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784,501 | theirishtimes--2019-02-14--What is California doing to prevent the next major wildfire | 2019-02-14T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | What is California doing to prevent the next major wildfire? | Douglas Mac Donald has lived in the Alpine Oaks Estate mobile home park for the past 10 years. At about 11am on July 6th last year, in the midst of a record-breaking heatwave, the smell of smoke began seeping into his home 30 minutes east of San Diego. “I looked outside and saw black smoke. It [the wildfire] had got to the ranch behind us,” he says. “I started banging on [neighbours’] doors. We had about five minutes to get out.” A scrub-covered hill directly behind the ranch was alight with windswept flames. Mac Donald (67) and his wife quickly jumped in their car and drove to a supermarket car park several miles away, where they took refuge and watched the fire spread. “We’re talking about all this happening in 15 or 20 minutes,” he says. Dubbed the West Fire, Mac Donald estimates the blaze reduced nine neighbouring mobile homes to ash; his own was spared. The flames moved so fast that the fire didn’t burn all the vegetation in its path, instead skipping less flammable trees and foliage. Within a few hours, the flames spread across Alpine, destroying or damaging 49 homes, dozens of barns and sheds and scorching 505 acres. Six months on, the adjacent hill and trees around the mobile home park are still blackened. The stench of charred roadside vegetation lingers. Along Alpine boulevard are signs of the fire’s path jumping back and forth across the tarmac road. “We were out of our house for 26 days before we were allowed move back in,” says MacDonald. “When you live in California you live with fires.” November’s devastating Camp and Woolsey fires in north and central California resulted in dozens of deaths and cost tens of millions of dollars in property damage, bringing into sharp focus the huge task facing California and how it should deal with the growing wildfire threat. The southern reaches of California are at considerable risk, too. San Diego’s 88,000 wildfire at-risk structures is the highest number in the state outside of Los Angeles. Until December 2017, the Cedar Fire, which broke out 25km north of Alpine in 2003, was the largest in the state’s history and left a searing mark in the collective consciousness of San Diego residents. More recently, a small canyon fire last March in the central University Heights district hit home for many that with the right conditions, wildfire can strike almost anywhere. Experts say the city of 1.42 million people is particularly susceptible to urban fires due to the hilly, vertical topography of many of its suburban districts; oftentimes in such areas burning embers need only fall downwards to reach an adjacent home. In the absence of sufficient autumn rainfall, Santa Ana winds – the so-called “fire weather” that fuelled such damage in the towns of Paradise and Malibu last autumn – can contribute to blaze-friendly conditions in southern California and western Mexico throughout winter until February. What’s more, according to a 2016 study, when wildfire intervals are shorter than 10 to 20 years, native flora is often replaced with weeds and grasses that are more flammable. All this is worsened by the fact that bark beetles are thought to have attacked and killed 129 million drought-stricken trees in California, turning them into dry lumber. To help counter these threats, San Diego’s latest development blueprint has fire prevention as a centrepiece issue. Homeowners are encouraged to build fire breaks and defensible space around their homes, and at-risk properties are individually inspected by fire agents. Across San Diego, 35 fire-safety councils have been involved in offering free smoke alarms and installations to seniors and residents in high-risk areas through a partnership with the Red Cross, the Burn Institute, San Diego County Fire and the Fire Safe Council of San Diego County. The Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index generates six-day forecasts and threat ratings for four heavily-population California regions, including San Diego. Traditional fire prevention measures have focused on controlled vegetation burning or “prescribed fires”. Last year, the California’s department of forestry and fire protection vowed to triple the number of prescribed fires it conducts on state-controlled land. But some argue it’s a method that’s costly and ineffective. A huge range of conditions must first be met before one can be signed off, including: positive environmental impact assessments, correct wind speed and temperature variations, local air-quality levels and the availability of firefighters. They are also unpopular: residents are rarely happy to have to deal with the associated smoke, while conservationists fear they hurt wildlife unnecessarily. With suburban communities and the wilderness increasingly entwined as San Diego’s population expands ever deeper into the eastern hills, efforts to counter the fire threat have fuelled much experimentation and investigation. Researchers at UC Berkeley and elsewhere generated 20-year simulated models to try to predict where local municipalities should purchase property that could be left as fallow, conservation land in order to reduce the likelihood of wildfires coming in contact with people. “Integrating private-land conservation decision-making with wildfire risk reduction is potentially a new and innovative approach to more cost-effective conservation planning,” the resulting research, published in Landscape and Urban Planning in 2017, found. “Typically, what we’ve seen is that areas with homes closer together are less likely to burn,” says Prof Van Butsic, a co-author of the report. However, the modelling also found that inexpensive land parcels, the very property that municipalities and conservationist land trusts can afford to buy, are often found where the threat of fire is low. Above all, the modelling found that purchasing land with the goal of putting as much distance as possible between people and the flames needs to be highly strategic. For many Californians, their concerns lie elsewhere. For the wealthy, the demand for large residential lots adorned with mature trees and other easy-burning foliage remains as strong as ever. For others, the cost of everyday life means that conservation is often little more than a passing concern. In January, Californians were angered by proposals from utility provider Pacific Gas and Electric Company to introduce a $10 monthly rate hike to help it pay for improved wildfire monitoring systems. By January 29th, however, the company had declared bankruptcy and now faces a pending legal maelstrom associated with November’s wildfires in Paradise and Malibu. On top of that, the fact that the federal government owns almost 60 per cent of the forestland that covers a third of California means that putting in place a state-level plan to combat wildfires is additionally complicated. Conservationists and fire-control authorities have historically been on opposing sides of the debate around how to stop wildfires. The latter regularly favours using controlled burnings while environmentalists oppose that in part because San Diego county is home to more threatened and endangered species than any other county in the continental United States. Monitoring groups say the broader challenges are varied. “Funding for fire hazard reduction activities such as creating defensible space, chipping and the removal of hazardous fuel materials such as dead and dying trees,” is the biggest street-level issue says Sheryl Landrum, vice-president of the fire safe council of San Diego county. Some problems emerge months, even years, after a fire strikes. When Pacific storms soaked California in January, places afflicted by last autumn’s wildfires quickly became landslide-threat zones, which resulted in mass evacuations. What’s clear is that just as the debate over how to keep wildfires at bay informed by science goes on, so too do the many ways they can damage lives. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/what-is-california-doing-to-prevent-the-next-major-wildfire-1.3785743 | 2019-02-14 01:03:35+00:00 | 1,550,124,215 | 1,567,548,556 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
825,135 | thepoliticalinsider--2019-06-13--Trump Proposes Actions To Help Prevent Catastrophic Forest Fires | 2019-06-13T00:00:00 | thepoliticalinsider | Trump Proposes Actions To Help Prevent Catastrophic Forest Fires | Michael Bastasch on June 12, 2019 The Trump administration proposed changes to a landmark environmental law that officials say would cut through unnecessary red tape hampering federal forest management. These rule changes would help officials better manage forests and prevent catastrophic wildfires, according to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). “We have pored over 10 years of environmental data and have found that in many cases, we do redundant analyses, slowing down important work to protect communities, livelihoods and resources,” USFS Chief Vicki Christiansen said in a [statement](https://www.fs.fed.us/news/releases/usda-proposes-bold-moves- improve-forests-management-grasslands) Wednesday. President Donald Trump [took executive actions](https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/24/trump-catastrophic-forest-fires- logging/) to encourage more active management of federally controlled forests, including increased logging, in the wake of 2018’s devastating California wildfires. The 2018 farm bill also contained provisions allowing foresters to [more quickly remove dead trees and debris](https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/20 /trump-farm-bill-wildfires/) from USFS-managed regions. Trump signed that $867 billion bill in December. USFS proposed Wednesday exempting more activities, called “categorical exclusions,” from time-consuming environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was enacted in 1970. Categorical exclusions exempt certain activities from lengthy NEPA reviews if USFS officials determined said activity would have no significant environmental impact. USFS wants to expand categorical exclusions to keep foresters from getting bogged down in bureaucracy and litigation. “We now have an opportunity to use that information to our advantage, and we want to hear from the people we serve to improve these proposed updates,” Christiansen said. For example, officials would be able to more quickly relocate campsites to improve safety, USFS said. Also, USFS officials could use NEPA rule changes to improve infrastructure, like forest roads, necessary to fight wildfires. “Originally intended as a tool for environmental protection, NEPA has been hijacked by serial litigants and wielded as a means of obstruction,” Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, chairman of the Western Caucus, said in a statement. Environmental assessments take 687 days to complete on average, USFS said, while determining a categorical exclusion takes about 206 days. USFS last updated its NEPA regulations in 2008. NEPA reviews are also subject to [litigation from environmental groups](https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/14/ryan-zinke-wildfire-global- warming/). Environmentalists generally oppose logging and other forest management techniques. A 2014 [study](http://forestpolicypub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Twenty- Years-of-Forest-Service-Land-Management-Litigation-JoF-Jan.-2014.pdf) on environmental litigation published in the Journal of Forestry found “[v]egetative management, or logging projects” represented “nearly three times more cases than any other type of management activity.” The Forest Service was found more likely to lose cases “where plaintiffs advocated for less resource use,” particularly in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals where the agency won less than half its cases. “The new rule will allow for increased active forest management and help prevent catastrophic wildfires,” Gosar said. _[Follow Michael on Twitter](https://twitter.com/MikeBastasch)_ | Daily Caller | https://thepoliticalinsider.com/trump-proposes-actions-to-help-prevent-catastrophic-forest-fires/ | 2019-06-13 02:27:40+00:00 | 1,560,407,260 | 1,567,539,107 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
912,559 | theseattletimes--2019-05-31--California approves wide power outages to prevent wildfires | 2019-05-31T00:00:00 | theseattletimes | California approves wide power outages to prevent wildfires | SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California regulators on Thursday approved allowing utilities to cut off electricity to possibly hundreds of thousands of customers to avoid catastrophic wildfires like the one sparked by power lines last year that killed 85 people and largely destroyed the city of Paradise. Utilities’ liability can reach billions of dollars, and after several years of devastating wildfires, they asked regulators to allow them to pull the plug when fire risk is extremely high. That’s mainly during periods of excessive winds and low humidity when vegetation is dried out and can easily ignite. The California Public Utilities Commission gave the green light but said utilities must do a better job educating and notifying the public, particularly those with disabilities and others who are vulnerable, and ramp up preventive efforts, such as clearing brush and installing fire-resistant poles. The plans could inconvenience hundreds of thousands of customers while endangering some who depend on electricity to keep them alive, like 56-year-old Kallithea Miller. Although she lives far from wildfire danger near a shopping mall in Stockton, south of Sacramento, she relies on a refrigerator to cool her insulin and a machine to keep her breathing at night. “I could die in my sleep,” she said. “It’s scaring the hell out of me.” The precautionary outages could mean multiday blackouts for cities as large as San Francisco and San Jose, Northern California’s major power provider warned in a recent filing with the utilities commission. Pacific Gas & Electric anticipates cutting the power only in “truly extreme fire danger weather” while recognizing that there “are safety risks on both sides of this issue,” vice president Aaron Johnson said. PG&E initially planned to de-energize power lines in at-risk rural areas but has since expanded its plans to include high-voltage transmission lines like the one that sparked the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century. The blaze last November killed 85 people while wiping out nearly 15,000 homes in and around Paradise. “I know it inconveniences people, but it’s a small price to pay for not having the kind of devastation that we had in Paradise,” Mayor Jody Jones said. “Everyone I know in Paradise knew that PG&E might cut the power off. I didn’t see that as a problem. The problem was that they didn’t actually shut it off.” Utility equipment has been blamed for many of California’s most destructive and deadly wildfires in recent years. Other major California utilities have similar plans that commissioners unanimously approved Thursday, also warning that outages could extend into cities under some conditions. “We’re worried about it because we could see people’s power shut off not for a day or two but potentially a week,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said as he recently called for California to spend $75 million to help communities prepare. “This is high winds, severe weather, turn off the electricity so it doesn’t ignite a fire. It’s a good thing — unless you’re impacted.” California’s three largest investor-owned utilities serve more than 150,000 customers who rely on life-support equipment, many of whom are considered low income, state Sen. Bill Dodd said. The Democrat from Napa wants utilities to provide backup electricity or financial assistance so high-risk customers can buy generators or batteries. The elderly, people with disabilities and language barriers, and poorer residents in remote areas with limited transportation or communication are also at greater risk. Cellphone networks can fail, computers and internet phone lines won’t work, traffic signals go dark and there can be problems with communication systems, water treatment facilities and emergency services. Utility representatives said they are doing their best to work with emergency responders and community groups to warn vulnerable customers, as the Public Utilities Commission required. “What the PUC can do is basically lay out the expectations for what the utilities need to do. Where the rubber meets the road is how the utilities operationalize, particularly on the notification,” said Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network. The option to pull the plug isn’t new, though state officials expect it to be used much more frequently. San Diego Gas & Electric won permission to cut off power during high-risk conditions after its equipment ignited three big fires in 2007. State regulators expanded the shut-off requirements to other investor-owned utilities last year, after devastating fires in 2017. Once power is shut off, the utilities must inspect every de-energized line before they restore power, a process that can keep the lights out for days even after conditions improve. Both PG&E and Southern California Edison used their new authority last fall, with many residents and local officials upset that stores, businesses and schools had to close for lack of electricity. Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning said his city of 5,200 residents in the Napa Valley was the first to experience a PG&E power outage, “so we learned firsthand how that goes — not well.” He cited poor communication, which utility representatives said they are working to improve, but praised PG&E for now trying to keep makeshift power flowing to key areas of town in the next outage. “They’re damned if they do, and damned if they don’t,” Canning said. “There’s only so much we can do as a city to protect you. Individual residents have to be prepared.” Miller said her backup plan is a cat named Mojo who instinctively paws at her face whenever she stops breathing. “It puts us in a dangerous situation and a stressful situation,” she said. “If they have a blackout that lasts for five days, I’m screwed.” | DON THOMPSON | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/california-approves-wide-power-outages-to-prevent-wildfires/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_all | 2019-05-31 00:30:45+00:00 | 1,559,277,045 | 1,567,539,641 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
506,430 | sottnet--2019-09-24--US prevent plantings in 2019 at 20 million acres more than double the previous record | 2019-09-24T00:00:00 | sottnet | US prevent plantings in 2019 at 20 million acres, more than double the previous record | Historic flooding in the early spring and record rainfall across portions of the Corn Belt led many in the industry to expect the failure to plant an insured crop , to reach record highs in 2019, and the latest crop report bears that out. Prevented planting payments provide crop insurance benefits to policyholders to compensate for pre-planting costs incurred in preparation for planting the crop. For some farmers, these indemnity payments may exceed the economic returns associated with a late-planted and poor-yielding crop.The previous prevent plantings record, set in 2011, was just shy of 10 million acres for the eight principle crops ( Prevent Planting Implications for 2017 ). Recently released Farm Service Agency crop acreage data revealed that as of late AugustPrevented planting across all major crops was the highest in South Dakota at 3.9 million acres. Following South Dakota was Ohio at 1.6 million acres and Illinois at 1.5 million acres. Prevent plant acreage exceed 1 million acres in six states, across which prevent plantings totaled nearly 11 million acres, more than 50% of all filings in 2019. Figure 1 highlights total prevent plantings by state as of August 22. These totals are preliminary as FSA will continue to update crop acreage data through January 2020. Totals will likely increase but are not expected to increase substantially.At the county level, prevent plantings were the highest across portions of eastern South Dakota, northwest Ohio, northeast Illinois, southwest Minnesota and along the Mississippi. More than 200 counties had more than 25,000 acres in prevent plant. Of those counties, more than 80 had more than 50,000 prevent plant acres and 17 counties had more than 100,000 acres in prevent plant. Figure 2 details preliminary county-level prevent plant acreage.The previous record for corn prevent plants was set in 2013 when 3.6 million acres were prevented from being planted. Over the last decade the average prevent plantings was 1.8 million acres. In 2019, corn acres prevented from being planted soared past the previous record by nearly 8 million acres to reach a new record of 11.4 million acres, 215% higher than the previous record. South Dakota led the nation with more than 2.9 million prevent plant corn acres and was followed by Illinois and Minnesota at more than 1 million acres each. Figure 3 highlights preliminary state-level corn prevent plantings in 2019 and Figure 4 identifies county-level corn prevent plantings.For soybeans, the previous record for prevent plantings was set in 2015 when 2.2 million acres were unplanted. Over the last decade prevent plantings have averaged just over 950,000 acres. In 2019, soybean prevent plantings totaled a record-high 4.5 million acres, 99% higher than the previous record. As it did with corn, South Dakota led the nation for the most soybean prevent plantings at 867 thousand acres, followed by Ohio at 628 thousand acres. Figure 5 highlights preliminary state-level soybean prevent plantings in 2019 and Figure 6 identifies county-level soybean prevent plantings.In many counties across the U.S. prevent plantings exceed 25% of total acreage, Figure 7. The concentrations were in South Dakota, along the Great Lakes, throughout Missouri and down the Mississippi River into Texas.To assist farmers who were unable to plant an insurable crop, not only does USDA's Risk Management Agency provide crop insurance benefits, but the department also provided an opportunity for farmers to plant a cover crop on these acres and not lose crop insurance benefits and also qualify for trade assistance payments of $15 per acre. Of the 20 million acres of prevent plant, more than 4 million acres have currently been planted to a cover crop, Figure 8. | null | https://www.sott.net/article/420901-US-prevent-plantings-in-2019-at-20-million-acres-more-than-double-the-previous-record | 2019-09-24 07:49:29+00:00 | 1,569,325,769 | 1,570,222,377 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
429,549 | prisonplanet--2019-03-25--200 Million People At Risk National Weather Service Warns Apocalyptic Midwest Floods Are A Preview | 2019-03-25T00:00:00 | prisonplanet | 200 Million People At Risk: National Weather Service Warns Apocalyptic Midwest Floods Are “A Preview Of What We Expect Throughout The Rest Of The Spring” | The flooding that just struck the middle part of the country was the worst blow to U.S. farmers in decades, but now the National Weather Service is telling us that it was just “a preview of what we expect throughout the rest of the spring”. Can that possibly be true? After the immense devastation that we have already witnessed, how much worse can the flooding possibly get? Already we have seen thousands of homes and farms be completely destroyed, and we are being told that the total economic damage is in the billions of dollars. Sadly, the truth is that a lot worse is still yet to come. Thanks to a very snowy winter, a massive amount of snow is going to melt during the next several weeks, and that alone would produce tremendous flooding. But on top of all of that melting snow, forecasters are telling us that it will be a very rainy spring. In fact, the Weather Channel is warning that there will be “above-average precipitation across much of the Lower 48” over the next three months, and one meteorologist is forecasting that it is “not looking like we are going to see any dry stretches anytime soon”. And this is on top of all of the very heavy rainfall that has been falling in recent weeks. At this point, the Mississippi River basin has already gotten “three times as much rainfall as in a normal year”. Even without any additional flooding, U.S. food production would be way down this year. The recent flooding is going to keep thousands of farmers from planting crops on time, and thousands of others are not going to be able to use their fields at all. But when you factor in what is going to happen over the next three months, we are talking about an agricultural disaster of unprecedented magnitude in modern American history. At this moment, some areas in the Upper Midwest still have “more than 20 inches of snow” on the ground… All of that water has to go somewhere, and authorities are warning that 200 million people are at risk… A lot of people out there seem to think that the flooding will just be isolated to the major rivers, but that is simply not true. Yes, all-time flooding records will continue to be shattered along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, but the National Weather Service is telling us that nearly “the entire eastern two-thirds of the nation” will be dealing with flooding this spring… Almost the entire eastern two-thirds of the nation should see flooding this spring, National Weather Service deputy director Mary Erickson said at a news conference on Thursday. Some 25 states are forecast to see “moderate” to “major” flooding, the weather service said. The Midwest floods are “a preview of what we expect throughout the rest of the spring,” she said. “The flooding this year could be worse than what we have seen in previous years … even worse than the historic floods we saw in 1993 and 2011,” Erickson added. Are you starting to get the picture? This is the worst case scenario for U.S. flooding that surpasses all previous worst case scenarios. Thousands more farms will be destroyed. Billions of dollars worth of additional damage will be done to our agricultural industry. Food production is going to come up way short, and we are all going to experience tremendous pain at the supermarket as food prices skyrocket. If you live in any of the following areas, you need to have your emergency plan ready, because things are about to get really, really bad… U.S. farmers have already lost millions upon millions of bushels of wheat, corn and soybeans to the flooding that has already happened. As I have repeatedly stressed, our planet is changing, weather patterns are becoming more severe, and even if they understood what is happening there is absolutely nothing that the radical environmentalists can do to stop it. Just look at what is happening on the other side of the world. Australia was just hit by a “severe category 3 cyclone”, and this came exactly one day after it was hit by a category 4 cyclone… We are witnessing things that we have never seen before, and “the new normal” is just going to keep getting stranger and stranger. If you live anywhere in the middle portion of the country, please take this flooding very seriously. Authorities are using apocalyptic language to describe this crisis, and they are not exaggerating the potential threat one bit. This article was posted: Monday, March 25, 2019 at 6:12 am | admin | https://www.prisonplanet.com/200-million-people-at-risk-national-weather-service-warns-apocalyptic-midwest-floods-are-a-preview-of-what-we-expect-throughout-the-rest-of-the-spring.html | 2019-03-25 11:12:26+00:00 | 1,553,526,746 | 1,567,544,970 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
780,482 | theindependent--2019-12-21--UK weather news - live: More than 100 flood warnings issued as millions expected to travel for Chris | 2019-12-21T00:00:00 | theindependent | UK weather news - live: More than 100 flood warnings issued as millions expected to travel for Christmas | More than 100 flood warnings have been put in place across the UK today as millions are expected to travel for Christmas. Drivers have been warned to expect long tailbacks and delays on busy roads, such as the M1, M5, M6 and M25, while rail passengers have been advised to plan ahead due to engineering works and strikes. On Friday, many travellers suffered chaos on one of the busiest days of the winter after the London-Gatwick-Brighton main railway line was closed near Gatwick airport due to flooding. Please allow a moment for our live blog to load | Conrad Duncan | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-weather-news-live-today-christmas-travel-forecast-warnings-traffic-latest-a9256041.html | Sat, 21 Dec 2019 12:00:00 GMT | 1,576,947,600 | 1,576,931,400 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
