P3
WHO seeking quick bucks from business via foundation

WHO Foundation chief executive Anil Soni says the organisation has been created to marshal more resources from businesses 

Issued on: 17/10/2022 - 

Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization is sourcing rapid response financing directly from companies to help tackle international crises, through the foundation it set up to bridge the shortfall from member state

The WHO Foundation -- set up in May 2020 as the UN health agency scrambled for resources to fight the Covid-19 pandemic -- was created to marshal new resources from business and philanthropists.

The foundation, which went live in January 2021, aims to "mobilise more support for the WHO, from the public, from businesses, from philanthropists," its chief executive Anil Soni told AFP.

"No organisation, no sector can solve the challenges that the world is facing alone," the 46-year-old American said.

The WHO has a two-year budget of $5.8 billion but its financial independence has steadily declined.

Its 194 member states provide barely 16 percent of the organisation's financing through membership fees.

The rest comes from voluntary contributions, of which 88 percent are "specified", meaning the money goes to projects earmarked by the donors.

And with national budgets tightening around the world, governments "are having to make tough decisions about where they give their money", said Soni.

"That's why we should do more with the private sector."
'Matchmaker'

The foundation says it exists because the WHO lacks sufficient resources to fulfil its mandate.

The list of health crises currently being combated by the WHO includes Covid-19, the cholera outbreak in Haiti, the war in Ukraine, the devastating floods in Pakistan, monkeypox and attempts to get aid into Ethiopia's besieged Tigray region.

The foundation has raised $30 million since the start of 2021 -- money which has mainly been focused on supporting the WHO's emergency response to Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.

"Part of our job is to be a matchmaker, is to make sure that we can facilitate dialogue and share information," said Soni.

"So the WHO sees the benefit of working with the private sector, and the private sector sees the power of the WHO."

The foundation has around 40 staff compared to more than 8,600 for the WHO, which is also based in Geneva.
Innovation investments

Soni admits that some -- including within the WHO -- fear the risk of private companies holding too much sway over the organisation, which makes decisions on the usage and approval of drugs, vaccines and treatments.

He insisted mechanisms were in place to prevent any company from influencing such decisions.

"But to close the door to all of the private sector -- that doesn't work," he said.

On September 19, the WHO Foundation announced that it had partnered with venture capital firm OurCrowd to launch a $200 million investment fund focused on breakthrough health technologies.

OurCrowd will raise the money and a share of the profits will go to the WHO.

In addition, the companies in which the fund has invested will have to commit to ensuring fair access to their new technologies -- one of the WHO's chief gripes during the pandemic response, as poorer nations went to the back of the queue for Covid vaccines and treatments.
Flexible friends

On September 22, the foundation announced the launch of the Health Emergencies Alliance partnership -- a vehicle for companies and philanthropists who want to support the WHO in tackling health emergencies on a regular basis.

The partnership, which is in its infancy, hopes to get financing to the front line swiftly and effectively.

The French laboratory pharmaceutical giant Sanofi was the first to sign up, said Soni, with discussions ongoing with other companies.

Those who join the programme will pay a set amount to the foundation each year, without the donation being earmarked for a particular situation, allowing the WHO to respond to emergencies flexibly.

And when a health emergency suddenly springs up, these companies will, within 24 hours, have the possibility of raising additional resources for the response, from their clients, employees and the company itself, capitalising while the emotion on breaking disasters is still strong.

The alliance should see companies being able to respond even more quickly to emergencies while offering greater funding flexibility to the WHO, Soni explained.

© 2022 AFP

Hungry elephants, Cameroon farmers struggle to coexist


Reinnier Kaze
Mon, October 17, 2022 


Banana growers on the edge of a giant national park on Cameroon's Atlantic coast say they can take no more crop destruction from hungry elephants as the conflict between man and animal escalates.

Near the southern border with Equatorial Guinea, eight villages have registered complaints with the Campo Ma'an national park, a vast area of virgin forest from where the animals emerge.

An estimated 500 gorillas and more than 200 elephants -- both endangered species -- roam the reserve's 264,000 hectares (652,000 acres).

A week after elephants flattened his banana plantation close by the park, Simplice Yomen, 47, is struggling to cope.


"We are at the end of our tether," he sighs.

The elephants eat the new growth inside the banana tree trunks after splitting them open.

Manioc, maize, sweet potato and peanuts are also favourite snacks, says park administrator Michel Nko'o.


In Cameroon, co-existence between humans and animals on the edge of dense forests is proving increasingly challenging.

Most of the crop destruction is recorded near protected wildlife reserves.

For Nko'o, the elephant raids have become noticeably more frequent since agro-industrialists began setting up by the park.

More 2,000 hectares of forest has been chopped down to grow palm oil trees for Cameroun Vert, an industrial plantation project for which the government first approved a clearing of 60,000 hectares before reducing it to 39,000 hectares after protests.

"The elephants who lived here no longer have any place to go and end up in people's fields," regrets park conservationist Charles Memvi.
- 'Discouraging' -

Affected villages near the town of Campo have seen "three to four hectares of plantations destroyed, which is a major financial loss for the local people", says Nko'o.

