left the country in a real hole in the gas crisis at a cost of tens of billions of pounds.

“Had billions been invested in insulation and renewables, not only would huge savings have been made for the bill and tax-payer, but these savings would continue into the future at a time when the gas price is expected to remain high.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these highly speculative figures, they ignore the fact the proportion of homes in England with an EPC rating of C or above has risen from just 14% in 2010 to almost half today.

“We are helping families to make changes, increasing the boiler upgrade scheme by 50% – making it one of the most generous in Europe. Our plan is working and applications are now up by nearly 50% compared to last year.

“The UK is also a world leading renewables sector – home to the five largest operational wind farms in the world, with renewables accounting for over 40% of our electricity, up from 7% in 2010.”

Around 400 jobs at risk as British electric van maker Arrival falls into administration

Guy Taylor
Mon, 5 February 2024 

FILE PHOTO: A fully electric test van by British bus maker Arrival Ltd, due to start production in 2022

A British-based electric van maker which aimed to become a leader in EV manufacturing has filed for administration, placing around 400 jobs at risk.

In a statement, joint administrators EY said they were now exploring options for a sale of the business and its assets, including its “electric vehicle platforms, software, intellectual property and R&D assets, for the benefit of creditors.”

“The Group’s liquidity position has been impacted by challenging market and macroeconomic conditions resulting in delays in getting the Group’s products to market,” EY said.

The formerly Nasdaq-listed company had been struggling for cash for months and received a notice in January from the exchange warning it was not in compliance with the listing rules.

Shares had fallen by over 95 per cent in the last year, with the company’s market capitalisation at around $20m, having been valued at around $5.4bn on its first day of trading.

EV firms that went public during the pandemic benefitted from soaring investor demand. However, they have since faced high interest rates, inflation, supply chain issues and problems down the production line.

Rival Volta Trucks filed for insolvency in October while Essex-based Tevva Motors has also struggled for cash and explored a move to the US.

Arrival, whose research and development facility is based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, had aimed to build cutting-edge electric vans, taxis and other vehicles. It slashed around 800 jobs in 2023 as it cut costs and increased its focus on US markets.

Lloyds and Santander accused of providing accounts for Iranian front companies

Kalyeena Makortoff 

Banking correspondent
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Santander and Lloyds could face penalties if they are found to have in any way helped Iran’s Petrochemical Commercial Company evade US sanctions.

Photograph: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Two of the UK’s largest lenders, Santander UK and Lloyds Banking Group, allegedly held bank accounts for front companies that helped Iranian entities evade US sanctions, according to reports.

The news has rattled investors, who sold off shares in the two banks on Monday morning, amid fears that the lenders could face penalties if they are found to have in any way assisted Iran’s state-controlled Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

The Tehran-controlled company has been accused by US officials of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards al-Quds Force, and working with Russian intelligence agencies. PCC and its British subsidiary have been under US sanctions since November 2018.

PCC is alleged to have moved money through a Santander UK business bank account by using a front company registered to a detached house in Surrey, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

It also used a separate front company to move money through an account at Lloyds Banking Group, the newspaper claimed.

The report will raise fresh concerns about how the UK’s financial system could be being used to launder cash or hide illicit payments.

“This is, frankly, a shocking failure to act in lockstep with our allies to shut down the financing of a hostile regime,” said Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chair of the business and trade committee. “It beggars belief that a business sanctioned by the US is freely trading in London.”

He wrote on the X platform that MPs on the committee would be “cross-examining ministers, Companies House, National Crime Agency, HMRC & SFO [Serious Fraud Office] to explain how the hell this happened” when it holds an evidence session on economic crime on Tuesday morning.

The news took a toll on the share price of the two lenders, with Lloyds tumbling as much as 2% in morning trading, before recouping some losses to trade lower by 0.4% by early afternoon. Shares in Santander, which is listed in Spain, fell by more than 3%.

Santander said it had not broken any rules. “Santander is not in breach of US sanctions based on our investigation. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and US authorities.”

Lloyds is also pushing back against the claims outlined in the FT report.

“We believe we have met all legal and regulatory obligations and, based on our own investigation, we do not believe we have breached any sanction requirements,” the banking group said in a statement.

Santander and Lloyds reportedly helped Iran-backed oil firms evade UK sanctions

Chris Dorrell
Mon, 5 February 2024

The Financial Times reported that both Lloyds and Santander provided accounts to British front companies owned by Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

UK banks have provided bank accounts to holding companies linked to a state-backed Iranian petrochemicals company which has been under western sanctions since 2018, according to reports.

The Financial Times reported that both Lloyds and Santander provided accounts to British front companies owned by Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

PCC is a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company accused by the US of helping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and of working with Russian intelligence agencies.

Both PCC and its subsidiaries have been under UK and US sanctions since 2018.

The company has continued to operate out of an office in Grosvenor Gardens by using a web of holding companies that are not sanctioned, the report suggests.

According to the FT, PCC has used these companies to receive funds from Iranian front entities in China while concealing their real ownership.

One of these companies, Pisco UK, used a business account with Santander UK. Another, called Aria Associates, has an account with Lloyds.

A Santander UK spokesperson said the bank was “unable to comment on specific client relationships” but stated the bank “abides by its legal and regulatory obligations, and we are highly focused on sanctions compliance.”

“Where we identify sanctions risks, we will investigate and take appropriate action,” they said.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “The group’s business activities are conducted to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions laws. We are committed to adhering to all legislative and regulatory requirements as they relate to economic crime.”

“We are not permitted to comment on individual customers. In addition, due to legal restrictions, we cannot comment on the submission of suspicious activity reports to relevant authorities when and if they occur,” they continued.