789,518 | theirishtimes--2019-10-03--Storm Lorenzo 400km off coast as high winds flooding expected | 2019-10-03T00:00:00 | theirishtimes | Storm Lorenzo 400km off coast as high winds, flooding expected | Storm Lorenzo some 400km of the west coast as the country prepares for storm-force winds, flooding and high tides before it makes landfall on Thursday evening. “#StormLorenzo has passed buoy M6, approximately 400 km off the west coast of Ireland, with mean wind speeds of 67km/h gusting 102 km/h,” Met Éireann said in a tweet at about midday. (Follow live updates here) The National Emergency Coordination Group is meeting this morning to review the developing situation. The effects of the approaching storm started to take affect on Thursday morning in the west and the weather system is expected to move across Ireland over the course of the day and evening. The storm, originating from the most northern and easterly hurricane on record, was “rapidly approaching” western Europe and “in particular Ireland”, Met Éireann said . The likelihood of landfall was “high probability”, it said. Met Éireann head of forecasting Evelyn Cusack told The Irish Times on Thursday morning heavy rainfall is still expected in most parts of the country, but Munster is likely to stay dry. She said Storm Lorenzo is now “100 per cent crossing Ireland”, but the severity of the winds may not be as bad as was originally feared. However, she cautioned that there is still the prospect of coastal flooding and structural damage in many places. “Rivers are still high and the ground is still saturated so there is the risk of some coastal flooding in the west and near some rivers,” she said. An orange weather alert is in place for counties Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway and Mayo from 6pm on Thursday to 6am on Friday. Cork was removed from the orange alert area by forecasters on Thursday morning while forecast wind gusts were reduced from 130km/h to 120km/h. A yellow wind alert is in place for the rest of the country from 9am on Thursday to 6am on Friday with gusts of 100km/h expected in most places. A rainfall warning for Connacht, Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal from 9am on Thursday until 6am on Friday. Ms Cusack has advised the public to be prepared for some wet and windy weather, with a risk of some fallen trees and coastal flooding and perhaps some damage along the west coast. “The storm is approaching, the pressure is falling rapidly. It looks as if it won’t be as bad as it could be given its tropical origin. “But we still expect significant winds on the west coast with a risk of some coastal flooding and damage, very high waves coinciding with low pressure and also high tides,” she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. “Because the ground is saturated, the ground is very wet so the trees are in full leaf, and that’s why we’re giving more impacts from this level of winds than if the storm were happening in January. “There is certainly a high risk of trees down.” Storm Lorenzo “is a different beast from Ophelia,” she said. “Of course every storm is different, both were hurricanes. Lorenzo lost its hurricane status 1,000 kms from the south west of Ireland yesterday afternoon, while Ophelia remained a hurricane very close to Ireland, within 500kms.” A combination of high tide, very low atmospheric pressure and high winds gusting at up to 120km/h are likely to lead to flooding, particularly around the Shannon estuary area. Further flooding in parts of the midwest and midlands is possible. Storm force 10 winds will be accompanied by torrential rain, especially in western counties, with 50mm expected to fall in less than 18 hours Local authorities have activated their crisis management teams and local co-ordination groups. Drains and gullies have been cleared by the teams and sandbags have been prepared. The Irish Coast Guard has appealed to the public to stay away from coastal areas during this period. “Stay back, stay high and stay dry,” it said. Schools in orange arert counties are being advised to “err on the side of caution” and close on Friday if they feel there is a risk to students from the impact of the storm. The National Emergency Co-ordination Group issued a statement on Wednesday warning of the risk posed by trees in high-wind events. “The most widespread and potentially dangerous consequence of high wind is the risk of trees breaking/falling, possibly bringing down live power lines, posing a danger to motorists and pedestrians in the vicinity,” it said. The Health and Safety Authority has urged workers to pay particular attention to the risk posed by trees as the storm passed on Thursday evening. “Many workers particularly those involved in storm repair, construction, farming and transportation will be facing increased hazards. “Unfortunately, two people lost their lives during Storm Ophelia while cutting and clearing windblown trees. The HSA has issued a warning to anyone planning on using a chainsaw to cut down fallen trees,” it said in a statement. The Health Service Executive has warned those with private wells or who are on shared water schemes to note that during severe weather events their water supply may become restricted or reduced. In Galway, Salthill Road and the Seapoint Promenade will be closed from 5pm on Thursday for the duration of the storm, the city council has said. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed urged farmers to wait until the storm had abated before checking on animals. “Priority is obviously the safety of people and I would reiterate the advice that care should be taken,” he said. | null | https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/storm-lorenzo-400km-off-coast-as-high-winds-flooding-expected-1.4038742 | 2019-10-03 07:44:04+00:00 | 1,570,103,044 | 1,570,221,725 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
810,270 | themoscowtimes--2019-09-16--Authorities Failed to Prevent Repeat of Historic 2013 Floods in Far East Russia Residents Say | 2019-09-16T00:00:00 | themoscowtimes | Authorities Failed to Prevent Repeat of ‘Historic’ 2013 Floods in Far East Russia, Residents Say | Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and more than 100,000 were affected overall in the mid-2013 flash flooding across five Russian regions that meteorologists said was the worst in 120 years. This month, the Amur River has reached dangerous levels and flooded hundreds of homes months after heavy floods paralyzed the Pacific city of Vladivostok and the Irkutsk region in Siberia. Residents of three Far East Russian regions are accusing the authorities of failing to improve flood control systems in the six years since the area was hit with biggest floods in more than a century, the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper has reported. Authorities in the Amur region, the Khabarovsk region and the Jewish autonomous region have failed to rebuild levees or reopen storm drains since the 2013 floods, Novaya Gazeta cited residents and local officials as saying Friday. “[The 2013 relief effort volunteers are] outraged because six years was enough to fix everything. Nothing’s been fully completed. That causes a serious negative [reaction] among people,” said Alexei Larin, a journalist based in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Khabarovsk region. The Amur River in Komsomolsk-on-Amur has reached a peak of 8 meters and 29 centimeters, Novaya Gazeta reported, and forecasters predict the water will recede at a rate of 5 centimeters per day until mid-October. Emergency officials warn that the Amur River’s water levels there could still rise after receding late last week. Oleg Belozerov, a deputy in the urban settlement of Nikolayevka, said he had asked the governor of the Jewish autonomous district last year to check the condition of local storm drains. “The governor sent my letter back to our district and the district sent it to the head of our village. Nothing’s been done and now we're flooded,” Belozerov told Novaya Gazeta. President Vladimir Putin plans to visit the Emergency Situations Ministry crisis center to discuss flood relief efforts in Far East Russia, the Kremlin said Monday. | null | https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/09/16/authorities-failed-to-prevent-repeat-of-historic-2013-floods-in-far-east-russia-residents-say-a67301 | 2019-09-16 14:07:32+00:00 | 1,568,657,252 | 1,569,330,247 | disaster, accident and emergency incident | emergency planning |
206,502 | fortune--2019-10-04--Ukraine is Auditing Cases on Biden and Burisma Gas Company | 2019-10-04T00:00:00 | fortune | Ukraine is ‘Auditing’ Cases on Biden and Burisma Gas Company | President Trump Keeps Tweeting About Mitt Romney—and Even Called for His Impeachment | Joanna G. Ramey | https://fortune.com/2019/10/04/ukraine-is-auditing-cases-on-biden-and-burisma-gas-company-trump-impeachment-news/ | 2019-10-04 20:54:47+00:00 | 1,570,236,887 | 1,570,633,659 | economy, business and finance | business information |
520,475 | sputnik--2019-01-08--Czech Agencies Companies to Face Audit Over Use of Huawei Products - Babis | 2019-01-08T00:00:00 | sputnik | Czech Agencies, Companies to Face Audit Over Use of Huawei Products - Babis | "On Monday, the government instructed the relevant competent agencies to analyze risks related to the use of computer software of Chinese company Huawei, as well as those of ZTE. The audit will concern about 160 leading agencies, firms and enterprises, both public and private, with whom the NCISA will be closely cooperating", Babis said at a press conference. He specified that the list of those subjected to the audit will include "power plants, power and water supply systems, telecommunications and information systems, medical facilities and the like". READ MORE: India Believes West is Not Altruistic About China's Huawei — Official The United States and several other countries have also raised security questions with regard to the Chinese telecommunications giants. The company, however, refuted the allegations. In particular, in response to NCISA claims, the representative of Huawei in the Czech Republic, Magda Teresa Partyka, said that there were no laws in China that would force Huawei or any other company to build so-called back doors into their products. | null | https://sputniknews.com/europe/201901081071293001-czech-companies-huawei-products/ | 2019-01-08 08:50:00+00:00 | 1,546,955,400 | 1,567,553,506 | economy, business and finance | business information |
604,894 | thedailycaller--2019-07-05--Facebook Reveals Extent Of Companys Audit Into Accusations Of Anti-Conservative Bias | 2019-07-05T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | Facebook Reveals Extent Of Company’s Audit Into Accusations Of Anti-Conservative Bias | Facebook is slowly revealing the extent of former Republican Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl’s audit into accusations that the company discriminates against conservatives. Kyl has talked to more than 130 of the country’s top conservative groups to determine how Facebook’s policies are affecting them, company spokesman Andy Stone said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Republican’s audit was slowed after he was appointed to serve out the remainder of former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s term. “The team is now meeting with people from Facebook’s policy and product teams to gain a better understanding of Facebook’s internal and external policies as well as our products and services,” Stone added. Kyl’s committee has not yet released a public report, nor has it made any recommendations. Kyl’s office has not responded to the DCNF’s request for comment. Facebook’s apparent foot-dragging on publishing the results of the audit comes as President Donald Trump and other conservatives consider whether big tech needs more scrutiny. (RELATED: Facebook Stays Mum On Accusations Of Conservative Bias As Trump Bears Down) The audit is more than a year in the making. A Facebook representative told Politico reporters in 2018 that the company would complete the audit and publish findings “early next year.” Meanwhile, the company published an update on June 30 to a parallel civil rights audit, which contained some eye-brow raising recommendations. Auditors with more than 90 civil rights groups suggested Facebook’s current ban of explicit white nationalism should be expanded to include content that supports the ideology even if the term white nationalism is not used. Facebook banned explicit expressions of white nationalism in March, marking a significant change in policy. Trump and Republican lawmakers are fleshing out ways to reign in Facebook, Google and Twitter before they become too big to regulate. The president invited a slew of conservative activists to the White House to discuss how social media companies are affecting their livelihoods. PragerU, the Heritage Foundation and the Media Research Center (MRC) were among a handful of groups invited to the July 11 social media summit. PragerU previously filed suit against Google, YouTube’s parent company, in federal court, claiming the Silicon Valley giant’s restrictions on its content violates California law governing freedom of speech. That suit lost at the district level and is currently pending on appeal before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Brent Bozell, the co-founder of MRC, for his part, previously asked the Department of Justice to investigate Facebook, Google and Twitter. “I applaud the DOJ for heeding our call. Online giants Google, Facebook and Twitter wield unprecedented power to shape public opinion and even directly influence elections,” Bozell said in June following reports suggesting the DOJ is considering ways to open antitrust probes against Google. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. | Chris White | https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/05/conservative-bias-trump-big-tech/ | 2019-07-05 15:12:09+00:00 | 1,562,353,929 | 1,567,536,828 | economy, business and finance | business information |
753,828 | theindependent--2019-04-02--Big Four accountancy firms should be broken up to restore faith in company audits say MPs | 2019-04-02T00:00:00 | theindependent | Big Four accountancy firms should be broken up to restore faith in company audits, say MPs | The big four accountancy firms should be broken up to improve the auditing of public companies in the wake of high-profile collapses like Carillion and BHS, MPs have argued. The House of Commons Business Committee told the competition watchdog to aim for a “full structural break-up” of PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY after the firms have been accused of missing signs of distress at several large companies. In a hard-hitting report the Business Committee said conflicts of interest should be tackled by splitting the big four up into audit firms that check companies’ books and consultancy firms that provide advice on other areas. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is expected to release its final recommendations on reforming the audit market shortly. It’s initial assessment recommended a functional split between accountants’ auditing and consultancy arms but the MPs recommendations go further. Committee chairwoman Rachel Reeves said: "For the big firms, audits seem too often to be the route to milking the cash-cow of consultancy business. "The client relationship, and the conflicts of interest which abound, undermine the professional scepticism needed to deliver reliable, high-quality audits. Splitting audit from non-audit business would be a big step to boosting the culture of challenge needed to deliver high-quality audits. "We must not wait for the next corporate collapse. Government and regulators need to get on and legislate to deliver these reforms and ensure that audits deliver what businesses, investors, pension-holders and the public expect." Auditors have come in for criticism after a number of large companies have gone bust without the accountants who checked their books highlighting problems. The business committee also raised questions about the dominance of the big four which check the books of 97 per cent of Britain’s largest listed firms. The Business Committee recommends using joint audits for the most complicated cases. This would mean multiple accountants sharing work on a single company’s accounts. In addition, it wants to reduce the number of consecutive years a company can stay with the same auditor from 20 years to seven. After this there would be a cooling-off period of three years during which the auditor cannot offer consultancy services to the client. Some auditors have been accused of developing “cosy” relationships with certain clients that hampered their ability to properly scrutinise the management’s accounts. The committee also took aim at Britain’s fifth-largest accountancy firm Grant Thornton which audited cake chain Patisserie Valerie. Chief executive David Dunckley informed the Business Committee that it was not part of Grant Thornton’s role to look for fraud during its audit of the company. A £40m hole in Patisserie Valerie’s accounts was subsequently uncovered by forensic accountancy work carried out by a different firm. Ms Reeves said that “change in the audit market is long overdue”. "The 'Big Four's' dominance has fostered a precarious market which shuts out challengers and delivers audits which investors and the public cannot rely on. "Our report proposes a range of measures to boost competition, improve the audit product, and ensure that the UK continues to be a world leader in corporate governance." We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads. | Ben Chapman | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/big-four-accountancy-firms-broken-up-pwc-deloitte-ey-kpmg-a8850111.html | 2019-04-02 05:54:00+00:00 | 1,554,198,840 | 1,567,544,314 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,016,834 | thetelegraph--2019-10-04--Ukraine prosecutor to audit old cases involving gas company that employed Joe Bidens son | 2019-10-04T00:00:00 | thetelegraph | Ukraine prosecutor to audit old cases involving gas company that employed Joe Biden's son | Ukraine's new prosecutor general has said he is reviewing cases involving the gas company where Joe Biden's son sat on the board following president Volodymyr Zelenskiy's promises to Donald Trump that the prosecutor would look into the situation. Ruslan Ryaboshapka told journalists in Kiev that his office was conducting an audit of previous investigations by the prosecutor general, including cases against Mykola Zlochevsky, owner of the Burisma gas company, and US-sanctioned gas magnate Serhiy Kurchenko. “There are 15 cases where Zlochevsky, Kurchenko and other people and companies could be involved or could be targets for investigation,” Mr Ryaboshapka said. “We are now looking again at all cases that were closed or broken up or were investigated earlier to make a decision to reconsider those instances where illegal procedural decisions were made.” At the same time, he said no foreign or Ukrainian politicians had tried to influence his decisions on criminal cases. Mr Zelenskiy said he was “not involved” in the audit of the investigations when asked by ABC News on Friday. Mr Giuliani and Mr Trump have claimed that leading Democratic presidential candidate Mr Biden got then-prosecutor general Viktor Shokin fired in 2016 for his supposed attempts to investigate Burisma. | Alec Luhn | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/04/ukraine-prosecutor-audit-old-cases-involving-gas-company-employed/ | 2019-10-04 14:48:40+00:00 | 1,570,214,920 | 1,570,633,655 | economy, business and finance | business information |
200,578 | fortune--2019-01-05--California Wildfire Liability May Cause PGE To Sell Off Part of Company to Avoid Bankruptcy | 2019-01-05T00:00:00 | fortune | California Wildfire Liability May Cause PG&E To Sell Off Part of Company to Avoid Bankruptcy | The California wildfires that scorched millions of acres across the Golden State in late 2018 caused widespread devastation, with loss of human life and property damage just some of the ways that the fires touched the lives of thousands of Californians. And according to a new report by National Public Radio, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), the parent company of California’s largest utility, is exploring whether to sell off a major part of the company in order to cope with the cascading costs that continue to impact the energy company. Former PG&E employees who spoke with NPR on the condition of anonymity said that the company was considering selling its natural gas division in order to avoid bankruptcy as it works to cover liability costs. For its part, PG&E released a statement to NPR in which it said that the company “does not comment on market rumors or speculation.” In response to a request for a comment from Fortune, PG&E emailed: “[T]he PG&E Board is reviewing structural options to best position PG&E to implement necessary changes while meeting customer and operational needs. Safety is and will continue to be our top priority as we work to determine the best path forward for all of our stakeholders. PG&E remains fully committed to helping our customers and the affected communities recover and rebuild—and to doing everything we can to reduce the risk of future wildfires.” The spokesman did not address the sale rumor. The fires that impacted communities all over the state have already hurt several utility companies in real dollars as well as public perception. Stocks for PG&E and Edison International fell dramatically back in November as the fires worsened, and 35 families from the town of Paradise have sued PG&E over the Camp Fire. Additionally, several insurance companies including Allstate, State Farm, and USAA are suing PG&E over wildfire damages, according to Marketwatch. | Brittany Shoot | http://fortune.com/2019/01/04/california-wildfires-pge-camp-fire/ | 2019-01-05 00:24:10+00:00 | 1,546,665,850 | 1,567,553,815 | economy, business and finance | business information |
337,258 | naturalnews--2019-10-09--The collapse of Wall Street lunacy: WeWork company founded by delusional hype artist may soon have t | 2019-10-09T00:00:00 | naturalnews | The collapse of Wall Street lunacy: WeWork company founded by delusional hype artist may soon have to file for bankruptcy | (Natural News) Nine years ago, the founder of the WeWork Company promised to “elevate the world’s consciousness.”The delusional hype artist, Adam Neumann, has been abruptly terminated, as the company’s initial public offering continues to implode. The failure of this company is a microcosm of the disaster waiting to happen with Wall Street. With a successful IPO, WeWork would have magically secured billions in new capital, while gaining access to billions more in credit lines. In other words, with enough hype and inflated promises, a stupid idea can become infinitely funded by imaginary money. Losing millions of dollars a day, WeWork continues to operate in the red, with no consequences for its rapidly failing business model. Companies like this operate outside of the laws of supply and demand, and are not accountable to realistic economic principles. WeWork can spend into oblivion while never turning a profit. The delusion is propped up by a bubble of never-ending debt and investment. Now, after blasting through other’s people’s money and contributing to inflation of the public’s money, WeWork is looking at bankruptcy. Bloomberg warns that WeWork “may be shut out of the public stock and bond markets to raise new money.” WeWork lost $690 million in its first six months of operation. To date, the hype-machine has burned through $3 billion, with tens of millions in cash being lost with each passing day. Projected to burn through another $2.5 billion by mid-2020, WeWork is the epitome of Wall Street lunacy. Sponsored solution from the Health Ranger Store: The Big Berkey water filter removes almost 100% of all contaminants using only the power of gravity (no electricity needed, works completely off-grid). Widely consider the ultimate "survival" water filter, the Big Berkey is made of stainless steel and has been laboratory verified for high-efficiency removal of heavy metals by CWC Labs, with tests personally conducted by Mike Adams. Explore more here. This is the same company that was once valued at $47 billion. The valuation is a façade of wealth because the company never made a profit. As the company’s revenue increased, its losses grew with even greater intensity. The company is being run by people who do not know the fundamentals of budgeting and profit/loss. They only know how to convince others to hand them money. Their success is a fake bubble, ready to burst. Neumann’s fake bubble is about to burst and that means thousands of jobs will be lost, as families fall victim to a con artist, who has been empowered by Wall Street lunacy. Neumann’s $60 million private jet, the Gulfstream G650, is currently up for sale to recoup some of the money that was wasted away. Meanwhile, the new CEOs are warning employees to “anticipate difficult decisions ahead” to protect WeWork’s “long-term interests and health.” Even if WeWork were to convince Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to guarantee a $3 billion loan, which they were currently working on; the deal won’t be had if the company can’t get a successful IPO. The two new CEOs, Gunningham and Minson may have no choice but to accept that the company is a façade. They may have to turn over the keys to their initial investor SoftBank — the Japanese company that invested $10 billion into their bubble. Yet, the collapse of WeWork is so immense; it could even threaten the existence of its Japanese investor. This is why SoftBank is currently working to guarantee WeWork another $1.5 billion investment, in hopes, that this time, they can move the company out of the red. With no clear plan of profitability to go by, SoftBank doesn’t know when to stop adding fuel to the fire. Are they willing to burn their entire telecoms-to-technology firm down to the ground just to make sure that WeWork lives up to its hype? What a facade. For more on the lunacy of Wall Street, visit Collapse.News. | Lance D Johnson | http://www.naturalnews.com/2019-10-09-collapse-of-wall-street-wework-soon-file-bankruptcy.html | Wed, 09 Oct 2019 04:44:06 +0000 | 1,570,610,646 | 1,570,660,876 | economy, business and finance | business information |
490,968 | slate--2019-10-01--Trumps Tariffs May Have Just Forced an American Steel Company Into Bankruptcy | 2019-10-01T00:00:00 | slate | Trump’s Tariffs May Have Just Forced an American Steel Company Into Bankruptcy | Donald Trump likes to brag that his tariffs have saved the U.S. steel industry from collapse. “Steel was dead,” he told a crowd of Pennsylvania workers in August. “Your business was dead. Okay? I don’t want to be overly crude. Your business was dead. And I put a little thing called ‘a 25 percent tariff’ on all of the dumped steel all over the country. And now your business is thriving.” Back in the real world, however, it has become increasingly clear that the tariffs have done little to lift the industry’s fortunes overall, and have outright backfired for some manufacturers. On Tuesday, for instance, the Bayou Steel Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced that it would shut down its plant near New Orleans. Nearly 400 workers there stand to lose their jobs. A smaller plant in Tennessee, with 72 employees, will also close. The company has not offered a detailed explanation for its bankruptcy. (It cited a “severe lack of liquidity,” meaning it lacked the cash to keep operating.) But as Bloomberg reports, Louisiana’s Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards fingered Trump’s trade war as a likely culprit. “While Bayou Steel has not given any specific reason for the closure, we know that this company, which uses recycled scrap metal that is largely imported, is particularly vulnerable to tariffs,” he said in a statement. “Louisiana is among the most dependent states on tariffed metals, which is why we continue to be hopeful for a speedy resolution to the uncertainty of the future of tariffs.” This is a slight variation on a problem that plenty of critics saw coming when Trump announced his tariffs last year. While many American steel companies manufacture the raw metal from scratch, a number of them don’t. Instead, they specialize in making steel products out of cheap, semi-finished slabs of the material that they buy from abroad. The levies posed a serious threat to that segment’s business model. The administration has tried to skirt around this issue by granting companies waivers allowing them to import steel from countries like China and Japan duty-free, but the process has been contentious and has sometimes led to funny results, such as when one steel company that had spent a year praising Trump’s tariffs later sued the administration after it was denied an exemption from them. This brings us to the broader point: Trump’s trade war hasn’t so much brought the steel industry back to life as it has reshuffled its winners and losers. In the wake of the tariffs, steel prices rose significantly, which led to a boom in production. But as domestic steel quickly flooded the market, prices tumbled back down to earth. As Bloomberg has reported, that’s created a split in the industry. Companies like Nucor, which can compete effectively on price because its electric mills are relatively cheap to run, have fared pretty well. But U.S. Steel, with its old-school blast furnaces, has gotten socked; its stock value is down by about 75 percent since March of last year, and the company has had to idle plants. Amid all this turmoil, the industry has only added a few thousand jobs, which have come at a severe cost to companies like car makers that use U.S. steel as an input. We’ll likely learn more about exactly what happened at Bayou Steel in the coming weeks. But for now, it seems like an example that rather than saving some steel companies from death, Trump’s tariffs may be sentencing them to it. | Jordan Weissmann | https://slate.com/business/2019/10/trump-tariffs-bayou-steel-group.html?via=rss | 2019-10-01 20:51:51+00:00 | 1,569,977,511 | 1,570,221,803 | economy, business and finance | business information |