Elephants are blamed for 80-90 percent of the attacks.

The rest is accounted for by gorillas, chimpanzees, hedgehogs, pangolins and porcupines.


Nearly all these species are endangered due to habitat loss and/or poaching.

Daniel Mengata's two hectares of banana trees were "devastated" in 2020.

"The animals really are discouraging us," the 37-year-old admitted.

"I started crying after seeing the damage because in one night a year's work was wiped out. That really hurts."

"I can no longer feed my family," adds Emini Ngono, 57. Hungry elephants have ruined her smallholding, which once produced gourds, manioc and potato.

Ngono says she could make more than 1,000 euros ($970) from selling seeds for gourds, a traditional stable food across the region.
- Reconciliation -

Not far off, logs of wood extracted from the forest are piling up.

The high-pitched noise from a saw masks the birdsong as a group of trackers set off looking for rare gorillas.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched a "primate habituation" project a decade ago focused on gorillas in a bid to develop ecotourism in the area.

Part of the income was to go to local communities to encourage them to help protect the animals and reduce the conflict with humans.

Chimene Mando'o is out tracking primates.

"There! That's Akiba", the 25-year-old cries after the gorilla calls out.

Shortly after, Akiba -- meaning "thank you" in the local Mvae language -- briefly appears at the foot of a tree just a dozen metres (yards) away, before scampering off into the jungle.

"We have to find a way to generate some development ... in such a way that everyone benefits from this natural resource," explains WWF biodiversity economist Yann Laurans.

The ministry for forests and wildlife says Cameroon has no legal framework to compensate people after attacks by animals from national parks.

The WWF is testing and studying an insurance system to cover people who lose their livelihoods to animal attacks.

Smallholder Simplice Yomen is hoping for a more secure future after setting up beehives to dissuade elephants from encroaching on his plantation.

Others are trying lemon trees and other spiky bushes to keep the elephants out.

rek-tg/lad/bp/gil

UK
Dartford Crossing closed after GREEN activists scale Queen Elizabeth Bridge

Harrison Jones

Monday 17 Oct 2022 

Activists from Just Stop Oil have caused major tailbacks with the action this morning 

(Picture: Juststopoil/Twitter)

Just Stop Oil activists have shut the Dartford Bridge by climbing onto cables high above the road linking Essex and Kent.

Essex Police confirmed the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Crossing was closed to traffic after being told about the incident shortly before 3.50am.

At least two climbers can be seen on the bridge in stunning pictures, while there are already significant delays for motorists.

The climate group appear to have identified them as bridge designer Morgan Trowland, 39, and teacher ‘Marcus’, 33, who is also from London.

They accused the Government of overseeing ‘suicidal’ climate policies.

Just Stop Oil suggested the climbing began later than police claimed but say they believe the bridge will be closed for at least 24 hours.

They are demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas projects – with this action only the latest disruptive protest the group have undertaken in recent weeks.

Traffic delays as Just Stop Oil protesters climb Dartford bridge

‘At approximately 5am two climbers ascended the two 84m masts on the North side of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge forcing the police to stop traffic from entering the bridge’, the group said in a statement.

Essex Police added: ‘The bridge has been closed while we resolve the incident which we will do as quickly and as safely for all involved.

‘It does mean that we have had to close the bridge to traffic, but a diversion is going to be put in place through the tunnel.

‘This is likely to cause delays throughout this morning and this incident may take some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height.’

The activists on Dartford Bridge this morning (Picture: LNP)

Just Stop Oil protesters Morgan Trowland and ‘Marcus’ have explained why they are undertaking the action (Picture: Just Stop Oil)

Pictures showed them high above the road (Picture: Just Stop Oil)

Just Stop Oil have been infuriating drivers by blocking traffic in a series of sit-down protests blocking traffic.

Their peaceful protests have caused major delays on roads across the country and seen many motorists take matters into their own hands by violently dragging activists off the road, causing injury to at least one demonstrator.

Yesterday, their activists covered an Aston Martin showroom in orange paint.

Climbing protester Marcus explained: ‘Too many people in this country simply don’t know the scale and intensity of climate breakdown as the scientists describe it. The authorities are criminally failing to get this grim science communicated.

Accusing the political system of ‘betraying the people of this country’, he continued: ‘Why isn’t the most existential threat that humanity has ever faced on the news every day?

They could be seen on cabling against a remarkable backdrop this morning (Picture: Just Stop Oil)

Tailbacks at the Dartford Crossing this morning (Picture: PA)

‘More fossil fuel licenses means global genocide.

‘Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need.’

Essex Police said there were already ‘delays of around 60 minutes’ by 6am.

National Highways East tweeted that there were ’60 minute delays with 3 miles of congestion on the approach’.

The latest action comes amid increasingly dire warnings about the state of the climate worldwide, with a report last week suggesting animal populations in some parts of the world have declined by as much as 94% in less than 50 years.

Demonstrator Mr Trowland said: ‘As a professional civil engineer, each year as I renew my registration, I commit to acting within our code of ethics, which requires me to safeguard human life and welfare and the environment

.

Protesters cover Aston Martin showroom in orange paint

‘Our government has enacted suicidal laws to accelerate oil production: killing human life and destroying our environment.