The revelations come as tensions continue to rise between the west and Iran. The US carried out further airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis on Sunday.

The UK government has been approached for comment.

Santander, Lloyds' shares hit by report Iran used accounts to evade sanctions

Mon, 5 February 



By Jesús Aguado and Iain Withers

MADRID/LONDON (Reuters) -Santander and Lloyds shares fell on Monday after the Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported that Iran used accounts held at the banks in the United Kingdom to covertly move money around the world in a sanctions-evasion scheme backed by Iran's intelligence services.

Lloyds and Santander UK provided accounts to British front companies allegedly secretly owned by a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company based in London, the FT reported citing documents the newspaper had obtained.

Shares in Madrid-based parent Santander fell as much as 6.1% and were down 4.9% at 1503 GMT, wiping off around 3 billion euros in value from the euro zone's second biggest lender by market capitalisation, according to data from LSEG, while shares in Lloyds declined 0.5%.

Santander shares rose more than 6% last week following 2023 earnings that beat forecasts.

"The market must be realising that they may be fined," said Nuria Alvarez, an analyst at Madrid-based broker Renta 4.

Santander and Lloyds said in separate statements that they believed they were not in breach of sanctions, based on their own investigations.

"We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and U.S. authorities," a Santander spokesperson said.

A Lloyds spokesperson said the group was committed to adhering to economic crime laws and regulations, adding it could not comment on individual customers.

British regulator the Financial Conduct Authority said it was in contact with the banks and with the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

The U.S. Treasury Department and Britain's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

European lenders, such as Unicredit and Standard Chartered, have been hit with large penalties over Iran sanctions in the past, with the Italian lender paying $1.3 billion to U.S. authorities to settle probes.

Standard Chartered agreed to pay $1.1 billion in 2019 to U.S. and British authorities over financial transactions that violated sanctions against Iran and other countries.

According to the FT, the Iranian state-controlled Petrochemical Commercial Company was part of a network that the United States accuses of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force and of working with Russian intelligence agencies.

Both PCC and its British subsidiary PCC UK have been under U.S. sanctions since November 2018, the FT said.

One of its alleged front companies, called Pisco UK, is registered to a detached house in Surrey and used a business account with Santander UK, the FT report said.

A person with knowledge of the situation said that Santander has closed Pisco's account.

Santander declined to comment on specific client relationships.

Alicia Kearns, chair of Britain's foreign affairs committee, said she had repeatedly raised concerns about the need to shut down "cut-outs" of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps operating in the UK, adding that the FT report suggested more needed to be done.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado and Iain Withers, Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Santander UK and Lloyds deny breaching US sanctions over links to Iranian firms

Anna Wise and August Graham, PA Business Reporters
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Lloyds and Santander UK have denied breaching US sanctions after new reports claimed the banks had provided accounts to British holding companies linked to an Iran-backed petrochemicals firm.

Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC), which is linked to the Iranian state, used a web of front companies in the UK to discreetly move money around the world, according to documents seen by the Financial Times (FT).

Lloyds and Santander UK provided bank accounts to two of those companies, the report revealed.

PCC UK has been subject to US economic sanctions since 2018. Sanctions, which can include the restriction of exports, are a tactic employed by governments to stop other countries acting aggressively or breaking international law.

PCC UK has links to Aria Associates, a company registered to a residential address on the banks of the Thames in central London.

Documents first reported by the FT and also seen by the PA news agency suggest Aria Associates had a bank account with Lloyds.

Aria Associates is not itself subject to sanctions and PCC UK is not sanctioned by the UK Government.

The business is majority-owned by Mohammad Ali Rejal, Companies House filings show.

Mr Rejal has held a senior position at PCC UK and has had communications with company officials in Iran, in emails reported by the FT and also seen by the PA news agency.

Meanwhile, Pisco UK is a company registered in Surrey which documents suggest had a Santander bank account.

The company is majority-owned by British national Abdollah Siavash Fahimi, who the FT reported is running the company on behalf of PCC.

The FT reported that Pisco UK and Aria Associates are fully owned by PCC UK, although the PA news agency was not able to independently confirm this.

A spokeswoman for Santander UK said the bank is “not in breach of US sanctions based on our investigation”.

“We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and US authorities.”

Lloyds also said it has not breached any sanctions, with a spokeswoman saying: “The group’s business activities are conducted to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions laws.

“We are committed to adhering to all legislative and regulatory requirements as they relate to economic crime. We are not permitted to comment on individual customers.

“In addition, due to legal restrictions, we cannot comment on the submission of suspicious activity reports to relevant authorities when and if they occur.”

Shares in Madrid-listed Banco Santander were down more than 4% on Monday and FTSE 100-listed Lloyds shares were down about 1%.

UNRWA
At the end of this month, we may have to stop our humanitarian aid operations.


Photo by Ashraf Amra.


With the announcement of funding suspensions, and as war rages on in the Gaza Strip, there is so much at stake:

Shelters for those who have lost everything;

Nutritious meals for empty stomachs;

Warm blankets to fight the cold

Medicines to cure, vaccines to protect;

This is what we do at UNRWA thanks to the unwavering support of many donors.

People in Gaza depend on UNRWA as their irreplaceable lifeline

No other entity can deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need now.

“Over 100 days of war, and we are still providing services to Palestinians...and we will continue.”   UNRWA worker in Rafah, south of Gaza

Did you know UNRWA supports millions of Palestine Refugees outside of Gaza, too? The suspension of funding will have significant implications in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan:

Education for 250,000 children;

Vocational training for 6,000 students;

Access to health care for almost 2 million patients;

Cash assistance for over 900,000 people.

With your support, we will be able to continue our indispensable work to support the people of the Gaza Strip and all Palestine Refugees across the region.