535,822 | sputnik--2019-06-18--Notorious Brazil Construction Company Odebrecht Files for Bankruptcy Reports | 2019-06-18T00:00:00 | sputnik | Notorious Brazil Construction Company Odebrecht Files for Bankruptcy – Reports | The scandal involving Odebrecht has rocked various South American countries, as corruption practices used by the company and officials from these states for years, have been revealed. Odebrecht, the largest construction and development company in Latin America, admitted in 2016 that it had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on bribes in 12 countries in the region to win government contracts. According to local media reports, Odebrecht gave at least $439 million in bribes to senior officials in several Latin American countries between 2001-2016 in order to win contracts. The US Department of Justice claimed, however, that Odebrecht paid approximately $788 million in bribes to foreign government officials to win contracts in 12 countries. The bribes were facilitated through the use of off-shore bank accounts, shell companies, and secret transactions, and, according to reports, the scheme resulted in payments and profits of around $3.3 billion. Parts of the scheme also took place in the United States, according to Justice Department. The Odebrecht probe, one of the biggest corruption scandals in Latin America, has triggered investigations in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala, and Ecuador. The situation resulted in the dismissals of many high-ranking officials across the continent. In July 2018, the Brazilian-based construction company reportedly agreed to pay some $700 million in compensation to the nation's government as a fine in the corruption case. | null | https://sputniknews.com/latam/201906181075924758-notorious-brazil-construction-company-odebrecht-files-for-bankruptcy--reports/ | 2019-06-18 00:12:18+00:00 | 1,560,831,138 | 1,567,538,941 | economy, business and finance | business information |
722,363 | thehill--2019-07-02--Major US coal company files for bankruptcy putting over 1000 jobs at risk | 2019-07-02T00:00:00 | thehill | Major US coal company files for bankruptcy, putting over 1,000 jobs at risk | A major U.S. coal company filed for bankruptcy Monday, putting more than 1,000 jobs across three states at risk. West Virginia-based Revelation Energy LLC and its affiliate Blackjewel LLC filed for bankruptcy, making it the second major coal company to declare bankruptcy in as many weeks, according to the Lexington Herald Leader. The bankruptcy impacts the employees who are working at coal mines located in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Hundreds of workers at two coal mines in Wyoming were also reportedly impacted by the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy and risk of ensuing job losses underscore the dwindling number of jobs in the industry since 2012 as a result of a sharp decline in coal production. Workers at mines near Cumberland, Ky., were reportedly told Monday not to come to the mines for their evening shifts and that the shutdown could last at least two weeks. “It’s devastating for the community,” Charles Raleigh, mayor of Cumberland, told the Herald Leader. “It’s a sad situation. I hate it for the miners.” Jeff Hoops, owner of Revelation Energy and its affiliate Blackjewel, in an affidavit filed in court, attributed the bankruptcy to the state of the coal market nationally. “The entire industry either has gone through, or is currently going through, a period of financial distress and reorganization,” he wrote, according to the Herald Leader. He also cited increased competition from natural gas and renewable energy. Blackjewel and Revelation reportedly owe tens of millions in state and federal taxes, forcing the company to file for bankruptcy. In 2017, Revelation Energy accounted for nearly 6 percent of the United States's coal production, making it the sixth largest company in terms of total production. | Owen Daugherty | https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/451373-major-us-coal-company-files-for-bankruptcy-putting-over-1100-jobs | 2019-07-02 17:10:53+00:00 | 1,562,101,853 | 1,567,537,295 | economy, business and finance | business information |
782,076 | theintercept--2019-05-16--A Major Coal Company Went Bust Its Bankruptcy Filing Shows That It Was Funding Climate Change Denia | 2019-05-16T00:00:00 | theintercept | A Major Coal Company Went Bust. Its Bankruptcy Filing Shows That It Was Funding Climate Change Denialism. | one of the largest domestic coal producers in the country has revealed that the company maintains financial ties to many of the leading groups that have sowed doubt over the human causes of global warming. The disclosures are from Cloud Peak Energy, a Wyoming-based coal mining corporation that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 10. The company had been battered by low coal prices, including in international markets cultivated by the firm. The documents in the court docket show that the coal giant gave contributions to leading think tanks that have attacked the link between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change, as well as to several conservative advocacy groups that have attempted to undermine policies intended to shift the economy toward renewable energy. The documents do not include information on the size of the contributions, yet, taken as a whole, the list of groups Cloud Peak Energy helped fund are indicative of how the company prioritized pushing climate denialism. The company did not respond to a request for comment. The contributions are revealed in a filing that lists recipients of grants, creditors, and contractors. The document shows that Cloud Peak Energy helped fund the Institute of Energy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based group that has dismissed the “so-called scientific consensus” on climate change and regularly criticizes investments in renewable energy as a “waste” of resources. Several of the groups that receive funding from Cloud Peak Energy have used aggressive tactics to attempt to discredit environmentalists. The Center for Consumer Freedom, one of the groups listed in the coal company’s filing, is part of a sprawling network of front groups set up by a lobbyist named Rick Berman geared toward attacking green groups such as the Sierra Club and Food & Water Watch as dangerous radicals. Other organizations quietly bankrolled by Cloud Peak Energy have directly shaped state policy. The company provided funding to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that provides template legislation to state lawmakers. The model bills promote the fossil fuel agenda. One model bill declares that there is a “great deal of scientific uncertainty” around climate change; others are designed to repeal environmental regulations on coal-burning power plants. The Montana Policy Institute — a local libertarian think tank that promotes a discredited claim that world temperatures are falling, not rising, and questions whether humans cause climate change — also received funding from the firm. Cloud Peak Energy, the filing shows, funded Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers-backed group that mobilizes political opposition to Democratic politicians and climate regulations. The mining firm also financed Crossroads GPS, a “dark-money” group that funneled millions of undisclosed dollars into Senate races in support of GOP politicians during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles. The Western Caucus Foundation, which supports congressional efforts to deregulate the mining sector and sell off public lands for energy development, received funding as well. Many of the political dollars listed in the filing appear routine among coal industry firms. The Wyoming coal firm provided financing to an array of trade groups, including the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the National Mining Association, and the American Coal Council, that lobby legislators on mine industry priorities. | Lee Fang | https://theintercept.com/2019/05/16/coal-industry-climate-change-denial-cloud-peak-energy/ | 2019-05-16 22:20:10+00:00 | 1,558,059,610 | 1,567,540,534 | economy, business and finance | business information |
819,628 | theonion--2019-10-30--Largest U.S. Coal Mining Company Files For Bankruptcy | 2019-10-30T00:00:00 | theonion | Largest U.S. Coal Mining Company Files For Bankruptcy | Murray Energy, the largest private coal miner in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection due to its $1.7 billion in liabilities, a testament to the rapid decline of coal in the energy sector and the rise of renewables. What do you think? “Always a shame getting blindsided by something inevitable like that.” “Who will exploit the next three generations of my family now?” “Damn! Then I’ll just have to find someone else to help get this steamship across Lake Michigan in time for the World’s Fair.” | The Onion | https://www.theonion.com/largest-u-s-coal-mining-company-files-for-bankruptcy-1839478648 | Wed, 30 Oct 2019 19:48:00 GMT | 1,572,479,280 | 1,572,543,708 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,034,360 | theverge--2019-04-23--The company behind the 16000 AI-powered laundry-folding robot has filed for bankruptcy | 2019-04-23T00:00:00 | theverge | The company behind the $16,000 AI-powered laundry-folding robot has filed for bankruptcy | Seven Dreamers, the Japanese company behind the AI-powered laundry-folding robot Laundroid, has filed for bankruptcy. The company is now in the process of selling and transferring its business, it announced on its website today, which was spotted by Bloomberg editor Gearoid Reidy. Backed by companies like Panasonic and Daiwa House, Laundroid had ambitious dreams to be the ultimate wardrobe organizer for the entire household. It had multiple cameras and robotic arms to scan a load of laundry, and used Wi-Fi to connect to a server that would analyze the clothing using AI to figure out the best way to fold it. A companion app was supposed to be able to track every piece of clothing that went through Laundroid, and categorize the clothes by household member. One load of laundry would take a couple hours to be folded, as each T-shirt took about five to ten minutes. That’s how it was supposed to work in theory, anyway — when I tested it out at CES 2018 with my own T-shirt, the machine ate it up and Laundroid engineers had to work for about 15 minutes to pry it out. The explanation was that its cameras couldn’t recognize my black shirt, only the brightly colored demo shirts they’d prepared on hand. I suspected something might be wrong when the company was conspicuously absent at this year’s CES. Meanwhile, rival laundry-folding robot company Foldimate was back for a second year, enjoying large crowds gathered around its prominent booth and giving nonstop demonstrations with a fully working prototype. When I spoke to Seven Dreamers CEO Shin Sakane at CES 2018, he told me that he hoped to eventually bring the $16,000 product down to under $2,000. But according to credit research agency Teikoku Databank, the company racked up over $20 million in debt to 200 creditors while trying to get its product to market. It never actually shipped. It’s sad news for everyone involved, but maybe we don’t need an expensive Wi-Fi-connected machine to do our simple chores for us. After all, now we have Marie Kondo to teach us how to fold fitted sheets. | Dami Lee | https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/23/18512529/laundroid-laundry-folding-robot-seven-dreamers-bankrupt-ces | 2019-04-23 15:49:32+00:00 | 1,556,048,972 | 1,567,541,988 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,044,136 | thinkprogress--2019-02-21--Coal companys bankruptcy heightens pressure on Green New Deals just transition component | 2019-02-21T00:00:00 | thinkprogress | Coal company’s bankruptcy heightens pressure on Green New Deal’s ‘just transition’ component | Retired coal miners stand to lose their benefits following a company’s bankruptcy, leaving the future of union contracts at other mines across the country in doubt as the industry continues to falter. One of the oldest coal mine operators in the United States, Westmoreland Coal Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October, and in the process has sought to terminate medical benefits for retirees in addition to walking away from union contracts with United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). On Tuesday, a judge allowed Westmoreland to move forward with its plans. Texas Judge David R. Jones granted the long-struggling coal company a victory last Friday, allowing it to end retiree benefits along with union contracts at two of its mines in Wyoming and North Dakota. Representatives of both Westmoreland and the UMWA were given until Feb. 19 before Jones’ ruling went into effect, in order to give both parties time to negotiate. The blow to benefits and pensions comes amid a growing push to decarbonize the economy and shift away from fossil fuels, a goal espoused by backers of the Green New Deal — a plan to rapidly decarbonize the U.S. economy within 10 years. Environmental justice advocates have called for any final legislation on such a plan to include a “just transition” for communities like former and current coal miners. And Westmoreland’s bankruptcy highlights why such conversations are likely to continue. More coal plants shut down during President Donald Trump’s first two years in office than in the entire first term of the Obama administration. As that trend continues, questions about the fate of workers are mounting. The UMWA’s director of communications and governmental affairs, Phil Smith, told ThinkProgress that discussions are still ongoing between UMWA and Westmoreland until the end of the month as the union fights to protect members. But morale is running low and the union is worried for its members, many of whom are sick and unable to work, leaving them largely reliant on benefits. “They’re scared [and] they can’t go back to work,” Smith said. “After you work in the coal industry for 30, 40 years, you’re pretty beat up.” Prior to Jones’ ruling, Westmoreland was obligated under the union contract to pay several million dollars in post-retirement medical benefits, pension obligations, and payments relating to black lung, a disease caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. According to the Sierra Club, more than 250 active Westmoreland employees will be impacted by the Feb. 15 bankruptcy ruling, along with more than a thousand retirees and the spouses of deceased miners. The total retiree benefits scrapped come to around $329 million. “The decision itself is not hard for me. The impact of what my decision does is what’s hard for me,” Jones said of his ruling, which largely allowed bankruptcy law to trump labor law. When the company filed for bankruptcy, Westmoreland notably asked that managerial and executive staff still be allowed bonuses totaling up to $1.5 million a quarter, a move UMWA slammed as “appalling” at the time. Meanwhile, former miners with black lung in particular have expressed concern about the bankruptcy’s impacts. Westmoreland largely operates in Wyoming and North Dakota, but the company historically had a sizable presence in Appalachia and the South and many retirees still live in Virginia and the wider area. Bethel Brock, a former Westmoreland employee and UMWA member who has black lung, wrote a letter to Jones expressing concern about the company’s ability to pay for his health needs. “It is a shame these corporate executives are still expecting large paychecks in this bankruptcy while miners with black lung will…potentially lose their benefits,” Brock said, according to Appalachian Voices. “This is how corporate greed works.” Some politicians, however, are trying to find solutions and provide protections for coal miners. Under the proposed American Miners Act of 2019, black lung benefits would be extended, and both pension funds and health care benefits would be expanded. That bill is backed by Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Doug Jones (D-AL), and Bob Casey (D-PA). But the act isn’t a reality yet and advocates are looking to longer-term solutions regardless. Protections for coal miners as the world transitions away from fossil fuels also features in the Green New Deal, introduced two weeks ago by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). “We must be as ambitious and innovative in our solution as possible,” said Ocasio-Cortez at the time, arguing that “frontline communities, coal communities” would be major players in any final pieces of legislation associated with the Green New Deal. Still, it’s unclear what that prioritization actually means. Those who have worked closely on such issues for years say any effort will be incredibly complicated and will need input from impacted communities. And situations like Westmoreland’s clash with UMWA are only one small component of the larger issue. “One thing that people don’t understand about Wyoming coal is that it’s largely non-union,” said Shannon Anderson, who works with the Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC), a Wyoming-based community-driven nonprofit promoting sustainable practices in the state. Anderson told ThinkProgress that the union presence in Wyoming coal is only likely to shrink after Westmoreland’s bankruptcy. All the while, coal companies are continuing to shutter across the country as the industry declines. The closure of coal companies ultimately means more positive things for efforts to fight climate change and protect the health of miners, but, Anderson emphasized, “those decisions… do impact workers.” Organizations like the BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations, have pushed for creating jobs through infrastructure projects, something the Green New Deal aims to do. But protecting retired coal miners and others is critical for many communities and their support for any final legislation likely hinges on that. “This has been happening in the coal industry [for years],” said Smith of UMWA, referring to mass-closures of coal companies. Westmoreland, he says, marks the “continuation of a trend” that has seen many sick and elderly former miners left without support. Alpha Natural Resources, Peabody Energy, and Arch Coal are among other companies that have filed for bankruptcy over the past few years. Anderson noted that solutions are available for those looking to both encourage a transition away from fossil fuels and protect workers at the same time. She referenced efforts by the Obama administration to convert money for cleaning up abandoned coal mines to promoting other business sectors and retraining current miners. Coupled with legislation like the proposed American Miners Act, such efforts could make the Green New Deal’s “just transition” a reality. Ultimately, the question remains the same for communities at the mercy of the coal industry but interested in decarbonization, Anderson said: “How do you responsibly get coal mines reclaimed… but don’t leave communities high and dry?” | E.A. Crunden | https://thinkprogress.org/coal-miners-benefits-green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez-just-transition-westmoreland-726bb083b340/ | 2019-02-21 19:49:03+00:00 | 1,550,796,543 | 1,567,547,805 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,052,098 | truepundit--2019-06-12--Major Firearms Company That Banked On Hillary Winning Files For Bankruptcy | 2019-06-12T00:00:00 | truepundit | Major Firearms Company That Banked On Hillary Winning Files For Bankruptcy | United Sporting Companies Chief Executive Officer Bradley Johnson admitted in a court filing that USC, which was founded in 1933 as Ellett Brothers before merging with Jerry’s Sports, Inc. in 2009 and formally changing its name to United Sporting Companies, Inc. in 2010, hiked its inventory before the election of Donald Trump. They figured that once a Democrat was elected, gun sales would soar because of the Democrats’ typical hostility for guns and avowed determination to restrict gun sales. In the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, the Debtors anticipated an uptick in firearms sales historically attributable to the election of a Democratic presidential nominee. The Debtors increased their inventory to account for anticipated sales increases. In the aftermath of the unexpected Republican victory, the Debtors realized lower than expected sales figures for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, with higher than expected carrying costs due to the Debtors’ increased inventory. These factors contributed to the Debtors tightening liquidity and an industry-wide glut of inventory. An over-supply of firearms following the 2016 presidential election and the financial distress of certain market participants led to industry-wide sales discounts. The Debtors were forced to lower prices to remain competitive and maintain sales figures, which further eroded the Debtors’ slim margins and contributed to the Debtors’ tightening liquidity. The Daily Mail reported of Johnson, “ … he said the Republican Trump’s unexpected win over Democrat Hillary Clinton was a factor in net sales falling to $557 million in 2018 from an average $885.3 million from 2012 to 2016, with an accompanying glut of inventory.” – READ MORE | admin | https://truepundit.com/major-firearms-company-that-banked-on-hillary-winning-files-for-bankruptcy/ | 2019-06-12 19:17:54+00:00 | 1,560,381,474 | 1,567,539,112 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,093,538 | wakingtimes--2019-12-26--As Fracking Companies Face Bankruptcy, U.S. Regulators Enable Firms to Duck Cleanup Costs | 2019-12-26T00:00:00 | wakingtimes | As Fracking Companies Face Bankruptcy, U.S. Regulators Enable Firms to Duck Cleanup Costs | In over their heads with debt, U.S. shale oil and gas firms are now moving from a boom in fracking to a boom in bankruptcies. This trend of failing finances has the potential for the U.S. public, both at the state and federal levels, to be left on the hook for paying to properly shut down and clean up even more drilling sites. Expect these companies to try reducing their debt through the process of bankruptcy and, like the coal industry, attempting to get out of environmental and employee-related financial obligations. In October, EP Energy — one of the largest oil producers in the Eagle Ford Shale region in Texas — filed for bankruptcy because the firm couldn’t pay back almost $5 billion in debt, making it the largest oil and gas bankruptcy since 2016. EP Energy hasn’t produced a profit since 2014 and Bloomberg reported that the company would need oil to be at “a price closer to $70 per barrel” for EP to be profitable. Oil has not come close to averaging over $70 a barrel since 2014. Despite its financial struggles at current low oil prices, the company plans to continue operating after restructuring and eliminating up to $3 billion in debt. However, EP has not identified any funds that it would be setting aside for well cleanup, which is not unusual for an oil and gas company. In response, as part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the U.S. Department of the Interior filed a document arguing that EP Energy is still responsible for its obligations to assure the “decommissioning, plugging, and abandonment” of any of the EP Energy wells that are located on leased federal and tribal lands. Ideally, that would mean EP Energy sets aside funds for the proper cleanup and end-of-life processes for its oil and gas wells, which number more than 800 in the Eagle Ford region. However, the federal government hasn’t even named a number yet for how much that should be. The Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs “are currently still assessing the status of reclamation and plugging and abandonment obligations across the Debtors’ onshore federal and Indian leases,” writes the Interior Department. The federal government is only getting around to assessing EP Energy’s potential liabilities once the firm is already in the bankruptcy process, revealing one of the flaws in the current system. Federal and state governments have not been holding fracking companies fully liable for the environmental damage and cleanup costs of their drilling activity. Joshua Caleb Macey, a visiting assistant professor at Cornell law school who specializes in bankruptcy and energy law, told DeSmog that the situation with EP Energy was “frustrating and completely normal.” As I’ve reported before, oil and gas companies are legally required to hold a certain amount of funds to pay for well cleanup costs, a process known as bonding that varies by state and for public lands. Because companies are rarely required to have those funds available before they start drilling (and thanks to industry-friendly regulators and politicians), in reality oil and gas companies can walk away from cleanup obligations with relative ease, which has become the pattern for bankrupt coal companies. Federal and state regulators have been failing to require companies to fully fund expected cleanup liabilities, which helps mask the true cost of oil and gas production. Passing environmental cleanup costs on to the taxpayer amounts to a backdoor subsidy for the oil and gas industry. Requiring oil and gas companies to pay for shutting down and cleaning up wells would greatly increase the cost of drilling for many oil and gas wells. The fracking industry already can’t make money pumping fossil fuels out of shale in the U.S., and that’s without these firms coming even close to fully funding their cleanup costs. However, more state governments are realizing the scale of this problem and starting to look at increasing and enforcing bonding requirements for oil and gas well cleanup. However, in oil-rich places like Alberta, Canada, and Alaska, regulators are realizing that the money just isn’t there. In 2018, the natural gas driller Amaroq Resources acquired the Nicolai Creek assets in southwest Alaska from the bankrupt Aurora Gas. This transaction was delayed when the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) announced $7 million in bonding required for the gas wells associated with the purchase. This is the point where the state government had the power to make Amaroq provide adequate bonding for well cleanup. The AOGCC then agreed to reduce that amount to $200,000 and the deal went ahead. Since that deal, the commission increased the minimum statewide bonding level to $400,000 per well for the first one to 10 wells. Amaroq would be required to abide by these new regulations and has appealed this decision. Company president Scott Pfoff explained that these new bonding requirements make the business “uneconomic.” And that is the reality. If oil and gas companies were required to pay for the full end-of-life cost of their wells, much of their inventory becomes uneconomic. This is where taxpayers come in. Fracking Industry Wants to Dump Wastewater in Streams and Rivers to Save Money Failure to require adequate bonding for oil and gas cleanup costs is just one of many backdoor government subsidies for the oil and gas industry. The failure to regulate flaring and venting of the potent greenhouse gas methane during oil drilling is another example. Fracking firms, which spend a lot of borrowed money to pump out a lot of oil and gas for not much (or any) profit, are experiencing a collapse in financing. Thanks to the industry’s failed business model, these companies are desperate for ways to cut costs. One of the major costs associated with hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is acquiring, pumping and disposing of water, which, after a driller is finished with it, typically contains corrosive levels of salts and contaminants including naturally occurring radioactive materials, chemicals and oil residues. This area has become a major target for the industry to save money. As The Washington Post pointed out in 2015 (and as I highlighted last year), when it comes to fracked shale oil and gas production, “currently there is no way to treat, store, and release the billions of gallons of wastewater at the surface.” The industry’s current range of (legal) approaches to disposing of its massive amounts of wastewater involves injecting it underground, which in some cases is tied to increased earthquake activity, using it to irrigate crops or de-ice roads, and sending it to municipal water treatment plants lacking equipment to properly treat it. Treating oil and gas drilling wastewater is possible, but expensive. As S&P Global Platts recently reported, according to a study by the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and Independent Petroleum Association of America, for Permian drillers in Texas, “Economically, treatment costs must come down. With this glut of wastewater combined with high costs, the industry is looking for a cheap alternative. The latest preferred approach seems to be lobbying governments to change the rules to allow dumping wastewater with limited treatment into rivers and streams. In November, E&E News reported that there’s movement to allow or expand such wastewater dumping in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania, all states with major fracking industries. “Within a year, Oklahoma could get approval from EPA to start issuing permits that will allow the oil industry to dispose of briny oil field waste in waterways,” E&E wrote. As space for injection wells becomes scarce, the industry hopes to dump its wastewater in streams and rivers, once again passing on potential environmental and financial liabilities to the public. A 2017 working group looking for alternatives for Oklahoma oil field wastewater (also known as “produced water”) found “the most cost-effective means of reducing disposal is for oil companies to treat and clean that produced water so it can be reused for things like fracking,” reported NPR’s StateImpact Oklahoma. However, recycling produced water to again frack wells results in more toxic produced water, which can’t be recycled indefinitely. With injection wells increasingly unable to handle the volume of water produced by the industry, shale firms have been seeking cheap alternative disposal methods, including dumping the water in rivers and streams. However, the 2017 analysis concluded that treating produced frack water to the point it could be safely dumped into rivers or used to irrigate agriculture wasn’t economically viable. Owen Mills, the director of water planning for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, explained to StateImpact Oklahoma why this wasn’t an option for the industry: “It’s incredibly expensive to do that and it takes a lot of energy.” To properly treat the fracking wastewater to the point it is no longer a threat to human health and the environment would be incredibly expensive, and that is why the industry is lobbying to change the rules about disposing its wastewater. If it succeeds, expect the eventual clean up costs — also incredibly expensive — to be billed to the American public. Justin Mikulka is a freelance writer, audio and video producer living in Albany, NY. He has a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University. You can follow him in Twitter at https://twitter.com/JustinMikulka **This article was published on DeSmogBlog.com.** Like Waking Times on Facebook. Follow Waking Times on Twitter. | WTStaff | https://www.wakingtimes.com/2019/12/26/as-fracking-companies-face-bankruptcy-u-s-regulators-enable-firms-to-duck-cleanup-costs/ | Thu, 26 Dec 2019 22:04:40 +0000 | 1,577,415,880 | 1,577,405,745 | economy, business and finance | business information |