‘I can’t challenge this madness in my desk job, designing bridges, so I’m taking direct action, occupying the QE2 bridge until the government stops all new oil.’

The A282 Dartford Crossing is currently the only way to cross the Thames east of London by road.

The 2.8km-long (1.7 mile) QEII bridge southbound, and two 1.4km-long (0.8 mile) tunnels northbound link Essex and Kent.

The A282 also connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Europe.

France braces for nationwide strikes amid fuel depot standoff

Issued on: 17/10/2022 - 

01:32

France is braced for nationwide strikes Tuesday set to hit public transport, nuclear power plants and nurseries as a standoff over industrial action at oil refineries continues. It comes as the government, increasingly impatient with striking refinery workers, has said it is forcing key staff back to work amid country-wide fuel shortages.

France strikes 'exactly what the government didn’t want’

Issued on: 17/10/2022 -

With French unions calling a nationwide strike for Tuesday following industrial action at refineries that has caused fuel shortages around the country, the French government is facing a situation it sought to avoid at all costs, explains France 24’s Marc Perelman.

France orders more fuel depot staff back to work as nationwide strikes loom

Issued on: 17/10/2022 - 

Trade unionists and striking employees gather outside the TotalEnergies refinery in Donges, western France, on October 14, 2022. © Loïc Venance, AFP

France on Monday braced for nationwide transport strike actions as the government and unions remained in deadlock over stoppages at oil depots that have sparked fuel shortages.

Leading unions have called for strikes Tuesday in their biggest challenge yet to President Emmanuel Macron since he won a new presidential term in May.

It will come after workers at several refineries and depots operated by energy giant TotalEnergies voted to extend their strike action, defying the government which has begun to force staff back on the job.

Motorists scrambled to fill tanks as the fuel strike, which has lasted for nearly three weeks, crippled supplies at just over 30 percent of France's service stations.

The government, increasingly impatient with striking workers, said it was forcing key staff back to work.

"The time for negotiation is over," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told the BFMTV broadcaster Monday.

The government said it would begin to requisition workers at the Feyzin depot in southeastern France from 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Monday, having already employed the same strategy at the Mardyck depot in the north of the country.

Fuel workers voted to continue stoppages at several refineries run by TotalEnergies, the coordinator for the hard-left CGT union Eric Sellini said, rejecting a pay package agreed between the group's management and mainstream unions.

Three out of seven of the country's oil refineries and five major fuel depots (out of around 200) are affected, the government said.

Strike action at Esso-ExxonMobil ended at the end of last week at the company's two French refineries, after a pay deal between management and moderate unions which represent a majority of workers.

A return to normal supply conditions at petrol stations will take at least two weeks after strikes end, the government has warned.

'Severe disruptions'

Unions in other industries and the public sector have also announced action to protest against the twin impact of soaring energy prices and overall inflation on the cost of living.

Leftist unions CGT and FO have called for a nationwide strike Tuesday for higher salaries, and against government requisitions of oil installations, threatening to cripple public transport in particular.

Rail operator SNCF will see "severe disruptions" with half of train services cancelled, Transport Minister Clement Beaune said.

Suburban services in the Paris region as well as bus services will also be impacted, operator RATP said, but the inner-Paris metro system should be mostly unaffected.

Beyond transport workers, unions hope to bring out staff in sectors such as the food industry and healthcare, CGT boss Philippe Martinez told France Inter radio.

Their action will kick off what is likely to be a tense autumn and winter as Macron also seeks to implement his flagship domestic policy of raising the French retirement age.

But the economic squeeze partly caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with the failure of Macron's party to secure an overall majority in June legislative polls, only adds to the magnitude of the task.

On Sunday tens of thousands of protesters marched in Paris to express their frustration at the rising cost of living.

The demonstration was called by the left-wing political opposition and led by the head of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Security forces fired teargas and launched baton charges after they were pelted with objects, while on the fringes of the march, masked men dressed in black ransacked a bank.

Some protesters wore yellow fluorescent vests, the symbol of the often violent anti-government protests in 2018 that shook the pro-business government of Macron.

"We're going to have a week the likes of which we don't see very often," Melenchon told the crowd.

Organisers claimed 140,000 people attended Sunday's march, but police said there were 30,000.

(AFP)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Credit Suisse to pay $495 mn in US to settle securities case

Issued on: 17/10/2022

Subprime mortages were at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis

Zurich (AFP) – Credit Suisse said Monday it would pay $495 million to settle a row over mortgage-backed securities dating back to the 2008 financial crisis.

Switzerland's second-biggest bank said it had agreed with New Jersey authorities to make the "one-time payment... to fully resolve claims" for compensation, and said it had already provisioned the amount.

In the claim filed in 2013, Credit Suisse was criticised for not having provided sufficient information on the risks relating to $10 billion of mortgage-backed securities.

Subprime mortgages, credit granted to borrowers often with poor credit histories or insufficient income, were packaged into financial products and sold to investors.

But as borrowers defaulted on many of those mortgages, investors had no way of telling what portion of the loans in the derivatives were bad.