Ours is an appeal for support from the heart. Please help us ensure that our lifesaving assistance continues. No amount is too small. Any contribution you can give will make a difference.


Keep UNRWA Working

#DonateToUNRWA Now


With immense gratitude,

UNRWA Digital Fundraising Team


I want to help now

UK
Reneuron issues administration warning as biotech firm puts jobs at risk

Jon Robinson
Mon, 5 February 2024

ReNeuron Group's shares have been suspended on the London Stock Exchange's AIM.

Biotech business Reneuron Group has warned it could enter administration and is preparing to make redundancies as its shares were suspended from trading.

The AIM-listed company, which is headquartered in Pencoed, Wales, is in a “highly constrained financial position” and that it requires additional financing “urgently, in order to continue as a going concern”.

Reneuron Group added that it has found itself in this position after not being able to secure a “validating, revenue generating industry partnership” or additional equity funding.

As a result, the company said it now needs to put staff at risk of redundancy, initiate discussions with its creditors and establish the precise solvency status of the business.

Shares in Reneuron Group were trading at 3.38p before they were suspended at 2.30pm on Monday, February 5, giving it a market capitalisation of just under £2m.

In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Reneuron Group said: “As also announced in the interim results, potential corporate actions that were under consideration by the board included raising additional equity financing and/or securing a financing facility and/or entering into M&A discussions.

“The group also noted in the interim results that as at 30 September 2023, the group had cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits of £5.1m and that the group’s latest internal projections (assuming no new revenues or funding) meant there was a cash runway to April 2024, ahead of which point further revenues and/or a capital injection would be required.

“In the intervening period, despite great scientific progress having been made in further developing and exemplifying the CustomEX exosome delivery platform and progressing several ongoing third-party business development discussions, the group has not yet been able to conclude a validating, revenue generating industry partnership nor been able to secure additional equity funding.

“Accordingly, throughout the period the group has been carefully managing its working capital, but it is now in a highly constrained financial position and requires additional financing urgently, in order to continue as a going concern.

“In the absence of any additional financing being available in the immediate term, the group now needs to take steps to preserve and maximise value for its creditors.

“Whilst the group continues to explore a number of corporate options, including seeking to realise value for its physical and intellectual assets, the board recognises that in the absence of an immediate injection of capital and in view of the current financial uncertainty, it needs to put staff at risk of redundancy, initiate discussions with its creditors and establish the precise solvency status of the business.

“Should the company fail to achieve a solution in the short term, the board would have no option but to place the company into administration.

“Should administrators be appointed, it is not known how much, if any, value would be returned to shareholders.”

In Reneuron Group’s interim results, for the six months to September 30, 2023, its revenue stood at £157,000 while its pre-tax losses were £3.2m.

For the year to March 31, 2023, its revenue was £530,000 and its pre-tax losses were £6.6m. According to those accounts, the company employed 34 people during that financial year.

Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor denies forging documents to support claim

Sam Tobin
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright at the High Court in London


By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) -An Australian computer scientist who says he invented bitcoin told a London court on Tuesday he had never forged documents to try to prove his hotly-disputed claim, as he began his evidence in a legal battle over ownership of the cryptocurrency.

Craig Wright says he is the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published in the name "Satoshi Nakamoto".

But the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has taken Wright to court, it says to stop him suing bitcoin developers and to preserve the open-source nature of the world's best-known and most popular cryptocurrency.

COPA is asking London's High Court to rule that Wright is not Satoshi. It says he has repeatedly forged documents to substantiate his claim, before changing his story when the alleged fabrications are spotted.

Wright, however, denies relying on fake records and has blamed others, including former lawyers and associates, for any inauthentic documents.

The 54-year-old began the first of six days of evidence on Tuesday at a high-stakes hearing which is the culmination of years of speculation about the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

COPA's lawyer, Jonathan Hough, asked Wright: "Have you ever forged or falsified a document in support of your claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto?" Wright replied: "No."

"Have you ever knowingly presented a forged or falsified document in support of your claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto," Hough asked. Wright replied: "I have not."

Hough put numerous alleged forgeries to Wright, including an academic paper with handwritten notes which Wright has claimed prompted his decision to use the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

COPA says the document contains a forged timestamp with numbers in visibly different fonts to make it look as if it pre-dates the bitcoin white paper.

Hough said to Wright: "This is a document forged by you as part of the origin myth."

Wright said he did not forge the document, adding: "If I forged that document, it would be perfect."

(Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Ros Russell)

Ex-mayor Nenshi loathes partisan politics. He may run for NDP leader anyway

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Then-mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks while Patty Hajdu, the former federal health minister, looks on in 2020. He's currently sizing up a provincial run, to replace Rachel Notley as NDP leader. Notley announced last month she's stepping down.

 (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Former Alberta justice minister Kathleen Ganley kicked off her bid Monday to lead the NDP, stressing her Calgary roots. By this time next week, Edmonton caucus mates Rakhi Pancholi, Sarah Hoffman and David Shepherd will likely have joined her in the race to replace the departing Rachel Notley.

That lineup of leadership candidates has been reported publicly for some time now, and campaign teams have been quietly jostling for support since at least last autumn. With no clear front-runner, it's shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and interesting NDP leadership contests anywhere in Canada in some time (they tend to be relatively sleepy affairs with little competition or none at all).

But the intrigue that seems to have gripped NDP-land and parts beyond is whether another figure jumps into the fray and injects even more excitement — one who just delivered his own head-turner of a political speech without formally saying a thing about whether he wants this job.

'We will fight!'