166,336 | eveningstandard--2019-02-26--Marks amp Spencer poised to seal Ocado deal to create 18 billion joint venture | 2019-02-26T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Marks & Spencer poised to seal Ocado deal to create £1.8 billion joint venture | Marks & Spencer and online retailer Ocado on Tuesday confirmed plans for a ground-breaking joint venture first revealed by the Evening Standard. M&S will pay Ocado between £800 million and £900 million for a 50% stake in the new concern, giving it a food delivery service for the first time, according to sources close to the deal. The two firms - which have been in frantic talks for the past month over the tie-up - admitted the talks following the Standard’s story. Shares in Ocado spiked 10%, or 92p, tp 978p, with Marks & Spencer up 3% to 303p following the news. The two firms have been in frantic talks for the past month over the tie-up. Effectively Ocado will be split in two, satisfying the desires of chief executive and co-founder Tim Steiner to focus on licensing its tech with retailers around the world. Over the past year the firm has struck licensing deals with retailers in Sweden, the US and Canada, transforming the share price and putting a £6 billion valuation on the company. Ocado and M&S have been racing towards a deal before March 1, the deadline for Ocado to trigger an 18-month break clause with Waitrose, its supply partner for two decades. Goldman Sachs is advising Ocado, while Rothschild is in M&S’s corner. With Ocado retaining its intellectual property, the deal effectively puts a price tag of up to £1.8 billion on the online retailer’s 721,000 active customers in M&S chairman Archie Norman’s first major strategic move since joining the firm. One source said: “The question here is what has Archie actually bought? M&S is buying customers from Ocado, but those customers think they are Waitrose customers. And how is John Lewis [Waitrose’s parent] going to respond to the loss of those customers?” John Lewis has invested heavily in its own Waitrose.com delivery service in recent years, while its relationship with Ocado has been struck by regular rows. It is understood the deal is structured as a joint venture to avoid legal complications with Ocado’s other supermarket partners — M&S’s main rival Waitrose, as well as Morrisons. Questions also remain over how M&S, burdened with debts of £1.8 billion, will fund the huge cash injection into the joint venture, with speculation focusing on a cash call on shareholders. The new venture is unnamed as yet. The talks have come against the backdrop of a serious fire at Ocado’s distribution centre at Andover, one of its four UK centres which handles around 10% of customer orders. | Russell Lynch | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/ms-poised-to-seal-ocado-deal-to-create-18-billion-joint-venture-a4076741.html | 2019-02-26 11:02:00+00:00 | 1,551,196,920 | 1,567,547,243 | economy, business and finance | business information |
496,924 | sottnet--2019-02-10--Venezuelas oil giant PDVSA reportedly moves joint ventures accounts to Russias Gazprombank | 2019-02-10T00:00:00 | sottnet | Venezuela's oil giant PDVSA reportedly moves joint ventures' accounts to Russia's Gazprombank | Amid the tightening noose of US sanctions, Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA is reportedly moving bank accounts of its joint ventures with foreign companies to Russia's Gazprombank, Reuters reports, citing documents and sources.Customers of PDVSA's joint ventures with US-based Chevron Corp, France's Total SA, Norway's Equinor and other projects with foreign companies have reportedly been instructed to deposit their payments into Russia-based bank accounts following the latest crippling round of Washington's sanctions, Reuters reports.Imposed on January 28, the fresh round of sanctions are aimed at cutting the government of Nicholas Maduro off from oil proceeds, after Washington recognized the self-proclaimed 'interim' president Juan Guaido and claimed that Venezuela's state funds and profits should be controlled by the 'legitimate government.'The state oil giant has also been urging its foreign partners to make formal decisions on whether they want to bow to US pressure and bail out or preserve stakes in the joint projects and continue their business in Venezuela, the agency reports.Besides dozens of joint ventures with Western companies, PDVSA also has many projects with Russian companies and Chinese investors, who, according to some assessments, might lose the most from US economic pressure on the Latin American country."We stress that no new accounts [for PDVSA] have been opened," the bank said, adding that it doesn't plan to do so in the future.In addition to $7 billion of the assets of PDVSA -and of its US subsidiary Citgo- that Washington seized "on behalf of Venezuelan people," the US expects its sanctions to affect some $11bn-worth of the country's exports in 2019. Venezuela is home to the world's largest oil reserves, and oil sales account for 98 percent of export earnings and as much as 50 percent of its GDP.Dispelling the Trump administration's hopes that Maduro's government would quickly run out of cash and crumble under pressure from the opposition and the US-led international ' regime change ' endeavor, the state company has vowed to diversify its sales and reroute exports to customers, particularly those in Europe and Asia, who are not afraid of Washington's unilateral sanctions. | null | https://www.sott.net/article/406917-Venezuelas-oil-giant-PDVSA-reportedly-moves-joint-ventures-accounts-to-Russias-Gazprombank | 2019-02-10 16:53:00+00:00 | 1,549,835,580 | 1,567,549,059 | economy, business and finance | business information |
524,832 | sputnik--2019-02-09--Venezuelas PDVSA Transfers Joint Ventures Accounts to Gazprombank - Reports | 2019-02-09T00:00:00 | sputnik | Venezuela's PDVSA Transfers Joint Ventures' Accounts to Gazprombank - Reports | In January, the US State Department announced that Washington had frozen $7 billion in assets belonging to PDVSA in order to make some of the money available to Venezuela's self-proclaimed acting president, Juan Guaido. | null | https://sputniknews.com/business/201902101072282283-venezuela-pdvsa-russia-gazprombank/ | 2019-02-09 23:07:00+00:00 | 1,549,771,620 | 1,567,549,127 | economy, business and finance | business information |
525,787 | sputnik--2019-02-17--Riyadhs SAMI Agrees to Joint Venture With French Naval Group to Build Warships | 2019-02-17T00:00:00 | sputnik | Riyadh's SAMI Agrees to Joint Venture With French Naval Group to Build Warships | "The joint venture will design, build and maintain military ships, which will make a significant contribution to the further expansion of the capabilities and combat readiness of the Royal Saudi Navy", SAMI CEO Andreas Schwer said, commenting on the deal. Schwer noted that SAMI would be the majority shareholder in the joint venture. The signing ceremony of the agreement, which provides for the construction of warships, frigates and corvettes, was held on the sidelines of the IDEX-2019 defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi. SAMI was established in 2017 to develop the Saudi military industry, and aims to produce domestically half of the weapons needed by the kingdom by 2030, according to the kingdom’s economic development plan initiated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to the Spiegel magazine, France and Germany have agreed a common approach to exports of weapons they have been building together. The deal was reportedly struck in mid-January and complements a general pact on bilateral ties signed in Aachen later that month. In particular, the document provides France with more leeway in choosing arms buyers after the two EU countries clashed previously over exports to third countries. Macron’s stance reportedly could also be connected with the 2015 Mistrals case, when Paris terminated the contract for helicopter carriers that were to be delivered to Russia amid the Ukraine crisis. These ships were finally sold to Egypt, but the operation was very expensive for France, also in terms of image as a reliable international business partner. READ MORE: Guess Where One of Mistrals Built for Russia Was Allegedly Spotted? | null | https://sputniknews.com/military/201902181072516595-saudi-arabia-france-joint-venture-naval-warships/ | 2019-02-17 22:54:00+00:00 | 1,550,462,040 | 1,567,548,268 | economy, business and finance | business information |
527,435 | sputnik--2019-03-11--Nissan Renault May Close Dutch Joint Venture After Ex-CEOs Arrest- Reports | 2019-03-11T00:00:00 | sputnik | Nissan, Renault May Close Dutch Joint Venture After Ex-CEO's Arrest- Reports | The Amsterdam-based joint venture, Renault-Nissan B.V. was chaired by Ghosn, until he was taken into custody in November last year, the Kyodo news agency said. Nissan and Renault also reportedly launched a joint probe concerning the possible involvement of the co-venture in any financial fraud. The report comes after a court in Tokyo ruled to release Ghosn on bail of 1 billion yen (about $9 million) last week. Ghosn and Greg Kelly, his right-hand man, were arrested in Tokyo on 19 November on suspicions of misreporting Ghosn’s earnings to Nissan over a five-year period from 2010. Ghosn has denied all accusations brought against him. Following the arrest, Nissan removed Ghosn from the post of its chairman. On 25 December, Kelly was released on bail. In January, Ghosn resigned as chairman and CEO of Renault, which prompted the French automaker to conduct a management reshuffle. | null | https://sputniknews.com/business/201903111073114171-japan-auto-nissan-amsterdam/ | 2019-03-11 05:51:00+00:00 | 1,552,297,860 | 1,567,546,754 | economy, business and finance | business information |
537,307 | sputnik--2019-07-02--Rheinmetall BAE Systems Announce Joint Venture to Build Land Combat Systems - Statement | 2019-07-02T00:00:00 | sputnik | Rheinmetall, BAE Systems Announce Joint Venture to Build Land Combat Systems - Statement | "Rheinmetall and BAE Systems have today launched a new, independent UK-based joint venture (JV) for military vehicle design, manufacture and support – known as Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) [...] RBSL intends to play a major role in manufacturing the Boxer 8x8 for the British Army’s Mechanized Infantry Vehicle (MIV) program and other strategic combat vehicle programs, while also providing support to the British Army’s in-service bridging and armored vehicle fleets", the release said. RBSL will combine Rheinmetall’s broader military vehicle technologies with BAE Systems’ experience in producing combat systems including Trojan, Terrier, Warrior, military bridging and the AS90 self-propelled artillery system, the release added. According to The Defense Post, the British Army rejoined the Boxer program in March 2018 and intends to make an initial purchase of 500 vehicles. Under the agreement, Rheinmetall purchased a 55 percent stake in BAE’s combat vehicle business, with the British company retaining 45 percent. Regulatory approval for the joint venture was reportedly granted on 13 June. | null | https://sputniknews.com/europe/201907021076120183-rheinmetall-bae-systems-announce-joint-venture-to-build-land-combat-systems---statement/ | 2019-07-02 03:03:57+00:00 | 1,562,051,037 | 1,567,537,267 | economy, business and finance | business information |
562,760 | tass--2019-03-15--Gazprombank sells indirect stake in joint venture with PDVSA | 2019-03-15T00:00:00 | tass | Gazprombank sells indirect stake in joint venture with PDVSA | MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russia’s Gazprombank has sold its stake in Petrozamora, a joint venture with Venezuela’s state-run oil and gas company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a company spokesman told TASS on Thursday. "The bank has fully withdrawn from holding an indirect stake in Petrozamora, the details of the deal are not disclosed," the source said. A source in Russia’s financial circles told TASS that Gazprombank, Russia’s third largest lender in terms of assets, currently has no investment in any project in Venezuela. Reuters earlier wrote citing own sources that Gazprombank held a minority stake in a company named GPB Global Resources, which in turn owns 40% of Petrozamora. PDVSA owns the remaining 60% in Petrozamora. Gazprombank and PDVSA set up Petrozamora in 2012 to develop oil fields in Venezuela. On March 11, the US Treasury added the Russian-Venezuelan Eurofinance Mosnarbank to the sanction list due to the situation in Venezuela. The Treasury accused the bank of supporting the regime of the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, whose regime "has profited off of the suffering of the Venezuelan people." On March 12, it became known that VTB bank would transfer its stake in Eurofinance Mosnarbank to Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency. However, head of VTB, Andrei Kostin, even before the introduction of the US sanctions, announced VTB’s plans to withdraw from the bank’s capital. Eurofinance Mosnarbank is 49.99% owned by the Venezuelan national development fund Fonden S.A., while 25% plus 1 share each are owned by Gazprombank (and its subsidiary Novfintech) and VTB (and its foreign structures VTB Bank and ITC Consultants). In other media | null | http://tass.com/economy/1048733 | 2019-03-15 00:20:25+00:00 | 1,552,623,625 | 1,567,546,094 | economy, business and finance | business information |
563,205 | tass--2019-03-22--Siemens and Gazprom Energoholding sign memorandum on joint venture | 2019-03-22T00:00:00 | tass | Siemens and Gazprom Energoholding sign memorandum on joint venture | SAINT PETERSBURG, March 22. / TASS /. Siemens and Energoholding LLC have agreed to set up a joint venture, the Siemens press service said on Friday. "In development of the strategic cooperation agreement, Gazprom Energoholding and Siemens have signed a memorandum of intent to create a joint venture. The parties agreed that the priority activity of the joint venture will be the production of vacuum generator devices (VSU) and high-tech components to them," the press release said. VGU devices are used in the construction and technological modernization of generating facilities. The parties, according to the document, will create a working group to prepare a project plan for creating a joint venture. We are discussing the possibility of organizing the production of equipment in the Russian Federation with a localization level of at least 50% by 2020 with the possibility of increasing to 75% by 2022. New production can be launched on the basis of the Siemens assembly shop in Dubna near Moscow. The company will be engaged in the design, installation, commissioning of vacuum generator switches and provide them with the necessary service support. It is also planned to create a training center for training specialists in the operation of VSU. In other media | null | http://tass.com/economy/1050145 | 2019-03-22 18:10:13+00:00 | 1,553,292,613 | 1,567,545,200 | economy, business and finance | business information |
666,675 | theduran--2019-02-10--Venezuelas oil giant PDVSA moves joint ventures accounts to Russias Gazprombank | 2019-02-10T00:00:00 | theduran | Venezuela’s oil giant PDVSA moves joint ventures’ accounts to Russia’s Gazprombank | Amid the tightening noose of US sanctions, Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA is reportedly moving bank accounts of its joint ventures with foreign companies to Russia’s Gazprombank, Reuters reports, citing documents and sources. Customers of PDVSA’s joint ventures with US-based Chevron Corp, France's Total SA, Norway's Equinor and other projects with foreign companies have reportedly been instructed to deposit their payments into Russia-based bank accounts following the latest crippling round of Washington’s sanctions, Reuters reports. Imposed on January 28, the fresh round of sanctions are aimed at cutting the government of Nicholas Maduro off from oil proceeds, after Washington recognized the self-proclaimed ‘interim’ president Juan Guaido and claimed that Venezuela’s state funds and profits should be controlled by the ‘legitimate government.’ The state oil giant has also been urging its foreign partners to make formal decisions on whether they want to bow to US pressure and bail out or preserve stakes in the joint projects and continue their business in Venezuela, the agency reports. Besides dozens of joint ventures with Western companies, PDVSA also has many projects with Russian companies and Chinese investors, who, according to some assessments, might lose the most from US economic pressure on the Latin American country. “We stress that no new accounts [for PDVSA] have been opened,” the bank said, adding that it doesn’t plan to do so in the future. In addition to $7 billion of the assets of PDVSA –and of its US subsidiary Citgo– that Washington seized “on behalf of Venezuelan people,” the US expects its sanctions to affect some $11bn-worth of the country’s exports in 2019. Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves, and oil sales account for 98 percent of export earnings and as much as 50 percent of its GDP. Dispelling the Trump administration’s hopes that Maduro's government would quickly run out of cash and crumble under pressure from the opposition and the US-led international ‘regime change’ endeavor, the state company has vowed to diversify its sales and reroute exports to customers, particularly those in Europe and Asia, who are not afraid of Washington’s unilateral sanctions. For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section | RT | https://www.rt.com/business/451078-venezuela-pdvsa-gazprom-accounts/ | 2019-02-10 01:34:17+00:00 | 1,549,780,457 | 1,567,549,049 | economy, business and finance | business information |
749,501 | theindependent--2019-02-26--Marks amp Spencer holding talks with Ocado over joint venture | 2019-02-26T00:00:00 | theindependent | Marks & Spencer holding talks with Ocado over joint venture | Marks & Spencer has confirmed that it is in talks with Ocado regarding a tie-up. M&S said that there was "no certainty" that the discussions would result in an agreement but shares in both companies rose after the news. Ocado shares 12.5 per cent before lunchtime ahile M&S was up 4 per cent. M&S will pay Ocado between £800m and £900m for a 50 per cent stake in the new joint venture, with an official announcement to come as soon as tomorrow, according to the Evening Standard. The deal will reportedly split Ocado in two and values the online grocer's 721,000 customers at around £1.8bn. Marks & Spencer chairman Archie Norman has been attempting to turn around the retailer which faces stiff competition from cheaper rivals and a deteriorating outlook on the high street. If the deal goes through M&S could buy distribution centres, delivery vans and lorries from the online food retailer. Ocado has made rapid recent progress in the online grocery market but suffered a devastating fire at its high-tech Andover warehouse earlier this month. Ocado shares fell 8 per cent following the announcement of a potential slowdown until it can shift operations to other locations. The warehouse provides around a tenth of Ocado’s capacity, processing more than 30,000 orders a week. Ocado said the shutdown means there will be a “constraint on our ability to meet our growing customer demand”. Sophie Lund-Yates, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown: “Investors will be breathing a sigh of relief on the back of this announcement, even though a deal isn’t definite. It’s enough to know Ocado has the interest of one of the biggest retail names in the UK, following the devastating fire at the Andover warehouse earlier this month. The accident sent shockwaves through the share price, because Ocado’s future rests on its ability to sign deals to build robotic warehouses for other retailers. Ocado’s current share price is still lofty, and that means investors are expecting big things, considering the group is yet to make a meaningful profit – hopes are pinned on some impressive revenue growth in the medium term. So to hear M&S is sniffing around is welcome news indeed, and if an agreement is announced, it would be a real boost for the group. Ocado still offers an exciting and unique product, which should mean the future’s bright.” We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads. | Ben Chapman | https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/marks-spencer-ocado-talks-joint-venture-deal-a8797431.html | 2019-02-26 11:51:00+00:00 | 1,551,199,860 | 1,567,547,251 | economy, business and finance | business information |
47,168 | bearingarms--2019-03-01--Product Recall Winchester 130 Grain FMJ 38 Special Ammo | 2019-03-01T00:00:00 | bearingarms | Product Recall: Winchester 130 Grain FMJ .38 Special Ammo | Nothing sucks quite as much as a product recall, especially if it’s for something you own. The latest comes from Winchester. Olin Winchester, LLC (“Winchester”) is recalling three (3) lots of 38 Special 130 Grain Full Metal Jacket centerfire ammunition. Winchester has determined the above lots of 38 Special ammunition may contain incorrect powder charges. Ammunition with excessive powder charges may cause firearm damage, rendering it inoperable, and subjecting the shooter and bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury or death. DO NOT USE WINCHESTER® 38 SPECIAL 130 GRAIN SYMBOL USA38SPVP WITH LOT NUMBERS KF21, KL30 or KM52. The ammunition Lot Number is ink stamped inside the right tuck flap of the 100-round carton as indicated here. The symbol is printed above the UPC bar code. To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, review the Symbol and Lot Number. If it is Symbol USA38SPVP with Lot Number KF21, KL30 or KM52, immediately discontinue use and contact Winchester toll-free at 844-653-8358 for free UPS pick-up of the recalled ammunition. This notice applies only to Symbol USA38SPVP with Lot Numbers KF21, KL30 and KM52. Other Symbol or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall. If you have any questions concerning this 38 Special centerfire ammunition recall please call toll-free 844-653-8358, write to Winchester (600 Powder Mill Road, East Alton, IL 62024 Attn: USA38SPVP Recall), or visit our website at www.winchester.com. We apologize for this inconvenience. Obviously, if you have any of this ammo, contact Winchester immediately. The last thing you want to do is turn your revolver into an expensive paperweight. Had a buddy do that with handloads once, and he was less than pleased, so do yourself a favor and try not to share his pain. And let’s be honest, we all know he was lucky that damaging his gun was all that happened to him. He just as easily could have blown his hand off, or worse. I can hear some of you now, though. “I’ve been using this stuff for a while now, and it’s been all good.” Sure, that may be true…for now. How many shots with way too hot of a load does it take to screw up your day? If you think it takes more than one, you’re oh-so-very wrong. Don’t try to John Wayne it on this stuff, folks. While it’s likely that most of these loads are good to go, enough haven’t been that Winchester figured it needed to issue a product recall. If you’ve got any Winchester white box at home for .38 Special, go and check it as soon as possible. If it’s a box of this ammo, act accordingly. The life, hands, and gun you save may well be your own. More than that, though, it may well be the hand and life of a loved one who is shooting your gun with the ammo you failed to check out. Let that sink in for a moment. | Tom Knighton | https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2019/02/28/product-recall-winchester-130-grain-fmj-38-special-ammo/ | 2019-03-01 01:00:21+00:00 | 1,551,420,021 | 1,567,546,926 | economy, business and finance | business information |