Those products were at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, which sparked a global recession and brought the international financial system to the brink of collapse.

Credit Suisse said the final settlement with the New Jersey Attorney General allowed it "to resolve the only remaining RMBS (residential mortgage-backed securities) matter involving claims by a regulator and the largest of its remaining exposures on its legacy RMBS docket".

Shares rose after the statement on the SMI, the flagship index of the Swiss Stock Exchange.

Speculation has been growing ahead of an update scheduled by the new chief executive for later this month.

According to the Financial Times, the bank is considering not only disposals in its investment bank but also the sale of some of its domestic activities in Switzerland.
Financial crisis fines

In January 2017, US authorities forced Credit Suisse to pay out $5.28 billion over its role in the subprime crisis -- three years after it was fined $2.6 billion for helping Americans avoid taxes.

Last year, Credit Suisse also paid $600 million to financial guarantee insurer MIBA to settle other long-running litigation connected to the US subprime mortgage crisis.

The bank said last January it was increasing the provisions set aside for the MBIA case and others involving mortgage backed securities by $850 million.

Some of the world's biggest banks have also faced legal claims after the 2008 financial crash.

German banking giant Deutsche Bank agreed in December 2016 to pay $7.2 billion to settle a case with the US Department of Justice.

And British banking giant Barclays reached a deal in 2018 to pay a US fine of $2 billion over a fraud case involving subprime mortgage derivatives.

The Bank of America meanwhile agreed to a $17 billion deal with US authorities in 2014 to settle claims it sold risky mortgage securities as safe investments ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.

© 2022 AFP

‘Let it rot’: Once-flourishing middle class faces end of ‘Chinese Dream’

Cyrielle CABOT - Yesterday -AFP

An ever-growing middle class has been emblematic of China’s ascent ever since Deng Xiaoping kicked off the country’s economic transformation in the 1980s. That progress now risks being reversed as millions of people in China face rising living costs, fierce professional competition, a real estate bubble and sluggish growth.


 Jade Gao, AFP

Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 20th Communist Party Congress on Sunday, during which he is expected to become the first leader since Mao Zedong to be handed a third term. Xi has made his “Chinese Dream” of a flourishing middle class central to his vision for the country. However, economic headwinds are buffeting China’s vast bourgeoisie – posing a new challenge for Xi.

Xi can cite a strong record as he looks back on his first decade in power. Millions more Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, benefitting from 6 percent average annual growth. It is estimated that between 350 and 700 million people belong to the middle class – compared to about 15 million at the beginning of the century.

“China has been profoundly transformed at great speed,” said Jean-Louis Rocca, a sinologist at Paris’s Sciences-Po University specialising in the Chinese middle class. “In just a few years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have become the first in their families to go to university and then get well-paid jobs, and consumption patterns have changed accordingly.”

‘Declining quality of life’

However, the Chinese Dream now appears to be slipping away. The Chinese economy grew by just 0.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, a marked slowdown from China’s robust growth after its early success in managing the pandemic.

Xi’s interventionist economic policies have prioritised China’s strict “zero-Covid” strategy over growth while clamping down on tech titans like Alibaba and the Tencent conglomerate. Meanwhile, the trade war with the United States has heated up, with the US Commerce Department imposing sweeping new restrictions on exports of semiconductor technology to China on October 7.

“Incomes are no longer rising while the cost of living is increasing by leaps and bounds,” Rocca said. “And there is a lot of social pressure. To be considered 'successful,' you’ve got to be able to live in such and such a neighbourhood; send your children to such and such a school; wear clothes from this brand; and own that make of car.”

Health costs are soaring as well, as Chinese society is ageing rapidly. “People are feeling a decline in their quality of life,” said Rocca.

But expectations are still rising – notably for China’s youth – creating a glut of highly educated people vying for the same positions.

“Never before have so many people graduated from university, but not all of them get a job after graduating,” Rocca noted. “Unemployment among well-qualified young people is at nearly 20 percent. Some are accepting low-paid jobs as the 'least-bad' option – and they’re seeing the successful life society tells them to have slipping away.”

Related video: 'Making China Great Again': Xi Jinping announces five-year plan

Duration 2:09

View on Watch

China’s property market further exemplifies the fading of the Chinese Dream. “If there’s one symbol of fulfilled aspiration in China, it’s owning a home,” Rocca said. On the surface, the situation looks good: 87 percent of households own their own property, and 20 percent own several. But the situation is bleak for young people, many of whom find it virtually impossible to afford their own homes. Rampant land speculation has caused prices to soar, creating a property bubble looming over the economy. Rents have become prohibitively expensive, especially in the biggest cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

In this context, many young people have decided to lower their ambitions: The term “tang ping” (lying flat) has been making the rounds on social media in recent months – the idea being to opt out of pursuing success in favour of adopting a simpler lifestyle:

The movement emerged from a 2021 viral blog post by Luo Huazong, a young man recounting how he quit his job as a labourer, moved to Tibet and started living frugally off occasional odd jobs and savings, with a budget of $60 a month. “After working for so long, I just felt numb, like a machine,” Luo told The New York Times. “And so I resigned.”