Naheed Nenshi, arguably Alberta's most compelling political speaker in recent memory, delivered the address that got folks talking at a Calgary rally against the Danielle Smith government's newly proposed restrictions affecting transgender people.

The former Calgary mayor's voice began with disappointment in the compassionate tone the premier used in her announcement, then he elevated it to a roar as he seethed at her promise to bolster child protection services in case parents react abusively to their outed teens.

"Let me tell you what that means — what that means is 'we'll deal with y'all later,'" he told some 1,000 protesters. "Later after you've been beaten up. Later after you've been kicked out of your house … later after you've died by suicide. Later is not good enough. We protect everyone, we protect every kid, and we protect them right now."

He closed his nine minutes by leading rally-goers in a chant: "We will fight! We will win!"

No less a figure than Nenshi's own sister suggested it should serve as prelude to an NDP leadership bid.

Helen Pike/CBC

He publicly states he's thinking about it, and that appears true. Nenshi and politicos from his municipal life have for weeks done meetings and phone calls with New Democrats and other progressives, gauging their interest in the idea of the politician with the purple trademark seeking the orange crown.

The rally could have galvanized his own interest in three more years of more rabble-rousing speeches full of Smith critiques, before the 2027 Alberta election. Then, if this leadership contest is as focused as it appears to be on setting the NDP on track to win that election, why wouldn't progressives flock behind a three-term mayor who would take on the job with instant name recognition and debating chops to take on Smith?

But behind the scenes, the questions determining if he runs will likely have two varieties: does the party want him, and does he want the party?

Nenshi's nonpartisan or post-partisan philosophy has embodied his purple branding, a mixture of Liberal red and Conservative blue (little thought was given to orange). Even when he endorsed Notley's party in the last election, it was a "loan" vote, and he offered praise mixed with much criticism of past NDP positions.

"I need to engage with politics and elections fluidly and based on the context of the moment, as well as who is running," he wrote last May in an endorsement column.

He revelled in the fluidity of city politics. As mayor, he wasn't leader of the 14 other councillors, and could variously appeal to the conservative members or liberal members for votes to ensure passage of his initiatives. (Or, sometimes, he wasn't persuasive or crafty a politician enough to win those votes.)

Were he to run and become NDP leader, he'd suddenly find himself at the helm of a 38-member caucus of elected partisans — some not much newer to the system than he would be, but many who are longtime and loyal New Democrats.

It's grown from the union-oriented party it used to be. The 2014 leadership race allotted 25 per cent of its votes to organized labour, but this spring's contest won't. There's still an unabashedly and consistently left-of-centre tradition that Nenshi would likely have to abide by.

Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

There's policy consistency and message discipline a party leader must instill (and enforce) in his team, and he's previously enjoyed not even having that rigidity himself, sometimes on council arguing around both sides of an issue before eventually landing somewhere.

Four years ago, while he was still mayor and I wasn't at CBC, I asked Nenshi how he'd manage the expectations of a partisan political system at the federal or provincial level. He suggested he didn't need to change to fit that mould — maybe the combative system itself needed to change, and he could help forge a "new model" of politics.

"You're working out of a paradigm of the way it works now. Maybe it could work differently in the future," he said in that interview.

Nenshi had chafed against partisanship and ideological rigidity at city hall, and he couldn't fix that. Inserting himself into an established UCP-vs.-NDP slugfest and trying to transform it on the fly is a big ask. But would asking him to conform to it be equally daunting?

The former mayor would have to revive a political network that last sought votes and donations in 2017 — and features many moderate conservatives who might blanch at buying an Alberta NDP membership that includes a stake in Jagmeet Singh's federal party. He'd have to build an organization in Edmonton and elsewhere; and he'd have to get assurances that the MLAs would be comfortable with him as leader, whether or not they've already chosen another hopeful to support.

Nenshi would need special permission from the NDP to run for leadership if he has not been a card-carrying member for six months, but insiders expect that to be a formality, a rule more designed to keep out rogues who are further astray from the party's political core.

He might also want some guarantees that he'd be able to overtake Ganley as the ranking Calgary candidate, as well as Shepherd, Pancholi. Getting in this contest to risk losing in June's vote may be a disappointing political return.

Thinking, thinking

There's no indication from Nenshi's camp that he's racing into this decision, and almost definitely wouldn't launch anything this week.

As recently as Thursday, he was promoting an apolitical event in support of CBC's Canada Reads on Feb. 18, and has given no indication he's dropping that book debate series set in early March for a different sort of debate. The deadline to sell memberships for the leadership race is April 22 ahead of a June 22 vote, so waiting too long would dampen his chances.

Speaking of dampen, the party faces a dilemma on par with Nenshi's own: what if this outsider doesn't run?

While that decision may come down to his own personal considerations and comfort level, if the most high-profile potential candidate bows out, it might signal to the public that the NDP leadership isn't seen as an exciting political vehicle, or that the party isn't all too welcoming to outsiders.

If he bows out, the contest stands to appear as an all-MLA affair, a hunt for the most viable member of caucus whose name doesn't rhyme with Motley. If Nenshi's entry would bring some national-level sizzle to this race, his absence after much speculation could make it more lukewarm.

Quebec City sets sights on building 150-km cycling corridor by 2034

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Cyclists make their way down St-Denis Street in Montreal. Quebec City hopes to build a network of cycling paths within the next 10 years to offer more choice to commuters. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press - image credit)

In 10 years, 85 per cent of Quebec City will be served by a cycling corridor that will connect many of the city's 35 neighbourhoods.

Mayor Bruno Marchand unveiled the city's plan for the 150-kilometre cycling network on Tuesday.

He says the city hopes to achieve 60 per cent of its vision in five years — building 90 kilometres of the corridor with a budget of $29 million and starting with the most feasible paths, working section by section.