64,755 | birminghammail--2019-07-20--Huge product recall from shops including Tesco Morrisons Sainsburys and Iceland | 2019-07-20T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Huge product recall from shops including Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Iceland | A number of products have been recalled over the last month after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a number of allergy and food alerts. Supermarket giants Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Iceland all have products included in the recall, reports Liverpool Echo . In all cases, customers who've bought any of these products are being urged not to use them and to return them to the store they purchased them from. Here are the products that have been recalled. Tesco's recalling Tesco Two British Cheese Burgers with Buns because they contain sesame which isn't mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to sesame. If you've bought the above product and have an allergy to sesame, don't eat it. Instead, return it to the store where it was bought for a full refund. Denny is recalling Denny Black Pudding because the product may contain small pieces of blue plastic. The presence of plastic makes this product unsafe to eat. Britvic PLC is recalling selected Robinson's Fruit Shoot Apple and Blackcurrant bottles as a precautionary measure because of a small number of reports that the spout within the sports bottle cap may become detached unexpectedly, which may present a safety risk. The product was sold as multipacks (24 bottles) in Tesco and Costco, and as single bottles in McDonald's, betweenJune 22 and 28. Windmill Organic Ltd is recalling organic amisa lactose free rice milk chocolate rice cakes because they contain milk which isn't mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents. If you've bought the above product and have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, don't eat it. Instead return it to the store where it was bought for a full refund. Tan Y Castell is recalling Chocolate Chip Griddles because they may contain milk which isn't mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents. If you've bought the above product and have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, don't eat it. Instead return it to the store where it was bought for a full refund. Iceland's recalling 60 Crispy Chicken Dippers as some packs may contain pieces of hard plastic. The presence of plastic makes this product unsafe to eat. If you've bought any of the above product don't eat it. Instead, return it to the store where it was bought for a full refund. Shazans Foods is recalling Shazans 10 Bitesize Punjabi Samosas because of a packaging error. Some packets contain Paneer Tikka Samosas, which contain milk, which isn't mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents. If you have bought the above product and have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, don't eat it. Instead return it to the store where it was bought for a full refund. Co-op's Veg Taster contains fish, which isn't declared on the label and means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to fish. Customers who have bought this product are requested not to consume the product and should return it to the store where they bought it for a full refund. Yorkshire Provender are recalling the above affected product Yorkshire Provender Rustic Vegetable Broth with Kale, Lentils and Quinoa Soup as a small number of pots have been packed with a different soup that contains milk, which isn't declared on the packaging. Please don't consume this product if you have an allergy to milk, return the product to store of purchase for a full refund. No receipt is required. No other date codes or Yorkshire Provender products are affected by this recall. Leonidas boxed assortment of Belgian chocolates may contain varieties of chocolates that contain sesame seeds and nuts which aren't declared on the label of some boxes. The assortments are made up of individual chocolates packed in-store in boxes that have the incorrect label. This means that these products are a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to sesame and/or nuts. Leonidas has withdrawn the affected products from its stores. Heera Golden Sultanas are being recalled because sulphur dioxide hasn't been declared on the packaging. P & B Foods Ltd is recalling Heera Chilli Powder Extra Hot because salmonella has been found in the product. Symptoms caused by salmonella usually include fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps. Homeland By Products Ltd is recalling three batches of frozen raw pet food because salmonella has been found in the products No other Homeland By Products Ltd products are known to be affected. | [email protected] (Lottie Gibbons, Katie Brooks) | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/huge-product-recall-shops-including-16618570 | 2019-07-20 10:44:58+00:00 | 1,563,633,898 | 1,567,536,284 | economy, business and finance | business information |
798,066 | themanchestereveningnews--2019-03-31--Product recalls this month from Asda Lidl Argos Ikea and more | 2019-03-31T00:00:00 | themanchestereveningnews | Product recalls this month from Asda, Lidl, Argos, Ikea and more | Asda, Lidl, Argos, Ikea are just some of the names included in the latest product recalls . The products have been removed from sale according to the Food Standards Agency and Trading Standards who issue recalls on products that should not be sold. For all items customers are advised to stop using them straight away and return them to point of purchase. Reasons for the recalls include undeclared ingredients and possible traces of plastic in food items and potential injury risk in other products. Graze is recalling its Sea Salt and Vinegar Veg Crunchers because it has been incorrectly labelled as suitable for vegans, however the product contains milk. This then forms a risk to anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents. Those who have purchased the product can contact Graze for a replacement by sending a photo of the batch code on the packaging to: [email protected] or Graze, Palm Court, 4 Heron Square, Richmond, TW9 1EW. Graze is also advising customers to contact the relevant allergy support organisations, which will tell their members about the recall. Argos is recalling a range of its goose feather and down pillows, which are part of its Argos Home collection. Routine testing discovered that the pillow did not meet the required level of fire and safety standards. Customers should stop using the pillow and return it to an Argos store for a full refund of £20. Proof of purchase is not needed. Argos Home is recalling its own range of cafetière's due to inconsistent glass thickness which makes these products susceptible to breakage and could result in injury. The products are the Argos Home three and eight cup cafetières: Cat no. 8477305 - three cup cafetière - £7 Cat no. 8479176 - eight cup cafetière - £10 Customers who have purchased the cafetière must stop using them immediately and return them to an Argos store where they are entitled to a full refund. TK Maxx and Homesense are recalling the Westlab Himalayan Salt Lamp due to a potential safety concerns which affects one batch. It has identified that an issue with one of the electrical components may pose a risk of an electric shock. The product was being sold at stores in the UK and Ireland in November and December 2018 and January 2019. If purchased, customers are advised to using it immediately and return to any TK Maxx or Homesense store in the UK or ROI for a full refund. The above stores are recalling its Star Wars Holopane 25 Lightbox as it may pose a risk of electric shock. The recall includes all four designs of the product - Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Chewbacca and Rey - and were on sale in TK Maxx stores in December 2018 and January 2019. The safety concern applied to the blue 'GaoLe' branded AAA batteries that were supplied with the product as it was found that they may leak and subsequently pose a safety risk. The above product is being recalled as it has been identified that they do not comply with the UK Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations and can therefore pose a greater risk in the event of a fire. The recall applies to items bought since May 1 2017 from a John Lewis & Partners shop or johnlewis.com. Customers are being advised to stop using the product and return it to their nearest shop as soon as possible for a full refund. Arrangements can be made for the items to be collected and refunded by calling 01698 545 072. Colours: light grey with oak and graphite with walnut IKEA recalls SÖTSAK SKUMTOPP, soft marshmallows covered in chocolate flavoured coating (180g) because of undeclared milk. Customers with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents are advised not to consume the affected product and return it to their nearest IKEA store for a full refund where no receipt is required. Best before dates: between March 12 2019 and April 18 2019 B&Q have issued a warning on the above product that they are not compatible with electric showers. If used with an electric shower, it could cause flow restriction and result in hot water building up in the shower with a risk of injury. The product is safe to use with mixer showers. If customers have one of these products in use with an electric shower they are advised to stop using the flow restriction feature immediately and return the product to their local store. Lidl customers have been urged to return own-brand chocolate bars which were available in stores nationwide as they could cause sickness and skin issues. The grocery giant issued the warning after a labelling error meant key allergy-triggering ingredients were not written in English on the packagaging. The bars contain barley (gluten), wheat (gluten), milk, nuts, and soya, but none of these allergens are in English on the label and is a possible is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to barley, gluten, wheat, milk or milk constituents and/or an allergy to nuts and/or soya. No other Lidl products are known to be affected. If you have bought the above product and have an allergy or intolerance to barley, gluten, wheat, milk or milk constituents and/or an allergy to nuts and/or soya, do not eat it. It can be returned to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. Hovis is recalling packs of Hovis Granary Bread Flour (1kg) because they contain malted barley flour, which has not been declared on the label posing an allergy to barley. If you have bought the flour and have an allergy to barley, do not use it, keep the packaging and contact the brand on 0800 085 3959 for a full refund or contact them online here . Asda is recalling its garlic and parsley butter, which are provided as an accompaniment on its fish counters. There is a possibility that very low levels of peanut may be present in the butter, which is not declared on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to peanuts. It can be returned your nearest store for a full refund where you will not need a receipt. HP's recall of almost 80,000 laptops worldwide is over fears that faulty batteries are a fire risk. HP says the affected laptops have batteries which have the "potential to overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to customers". The issue affects HP laptop or mobile workstations bought between December 2015 and April 2018. The models potentially affected by the battery issue include: However, customers may have purchased an affected battery as an accessory or replacement for the following products: HP has urged customers with affected laptops to request a new battery and download a free tool from their website which checks if the battery needs replacing. If it does, the advice is to put the battery into ‘safety mode’. HP says it will change the batteries for free. Hill's Pet Nutrition, whose products are stocked in places like Pets at Home, have issued an updated urgent recall of selected canned dog food because it may contain high levels of vitamin D. This follows a previous recall last month. According to the risk statement from the Food Standards Agency, "high levels of vitamin D fed to a pet over a short period (weeks/months) should not cause concern." However, they add: "Over a longer period of feeding, ingestion of elevated levels can lead to potential health issues depending on the level of vitamin D and the length of exposure, and dogs may exhibit symptoms such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling, and weight loss. Vitamin D, when consumed at very high levels, can lead to serious health issues in dogs including renal dysfunction." Dog owners who purchased the product with the specific lot/date codes listed should stop feeding their dogs the product and return it to where you bought it for a full refund. If you have been feeding your dog with the product and have concerns that they may be showing symptoms of illness then contact a vet or the Hill's Pet Nutrition consumer careline. Vegan milk brand Oatly is recalling one is its products over concerns that it could contain metal pieces. The recall only applied to the Oatly Oat Drink Whole (1 litre) which has been sold in Tesco stores with the best before date code April 29 2019. No other Oatly UK products are known to be affected. Advice to customers is to not drink the milk and return it to the store it was purchased for a full refund. Oatly said: "As a precaution we're doing a recall of an isolated batch of Oatly chilled Oat Drink whole that might contain metal pieces from a broken machine part. "The risk is very small but we always put safety first and want to make sure we eliminate any risk. "No further stock was impacted on the affected production line, or any of our other products." The beer contains wheat (gluten) and oats (gluten) which have not been mentioned on the label posing a risk to anyone with an allergy or intolerance to wheat, oats or gluten. The product can be returned to the store where it was purchased for a full refund. No other London Fields Brewery products are known to be affected. Best before: all date codes up to and including December 4 2019. Spar is recalling its range of blueberry muffins over concerns they may contain pieces of plastic. The products have been declared unsafe to eat and could present a choking hazard. The product should not be eaten and returned to the store it was purchased from for a full refund. Genius is recalling its gluten free range of cinnamon and raisin bagels due to the presence of egg which is not mentioned on its labelling. This therefore pose a health risk to anyone with an allergy or intolerance to egg. The product can be returned to the store where it was brought for a full refund. Best before date: up to and including April 8 2019 | Jessica Sansome | https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/product-recalls-month-asda-lidl-16042521 | 2019-03-31 12:29:21+00:00 | 1,554,049,761 | 1,567,544,587 | economy, business and finance | business information |
57,664 | birminghammail--2019-02-28--Asda Boots Lidl and The Co-op issue urgent product recalls with shoppers offered FULL refunds | 2019-02-28T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Asda, Boots, Lidl and The Co-op issue urgent product recalls with shoppers offered FULL refunds | Asda, Lidl and The Co-operative have issued product recalls with shoppers told to return items for FULL refunds. Birmingham shoppers are being told they may be affected by the string of recalls, which have been issued via the Trading Standards website. The Food Standards Agency is also running a series of statements. Retailers are affected across the city, from popular supermarkets to high street giants, and convenience stores too. Asda shoppers are being told to return soup, with Lidl products also affected. The Co-op and Boots have also revealed they are withdrawing certain products from shelves. Here is a list of the latest product recalls affecting you this week: Asda has issued a recall on tubs of it's Sweet Potato & Red Chilli soup after packaging went out without warning customers that it contained mustard. The allergy, which is most common in the UK, Canada and India, is classed as one of the most severe among food allergies, with ingestion possibly leading to anaphylactic shock. The most common symptoms for a mustard allergy sufferer are itching, breathing difficulties, dizziness, nausea and the swelling of the throat and face. Asda has also contacted the relevant allergy support organisations, who will inform their members about the recall, and put up a point-of-sale notice explaining to customers why the product is being recalled. The recall has been issued on 600g tubs, which cost £1.09. Customers who purchased the product are being urged to return them to their nearest store, where a full refund will be issued without the need of a receipt. In a statement, Asda said: "It has come to our attention that Asda Sweet Potato & Red Chilli soup 600g contains mustard, which is not declared in the ingredients. "We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused and will ensure this does not happen again." The following use by dates are effected by the recall: Boots is recalling Boots Shapers Teriyaki Houmous Chips because they contain mustard which is not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to mustard. No other Boots products are known to be affected. Boots is recalling the above product from customers and has contacted the relevant allergy support organisations, which will tell their members about the recall. The company has also issued a point-of-sale notice to its customers. These notices explain to customers why the product is being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product. Co-op is recalling five soup products because they contain mustard which is not mentioned on the label. This means the products are a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to mustard. No other Co-op products are known to be affected. Budget supermarket Lidl is urging customers to stop using the Kania Sea Salt Ceramic Grinders and Kania Black Peppercorns Ceramic Grinders as they may contain small pieces of glass and could potentially cause a "safety risk". It has posted a recall alert on the Trading Standards website, advising customers what to do if they have bought them. Lidl has also displayed point of sale notices in stores selling these products. If you have bought the salt and pepper grinders return them to your nearest store for a full refund. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/asda-boots-lidl-co-op-15899923 | 2019-02-28 11:27:19+00:00 | 1,551,371,239 | 1,567,546,953 | economy, business and finance | business information |
361,467 | newsweek--2019-01-30--Chicken Nugget Recall 18 Tons of Tyson Panko Nuggets Recalled Over Rubber Contamination How to Tel | 2019-01-30T00:00:00 | newsweek | Chicken Nugget Recall: 18 Tons of Tyson Panko Nuggets Recalled Over Rubber Contamination, How to Tell Your Product Is Safe | Tyson Foods Inc. recalled more than 18 tons of its chicken nuggets after some consumers discovered rubber in the product. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said the recall is of approximately 36,420 pounds—or 18.21 tons—of panko chicken nugget items. It categorized the health risk as “high.” Consumers are urged not to eat the affected product, which was produced at the end of November and distributed to retail stores nationwide. FSIS said it was notified of the contamination on January 29, the same day the recall was issued. The affected product is 5 lb plastic packages of “Tyson White Meat Panko Chicken Nuggets” with a “Best If Used By” date of “Nov 26 2019,” case code “3308SDL03,” and time stamps 23:00 through 01:59. They also bear establishment number “P-13556” inside the USDA mark of inspection. “There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider,” FSIS said in a release. “FSIS is concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.” Tyson said in a release it had voluntarily recalled the product. “A small number of consumers contacted the company to say they had found small pieces of soft, blue plastic in the nuggets, prompting the company to issue the recall,” Tyson said. “Though the pieces have been found in a very small number of packages, no injuries have been reported with this recall; however, out of an abundance of caution, the company is recalling 36,420 pounds of product. “Consumers should know that the product was shipped to club store distribution centers in Arizona, California, Illinois, New Jersey and Utah. “Consumers who have purchased any of the affected items, you should discard the product, cut the UPC and date code from the back of the packaging and mail it to the following address for a full refund: Tyson Foods Consumer Relations, P.O. Box 219, Kings Mountain, NC 28086. “Consumers with questions should call the special toll-free line at 1-888-747-7611. Customer service representatives will be available Monday through Friday 7am – 6pm CST.” This is not the only Tyson recall in recent years. According to the FSIS website, Tyson also recalled chicken products in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for hard plastic contamination, misbranding, and undeclared allergens. | null | https://www.newsweek.com/tyson-panko-chicken-nuggets-recall-2019-1311219?utm_source=Public&utm_medium=Feed&utm_campaign=Distribution | 2019-01-30 12:39:06+00:00 | 1,548,869,946 | 1,567,550,197 | economy, business and finance | business information |
53,079 | birminghammail--2019-01-02--Showers urgently recalled amid fears people could get electric shock | 2019-01-02T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Showers urgently recalled amid fears people could get electric shock | Birmingham homeowners are being urgently warned after a shower unit was recalled. The unit is no longer selling amid fears it could pose a FIRE risk. Some people could reportedly receive an electric shock from the unit, too. According to Electrical Safety First, the Triton's Safeguard+ shower could develop a fault which might lead to overheating and a potential risk of electric shock or fire hazard in a very small number of cases. The charity said: "If your shower is showing any signs of discolouration you must stop using it immediately and contact the manufacturer. "If you believe you have a Safeguard+ affected please contact the Triton Service team on freephone 0800 0154 145." The date stamp will be between 05/14 (May 2014) to 12/16 (December 2016). This date code is on the product rating label located on the underside of the product. No other Triton shower is affected. Electrical Safety First added in its website: "They [Triton] will then (if required) arrange a mutually agreeable time for a Triton engineer to call and carry out a safety inspection to check and correct any issues. "This visit would be free of charge, will be undertaken by one of their qualified engineers and it should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete." The shower company gave the following advice: You can find out more here. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/showers-urgently-recalled-amid-fears-15621745 | 2019-01-02 17:56:09+00:00 | 1,546,469,769 | 1,567,554,194 | economy, business and finance | business information |
53,310 | birminghammail--2019-01-04--Waitrose urgently recalling products amid health risk fears | 2019-01-04T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Waitrose urgently recalling products amid health risk fears | The move from the posh supermarket comes because they may contain duck meat. Worryingly for shoppers, this an ingredient which is not mentioned on the label. The spring rolls may also contain sesame. This again is not listed in the product's ingredients. If you have an allergy to sesame or do not eat meat, do not eat this product. Instead, return them to your nearest Waitrose store for a full refund. The product details are as follows: No other products are affected by this recall. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/waitrose-urgently-recalling-products-amid-15633011 | 2019-01-04 20:04:33+00:00 | 1,546,650,273 | 1,567,553,888 | economy, business and finance | business information |
54,111 | birminghammail--2019-01-13--Argos and Lidl urgently recall products amid health fears - and youre owed a refund | 2019-01-13T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Argos and Lidl urgently recall products amid health fears - and you're owed a refund | Argos, Lidl and other popular retailers are urgently recalling items this week - and if you own one of the products, you're due a refund. Birmingham shoppers affected by the latest recalls, all of which are on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) or Chartered Trading Standards Institute websites, are urged to return the items. BirminghamLive has a full round-up of all the affected products this week. They include items from popular high street giants like Argos. And budget supermarkets, widely popular with Brummies looking to save a penny or two, are also affected. One product could cause harm to infants, it has also been revealed. These are the items being recalled: The level of insulation provided by this duvet exceeds the specified rating, which may cause an infant to overheat. Trading Standards advise customers to stop using the duvet immediately and return it to an Argos store for a full refund of £15. They add you will not need a proof of purchase. Lidl is recalling McEnnedy Supersize Peanut Flips because they contain peanuts which may not be mentioned in the product ingredients list. Affected packs are the 450g bags with a best before date of June 10, 2019. Yorkshire Provender is recalling Moroccan Vegetable Tagine Soup with a use by date of October 15, 2019. This is due to incorrect date labelling. The product should have been labelled with a use by date of January 15, 2019, meaning the product could be unsafe to eat if consumed after the correct use by date. Customers are advised to return the product for a full refund. No other date codes or Yorkshire Provender products are affected. Belfield is recalling Ice King Strawberry Cones because the product has been mispackaged with "choc and nut ice cream cones". The product contains peanuts which are not mentioned on the label, posing a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to peanuts. If you have bought the above product and have an allergy to peanuts do not eat it. Customers are advised to return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. Three Sogud products are being recalled due to a gluten presence being found in some of their oat squares. All three packs are the 42g size, with the best before date being those up to and including September 3, 2019. Sondey Organic Biscuits Assorted because they contain peanuts, oats (gluten), sesame, milk and hazelnuts which may not be mentioned on the label. Because of this they are a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy or intolerance to oats or gluten, an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents, an allergy to peanuts, nuts, or and an allergy to sesame. The affected packs include the 200g size with a best before date of May 30, 2019. The BCE Tip Cement (in the blue tube only), sold as part of the BCE Snooker and Pool Cue Care Kit, is being recalled for safety reasons. The toluene content of this product may be in excess of legal safety levels (as set out by EU REACH Regulations) and may be dangerous and present a potential risk to anyone handling the product. Customers are advised to stop using this product immediately and keep it out of reach of children and pets. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/argos-lidl-urgently-recall-products-15673020 | 2019-01-13 21:19:03+00:00 | 1,547,432,343 | 1,567,552,644 | economy, business and finance | business information |
55,013 | birminghammail--2019-01-22--Sainsburys urgently recall garlic bread amid serious health fears | 2019-01-22T00:00:00 | birminghammail | Sainsbury's urgently recall garlic bread amid serious health fears | Garlic bread is being urgently recalled by Sainsbury's amid serious health risk fears. The classic starter is being withdrawn by the huge supermarket chain. The retailer has opted to remove the product from stores. The garlic bread affected, the supermarket confirmed, comes from its Free From range. The move has been made by Sainsbury's, which operates numerous stores across Birmingham and the wider Midlands, because it contains milk. Sainsbury's is asking customers to bring back 'Deliciously Free From Garlic Pizza Bread' for a full refund. The ingredient is not mentioned on the label. And this means that the bread could be a possible health risk to anyone with an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents. If you have bought the garlic bread and have an allergy to milk, do not eat it. Instead, return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. The supermarket has also issued a point-of-sale notice to customers, explaining why the product has been recalled and what to do if they have bought the garlic bread. | James Rodger | https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/sainsburys-urgently-recall-garlic-bread-15714476 | 2019-01-22 12:32:10+00:00 | 1,548,178,330 | 1,567,551,299 | economy, business and finance | business information |