Since then, testimonies of weariness about the rat race have proliferated on the internet – although Chinese censors have quickly deleted them. T-shirts bearing the phrase “Lying down” soon became popular – before disappearing from online shops with similar speed. According to a survey by tech giant Weibo between May 28 and June 3, 61 percent of its sample said they were ready to adopt the “lying-down attitude”.

“Until recently, everybody thought each generation was going to be better off than the last,” said Alex Payette, a sinologist and director of Montreal-based geopolitical consultancy the Cercius Group. “But now we’re seeing the Chinese Dream hit a ceiling.”

In recent months, “lying flat” has given way to a new rallying cry – “let it rot”. Whereas the former was a “call to live simply”, the latter is “a lot more negative and apathetic”, Payette observed. “The idea is that if you’re asked to do something at work, you’ll avoid doing it, and if in the end you have to, you put in as little effort as possible.”

“Let it rot” has become hugely popular over recent months: On Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, the original Mandarin term “bailan” got around 2.3 million hits by the end of September. Videos with “let it rot” in the title are currently the most popular on Bilibili, the equivalent to YouTube.

The “let it rot” ethos has even infiltrated the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Payette noted: “We’ve seen it during floods, for example. CCP cadres would rather wait for an order from the leadership than make urgent decisions – even if this approach risks disastrous consequences. It’s nothing malicious; it’s just a matter of never taking initiative.”

Even more surprisingly, the middle class’s malaise has prompted occasional protests – with demonstrators braving the CCP’s violent repression of any sort of popular contestation. Thousands protested in China’s central Henan province in May and June after four small rural banks failed. Facing ruin, people took to the streets to demand their frozen savings.

Earlier this year, thousands of property developers abruptly stopped construction due to the economic slowdown. Social media lit up with calls for homebuyers to boycott paying the mortgages on the new homes they were waiting for.

‘People don’t want to go backwards’

But as the CCP’s 20th Congress gets under way, Rocca said Xi can feel confident that social discontent will not snowball into political unrest.

“Looking at all these things from ‘lying flat’ to the Henan protests, you can see they’re quite apolitical; they’re all about disengaging from society.”

“The overwhelming majority of the Chinese population – especially those who aren’t members of the party – support the Communist Party,” Rocca went on. “Most people – especially those who lived through the Cultural Revolution and the Tianenmen Square protests – will say it was the party that gave them prosperity. Yes, there is a new ambivalence that’s developed – a certain lassitude in response to changing circumstances – but people still think the CCP is doing a good job of running the country.”

Nevertheless, the middle class’s problems will feature prominently in the CCP Congress, Rocca said: “Experts have now been allowed to criticise certain policies, calling for better financing of health insurance, demanding a fight against inequality and lower property prices,” he said. “That shows there are people in the party who want reforms.”

“People don’t want to go backwards,” Rocca continued. “The party recognises this; it knows that a sense of progress is important for political stability.”

“This issue is going to be a major challenge for Xi’s next term in office,” Payette said. Disillusionment with the status quo and the popularity of the “lying down” mentality “could lead to a drop in the employment rate, especially in sectors like manufacturing”, which would affect the economy overall.

Only a return to robust economic growth can guarantee Beijing’s goal of “common prosperity” and revive the Chinese Dream.

This article was adapted from the original in French.

Shein factory employees are working 18-hour days for pennies per garment and washing their hair on lunch breaks because they have so little time off, new report finds

sjackson@insider.com (Sarah Jackson) - Yesterday 

JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images© JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

Workers who make clothes sold on Shein get as little as 4 cents for each item they make, according to a new investigation.

They often work 18-hour days with one day off per month, Channel 4 and The i newspaper reported.

Some workers even wash their hair on their lunch breaks because they have so little time left after work, according to the report.

Fast-fashion company Shein sells clothes at dirt-cheap prices, and a new undercover investigation shows the human cost of maintaining that business model.

Workers at factories in China that supply clothes to Shein frequently work up to 18 hours a day with no weekends and just one day off per month, according to an undercover investigation from Channel 4 and The i newspaper in the UK.

The news organizations say a woman using a fake name got a job inside two factories and secretly filmed what she saw as she worked there. The footage will be shown in "Untold: Inside the Shein Machine," which will be available to stream on Channel 4's on-demand channel, All4, starting on Monday.

"There's no such thing as Sundays here," said one worker shown in the footage, who said they work seven days a week.

At one of the factories, workers get a base salary of 4,000 yuan per month — the equivalent of roughly $556 — to make at least 500 pieces of clothing per day, but their first month's pay is withheld from them, per the investigation. Many of these workers toil long hours to earn a commission of 0.14 yuan, or just two cents, per item.

At the second factory shown in the footage, workers don't have base pay but instead receive 0.27 yuan, or just under 4 cents, for each garment they make, the investigation found.

Employees are hit with a fine amounting to two-thirds of their daily wages if they make even one mistake, according to the report. In one of the factories, female employees washed their hair on their lunch breaks because there is so little time left after work.

When asked for comment, Shein told Insider it is "extremely concerned" by the material shown in the investigation, which it said "would violate the Code of Conduct agreed to by every Shein supplier."