With a growing city and more commuters on the road, Marchand says this cycling corridor, also known as corridors Vélo cité (CVC) ,will be good for the economy and the environment.

"If we don't find alternatives to help people commute how they want to, we are done for. That means people driving will spend more time in their car," said Marchand.

"So the drivers who say when we announce a cycling project or active transport project that it's not for them, they're wrong. It is for them."

The city says it wants to ensure 48 per cent of residents are within a 400 metres of a path in the network, which will also connect 77 schools.

The city mapped out the planned cycling paths which will total 150 kilometres and stretch across the city. (Ville de Québec)

'It's really great to see': Vélo Québec

Magali Bebronne, director of programs with the cycling advocacy group Vélo Québec, says this project could encourage people living outside the city centre to turn to cycling.

"Traditionally the utilitarian bike lanes, the ones that really enable people to go places efficiently, were often concentrated in the downtown and in central boroughs," said Bebronne.

"So to have a vision that really allows for all the neighbourhoods to be connected is really a strong point of the plan."

Over the past few years, Bebronne says some municipalities have set up 50-kilometre cycling paths but "didn't offer any kind of security." She says even light infrastructure, such as bollards, can make a difference.

"It's an ambitious plan. It's really great to see," says Bebronne, adding she hopes the plans come to fruition.

"Of course, each time a plan is announced, it's great to see the announcement and then the devil is in the detail. It's about how fast the cities are able to implement it."

Pierre-Luc Lachance and Bruno Marchand presented the city's plan for the 150-kilometre cycling network at a news conference on Tuesday at city hall. 

(Alexandre Vallée-Roy/Radio-Canada)

Network will be for 'cyclists of all kinds': Mayor

Mayor Marchand says the goal is to offer choice, which will be a "win for all commuters on the road."

"To ensure that people can use this means [of transportation] it takes security and it requires comfort and that's what we're moving toward. The role of our city is not to force citizens or say we will choose for you," said Marchand.

"The role we were given as politicians was to offer choices."

Following the construction of the first 90-kilometre network, the remaining 40 per cent of the cycling network will be made up of more complex projects, requiring heavier work, which will be completed by 2034.

He says right now, many people still take their cars, even if their destination is within five kilometres.

"It's not our citizens fault. We're not throwing blame on them. It's the contrary. We are saying to them we will create a city that will allow them to — should they want to — move around in a comfortable manner," said Marchand.

Councillor and vice-president of the executive committee of Quebec City Pierre-Luc Lachance insists that the cycling network will be for "cyclists of all kinds," not just those "with bikes costing several thousand dollars."

"We're focusing on people who go to the library, children who will be able to go to school [by bike]," said Lachance.

The municipal administration will announce at a later date which sections will be developed in 2024 but confirmed its intention to start with the corridor linking Charlesbourg to downtown, which was announced in December. This path will be constructed gradually, in six sections from 2024 to 2026.

Not 'a war on cars,' mayor insists

The city says the choice of corridors is based on analyses of active mobility needs. Feasibility studies will be carried out for each of the various paths in the network and the city says citizens and local stakeholders will be invited to participate to ensure that the project is carried out in a way that reflects the realities of the local population.

Marchand says this project is not "a war on cars" but he does not have information about how existing roadways or lanes will be affected by the cycling network.

"The goal is not to remove lanes and the goal is also not to say we won't get rid of them," said Marchand. "It's to say we will find the best route to maximize its use."

Following the news conference, Stevens Mélançon of Équipe Priorité Québec said there are still details missing.

"The parking lots, the impact on the streets, the impact on everything [relating to] the environment, the routes," he said. "The intention may be good, but there are a lot of unknowns.".

Jackie Smith, a municipal councillor and the leader of Transition Quebec, says this project will complement the public transport network.

"It was essential to have a long-term vision of a network covering the entire territory, and this has now been achieved," said Smith in a statement.

"There's no doubt in my mind that with this infrastructure, the number of four-season cyclists in Quebec City will grow rapidly, and the whole community will benefit."

Yukon skier makes history with 'sensational' upset win at world championship meet

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Sonjaa Schmidt of Whitehorse, after winning gold in the women's sprint event at the U23 Nordic World Ski Championships in Slovenia on Tuesday. Her win was considered the 'surprise of the meet so far,' said one commentator. 

(Borut Živulović/BOBO/Graeme Williams - image credit)

A young cross country skier from Whitehorse has been proclaimed a "star in the making" after she unexpectedly made history by winning gold at a world championship meet this week.

Sonjaa Schmidt, 21, was not favoured to win the women's sprint at the U23 championship — in fact, she barely qualified for the quarterfinal heats at the event in Planica, Slovenia.

Once in the quarterfinal, though, Schmidt was unstoppable — cruising to the semifinal, and then the final where she turned heads by powering her way to the front of the pack just before reaching the finish line.

"How about that! She's beaten all the favourites ... It's Sonjaa Schmidt who's sprung the surprise of the meet so far," proclaims the broadcast announcer, calling the race for FIS Cross Country.

"Suddenly the Canadians have a star in the making ... sensational!"

The surprise win marks the first time Canada has won gold in a U23 Nordic World Ski Championship women's event.

"I felt lucky to have qualified in the first place," Schmidt told CBC News later on Tuesday.

"Then I think I just told myself, you know, that I have the same amount of chances as everyone else to win. And I tried to stay calm and just race the way I normally do, make moves where I can, rest where I can. And I think I did a really good job in that."

Alain Masson, a Whitehorse ski coach who works with the national team, and was there to see Schmidt's win, and called it "probably the biggest surprise in cross country ski racing, maybe not ever, but in a long, long time."