70,283 | breaking911--2019-09-03--ALERT Over 24000 Pound of Beef Recalled Unfit For Human Consumption | 2019-09-03T00:00:00 | breaking911 | ALERT: Over 24,000 Pound of Beef Recalled, “Unfit For Human Consumption” | American Beef Packers, Inc., a Chino, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 24,428 pounds of raw beef products that are deemed unfit for human consumption, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. FSIS inspection personnel retained the carcass and collected a sample for further analysis. Prior to test results being received, the carcass was erroneously released and further processed into raw intact and non-intact beef products, which were distributed in commerce. The raw beef items were produced and packaged on Aug. 21, 2019. The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels] The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 34741” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to federal establishments in California and Oregon. The firm notified FSIS on Aug. 30, 2019 that a carcass that was pending laboratory results had been erroneously released and further processed into raw intact and non-intact beef products. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider. FSIS is concerned that some product may be frozen and consumers’ refrigerators or freezers or both. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. Consumers and members of the media with questions about the recall can contact Kari Godbey Houchens, Regulatory Manager, American Beef Packers, Inc. at (909) 628-4888 ext. 123. | ---- | https://breaking911.com/alert-over-24000-pound-of-beef-recalled-unfit-for-human-consumption/ | 2019-09-03 02:59:34+00:00 | 1,567,493,974 | 1,569,331,601 | economy, business and finance | business information |
70,480 | breaking911--2019-10-09--ICE CREAM RECALL: Broken Plastic Tool May Have Caused Contamination | 2019-10-09T00:00:00 | breaking911 | ICE CREAM RECALL: Broken Plastic Tool May Have Caused Contamination | Blue Bell Ice Cream is voluntarily recalling a select lot of half gallon Butter Crunch Ice Cream produced on a specific line on August 26, 2019 in its Sylacauga, AL plant because of the possibility the products may contain a foreign object. Blue Bell discoveredthe issue when it was notified by a consumer of the presence of a piece of a plastic tool in a half gallon of Butter Crunch Ice Cream. The company investigation revealed the broken tool was inadvertently incorporated into the production process in a small amount of product. In an abundance of caution, the company is recalling a full day of production of this flavor from this manufacturing facility. The Butter Crunch Ice Cream half gallons produced in Sylacauga can be identified by the following code located on the top of the packaging lid: 082621222. An image of the affected product is included below. The affected Butter Crunch Ice Cream half gallons were distributed in parts of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. All affected stores are directly delivered to and serviced by Blue Bell Creameries and have been instructed to remove the product from their shelves. There have been no reports of injuries due to consumption of this product to date. This recall is being conducted in cooperation with the FDA. Consumers who have purchased these items can return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, consumers with questions may call 979-836-7977, Monday–Friday 8 am– 5 pm CST. | ---- | https://breaking911.com/ice-cream-recall-broken-plastic-tool-may-have-caused-contamination/ | Wed, 09 Oct 2019 21:12:01 +0000 | 1,570,669,921 | 1,570,658,438 | economy, business and finance | business information |
70,687 | breaking911--2019-11-20--CHEESE NIPS RECALLED | 2019-11-20T00:00:00 | breaking911 | CHEESE NIPS RECALLED | Mondelēz Global LLC announced today a voluntary recall of a limited quantity of Cheese Nips (11 oz. Box) product in the United States due to the potential presence of small food-grade yellow plastic pieces from a dough scraper that was incorporated into the production process of a small amount of product. The company became aware of this issue when yellow plastic pieces were noticed on the manufacturing equipment. This recall is limited exclusively to the Cheese Nips product listed in the grid, available at retail stores nationwide. No other Mondelēz Global LLC products nor any other geographies are included in or affected by this recall. There have been no reports of injury or illness reported to Mondelēz Global to date related to this product. Consumers who have this product should not eat it, and should discard any product they may have. Consumers can contact the company at 1-844-366-1171, 24 hours a day to get more information about the recall, and Consumer Relations specialists are available Monday- Friday, 9am to 6pm EST. | ---- | https://breaking911.com/cheese-nips-recalled/ | Wed, 20 Nov 2019 23:55:49 +0000 | 1,574,312,149 | 1,574,294,459 | economy, business and finance | business information |
70,713 | breaking911--2019-11-25--ALERT: 250 TONS of Pork Recalled Because It Was Never Inspected | 2019-11-25T00:00:00 | breaking911 | ALERT: 250 TONS of Pork Recalled Because It Was Never Inspected | Morris Meat Packing, a Maywood, Ill. establishment, is recalling approximately 515,000 pounds of various raw, intact pork products that were produced without the benefit of federal inspection and outside inspection hours, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The raw, intact pork items were produced on Saturdays from November 25, 2017 to November 9, 2019. The following spreadsheet contains the list of products subject to the recall. [View Labels (PDF only)] The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 18267” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to distributors and retail locations in Illinois. The problem was discovered when FSIS received an anonymous tip that the firm was producing products without the benefit of inspection. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about a reaction should contact a healthcare provider. FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls. Consumers and media with questions regarding the recall can contact Frank Masellis, President of Morris Meat Packing, at (708) 865-8566. | ---- | https://breaking911.com/alert-250-tons-of-pork-recalled-because-it-was-never-inspected/ | Mon, 25 Nov 2019 22:50:45 +0000 | 1,574,740,245 | 1,574,726,454 | economy, business and finance | business information |
70,739 | breaking911--2019-12-01--ALERT: Turkey & Bacon Recalled In 4 States | 2019-12-01T00:00:00 | breaking911 | ALERT: Turkey & Bacon Recalled In 4 States | Blue Grass Quality Meats, an Erlanger, Ky. establishment, is recalling approximately 121,083 pounds of pork bacon and ready-to-eat turkey products due to misbranding and undeclared allergens, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The products contain soy, a known allergen, which is not declared on the product labels. The Cajun style bacon and ready-to-eat Cajun style turkey breast items were produced on various dates from Oct. 29, 2018 to Nov. 19, 2019. The following products are subject to recall: [View Labels (PDF only)] • Various weights of shrink-wrap packages containing “BLUE GRASS CAJUN STYLE TURKEY BREAST” with sell by dates from 7/1/19 to 1/9/20. • Various weights of shrink-wrap packages containing “OLDE WORLD Cajun Style TURKEY BREAST” with sell by dates from 7/1/19 to 1/1/20. • Various weights of shrink-wrap packages containing “Robinson’s PREMIUM Cajun Style Turkey Breast” with sell by dates from 7/12/19 to 1/16/20. • Various weights of shrink-wrap packages containing “Troyer CAJUN STYLE TURKEY BREAST” with sell by dates from 7/18/19 to 1/21/20. • Various weights of vacuum sealed packages containing “Troyer CAJUN STYLE BACON” with sell by dates from 1/28/19 to 2/19/20. The products subject to recall bear establishment number “P-7417” or “EST. 7417” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, where the turkey products may have been offered as retail-sliced deli product. The problem was discovered when the firm’s seasoning supplier notified them that the proprietary seasoning, which is not supposed to contain soy, actually contains soy lecithin. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider. FSIS is concerned that some product may be in retailers’ deli and consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Retailers who have obtained these products are urged not to sell them. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify that recalling firms are notifying their customers of the recall and that actions are being taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. | ---- | https://breaking911.com/alert-turkey-bacon-recalled-in-4-states/ | Sun, 01 Dec 2019 19:06:58 +0000 | 1,575,245,218 | 1,575,308,480 | economy, business and finance | business information |
75,010 | breitbart--2019-11-01--Nestle Announces Recall After Rubber Pieces Found Inside Cookie Dough | 2019-11-01T00:00:00 | breitbart | Nestle Announces Recall After Rubber Pieces Found Inside Cookie Dough | Nestlé USA announced a recall of its ready-to-bake refrigerated cookie dough on Thursday, due to the possible presence of food-grade rubber pieces. “This voluntary recall only covers specific batch codes of the following products, which include ready-to-bake refrigerated Nestlé Toll House Cookie Dough bars, tubs, and tube-shaped ‘chubs.’ These products were distributed in the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico,” the announcement posted by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration read. The voluntarily recalled products are listed as: Products not affected by the recall are Nestlé Toll House Morsels, Nestlé Toll House Ice Cream Sandwiches, Nestlé Toll House Edible Cookie Dough, and Nestlé Professional SKUs. “To identify the batch code on the package, Nestlé released reference images and highlighted the four-digit batch code where it appears after the ‘use or freeze-by’ date and before the number 5753,” according to ABC News. However, Nestlé said in a recent statement that the source of the rubber had been identified and the problem resolved. “No illnesses or injuries have been reported that required medical treatment,” the company said, adding that it implemented the voluntary recall “out of an abundance of caution after receiving reports of food-grade pieces of rubber in some of these products.” Nestlé also encouraged anyone who purchased one or more of the products listed to discard it, keep their proof of purchase, and contact Consumer Services at [email protected]. | Amy Furr | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/0Pep2Xm3KmM/ | Fri, 01 Nov 2019 17:35:44 +0000 | 1,572,644,144 | 1,572,646,201 | economy, business and finance | business information |
76,257 | breitbart--2019-11-22--Over 75K Pounds of Salad Recalled Due to E. Coli Outbreak | 2019-11-22T00:00:00 | breitbart | Over 75K Pounds of Salad Recalled Due to E. Coli Outbreak | More than 75,000 pounds of salad have been recalled due to a possible E. coli contamination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Missa Bay, LLC, a Swedesboro, N.J. establishment, is recalling approximately 75,233 pounds of salad products that contain meat or poultry because the lettuce ingredient may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 18502B” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to distribution locations in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. The food items were produced from October 14, 2019, through October 16, 2019, and were listed as bowl salads containing romaine lettuce sold at Walmart, Target, and Aldi. So far, a total of 17 people, including one three-year-old, were infected with the E. coli sickness. Two individuals in Maryland said they ate the chicken Caesar salad from Missa Bay before they became ill and were admitted to the hospital. “Seven people have been hospitalized and two developed a type of kidney failure. There have been no fatalities,” according to the New York Post. Thursday, the USDA urged consumers to either throw the food items away or return them to the place of purchase. “Most people with a STEC infection start feeling sick 3 to 4 days after eating or drinking something that contains the bacteria. However, illnesses can start anywhere from 1 to 10 days after exposure,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms may vary from person to person but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. “Contact your healthcare provider if you have diarrhea that lasts for more than 3 days or diarrhea that is accompanied by a fever higher than 102˚F, blood in the stool, or so much vomiting that you cannot keep liquids down and you pass very little urine,” the agency concluded. | Amy Furr | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/GjndT41W8eY/ | Fri, 22 Nov 2019 17:37:38 +0000 | 1,574,462,258 | 1,574,467,671 | economy, business and finance | business information |
93,417 | chicagosuntimes--2019-04-12--Do you have a recalled dehumidifier like one that caught fire killing this dog | 2019-04-12T00:00:00 | chicagosuntimes | Do you have a recalled dehumidifier like one that caught fire, killing this dog? | They’ve caused hundreds of house fires with millions in damages and figured in last month’s first-ever criminal charges under a federal product-safety law. But despite a national recall, thousands of dangerous, defective dehumidifiers remain in people’s homes, often running 24/7 in basements where overheating can go unnoticed, experts say. With the warm weather, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission is urging consumers to check their make and model against several announced recalls for dehumidifiers made by Gree Electric Appliances, GD Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Ltd. and LG Electronics Tianjin Appliance Co., all in China. The recalls cover about 6.8 million dehumidifiers that were sold as late as 2013 at major stores including Home Depot, Kmart, Lowe’s, Menards, Sam’s Club, Sears, Ace Hardware, Walmart and Amazon.com. The defective dehumidifiers have been linked to approximately 500 fires that caused a total of more than $25 million in damage, according to the federal consumer agency. The bulk of those were with Gree dehumidifiers. The recalls were announced and reissued over the past few years, but fires keep happening. It’s not known how many units are still in people’s homes. In general, consumer response to recalls averages about 6 percent. “People need to know these things are really dangerous,” says Richard Schuster, a Wisconsin lawyer who has handled numerous insurance cases involving fires with recalled dehumidifiers, including several in Illinois. Many consumers don’t know about the recalls and are running defective units continuously during warmer weather, causing fires, Schuster says. “It’s not going to stop,” he says. “There’s going to be more and more claims unfortunately.” To check your dehumidifier, search on CPSC.gov for “dehumidifier” to bring up information on the recalls. Gree also has its own recalls site, as does Midea. “It is troublesome that we are continuing to see fires with recalled dehumidifiers because what that means is people are unaware about the recall,” CPSC spokeswoman Patty Davis says. Even if their unit is not on a recall list, consumers should turn off dehumidifiers whenever they leave the house or go to bed, Davis says. “Never turn on a dehumidifier and forget about it,” she says. “Keep your eye on it just like you would any other small appliance.” Leon Jackson of downstate Normal and his family were lucky to survive last September, when a dehumidifier they didn’t realize had been recalled caught fire, causing extensive damage to their home. His family was asleep when the unit, in the basement, apparently overheated and caught fire sometime before 5 a.m. The home is being gutted and rebuilt. Jackson says he hopes they will be able to return in mid-May — eight months after the fire. “We haven’t been back since the fire,” Jackson says. A smoke alarm was “pretty much the only thing that kept it from being a tragedy.” Normal Fire Chief Mick Humer says the units can smolder out of sight in a basement for hours before fire spreads. “It just looks like a molten glob when it’s all over,” he says. “It does an incredible amount of damage through the house because of the smoke.” The dehumidifiers were sold under about 60 names, adding to the confusion. Some were familiar brands like Frigidaire, GE, Kenmore and Sunbeam. Others were essentially the same product but sold under a different brand. In March 2016, Gree agreed to pay a $15.45 million civil penalty for failing to report known problems with the dehumidifiers to the U.S. government. Last month, the Justice Department announced federal charges against two executives of a company that imported and distributed the defective Gree dehumidifiers, accusing them of failing to report known defects and continuing to sell unsafe units to retailers. After a dehumidifier fire last August killed her dog Bubba and caused extensive smoke damage to her family’s home, Sophie Meranda of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, started a Facebook group — “Bubba Barks Back” — to spread the word about dehumidifier recalls. Meranda says her family’s dehumidifier ignited one morning when everyone was out of the house, but the dog was still inside. The fire was contained to the basement, but smoky dust carried by the air-conditioning spread through the home, even covering items inside drawers and cabinets. Her father was the first one home. “He was calling and calling for Bubba, and no response,” Meranda says. “That was so devastating.” The family found out after the fire that their dehumidifier had been recalled. After Meranda started the Facebook page to honor her dog, she says about 45 people have told her they’ve checked their dehumidifiers and found they’d been recalled, too. | Stephanie Zimmermann | https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/dehumidifier-recall-fires-dangerous-consumer-product-safety-commission/ | 2019-04-12 19:00:52+00:00 | 1,555,110,052 | 1,567,543,042 | economy, business and finance | business information |
127,621 | dailyheraldchicago--2019-06-27--Fisher-Price recalls another inclined infant sleeper marking full exit from troubled category | 2019-06-27T00:00:00 | dailyheraldchicago | Fisher-Price recalls another inclined infant sleeper, marking full exit from troubled category | Fisher-Price on Thursday recalled 71,000 infant play yards with inclined-sleeper attachments, in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, despite no deaths or injuries being associated with the product - and no apparent product defect. But Fisher-Price's decision to pull its Ultra-Lite Day & Night Play Yard with inclined sleeper marks the company's full exit from selling inclined sleep products, several weeks after the company recalled 4.7 million of its popular Rock 'n Play inclined sleepers because that product was associated with more than 30 baby deaths. The April 12 recall of the Rock 'n Play ignited a debate over how a product that seemed to violate recommended safe-sleep practices was developed and allowed to be sold for a decade. The American Academy of Pediatrics and government authorities have long said that babies should sleep flat on their backs in cribs or bassinets. An inclined sleeper allows babies to sleep at an approximately 30-degree angle. Nearly 700,000 inclined sleepers made by Kids II - which were tied to five deaths - were recalled shortly after Rock 'n Play was recalled. Consumer advocates such as Consumer Reports, along with the American Academy of Pediatrics, have asked for a complete ban on the sale of inclined sleepers. Canada does not allow products with a greater than 10-degree incline to be sold as infant sleeping devices. The sale of inclined sleepers made by other companies continues, but that could eventually change. Earlier this month, the CPSC said in an agency document that it planned to stop work on the development of safety guidelines for inclined sleep products. The agency had been looking at establishing the guidelines, based on voluntary safety rules, for two years. The death toll associated with inclined sleepers has continued to climb, the agency said, revealing that it knows of 50 deaths tied to the product. | null | http://www.dailyherald.com/business/20190627/fisher-price-recalls-another-inclined-infant-sleeper-marking-full-exit-from-troubled-category | 2019-06-27 14:36:54+00:00 | 1,561,660,614 | 1,567,537,943 | economy, business and finance | business information |
150,263 | drudgereport--2019-07-25--Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeons React to Breast Implant Recall Dont Panic | 2019-07-25T00:00:00 | drudgereport | Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeons React to Breast Implant Recall: 'Don't Panic'... | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a voluntary nationwide recall of certain types of textured breast implants on Wednesday due to their cancer risk. The manufacturer Allergan recalled its Biocell textured breast implants from suppliers and doctors' offices, in order to protect from breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). It follows an increase of 116 new cases of BIA-ALCL globally and 24 deaths since earlier this year (France, Canada and Australia have already taken similar action). About 84 percent of BIA-ALCL cases are attributed to Allergan implants, opposed to other FDA-approved brands Mentor, Ideal and Sientra. Beverly Hills and Los Angeles-based plastic surgeons tell The Hollywood Reporter that there's no need to panic, since textured breast implants are uncommon in the U.S. compared to other countries (namely those in Europe and South America). Only about five percent of all implants in the U.S. are textured — which grip the chest to avoid movement, desirable for shaped breast implants — while most are smooth. Plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Cohen, of Emerage Medical in West Hollywood, tells THR that ALCL is "extremely rare" and has a greater than 90 percent cure rate with a surgery to entirely remove the implant and scar tissue. He no longer uses many textured implants due to patients' concerns and stopped using Biocell more than five years ago (the FDA noticed a possible connection between breast implants and ALCL in 2011 and told doctors and patients about potential risks). Similarly, Dr. T.Y. Steven Ip, a plastic surgeon with locations in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach and New York, says he has used textured implants in the past but, as issues have been raised, has informed his patients about benefits and downsides. Dr. Gabriel Chiu of star-loved Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Inc. says his office uses about 99 percent Mentor breast implants (only when the patient already has Allergan implants from another clinic does Chiu use Allergan replacements under warranty). Since Chiu's work is almost entirely cosmetic, he doesn't often use textured breast implants, which are mainly reconstructive, he says. Dr. Rady Rahban of Beverly Hills stopped using the textured implants about a year ago, adding that texturing is used with shaped or anatomical implants, such as teardrops. "You can't stitch implants to the wall of the chest, so the texturing was a Velcro effect that prevented the implants from rotating," Rahban tells THR. Ip explains that Southern California residents seeking textured implants typically fall into one of two categories. The first type of people are usually fitness-oriented, who want to put the implant above the muscle. "If you're real physical like a cross-fit competitor, body builder or yoga instructor and you're constantly flexing the muscle and you don't want the muscle disturbed, most of the times putting implants above the muscle is the better option," Ip says. "When you put implants above the muscle with a smooth implant, the problem is that you have a higher risk of forming an internal scar around the implant." So they may turn to textured implants to reduce internal scarring risks. The second group of people in L.A. seeking textured augmentation are those with sloped ribs: "One of the problems with smooth implants ... is that with that angulation of their ribs, the implants can slip and fall to the side," Ip says. "A textured implant with more friction on them grab on better. They kind of stay in the same spot; they don't fall as much and they stay locked in." The doctors agree it's best to recall the products to be safe and want to assuage any patient panic. "It's really affected the other parts of the world before us, but I think for safety reasons, I think it's a good move to just pull it off the market. Why subject the population to even that small, small risk?" Ip says. "Moving forward, I don't think the right move is that all women with textured implants suddenly call their doctors, run in and have their implants removed. I do think as a result of having more knowledge, people can be aware of symptoms of the implant-related disease and be more cautious, but I don't think this warrants any kind of panic," Rahban adds. Cohen concurs: "Don't panic, we're on top of things." He doesn't want to see patients hurrying to their plastic surgeons, because they're scared they're going to get cancer. "Statistically speaking, it's an extraordinary low risk." The FDA does not recommend people with the recalled breast implants get them removed unless symptoms arise. If swelling or redness develops, the patient can consider removing them and replacing them with smooth implants, Ip says. "If they want them out, that's their prerogative," Cohen adds. Chiu was told by an Allergan rep that removal or replacement would be the financial responsibility of the patient. "Although the overall incidence of BIA-ALCL appears to be relatively low, once the evidence indicated that a specific manufacturer’s product appeared to be directly linked to significant patient harm, including death, the FDA took action to alert the firm to new evidence indicating a recall is warranted to protect women’s health," said FDA principal deputy commissioner Amy Abernethy in a statement. "Our team concluded that action is necessary at this time to protect the public health." Some of the products recalled include Natrelle Saline-Filled breast implants, Natrelle Silicone-Filled breast implants, Natrelle Inspira Silicone-Filled breast implants, Natrelle 410 Highly Cohesive Anatomically Shaped Silicone-Filled breast implants, Natrelle 133 Plus Tissue Expander and Natrelle 133 Tissue Expander with Suture Tabs. Allergan said that Biocell saline-filled and silicone-filled textured breast implants, as well as tissue expanders, will no longer be distributed or sold. "Patient safety is a priority for Allergan. Patients are advised to speak with their plastic surgeon about the risks and benefits of their implant type should they have any concerns," the Ireland-based pharmaceutical company announced. | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/_hsFqjlK3tM/beverly-hills-plastic-surgeons-react-breast-implant-recall-dont-panic-1226768 | 2019-07-25 23:28:37+00:00 | 1,564,111,717 | 1,567,535,886 | economy, business and finance | business information |
176,410 | eveningstandard--2019-06-03--Cadbury cheesecake desserts recalled over listeria fears | 2019-06-03T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Cadbury cheesecake desserts recalled over listeria fears | Two Cadbury cheesecake desserts have been recalled over concerns they may contain harmful listeria. Customers have been told not to eat Cadbury Dairy Milk Cheesecakes and Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Cheesecakes and are urged to return the products to stores. Müller UK said the puddings had been recalled "as a precaution due to the possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the products". No other Müller UK products are known to be affected. Symptoms caused by listeria can be similar to flu and include high temperature, muscle ache or pain, chills, feeling or being sick and diarrhoea. In rare cases the infection can be more severe, causing serious complications such as meningitis. Some people are more vulnerable to listeria infections, including those over 65 years of age, pregnant women and their unborn babies, babies less than one month old and people with weakened immune systems. A statement by the Food Standards Agency said: "Müller produces these products under license from Cadbury and has stressed that this does not impact any other products it produces for Cadbury; or Cadbury Cheesecake variants in the UK or other markets." It adds: "If you have bought any of the above products, do not eat them. Instead, return them to the store from where they were bought for a full refund." | Ella Wills | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/cadbury-cheesecake-desserts-recalled-over-fears-they-may-contain-harmful-listeria-a4158386.html | 2019-06-03 15:37:15+00:00 | 1,559,590,635 | 1,567,539,210 | economy, business and finance | business information |