The company said its supplier code of conduct is "based on International Labor Organization conventions and local laws and regulations, including labor practices and working conditions" and that there are "unannounced audits at supplier facilities."

"Any non-compliance with this code is dealt with swiftly, and we will terminate partnerships that do not meet our standards," the company said. "We have requested specific information from Channel 4 so that we can investigate."

Shein has grown to behemoth size in the fast-fashion industry, notching a $100 billion valuation in April, more than H&M and Zara combined. Though its clothes are often incredibly cheap, sometimes just a few dollars, customers often say their items break down very quickly, and designers frequently claim Shein copies their styles and sells them for cheaper, stealing business from them.

WAR PIGS

Canadian generals push for industry to go to 'war footing,' but hurdles remain

David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen - TODAY

Canada’s military leadership is pushing for industry and the federal government’s procurement system to go to a war-time footing so more weapons can be supplied to Ukraine.


Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has been pushing for companies to switch to what he is calling a “war footing” so weapons production can be ramped up both for Ukraine and to replenish Canadian military stocks.© Provided by Ottawa Citizen

National Defence and top firms that produce arms, such as Lockheed Martin, are financing a conference in Ottawa on Oct. 25 titled “Putting Canadian Defence Procurement on a War Footing.”

Top defence officials, including Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and assistant deputy minister for procurement Troy Crosby, will be key speakers at the event.

Eyre has been pushing for companies to switch to what he is calling a “war footing” so weapons production can be ramped up both for Ukraine and to replenish Canadian military stocks.

Eyre has argued that the war between Ukraine and Russia should be the catalyst for such a major shift in defence industrial capacity. “I think what this has shown, though, is we need to increase the capacity of defence industry,” Eyre told CBC in May. “Given the deteriorating world situation, we need the defence industry to go into a wartime footing and increase their production lines to be able to support the requirements that are out there, whether it’s ammunition, artillery, rockets … you name it. There’s a huge demand out there.”

NATO nations, including Canada, have donated billions of dollars in weapons and equipment to Ukraine.

But Alan Williams, a former assistant deputy minister for procurement at National Defence, said industry wouldn’t ramp up production unless it received contracts from the federal government.

Defence firms, he noted, don’t build equipment out of the goodness of their hearts. “They are in it for profit,” Williams said. “They have shareholders to satisfy. They want contracts … Their attitude is, ‘If you want equipment, then sign those contracts.’”

That view was echoed by defence firm representatives at a major conference and trade show last week in Washington. “I think the first thing we need is orders,” Thomas Laliberty, a senior official with Raytheon Missiles and Defence, told the conference. “We need insight into the demand, and, once we understand the insight into the demand and we understand the willingness of the government to pay for additional capacity, that then helps us go plan for what it will take for us to actually increase production.”

Some defence industry officials have privately noted Eyre doesn’t seem to understand industry can’t ramp up its production without government contracts in hand since building sophisticated weaponry requires upfront purchasing of supplies and material.

But Eyre’s office responded to this newspaper that, “The CDS has both a sense of what is required to replenish the draw-down of CAF stocks, as well as our ability to continue supporting Ukraine with the items they are most in need of. The CDS advice was provided in the context of what those items are and the need for industry to surge for the level of support to Ukraine to remain sustainable.”

Williams pointed out there was already an existing process to purchase equipment on an urgent basis. That process was used during the Afghan war to acquire howitzers and drones as well as armoured vehicles. But using that process is a decision that has to be made by elected officials, not generals or bureaucrats, he noted. “Before one acts, one has to get the marching orders from government,” Williams said.

Using such a process will also require Canadian procurement staff to be rigorous in their oversight to ensure firms don’t rip off taxpayers, Williams added.

The Liberal government has not made any announcement that firms need to go onto a war footing or that military procurement process would use the urgent acquisition process.

National Defence has provided $50,000 to finance the Oct. 25 conference hosted by Canadian Global Affairs Institute, a think-tank closely aligned with the Canadian Forces and the defence industry. Other sponsors include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Irving Shipbuilding, Davie Shipyard; ATCO Frontec, BAE Systems Canada and General Atomics. National Defence also confirmed there were no set costs for commands on what they could spend to send military personnel to the conference, including paying for travel to Ottawa.

Defence insiders have said they hope the conference will highlight the need for the Liberal government to buy more weapons for both Ukraine and the Canadian military.

Williams said there were limits on what Canadian firms could do. Canada does produce ammunition and small arms as well as armoured vehicles and drone cameras, but many other weapons are purchased from U.S. and European firms.

For instance, in May, Canada announced it was buying 20,000 artillery rounds to donate to Ukraine, but those had to come from the U.S..

Canada has provided Ukraine with armoured vehicles, small arms, anti-tank systems and drone cameras. The latest donation involves winter uniforms.

Ramping up defence production for more sophisticated weapons, however, could face hurdles. Many modern weapons are highly reliant on sophisticated electronics and other components now in high demand. The pandemic has also created issues with supply chains and the availability of workers. Lockheed Martin, for instance, has noted it will boost Javelin anti-tank missile production, but that could take as long as two years because of supply-chain problems.