"I mean, even the quarterfinal, and the semifinal — it's rare for Canada to have athletes going beyond the quarterfinals ... It's amazing. Like, I think people were shocked."

Masson credits Schmidt's success to "perseverance, self-confidence and just work ethic."

Whitehorse skier Sonjaa Schmidt raises her arm in victory as she cross the finish line in the U23 women's sprint event at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Slovenia, Feb. 6, 2024.

Schmidt raises her arm in victory as she crosses the finish line on Tuesday. (Borut Živulović/BOBO/Graeme Williams)

Schmidt had a challenging year, after being passed over for the national team last spring. That meant she lost some of her funding, according to Masson.

But that setback may have ultimately helped give her an edge. In order to afford to keep her ski career going, Schmidt worked for several months last summer as a tree planter.

"I guess tree planting is a very physical labour — so maybe that's what has paid off for Sonjaa," Masson said.

Masson said Schmidt's surprise win was celebrated by more than just the Canadian contingent in Planica. He said after the race, lots of people from other teams — including those typically more favoured to win — were coming to offer congratulations.

"People were excited. I mean, it's good for the sport to have people from different countries doing well. So I think the Scandinavian countries were quite happy to see a North American on the top of the podium," Masson said.

Schmidt plans to now go visit her grandparents in Germany before getting back into competition at World Cup races in Finland, Norway and Sweden.

She's expecting her performance on Tuesday will earn now her a spot on the national team, meaning she's unlikely to spend another summer tree planting.

"Or maybe I will be — it seems to be the trick!" Schmidt said.

Cree chief pleads for help to end community's wave of violence in open letter to Sask. premier, PM

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024

Pelican Narrows has been under a state of emergency since last October because of high crime rates. It's among the communities in northern Saskatchewan that struggle with substance addiction and violent crime. (Dayne Patterson/CBC - image credit)

Leaders in a remote Saskatchewan community are calling out for help.

They say residents in Pelican Narrows are living in fear daily because of drug-fuelled violence, stabbings, shootings and suicide, which are the result of historical injustice and geographic isolation.

Registered nurse Sarah Van den Broeck described what it's like to live and work in the remote Saskatchewan community, which is about 420 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, during a news conference Monday.

She says nurses are exhausted from the constant exposure to trauma, oftentimes looking after patients who are victims of gunshot wounds, attacks from machetes, hammers and knives, and domestic violence.

"We feel like we're sitting targets ... we feel that the weapons used — the sawed-off shotguns — cause enough damage, but should a higher-calibre weapon be used for these shootings, we would be seeing murders every day," Van den Broeck said.

"We're trying to call for help before it comes to that."

Registered nurse Sarah Van den Broeck increasingly worried about violence:

Van den Broeck says it's difficult to sleep due to noise from drug houses across the street and continuous blaring. And when she and other residents manage to fall asleep, fireworks celebrating fresh batches of meth usually wake them up.

She adds that nurses don't feel safe going for walks, taking their dogs outside, or even standing on their decks because of stray bullets that might come their way.

Clinic shutting down-non urgent care

John-Michael Stevens, a doctor in Pelican Narrows, said the local health clinic is no longer providing non-urgent care because staff are too busy dealing with emergencies.

He added that fear is increasing among staff because there isn't enough security at the clinic and the number of intoxicated patients — many of whom are using crystal meth, which could lead to them being violent and unpredictable— coming into the clinic are increasing.

"There have been instances where staff have been threatened and staff involvement has been increasing and I know there's a mounting fear among staff of being victim to something," Stevens said.

"We wouldn't want people to think that we're closing down as a statement. It's certainly for the safety of the staff and so that we can continue to provide emergency services to the community."

Stevens has worked in Pelican Narrows for seven years and has felt safe for the majority of that time. He said gun violence started to rise in the community in mid-2022.

"Fairly recently was the first time I actually [felt unsafe], when I left the clinic to walk up to my suite, which is not a very long walk, I felt compelled to look around, " Stevens said.

"I really felt a strange sensation of I better just hurry because who knows there might be a bullet that's just that flies at the wrong time in the wrong place."

Calls for help

In an open letter to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Karen Bird called for a multi-pronged approach around enhanced community safety and mental health supports, as well as additional nurses.

After a year of remaining in a state of emergency, Bird said that the people of Pelican Narrows, which is one of eight communities that comprise Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), continue to feel vulnerable.

The nation covers more than 50,000 square kilometres and has more than 12,000 members.

"We need the right tools and gear to keep our health-care heroes and everyone else safe. We need law enforcement that's not just showing up after things go wrong but is really part of our community, keeping an eye out and keeping us safe," Bird said.

"We've reached out time and time again with plans and pleas detailed and clear, but the echoes of our cries for help have been met with silence."

Submitted by Matthew Hildebrandt

On Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health said the health centre and EMS services in Pelican Narrows are not operated by the SHA but that Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation is contracted to operate and manage the services in the community.

"The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health and the SHA are aware of the ongoing violence within the community of Pelican Narrows and are working with [Indigenous Services Canada] and PBCN to support the community and residents in the area," said an emailed statement to CBC.

Bird says the community is at a critical juncture that will determine its future, well-being and safety of residents.

A proposal to develop a community safety officer program in Pelican Narrows is still waiting provincial approval, but Bird says everything that's being done toward that is being paid for by the nation, including pulling resources from other places.

"Our ancestors, our people, our future generations, they're all watching children — waiting, hoping that this call for help gets answered," Bird said.

Israel arrests Palestinian American woman in the West Bank. Her relatives don't know where she is


JULIA FRANKEL
Tue, February 6, 2024

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces have arrested a 46-year-old Palestinian American woman after breaking into her home and pulling her from her bed in the occupied West Bank, her family said Tuesday, saying they had no idea where she was nearly two days after she was detained.