186,105 | eveningstandard--2019-10-08--Prescribed heartburn medicine Zantac recalled in UK over fears it may contain cancer-causing chemica | 2019-10-08T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Prescribed heartburn medicine Zantac recalled in UK over fears it may contain cancer-causing chemical | A popular type of heartburn medicine is being recalled in the UK as a "precautionary measure" due to concerns the product may contain a cancer-causing chemical. GlaxoSmithKline issued a recall on Tuesday of four types of the heartburn drug Zantac which are only available on prescription. The move follows the discovery by the US Food and Drug Administration last week of "unacceptable levels" of a cancer-causing impurity in Zantac and its generic versions known chemically as ranitidine. The four types of drug being recalled in the UK are Zantac 150mg/10ml Syrup, Zantac 50mg/2ml Injection, Zantac 150mg Tablets and Zantac 300mg Tablets. However, patients should keep taking their prescribed medication, officials advised. A spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the health risk of discontinuing the medication is higher than the potential risk of the impurity N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Over-the-counter Zantac products are made by a different pharmaceutical firm and are not being recalled. Healthcare professionals have been told to stop supplying the four prescription products immediately, quarantine all remaining stock and return it to their supplier. The contaminant is classified as a probable human carcinogen but is not expected to cause harm when ingested in very low levels. A spokesman for the MHRA said anyone concerned about taking their prescription should speak to a doctor or pharmacist. Dr Andrew Gray, MHRA Deputy Director of Inspections, Enforcement & Standards, said: “Whilst this action is precautionary, the MHRA takes patient safety very seriously. “Patients should keep taking their current medicines but should speak to their doctor or pharmacist if they are concerned and should seek their doctor’s advice before stopping any prescribed medicines. “We have asked companies to quarantine batches of potentially affected medicines whilst we investigate and we will take action as necessary, including product recalls where appropriate. “We have also requested risk assessments from the relevant companies which will include the testing of potentially affected batches. “Currently, there is no evidence that medicines containing nitrosamines have caused any harm to patients, but the Agency is closely monitoring the situation, and working with other Regulatory Agencies around world.” | Katy Clifton | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/prescribed-heartburn-medicine-zantac-recalled-in-uk-over-fears-it-may-contain-cancercausing-chemical-a4257076.html | Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:54:03 GMT | 1,570,564,443 | 1,570,576,120 | economy, business and finance | business information |
187,075 | eveningstandard--2019-10-16--Birds Eye recalls 13,000 packets of chicken nuggets over plastic fears | 2019-10-16T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Birds Eye recalls 13,000 packets of chicken nuggets over plastic fears | Birds Eye are recalling 13,000 packets of chicken nuggets over fears they contain small pieces of clear plastic. The company has urged customers not to eat the frozen food because they may be unsafe to eat. The products being recalled are Birds Eye 790g packs of chicken nuggets with golden wholegrain that contain 50 pieces each. A company spokesman said in a statement: “The safety of everyone who enjoys and loves our products is of the utmost importance to us and as soon as we became aware of a potential situation with our chicken nuggets, we immediately investigated and took precautionary action. “This particular batch may contain small pieces of clear plastic due to an isolated manufacturing fault and we simply do not want to risk people consuming it. “If you have the product in your freezer, please keep the part of the packaging that displays the batch code and then dispose of the product and contact us to arrange a refund of the purchase price. “Alternatively, people can visit the stores they purchased the product from for a full refund.” The batches to be recalled have a best before date of October 2020 and come with the code: "L9208 W V124", "L9208 X V124", "L9208 Y V124" or "L9208 Z V124". Customers can find the codes on the back of the bag, next to the best before date. The chicken nuggets are sold in all of the big four supermarkets apart from Tesco, and they cost between £3 and £4 for a pack. New: Daily podcast from the Evening Standard Listen and subscribe to The Leader on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast or your chosen podcast provider. New episodes every weekday from 4pm. | Bonnie Christian | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/birds-eye-recalls-13000-packets-of-chicken-nuggets-over-plastic-fears-a4262986.html | Wed, 16 Oct 2019 09:41:04 GMT | 1,571,233,264 | 1,571,230,753 | economy, business and finance | business information |
187,908 | eveningstandard--2019-11-04--Salmonella scare: Hummus recalled at Nando's, Aldi, ASDA, Sainsbury's and more | 2019-11-04T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Salmonella scare: Hummus recalled at Nando's, Aldi, ASDA, Sainsbury's and more | A recall of hummus dips from major UK supermarkets has been extended pending further tests amid an ongoing salmonella scare. The initial recall for products with an expiry date of November 7 has been extended for a further ten days across several supermarkets. Zorba Delicates, which supply the likes of Aldi, Lidl, Asda and Sainsbury’s, said further laboratory testing found further traces of salmonella in an ingredient used in its hummus range. Shoppers have been urged to return the products to the store where they were bought in order to gain a full refund. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has outlined more than 50 affected products on its website after seventeen dips were initially recalled last week. The updated list includes an array of flavoured hummus dips including a Nando’s branded PERi-PERi Drizzle and a John Lewis carrot and dip snack pot. The FSA said symptoms included fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps and warned customers not to consume the dips. A spokesman for Zorba Delicates said: “We immediately alerted the FSA [Food Standard Agency] and our customers of this finding. "While this will not be confirmed, for certain, until further testing has been completed, and despite all other samples being totally clear, we have taken the precautionary step of recalling additional hummus items based on this presumptive result." The FSA said no other Zorba products are thought to be affected. In 2017 Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer withdrew some hummus product lines to investigate a “quality issue” after complaints by customers. | Ben Morgan | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/livenews/salmonella-scare-hummus-recalled-at-nandos-aldi-asda-sainsburys-and-more-a4278226.html | Mon, 04 Nov 2019 15:07:29 GMT | 1,572,898,049 | 1,572,882,527 | economy, business and finance | business information |
193,235 | eveningstandard--2019-12-17--Indesit and Hotpoint washing machine recall: Half a million Whirlpool models 'pose fire risk&ap | 2019-12-17T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Indesit and Hotpoint washing machine recall: Half a million Whirlpool models 'pose fire risk' | Whirlpool has announced it is recalling as many as half a million fire-risk washing machines just months after it launched a major recall of potentially dangerous dryers. The firm said washing machines sold under the Hotpoint and Indesit brands in the UK between October 2014 and February 2018 could be affected by a flaw with the door-locking system that could lead to them overheating and potentially catching fire. It has urged owners of appliances bought since 2014 to contact Whirlpool immediately to check if their washing machine is one of the models affected. Whirlpool said it was working at “full speed” to prepared to officially begin the recall in early January. In the meantime, it advised consumers to unplug their washing machines and not use them. Those who chose to continue using their machines should only use cold water cycles of 20C or lower as this significantly reduces the risk, Whirlpool said. This is because the issue is associated with the washing machine’s heating element being activated during washing cycles above 20C. Under the recall, all affected customers will have the choice of either a free-of-charge like-for-like replacement washing machine, or a free-of-charge in-home repair of their existing appliance. Whirlpool Corporation vice president Jeff Noel said: “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and concern this may cause to our customers, particularly over the Christmas period, but we hope people will understand that we are taking action because people’s safety is our top priority. “Preparing for a recall of this scale is a complex operation and we are working tirelessly to ensure we are ready to start offering replacements or repairs to our customers from early January.” Consumers can check if their washing machine is affected by visiting their website, which includes an online model checker tool, as well as a full list of model numbers. Alternatively, customers can call Whirlpool’s freephone hotline 0800 316 1442 where an adviser can assist with checking their model and providing further information. To check if a washing machine is potentially affected, customers will need both the model number and the serial number of the appliance. Both of these codes can be found inside the door, or alternatively on a label on the rear of the appliance. Whirlpool said the issue was identified by its safety team, adding that “no serious injuries have been reported”. Mr Noel added: “This is an issue we inherited from buying Indesit Company, but as the new owner, it is our responsibility to keep our customers safe. "We are recalling these products because it is the right thing to do for people’s safety and we will do whatever it takes to put the situation right for our customers. “By taking actions like this, we are bringing the company we acquired in line with Whirlpool’s industry-leading global safety and quality standards.” The latest recall comes after the company finally launched a full recall involving 500,000 dryers in July. The company acted after being criticised for resisting demands for a full recall and instead carrying out a lengthy “safety campaign” that saw 1.7 million products modified instead. That earlier recall related to certain models of Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan and Proline dryers built between 2004 and 2015. In November MPs said it was “extraordinary” that as many as 800,000 of the defective dryers could still remain in people’s homes four years after Whirlpool revealed they were a fire risk. A Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee investigation into the firm criticised the company for its slow response in modifying or replacing faulty machines while also condemning the firm’s use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to “silence customers”. Whirlpool had earlier revealed that, in recent years, it had logged 54 fires in its tumble dryers and admitted that three of those were models which had already been modified. The BEIS committee also expressed concerns, shared by safety organisations, about the safety of Whirlpool’s modification. The report called on the Government to press ahead with a new review of the safety of Whirlpool’s modification and to investigate other possible sources of fires in Whirlpool’s tumble dryers. The BEIS report followed Grenfell Tower inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick sayng he had “no doubt” that the fire was started by an electrical fault in a Hotpoint fridge-freezer, and dismissed a “fanciful” claim by Whirlpool that the fire could have been sparked by a discarded cigarette. | Katy Clifton | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/whirlpool-hotpoint-washing-machine-recall-indesit-whirlpool-fire-risk-a4315821.html | Tue, 17 Dec 2019 13:22:00 GMT | 1,576,606,920 | 1,576,629,200 | economy, business and finance | business information |
193,319 | eveningstandard--2019-12-17--Whirpool recall list: Which washing machine models are a fire risk and how can I check? | 2019-12-17T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Whirpool recall list: Which washing machine models are a fire risk and how can I check? | As many as 519,000 Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines will be recalled over potential fire risks, Whirlpool has said. The company said models sold in the UK between October 2014 and February 2018 could be affected by a flaw with the locking system in the doors. It comes just months after Whirlpool launched a major recall of 500,000 potentially dangerous tumble dryers built between 2004 and 2015. So which Whirlpool products are being recalled, and what do you do if you think your washing machine is at risk? Here's all you need to know: Why are the machines dangerous? The company said as many as half a million machines could be affected by a flaw with the door-locking system that could lead to them overheating and potentially catching fire. The issue is associated with the washing machine's heating element being activated during washing cycles above 20C. This extra current can cause the lock system in the doors to overheat, which the company said can pose a risk of fire in some cases. Whirlpool said the issue was identified by its safety team, adding that "no serious injuries have been reported". What do I do if I think my washing machine is at risk? Whirlpool has urged owners of appliances bought since 2014 to contact the company to check if their machine is affected. The company said it was working at "full speed" to begin a January recall, but in the meantime advised consumers to unplug their washing machines and not use them. Those who chose to continue using their machines should only use cold water cycles of 20C or lower as this significantly reduces the risk, Whirlpool said. Under the recall, all affected customers will have the choice of either a free-of-charge like-for-like replacement washing machine, or a free-of-charge in-home repair of their existing appliance. Which washing machines are at risk? Up to 519,000 washing machines sold under the Hotpoint and Indesit brands in the UK between October 2014 and February 2018 could be at risk. Consumers can check if their washing machine is affected by visiting the Whirlpool website. This site includes an online model checker tool, as well as a full list of model numbers. Alternatively, customers can call Whirlpool's freephone hotline 0800 316 1442 where an adviser can assist with checking their model and providing further information. Customers will need both the model number and the serial number of the appliance to check if their machine is affected. Both codes can be found either inside the door or on a label to the rear of the appliance. | Tom Herbert | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/whirlpool-recall-list-washing-machine-models-fire-risk-check-a4315981.html | Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:30:32 GMT | 1,576,618,232 | 1,576,629,195 | economy, business and finance | business information |
137,383 | dcgazette--2019-04-29--The NRAs Board of Directors Faces Big High-Stakes Decisions | 2019-04-29T00:00:00 | dcgazette | The NRA’s Board of Directors Faces Big, High-Stakes Decisions | One big question the board of directors will have to resolve Monday is who will replace North as the organization’s president. | 505335761211 | https://dcgazette.com/2019/the-nras-board-of-directors-faces-big-high-stakes-decisions/ | 2019-04-29 05:03:20+00:00 | 1,556,528,600 | 1,567,541,783 | economy, business and finance | business information |
201,964 | fortune--2019-02-11--PGE Board of Directors Is Restructuring After the Deadly Camp Fire | 2019-02-11T00:00:00 | fortune | PG&E Board of Directors Is Restructuring After the Deadly Camp Fire | PG&E is restructuring its board following the deadly wildfires that caused severe and extensive damage in California last year. The company, which is California’s biggest utility, expects just five out of 10 of its current directors to stand for re-election at an annual shareholder meeting scheduled for May 21, the Associated Press reports. “We fully understand that PG&E must re-earn trust and credibility with its customers, regulators, the communities it serves and all of its stakeholders,” the utility said in a statement. “We recognize the importance of adding fresh perspectives to the Board to help address the serious challenges the business faces.” Last month, PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Northern California as the investigation continued into whether the company’s equipment ignited last year’s Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history. The company listed more than $50 billion in liabilities. PG&E is currently facing a lawsuit on behalf of 35 families impacted by the Camp Fire, which was one reason the company was filing for bankruptcy. Along with its new board members, PG&E said it anticipates adding 11 independent directors to its board ahead of the shareholder meeting. The company has not commented on which board members will remain. | Erin Corbett | http://fortune.com/2019/02/11/pge-reshapes-board-wildfires/ | 2019-02-11 16:45:06+00:00 | 1,549,921,506 | 1,567,548,912 | economy, business and finance | business information |
202,399 | fortune--2019-02-26--Amazon Adds Former PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi to Its Board of Directors | 2019-02-26T00:00:00 | fortune | Amazon Adds Former PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi to Its Board of Directors | Amazon has added former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi to its board of directors. The company announced the move on Monday through an SEC filing. Nooyi served as CEO of PepsiCo for 12 years, and stepped down October 2018. From 2001 to 2006, Nooyi was the company’s chief financial officer. In addition to sitting on Amazon’s board, she will sit on its audit committee. Amazon added Starbucks COO Rosalind Brewer to its board earlier this month. With other directors Jamie Gorelik, Judith McGrath, and Patricia Stonesifer, that brings the number of women on the Amazon board to five out of a total of 11, or 45%. That is an unusually high percentage for the tech industry. Overall, women make up less than a fifth of board members for S&P 500 companies, according to the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Multiple studies have shown that having a higher percentage of women on boards has a correlation with better financial performance for businesses. There have been some efforts to bring more women onto boards in the last few years, with 38.3% of newly-named directors being female, according to Quartz. However, that still means it will take years for major corporations to achieve even representation. | Erik Sherman | http://fortune.com/2019/02/26/amazon-board-indra-nooyi/ | 2019-02-26 14:40:17+00:00 | 1,551,210,017 | 1,567,547,264 | economy, business and finance | business information |
308,315 | mediamattersforamerica--2019-04-29--New NRA President Carolyn Meadows chairs the board of directors for the largest Confederate monument | 2019-04-29T00:00:00 | mediamattersforamerica | New NRA President Carolyn Meadows chairs the board of directors for the largest Confederate monument in America | Carolyn Meadows, who is succeeding Oliver North as president of the National Rifle Association, is also the chairperson of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, an organization that maintains the largest memorial to the Confederacy in the United States. Meadows, who sits on the NRA board of directors and was serving as the group’s second vice president, was elected president of the NRA during an April 29 meeting of NRA board members. She will succeed North, who was ousted from the NRA amid infighting that pitted a faction led by NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre against North and Ackerman McQueen, an ad firm that is deeply enmeshed with the NRA and produces the NRA’s media operation, NRATV. LaPierre, who North said engaged in financial improprieties in his role as NRA CEO, was reportedly unanimously reelected CEO by the board. Meadows is listed by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association website as chairperson of the organization’s board of directors. According to her site bio, “She has been actively involved in the Republican Party since 1964 and served as Georgia’s National Chairwoman for 12 years,” and she is also a board member of the American Conservative Union, the group that hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Stone Mountain, GA, features an enormous relief carving that depicts Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis on horseback. A 2017 article in Smithsonian magazine notes that “the monument in question is carved 42 feet deep and 400 feet above ground into a granite mountain” and “is a testament to the enduring legacy of white supremacy.” Stone Mountain is also closely associated with the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. KKK leader William Simmons “ushered in the modern era of the Ku Klux Klan, founding the Second KKK at the top of Stone Mountain on November 25, 1915,” in an event that included a cross burning and signaled “a new era of white nationalist terrorism,” according to Smithsonian magazine. Plans for the memorial were already being made at the time of the Klan ceremony, but the project ended up being shuttered for several decades and was only revived following right-wing anger over the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ending school segregation. The monument was eventually completed in 1972. Meadows is not the only prominent NRA official to support Confederate symbols. NRA board member Ted Nugent, who was reelected during the 2019 NRA annual meeting, has long been an outspoken defender of the Confederate flag. Previous NRA President Jim Porter, who served two years as president beginning in 2013, was also an apologist for the Confederacy, having once stated, “NRA was started 1871 right here in New York state. It was started by some Yankee generals who didn't like the way my Southern boys had the ability to shoot in what we call the 'War of Northern Aggression.'” The NRA often calls itself the oldest civil rights organization in America, although that isn’t true. | Media Matters for America | https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2019/04/29/new-nra-president-carolyn-meadows-chairs-board-directors-largest-confederate-monument-america/223588 | 2019-04-29 21:18:38+00:00 | 1,556,587,118 | 1,567,541,775 | economy, business and finance | business information |
382,559 | newyorkpost--2019-12-26--Condé Nast shakes up board of directors | 2019-12-26T00:00:00 | newyorkpost | Condé Nast shakes up board of directors | Roger Lynch, the low-profile CEO of Condé Nast, has become... | Keith J. Kelly | https://nypost.com/2019/12/26/conde-nast-shakes-up-board-of-directors/ | Thu, 26 Dec 2019 17:38:16 -0500 | 1,577,399,896 | 1,577,405,591 | economy, business and finance | business information |
418,291 | politico--2019-08-07--Jim Mattis rejoining General Dynamics board of directors | 2019-08-07T00:00:00 | politico | Jim Mattis rejoining General Dynamics board of directors | Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is rejoining the General Dynamics board of directors, the contractor announced Wednesday, the latest in the retired Marine general's moves to re-enter the world he left when he became the head of the Pentagon more than two years ago. The board voted to approve Mattis, who resigned as defense secretary in December, to join the board effective immediately. Mattis first joined the GD board in August 2013 after retiring from the Marine Corps. He was required to resign from the board, divest his stock and recuse himself from all matters involving the company for one year when he became the Pentagon’s top civilian in January 2017. President Donald Trump required political appointees to sign a pledge promising not to lobby the agencies they worked for five years after leaving the federal government. This pledge is unlikely to affect Mattis, since board members infrequently lobby agencies directly and instead focus on oversight of the running of the company, approving dividends or compensation. In addition to rejoining the board of General Dynamics, Mattis also returned to another of his pre-Pentagon jobs as a distinguished fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in May. He previously worked at Hoover from 2013 until he became defense secretary in 2017. General Dynamics, the fifth largest U.S. defense contractor, sells a variety of weaponry and services to the Pentagon, including ammunition, information technology services, communications equipment and ships. Its subsidiary, Electric Boat, is one of two companies building the new Columbia-class nuclear submarine. Another marine-focused subsidiary, Bath Iron Works, is building the Navy's new guided-missile destroyer. Some other members of the General Dynamics board previously worked in the Pentagon as well, including Rudy deLeon, a former deputy Defense secretary, and retired Adm. Cecil Haney, the former commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Mattis, while he was still at the Pentagon, faced questions about blurring lines between the Defense Department and defense industry over a much-fought-over $10 billion cloud computing contract known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. Oracle, which lost its bid for the contract, raised issues about two meetings Mattis had with high-ranking officials from Amazon, the company considered to be the front-runner for JEDI project. The JEDI program has also prompted questions about the so-called revolving door between the Pentagon and defense industry. Oracle alleged that there was conflict of interest in the procurement process favoring Amazon after an Amazon employee joined the Pentagon, then left to return to a job at Amazon. Both the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Pentagon had not acted improperly, but Defense Secretary Mark Esper has paused the program while reviews it after both the president and members of Congress voiced public concerns. It's common for former defense officials to take positions in industry after leaving the Pentagon. Just last month, former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead was elected chairman of the Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corp.'s board of directors. Retired Rear Adm. Kevin Sweeney, who most recently served as Mattis' chief of staff, also joined the shipbuilder's board. Multiple members of the Obama-era Pentagon have also found employment on corporate boards. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work joined Raytheon's board of directors just one month after leaving the Defense Department in 2017. Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the former chief of naval operations, sits on the board of BAE Systems. And former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is on Textron's board of directors. | [email protected] (Jacqueline Feldscher) | https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/07/jim-mattis-general-dynamics-defense-contractor-3702067 | 2019-08-07 19:01:51+00:00 | 1,565,218,911 | 1,567,534,647 | economy, business and finance | business information |
477,892 | russiainsider--2019-02-27--Boeing Names Former Waffle House Waitress Nikki Haley to Board of Directors | 2019-02-27T00:00:00 | russiainsider | Boeing Names Former Waffle House Waitress, Nikki Haley to Board of Directors | We can't imagine Haley knows much about either building airplanes, or running a company in the private sector so this is payment for services rendered: Boeing on Tuesday, February 26 named Nikki Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to its board of directors. Haley, who left the United Nations post and President Donald Trump’s administration at the end of 2018, previously served as governor of South Carolina, a southern state where Boeing has a significant manufacturing campus. She praised Boeing as “a cutting edge industry leader” that “also understands the importance of teamwork and building community through its network of suppliers in all 50 states and around the world,” according to a statement released by the company. Boeing’s 12-member board currently has four women. Shareholders will vote on Haley’s nomination on April 29. The aerospace giant is weighing the launch of a new medium-sized aircraft to accompany its current fleet, which includes the twin-aisle 787 Dreamliner that is partly built in South Carolina. Boeing garnered about 60 percent of its 2018 revenues from commercial aircraft with almost 25 percent from defense and space and the remainder from global services. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley, 47, has been seen as a potential contender for national office among younger Republicans. On Friday, Trump announced that he was nominating Kelly Craft, his envoy to Canada, to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. | RI Staff | https://russia-insider.com/en/boeing-names-former-waffle-house-waitress-nikki-haley-board-directors/ri26404 | 2019-02-27 09:02:44+00:00 | 1,551,276,164 | 1,567,547,082 | economy, business and finance | business information |