A report earlier this year from the U.S. Department of Defense noted shortages of skilled labour in America’s defence industry. In addition, China has dominated the market for the production of microelectronics as well as castings and forgings, both critical for weapons production.

Eyre recently stated China was at war with western nations, including Canada.

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

 

BLACK SABATH

Album: Paranoid Song: "War Pigs" ~ LYRICS ~ "War Pigs" Generals gathered in their masses Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction Sorcerers of death's construction In the fields the bodies burning As the war machine keeps turning Death and hatred to mankind Poisoning their brainwashed minds Oh lord yeah! Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait 'til their judgement day comes Yeah! Now in darkness world stops turning Ashes where the bodies burning No more war pigs at the power Hand of God has struck the hour Day of judgement, God is calling On their knees the war pig's crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan laughing spreads his wings oh lord yeah!

Municipal election analysis: As Vancouver swings right, some suburbs sway left

Lori Culbert - Yesterday 

While Vancouver voters elected a more conservative council in Saturday’s municipal elections, many Metro Vancouver cities backed more progressive candidates — a reflection of changing demographics in some suburban cities where younger voters want more action on affordable housing and other pressing issues, experts say.


Signs post election on W. 6th ave. in Vancouver on Sunday.© Provided by Vancouver Sun

“We have a bit of an irony of Vancouver going quite decisively conservative, and outlying places going more progressive,” Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley, said Sunday.

“Lots of younger people left Vancouver to find more affordable housing, and they’re changing the demographics of the outlying communities.”

Some new Metro Vancouver mayors-elect with platforms that included major housing promises include Meghan Lahti , who easily beat an anti-growth contender in Port Moody; Dan Ruimy , who defeated the former mayor in Maple Ridge; Eric Woodward in Langley District, who toppled other candidates, including former Liberal provincial cabinet minister Rich Coleman; and Nathan Pachal in Langley City, who campaigned on addressing homelessness, unseated the previous mayor.

Perhaps the most radical shift in suburban politics, Telford said, was the Chilliwack school board, where a slate of progressive trustees was elected. Former controversial trustee Barry Neufeld , who was against sexual orientation and gender identify curriculum in schools, is out; Teri Westerby , believed to be one of the first transgendered men elected to public office in Canada, is in.

Some Metro cities will continue with pre-existing centre-left councils after Saturday’s vote, such as in Burnaby and New Westminster , while others will maintain centre-right councils, such as North Vancouver District and Richmond . Surrey’s council will remain conservative, despite a high-profile change of the guards to Mayor-elect Brenda Locke, who ousted incumbent Doug McCallum largely over policing and leadership issues.

In Vancouver, Mayor-elect Ken Sim is more conservative than the incumbent he overthrew, Kennedy Stewart, who had promised 220,000 new homes over 10 years. Sim’s new ABC party also won a big majority on council, school board and park board, which perhaps reflects the large number of “older guard” homeowners in the city who bought their properties years ago, Telford said.

But Vancouver tends to be more progressive than other Canadian cities, so Sim’s business-friendly ABC party still included liberal platform promises around mental health and the overdose crisis, added Quest University political scientist Stewart Prest.


Political analyst Stewart Prest at Douglas College© Francis Georgian

Related video: New mayors elected in several B.C. cities as voters call for change

Duration 2:02 View on Watch

And the outgoing Vancouver council, under Kennedy Stewart who was elected in 2018 as an independent, was very fractured; it should be easier for Sim, with his ABC majority, to get things done, Prest added.

Sim has a challenge, though, to fulfil some of his key promises, such as hiring 100 new police officers and 100 new nurses/mental health workers, which will be “expensive and difficult to accomplish,” Prest said.

Sim has also vowed to improve the complex construction permitting process, which is a good thing, said UBC associate professor and housing expert Nathanael Lauster. But it may be difficult to fulfil his promise to approve home renovations in three days, single-family homes in three weeks, and medium-sized projects in three months.

UBC associate professor and housing expert Nathanael Lauster on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022.

© NICK PROCAYLO 

The new ABC council is not likely to entertain proposals endorsed by centre-left parties, such as allowing apartment complexes in every neighbourhood, but will presumably back more developments along major streets, Lauster said.

ABC’s majority should give Vancouver’s council some stability as the city grapples with the ongoing pandemic and a feared recession, said Ginger Gosnell-Mayers, a member of the Nisga’a and Kwakwak’awakw Nations, a fellow at SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, and Vancouver city hall’s first Indigenous Relations Manager.

But she hopes that Sim’s vow to hire more police won’t lead to “criminalizing people on the street,” and that his promise to speed up the permitting process won’t lead to fewer commitments by developers to build low-income housing, as well as units for families and those with disabilities.



Ginger Gosnell-Myers© Francis Georgian

Outside of Vancouver and Surrey, Metro Vancouver’s smaller cities have shown at the ballot box they want change to deal with wide-spread concerns such as the poisoned drug crisis and the climate-caused atmospheric river and heat dome,” Gosnell-Myers said. “Small cities, perhaps, get a chance to lead on what progressive agendas actually look like.”

Across Metro Vancouver there was “ a surprising number of mayors defeated,” Prest said . This list includes West Vancouver, where Mark Sager is the mayor-elect, and in White Rock, where Megan Knight now has the top job.