News of the arrest came just ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in Israel on a diplomatic mission aimed at forging a cease-fire in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. Samaher Esmail’s congressman in her home state of Louisiana vowed “to get to the bottom” of her arrest, while the State Department said it was looking into the matter.

Relatives said that Israeli soldiers burst into the woman's house while she was sleeping in the early hours of Monday and pulled her out of bed in the West Bank town of Silwad. A video of the incident posted to Twitter by her son showed soldiers surrounding her and herding her into an armored vehicle.

“They broke into her house and pulled her out, took her out of her bed,” said her brother, 35-year-old Mubarak Esmail, who lives in the U.S. “They didn’t even let her put on her hijab,” or traditional headcovering. He said his sister lived alone and probably did not even hear the soldiers because she takes medication for her uterine cancer that makes her drowsy.

The Israeli military said she had been arrested for “incitement on social media” and taken away for questioning.

Esmail is from Gretna, Louisiana, the same hometown of a Palestinian American teenager who was recently killed by Israeli fire in a nearby village. The death of 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar drew an expression of concern from the White House and an uncommonly quick pledge to investigate from the Israeli police. No findings from that investigation have yet been released.

Esmail's family said she often traveled back and forth between West Bank and the U.S., where she managed a family-owned grocery store in Gretna and worked as a tutor at a nearby high school. The family is in touch with U.S. Embassy officials but said they know nothing about her current whereabouts.

Rep. Troy A. Carter, Democrat of Louisiana, said he was “deeply concerned” by the arrest.

“I am in contact with the American Embassy and the State Department to get to the bottom of why she is being held and will continue to gather facts about this ongoing situation. I am praying for her safety,” he said.

A U.S. government spokesperson said the State Department was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained and was “seeking additional information" about the incident but had no further comment.

Late Tuesday, Blinken arrived in Israel, where he is expected to press ahead with efforts to at least pause Israel's offensive in Gaza and curb violence in the West Bank.

Since the Gaza war erupted on Oct. 7, Israel also has held the territory under a tight-grip, staging often-deadly raids into cities and villages and arresting dozens of Palestinians, in some cases accused of posting inciting material on social media.

Former U of T imam says he was let go for social media posts he never made, petition calls for reinstating him


CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Omar Patel, an imam who formerly offered chaplaincy services at University of Toronto Scarborough, says the school conducted a flawed investigation that ulmimately led to his dismissal. (CBC - image credit)

A former campus imam alleges he was dismissed by the University of Toronto Scarborough after a social media post he says was falsely attributed to him, and says the school failed to properly investigate.

Omar Patel says the university formally cut ties with him on Jan. 22 after nine years of offering "Islamically integrated" mental health and spiritual care to Muslim students.

"I loved working with the students of U of T, I loved working with administration. I had an extremely good relationship with them, which is why I thought everything was going to be okay," Patel said.

"I thought, the university trusts me, and I trust them to do an investigation."

His dismissal came roughly seven weeks after screenshots of an image related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, allegedly shared on Patel's Instagram stories, was flagged to administrators. Patel denies ever sharing the image and alleges he was unfairly targeted.

The screenshots were sent to administrators by Hillel Ontario, a group that says it "works to amplify Jewish campus life" at nine schools across the province. Hillel Ontario is part of Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.

The image depicts an Israel Defence Forces soldier, standing with an Israeli flag, mirrored with the same soldier holding the battle flag of Nazi Germany. Two superimposed captions suggest support for Israel is tantamount to support for Nazi Germany and genocide.

The Muslim Chaplaincy of Toronto, which directly employs Patel, has called for him to be reinstated at U of T Scarborough, saying the school's investigation lacked transparency and due process.

Questions emerge about screenshots

On Dec. 1, a U of T administrator sent Patel an email with a screenshot attached, telling him school was deeply concerned. Patel was told to stop going to campus and to postpone counselling appointments with students while an investigation got underway.

"To me, when I saw the image, I was shocked. I was appalled," Patel told CBC News. He said he noticed that the screenshot had no Instagram username or profile picture, which would typically appear in the top left corner of the Instagram stories function.

Patel responded to the school, questioning how the Instagram story could be attributed to him absent his handle or picture.

Five days later, the same administrator sent another nearly identical screenshot, except now the image had both features.

At about the same time, Hillel Ontario posted an open letter on its website, addressed to U of T Scarborough Principal Wisdom Tettey, calling for Patel to be held "accountable." The group said Patel was "spreading lies based on antisemitic blood libel tropes" that could contribute to violence against Jewish people.

Initially, the post included the screenshot without Patel's username and picture. It was then replaced with a screenshot with both. On Dec. 1, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) posted on X, formerly Twitter, directing users to the open letter.

The page has since been removed from Hillel Ontario's website.

Patel said he continued to deny in emails with administrators that he had shared the image. He alleges the second screenshot was altered to "smear" him and questions the 45-day period between the story supposedly being shared and the screenshots being sent to administrators. The story also "tagged" two Instagram accounts that do not appear to exist.

Patel said he believes U of T's investigation was "done in bad faith" and that he's considering legal action.

U of T declines to provide details of investigation

In a statement, Linda Johnston, acting U of T Scarborough principal while Tettey is on leave, declined to provide any further information about the school's investigation.

"We want to be as forthright as possible, but for reasons of confidentiality and people's privacy, we are not sharing more details," Johnston said.

"We continue to offer support to our Muslim students and are striving to ensure there is minimal disruption of services. We are currently looking to appoint a new chaplain," she added.

CBC Toronto also contacted Hillel Ontario with questions about the provenance of the screenshots.

"Since Hamas attacked innocent Israelis on October 7th, Jewish students on campus in Ontario have been subjected to increased antisemitism, the likes of which our community has not seen in many decades," said Jay Solomon, chief advancement officer with Hillel Ontario.

"Hillel received multiple reports and numerous screenshots about a disturbing social media post from the account _omarpatel. Upon receiving those reports, Hillel shared the screenshots in question with the University of Toronto, and asked university officials to investigate the matter."

In response to follow up questions about whether Hillel Ontario tried to authenticate the screenshots, Solomon said he had nothing further to add.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for CIJA said it was a "Hillel Ontario matter that we were not involved in.

"As such, we would not comment," the spokesperson said. CIJA's post remains on its X account.

Patel provided key service for students, employer says

An online petition organized by The Muslim Chaplaincy of Toronto calling for Patel to be reinstated at U of T Scarborough had more than 4,000 signatures on Tuesday afternoon.

Dalia Mohamed, a board member with the organization, said Patel's absence will leave thousands of Muslim students without a valuable resource.

"Wait times on campus for any other mental health supports are at least three months, if not more, and the cost can be pretty high," she told CBC Toronto.

"Being able to provide timely and accessible mental health supports and ones that are spiritually informed, that understand the religious values that these students have, is honestly a one-of-a-kind service on campus for a lot of Muslim students."

Pickering councillor faces backlash after penning op-ed criticizing Black History Month celebrations

I AM NOT RACIST SAYS RACIST

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024

In an op-ed published this week, Pickering Coun. Lisa Robinson denounced the idea of celebrating Black History Month, saying that 'the race to equality is not the celebration of one race over another.' (Lisa Robinson/X - image credit)

A Pickering city councillor is facing backlash from community members and her council colleagues after penning an op-ed saying she does not support the concept of Black History Month, which led to public outcry and some demanding an apology.

In the op-ed, which was published online Sunday in the Oshawa Durham Central Newspaper, Coun. Lisa Robinson denounced the idea of celebrating Black History Month, arguing that "the race to equality is not the celebration of one race over another.

"We are so hung up on North American history and the historical trafficking of primarily African people that we have lost sense of time and period," she wrote.

"Back in those days society was very different. Today, we have come a long way."

In an email to CBC Toronto Monday, Robinson defended the op-ed, saying her comments were not racist.

"My statement is merely wanting to support unity and equality for all," she wrote. "Instead of segregating people based on their colour, religion, or sexual preferences, we should be celebrating our shared humanity."

'It's insulting and hurtful,' says Black health advocate

Carion Fenn, health advocate and founder of the Carion Fenn Foundation, said this is the latest example of inflammatory sentiment toward marginalized communities. Fenn is demanding Robinson apologize to Durham's Black community.

"We should not have that mindset at council table," she said.

"It's insulting and it's hurtful. It pains us. It brings up the hurt and the pain that we have endured and it continues that trauma that is impacting our health … We need to protect the Black community."

Fenn said she would like to see the city's integrity commissioner investigate Robinson's remarks.

"Statements like these do not represent the Pickering that I know. We can't let her behaviour reflect the overall view of Pickering," she said.

The Womxn of Colour Durham Collective, a youth-led organization, also criticized the op-ed.

"We find the language used deplorable as it in essence waters down the beauty, complexity and power that is Black History," the Collective said.

"It is important that these celebrations continue so as to not ignore the past, but to confront it and be uncomfortable with it."

'Disheartening' to see display of insensitivity: mayor

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe addressed the op-ed during an executive committee meeting on Monday, where he said the sentiments expressed by Robinson in the piece "run counter to the values we at council have collectively championed.

"Her words have caused concern in our community and in my view [have] hurt our community. As mayor, I'm obligated to address this matter with a degree of urgency," Ashe said.

"It is disheartening to witness such displays of insensitivity towards Black History Month, a time when we should be celebrating the rich contributions of Afro-Canadians to our great nation," he said.

"While I staunchly believe in the principles of free speech that form the bedrock of our democratic society, I must remind Coun. Robinson of the sworn oath taken to respect and abide by the wishes of this council."

MayorKevin Ashe

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said Coun. Lisa Robinson's remarks on Black History Month have 'caused concern in our community and ... hurt our community.' (CBC)

Ashe said that the suggestion by Robinson, that recognizing Black History is divisive, is contrary to the principles of equity and inclusion that council upholds.

In response to the mayor's comments, Robinson said, "I would hope that no Black people in Pickering and beyond will feel my remarks were inflammatory or were disrespectful."

Robinson previously docked pay

The councillor's remarks come just a few months after she wasfound to have promoted "homophobic and transphobic" attitudes by the city's integrity commissioner for conduct last May.

In May 2023, Robinson encouraged a crowd at a Durham District School Board meeting to lobby politicians and to attend an upcoming Pickering city council meeting en masse in support of her motions to ban drag shows and pride parades anywhere children could be present, to limit non-government flag raising and to change city policy to mandate people use gender-specific washrooms.

Pickering city council voted to suspend her pay for a period of 60 days as a result — something Robinson told CBC Toronto Monday that she intends to seek a judicial review for, as it was based on "unfounded allegations and distortions of the truth."

Robinson was alsopreviously docked 30 days of pay after another integrity commissioner investigation concluded that one of her Facebook posts was a form of bullying. Robinson referenced that decision in her Sunday op-ed, which was published in print Tuesday. In it, she said she felt that "council was treating me like a modern day slave" for docking her pay.

In 2021, Robinson was a candidate for the federal Conservative party in the Toronto riding of Beaches-East York but got booted after past Islamophobic tweets surfaced.