In Surrey, McCallum appeared to have won in 2018 by promising to take the RCMP out of the city, and Locke appeared to beat him on Saturday by promising to bring the force back — which illustrates how polarizing this issue has been for residents, Prest said. And with Locke’s slim majority on council, it may be difficult for her to get the backing she needs to embark on the expensive process of stopping the transition to a municipal force, which will require support from the provincial government.

“It’s a divided city,” Prest said of Surrey. “The promise to to unwind the local police force, and to return to the RCMP, is one that will be really difficult to follow through on.”

lculbert@postmedia.com

Related
Langley Election Results: Eric Woodward defeats Rich Coleman in bid for mayor

B.C. Municipal Election Day Recap: Ken Sim, Brenda Locke boot incumbents in Metro's biggest cities

SEPARATIST

Danielle Smith under fire for past online comments on Ukraine invasion

Smith posted on the platform Locals.com in February questioning if areas of Ukraine should be allowed to break away.

Author of the article:Dylan Short

Edmonton Journal 
Publishing date:Oct 15, 2022 

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Danielle Smith called unvaccinated people the most discriminated against group in her lifetime during a news conference on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. 

PHOTO BY LARRY WONG /Postmedia

Premier Danielle Smith is coming under fire for comments she made in the past on a right-wing social media platform around the conflict in Ukraine alongside a number of other topics.

Smith posted on the platform Locals.com in February questioning if areas of Ukraine should be allowed to break away if they wanted to, saying it appears borders were poorly drawn after the Second World War resulting in ensuing conflict.

“It seems to me the great powers of the world did a terrible job defining the new borders of countries after WWII,” wrote Smith on the website Locals.com on Feb. 24. “So much of the conflict we have had since is due to different people being crammed under one national government that don’t like each other. I’ve read that two regions of Ukraine feel more affinity to Russia. Should nations be allowed to break away and govern themselves independently? If that’s truly what people want, then I think so.”

Smith’s posts were first brought to light Friday by freelance journalist Justin Ling.

The premier went on to question if it was true those regions felt an affinity to Russia or if it was propaganda, saying “it is hard to know what to believe anymore.” She asked her followers for help in analyzing the conflict.

In a post from early March, which no longer appears on Smith’s public feed but was captured and posted elsewhere online, and later reported on by independent media, she linked to an article that appears to imply Ukraine and NATO had shown aggression in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion. Smith’s post goes on to say Ukraine may need to adopt a more neutral stance to remain independent.

The article she linked to came from a website that has been criticized as promoting disinformation coming out of Russia. A second post, which also no longer appears on Smith’s feed but was captured by journalists and posted elsewhere, linked to a report from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson questioning if the United States had been funding secret Biolabs in Ukraine where weapons are being created. That story has since been debunked by several fact-checking sources.

In follow-up posts, Smith showed support for Albertans who had provided assistance to Ukrainian refugees. Speaking earlier this week, Smith showed support for the Ukrainian people saying she supports former Premier Jason Kenney’s initiatives providing assistance to Ukraine. She also showed support for fundraising efforts spearheaded by former MLA Thomas Lukaszuk and former Premier Ed Stelmach.

“We have a large patriot Ukrainian population in Alberta and I would hope that we would be able to do more,” said Smith. “I’ll reserve judgment until I have a chance to talk to get a briefing on intergovernmental Affairs as well as talk to my caucus and cabinet on that. But, I’m supportive of the decisions that we’ve made so far.”

Alberta has committed more than $20 million to support Ukraine.

Lukaszuk, who helped raise millions to support Ukraine, said Saturday that Smith’s online posts are heartbreaking. He said the premier has shown support for his efforts to assist Ukrainians, but the posts show she held different beliefs when posting online.

“To read what she actually says behind the scenes is heartbreaking. Duplicitous, would be the understatement of the year,” said Lukaszuk. “The world community under United Nations agrees that Russia is the unprovoked aggressor — that Russia is engaging in war crimes.”

Lukaszuk said the posts are unforgivable and dangerous.

In response to the posts, NDP leader Rachel Notley released a statement condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin and reaffirming her party’s support for Ukraine.

Smith’s Locals.com feed on Saturday showed she had made numerous posts in support of the Freedom Convoy that took over downtown Ottawa and blockaded several border-crossings earlier this year. She also made several posts against vaccine mandates and shared anti-vaccine content.

In another post, she questioned the legitimacy of reports that unmarked graves had been found at residential schools across Canada.

When asked for comment on her posts, the premier’s office responded with an email referring back to comments Smith made this week regarding her support for Kenney’s initiatives around Ukraine. Her office did not respond to requests asking for confirmation if the premier had deleted posts.

Reports on Smith’s online posts come shortly after she claimed that unvaccinated people were the most discriminated-against individuals in her lifetime. Backlash to those comments led her to clarify, but not apologize, saying she did not mean to trivialize discrimination that minority groups have faced in the past half-century.

Speaking on a radio show Saturday, she said she should have said government discrimination when she had made her comments on unvaccinated individuals.

— with files from Anna Junker