542,976 | sputnik--2019-09-03--Saudi Energy Minister Loses Place in Saudi Aramcos Board of Directors Ahead of IPO | 2019-09-03T00:00:00 | sputnik | Saudi Energy Minister Loses Place in Saudi Aramco's Board of Directors Ahead of IPO | "I congratulate my brother His Excellency Mr. Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund, on his appointment as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saudi Aramco, which comes as an important step to prepare the company for the public offering, wishing him every success", Falih wrote on Twitter. This is the second position the Saudi energy minister loses in less than a week. On Friday, the industry and mining function was separated from the Energy Ministry in a government reshuffle, creating the independent Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources in a move to diversify the state's economy. Earlier in the day, Saudi Aramco officially announced that the Saudi government replaced Falih from his position as Chairman of Saudi Aramco, appointing Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir Al-Rumayyan to the role. The move is aimed at separating the Saudi Energy Ministry from Saudi Aramco before the IPO to avoid conflict of interests. However, it was not clear if the minister would retain his place on the board of directors. In order for Saudi Arabia to balance its budget, oil needs to trade at around $80 per barrel, according to various estimates. Falih has been working with OPEC+ partners, including Russia, to balance the oil market and raise the price since 2016, but have faced various challenges, including an increasing shale output in the United States, a US-China trade war, crises in Libya, Venezuela, and sanctions against Iran. The plans for Saudi Aramco's IPO as part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 economic overhaul plan have been delayed a number of times. Last month, the oil giant unveiled a 12 percent drop in net income, to almost $47 billion, in comparison with the same period last year. | null | https://sputniknews.com/business/201909031076713665-saudi-energy-minister-loses-place-in-saudi-aramcos-board-of-directors-ahead-of-ipo/ | 2019-09-03 13:31:38+00:00 | 1,567,531,898 | 1,569,331,590 | economy, business and finance | business information |
546,640 | sputnik--2019-10-12--Boeing Board of Directors Splits CEO, Chairman Roles Amid Ongoing 737 Max Fixes | 2019-10-12T00:00:00 | sputnik | Boeing Board of Directors Splits CEO, Chairman Roles Amid Ongoing 737 Max Fixes | Following the decision, Dennis A. Muilenburg remains the company's CEO, president and director, while the board elected David L. Calhoun, presently the independent lead director, to become the non-executive chairman. "The board has full confidence in Dennis as CEO and believes this division of labor will enable maximum focus on running the business with the board playing an active oversight role," Calhoun said in the release. "The board also plans in the near term to name a new director with deep safety experience and expertise to serve on the board and its newly established Aerospace Safety Committee." Boeing has come under extensive criticism since a pair of fatal airliner crashes just a couple of months apart drew attention to the company's questionable business practices, including cutting safety corners and adding new software to its jets without telling pilots about the changes. Following the second Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash in March, countries around the world banned the plane from service until Boeing fixed the problems. | null | https://sputniknews.com/us/201910121077030134-boeing-board-of-directors-splits-ceo-chairman-roles-amid-ongoing-737-max-fixes/ | Sat, 12 Oct 2019 01:29:46 +0300 | 1,570,858,186 | 1,570,841,414 | economy, business and finance | business information |
563,578 | tass--2019-04-02--New Development Bank Board of Governors and Board of Directors Meetings Held in Cape Town | 2019-04-02T00:00:00 | tass | New Development Bank Board of Governors and Board of Directors Meetings Held in Cape Town | CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB Board of Governors (BoG) and the 18thMeeting of the NDB Board of Directors (BoD) were held in Cape Town, South Africa on 31 March and 1 April 2019 respectively. At the meetings, members of the Boards noted the achievements of the Bank, including expansion of its business, significant growth of loan portfolio as well as the ramp-up of the NDB's borrowings. The Board of Governors also provided guidance for the Bank's future work. The 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB BoG was chaired by Mr. Tito Titus Mboweni, Governor of the NDB, and Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa. Mr. Paulo Guedes, Governor of NDB, Minister of Economy of Brazil was elected as the next Chairman of the BoG, and will serve in this position until the end of the next BoG Annual Meeting. The next Annual Meeting of the Bank's BoG will be held in Brazil in 2020. The Governors approved the Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 and also approved the Condensed Unaudited Financial Statements for the NDB Project Preparation Fund for the year ended December 31, 2018. The Governors appreciated that the Bank's loan portfolio had risen to approx. USD 8.1 billion in 2018. As a part of this commitment, the Bank's Board of Directors approved loans worth approx. USD 1.2 billion during their 18th Meeting on 31 March 2019. Five projects approved during the 18th BoD Meeting bring the total amount of the Bank's portfolio to over USD 9.2 billion. The following projects were approved during the 18th BoD Meeting: * _Zhejiang Green Urban Project - Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II)_ The Bank will provide a RMB 825 million (approx. USD 123 million) project loan to the People's Republic of China for Zhejiang Green Urban Project - Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II). The project is aimed at upgrading the urban and rural water supply and sewage facilities and enhancing the economic efficiency of water resources and the effectiveness of water management system in Shengzhou, a municipality in Zhejiang Province in China. The Shengzhou municipality has been facing challenges in water supply and sanitation services. The components of the proposed project include (i) construction of water supply plants and pipelines; (ii) construction of sewage treatment plants and pipelines; (iii) smart digital center for water management; and (iv) capacity building and project management. * _Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project_ The Bank will provide a USD 300 million project loan to the People's Republic of China for Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project. The project is aimed at the improvement of urban water systems, restoration of the ecological balance and enhancing flood protection in Chongzuo, a city located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The contents of the proposed project include (i) restoration of the hydraulic circulation of lakes, rivers, wetlands, and channels; (ii) ecological restoration of water adjacent area; (iii) development of water ecological environment monitoring, control and management system; and (iv) capacity building. * _Environmental Protection Project for Medupi Thermal Power Plant_ In line with its focus on supporting clean energy in South Africa, the Bank will provide a USD 480 million project loan to Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. for Environmental Protection Project for Medupi Thermal Power Plant (TPP). The loan will be used to finance retrofitting flue-gas desulfurization equipment, to make Medupi TPP compliant with South Africa's environmental standards coming into force, thus preventing suspension of its operation. Medupi TPP is approaching the end of its construction, and with the planned capacity of 4,800 MW it will represent around 10% of the total generating capacity in South Africa. This would position Medupi TPP as a critical element of the solution to the problem with reliable electricity supplies. * _Renewable Energy Sector Development Project_ The proceeds of the Bank's ZAR 1.150 billion (approx. USD 80 million) loan will be on-lent by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa to renewable energy sub-projects contributing to the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, improvement of RSA's energy sector mix, as well as the increase of energy efficiency of the economy. The NDB loan provides IDC with attractive long-term financing for the IDC's program in renewables, focused on supporting private investors. It is planned that as an outcome of the project's implementation not less than 500 GWh of electricity will be generated annually from renewable sources leading to savings in CO2 emissions by around 480,000 tons annually. * _Lesotho Highlands Water Project_ The NDB will provide a project loan of ZAR 3.2 billion (approx. USD 220 million) to Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) for the implementation of Phase II of Lesotho Highlands Water Project and financing the construction of water transfer infrastructure to the benefit of South Africa. The project will augment the water supply in the Vaal River Basin, home to South Africa's most economically important province, Gauteng. Three other provinces (the North- West, Mpumalanga and Free State provinces) will also directly benefit from an increased water supply. The project will support economic growth and foster sustainable livelihoods of people by increasing the yield of the Vaal River System by almost 15% in the long run, thus reducing water usage restrictions. The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB's General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank's operational strategy for 2017-2021. In August 2018, the Bank received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch. | null | http://tass.com/press-releases/1051836 | 2019-04-02 06:00:01+00:00 | 1,554,199,201 | 1,567,544,306 | economy, business and finance | business information |
600,911 | thedailycaller--2019-03-22--Shaq Is Joining Papa Johns Pizza As A Member Of The Board Of Directors | 2019-03-22T00:00:00 | thedailycaller | Shaq Is Joining Papa John’s Pizza As A Member Of The Board Of Directors | Former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal has been named as the most recent addition to the Papa John’s Pizza Board of Directors. Shaq made the announcement Friday on his Instagram account. He posted a photo of himself in front of the Papa John’s logo captioned, “Time for a pizza party! I’m excited to join @PapaJohns as a member of the Board of Directors and as an investor in nine stores in Atlanta.” The announcement comes as a step forward for Papa John’s Pizza after founder John Schnatter stepped down last May. Schnatter admitted to using the N-word during a conference call with executives which ultimately led to his departure. Papa John’s has been boycotted five times by members of the black community since, which has led to a decline in sales, according to TMZ. (RELATED: Shaq Somehow Managed To Spend $70,000 At Walmart) “Because of my background, I know that behind every large company, there are thousands of people that put their heart and soul into the business. Papa John’s is no different,” Shaq said. As part of the business deal, Shaq will now have ownership of nine stores in Atlanta. “As a soon-to-be investor in Atlanta Papa John’s restaurants, I am looking forward to engaging our community members, and, as board member, sharing my other experiences in business, marketing and teamwork,” Shaq said. | Lauryn Overhultz | https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/22/shaq-papa-johns-board-of-directors/ | 2019-03-22 18:09:46+00:00 | 1,553,292,586 | 1,567,545,287 | economy, business and finance | business information |
719,042 | theguardianuk--2019-12-24--Uber: co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign from board of directors | 2019-12-24T00:00:00 | theguardianuk | Uber: co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign from board of directors | Uber’s former CEO Travis Kalanick will resign from the board of directors of the US ride-share giant by the end of the year, the company said on Tuesday, effectively severing ties with the outfit he co-founded a decade ago. Kalanick, who helped found Uber in 2009, stepped down from the company’s helm in June 2017 under pressure from investors, after a string of setbacks. Kalanick’s pugnacious style turned Uber into the world’s largest ride-services company that revolutionized the taxi industry and challenged transportation regulations worldwide. “Very few entrepreneurs have built something as profound as Travis Kalanick did with Uber. I’m enormously grateful for Travis’ vision and tenacity while building Uber, and for his expertise as a board member,” Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in a statement. But his brashness was also blamed for a string of scandals and complaints over his leadership, resulting in a shareholder revolt to push him out. Kalanick said in a statement that now Uber was a public company, he wanted to focus on his current business and philanthropic pursuits. He is currently working on a food delivery startup. Kalanick has sold off more than $2.5bn worth of shares since Uber went public in May, regulatory filings showed. Uber shares have dropped more than 30% since the loss-making company’s IPO. Kalanick is now left with $177m, or 5.83m Uber shares, regulatory filings showed. When Kalanick resigned in the summer of 2017, the company had been through a bruising six months during which employees accused the former CEO of fostering a toxic work culture that encouraged sexual harassment and bullying. At the time, Uber was also the target of an investigation by the US Department of Justice over trade secret theft in connection to its self-driving unit. | News agencies | https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/dec/24/uber-co-founder-travis-kalanick-to-resign-from-board-of-directors | Tue, 24 Dec 2019 16:48:57 GMT | 1,577,224,137 | 1,577,233,513 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,036,861 | theverge--2019-12-24--Travis Kalanick is leaving Uber’s board of directors | 2019-12-24T00:00:00 | theverge | Travis Kalanick is leaving Uber’s board of directors | Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick is resigning from the company’s board of directors. The news comes after Kalanick sold more than $2.5 billion in stock — more than 90 percent of his stake — when the lock-up on his shares expired. By exiting the board and selling his shares, he has essentially cut himself entirely off from the company he helped found. Kalanick’s last day will be December 31, 2019, after which time he’ll focus on his “new business and philanthropic endeavors.” This is likely a reference to his new startup, CloudKitchens, which he has bragged will be “bigger than Uber,” according to reporting by The Information. He will have sold all his shares in Uber by Thursday, exiting his holding in Uber entirely, The New York Times reported. According to Financial Times, Kalanick has now sold all of his Uber stock. “At the close of the decade, and with the company now public, it seems like the right moment for me to focus on my current business and philanthropic pursuits,” Kalanick said in a prepared statement. Kalanick’s time at Uber has been marked by scandal. For instance, while Kalanick was chief executive officer, an Uber initiative called “Project Greyball” was aimed at deceiving authorities so Uber could operate in markets where it had been restricted or banned. A former Uber engineer, Susan Fowler, alleged that the company was a sexist nightmare — she herself had been improperly propositioned by her new boss on her very first day at the company, and that was only the beginning of the problems she went on to document in a blistering blog post. Kalanick himself was caught on video berating an Uber driver while CEO. Fowler’s blog post led to an investigation of Uber by Eric Holder, the former attorney general. The report generated from that investigation recommended that Kalanick’s responsibilities be reassigned. Kalanick was on leave at the time, and resigned as CEO in 2017 from the company he helped create. He had been pressured into it by his board and major shareholders. Uber went public in May with Kalanick’s replacement, Dara Khosrowshahi, with a price of $45 at its initial public offering. Shares closed at $30.33 on December 23. | Megan Farokhmanesh | https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/24/21036471/travis-kalanick-leaving-uber-board-of-directors | 2019-12-24T09:13:07-05:00 | 1,577,196,787 | 1,577,234,606 | economy, business and finance | business information |
1,073,275 | usatoday--2019-08-13--Fourth NRA board of directors member resigns | 2019-08-13T00:00:00 | usatoday | Fourth NRA board of directors member resigns | WASHINGTON – A fourth member of the National Rifle Association's Board of Directors resigned Monday, as turmoil within the gun-rights group continues to become public. Julie Golob, a professional sport shooter, wrote in a post published on her website that she will not be completing her full 3-year term and gave notice of her resignation to NRA President Carolyn Meadows, Secretary John Frazer, and the members of the board. "This was not a decision I made lightly," she wrote. "I apologize to those members who have supported me that I will not be completing the full 3-year term. I also feel this is the best decision for me and my family. " "I wish the director who fills my vacancy and the rest of the board nothing but success. I will absolutely continue to support the NRA’s programs and sports as a proud benefactor member and active participant in the preservation of freedom," she concluded. More: The gun control fight has started. Could turmoil at the NRA be a game-changer? The move comes days after three other members of the NRA board resigned, citing concerns over irresponsible spending by the gun advocacy organization's leaders. The resignations came amid increasing public concern and debate about gun violence and gun control following recent back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Earlier this year, Oliver North, the NRA president, was forced out after expressing concerns about the group's finances. He was also accused of attempting to help remove Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre, who is now facing pressure to resign. A longtime lobbyist for the NRA, Chris Cox, was also ousted in June, with the organization accusing him of attempting a coup against LaPierre. The organization's tax-exempt status is also being investigated by the New York Attorney General's Office, while the District of Columbia attorney general has another probe into the organization and its charitable foundation. More: Kamala Harris hits back at NRA after group criticizes her gun control proposals 'He was the center of it': With Jeff Epstein dead, charging co-conspirators likely an uphill battle, experts say David H. Chipman, senior policy adviser at the Courage to Fight Gun Violence organization, told the Washington Post that the resignation is "big." He added that his organization, which was founded by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Gifford, is seeing membership among gun owners increase while NRA leaders “run for the exits." He told the Post that the NRA "isn’t really representing the values of gun owners and this has opened up a space." Like what you’re reading?: Download the USA TODAY app for more | Rebecca Morin, USA TODAY | http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~/605545600/0/usatodaycomwashington-topstories~Fourth-NRA-board-of-directors-member-resigns/ | 2019-08-13 02:30:36+00:00 | 1,565,677,836 | 1,567,534,261 | economy, business and finance | business information |
78,463 | businessinsider--2019-03-10--Elizabeth Warrens proposal to break up big tech shouldnt shake Amazon shareholders yet AMZN | 2019-03-10T00:00:00 | businessinsider | Elizabeth Warren's proposal to break up big tech shouldn't shake Amazon shareholders — yet (AMZN) | Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 presidential contender, announced on Friday a plan to break up big tech companies she argues have grown too big. "Today's big tech companies have too much power — too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy," Warren wrote before the stock market opened. "They've bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation." Warren's plan named Amazon, Facebook, and Alphabet's Google, and would force the rollback of some of their acquisitions, like Facebook's WhatsApp and Instagram, Amazon's Whole Foods, and Google's Waze. Amazon shares — which in recent weeks have been engulfed in a flurry of announcements and political controversy — opened lower Friday morning, but finished little changed as the broader stock market recouped the majority of its early losses. At the moment, Warren's plan still has a lot of unknowns — like which federal agency would see to the proposal, said Eric Sheridan, an analyst at UBS who has a "buy" investment rating on the stock. And while regulation is the "number one topic" Sheridan discusses with investors as far as mega-cap tech headwinds go, he thinks Amazon is not under threat, at least in the near-term. Read more: Elizabeth Warren says she wants to break up big tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and Facebook "I would expect — and I'll try to make this as least a political statement as possible — I would expect, given the stance the Democratic party might try to take into the election of being more progressive and left-leaning, that I'm sure there will be plenty of press releases and shots taken at big tech in the next year, year and a half," Sheridan told Markets Insider on Friday. "It's a fairly easy mechanism to score political points. Whether it ever turns into something that's reality, we'll continue to factor." He added: "I think we're a long way from that going from noise, and a political issue, to reality." In a report Sheridan wrote in November 2017, he and his colleagues came to the conclusion around the state of large-cap Internet regulation that investors were heading into a "multi-year wave that would act as a headwind for the group." The proposal may be subject to legal obstacles, Sheridan said, as the deals that Warren is taking aim at have already been approved by US regulators. There's not a lot of precedent for going back and revisiting prior approved mergers, and then breaking them apart, "but we'll have to monitor it," he said. "If you look at why I think some of the companies have underperformed for certain periods of time in the last year and a half — we have a neutral rating on Facebook — we think some of these issues do factor into stock prices, and multiple compression, and things like that," Sheridan said, referring to data and privacy issues. "There's no doubt that when GDPR was implemented, or the Cambridge Analytica scandal, that those had a headwind impact on the stocks." Read more related coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider: Amazon took over the $176 billion market for cloud computing. Now it's using the same playbook in logistics. Elizabeth Warren's plan to break up tech giants would force Amazon to roll back its acquisition of Whole Foods We asked the biggest Netflix bull and bear on Wall Street the same 5 questions. Here's what they said about cash burn, competition, and what the other side is getting wrong. | Rebecca Ungarino | https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/amazon-stock-price-elizabeth-warrens-big-tech-proposal-stock-impact-2019-3-1028017129 | 2019-03-10 13:02:00+00:00 | 1,552,237,320 | 1,567,546,800 | economy, business and finance | business information |
127,462 | dailyheraldchicago--2019-06-21--Mitsubishi Motors shareholders approve ouster of Ghosn | 2019-06-21T00:00:00 | dailyheraldchicago | Mitsubishi Motors shareholders approve ouster of Ghosn | TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Motors Corp. shareholders approved on Friday the ouster of Carlos Ghosn, who was pivotal in the Japanese automaker's three-way partnership with Nissan and Renault until he was arrested on financial misconduct charges last year. The vote took place at a two-hour general meeting of shareholders at a Tokyo hotel, with approval shown in clapping from some 500 shareholders present, although some votes were submitted in advance. Nissan Motor Co. owns 34% of Mitsubishi Motors. Osamu Masuko, who was reappointed chairman, promised to strengthen governance and transparency and monitor wrongdoing. More outsiders will check executive appointments and compensation, he said. Nissan shareholders held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in April to oust Ghosn as chairman. It is holding a general shareholders' meeting next week to approve governance measures. French automaker Renault SA owns 43% of Nissan. They also approved the appointment of French alliance partner Renault SA's Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard to replace Ghosn. Renault owns 43% of Nissan. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, is holding a general shareholders' meeting next week to approve other measures, including setting up committees to strengthen governance. Nissan said late Thursday two Renault executives will be on the committees. Renault had earlier said it will abstain in that vote, and the greater representation promised on the committees may gain Renault's approval. Some analysts suggest a deepening rift between Renault and Nissan after a planned merger between Renault and Fiat Chrysler fell through earlier this month. Nissan expressed reservations about immediately joining the merger. Masuko told shareholders the auto industry faced challenges because of the costs of advancements such as emissions standards and self-driving technology. He said the Tokyo-based automaker will pursue focus over expansion, repeatedly highlighting the company motto "small but beautiful." He also stressed the importance of auto alliances. "We want to be a profitable company even if smaller in scale," he told shareholders. One Mitsubishi Motors shareholder expressed anger over the Ghosn scandal. But most of the questions asked were peaceful and those asking wanted to know about new models and market strategy. Ghosn, who led Nissan for two decades, saving it from near-bankruptcy, had served as chairman at Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, and was long a revered figure in the industry. He has been charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting retirement compensation and with breach of trust in having Nissan shoulder investment losses and in diverting Nissan money for personal gain. Ghosn says he is innocent. He has resigned from Renault. | null | http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20190620/news/306209829/ | 2019-06-21 06:45:00+00:00 | 1,561,113,900 | 1,567,538,490 | economy, business and finance | business information |
143,782 | drudgereport--2019-02-13--CBS Shareholders Point to 200M in Suspicious Insider Stock Sales Prior to Moonves Expose | 2019-02-13T00:00:00 | drudgereport | CBS Shareholders Point to $200M in 'Suspicious' Insider Stock Sales Prior to Moonves Expose... | On July 27, The New Yorker published an exposé that would rock CBS and eventually lead to the departure of its chief Leslie Moonves, accused by several women of unwanted sexual advances. That journalist Ronan Farrow was working on this blockbuster story was an open secret. Not everyone knew, though, and on Monday, suing CBS shareholders pointed to more than $200 million in insider stock sales as alleged evidence of a fraud. The shareholders leading the suit are Gene Samit and John Lantz. They first brought putative class actions not long after the story in The New Yorker, alleging that CBS failed to disclose information in proxy statements that would have a material effect on its business. Now, in an amended consolidated complaint, the plaintiffs are going a step further in an attempt to show CBS executives had knowledge of wrongness. "The timing and amount of the Class Period CBS stock sales by these executives were unusual and suspicious, and further demonstrate defendants Moonves, [then COO Joseph] Ianniello and [chief accounting officer Larry] Liding’s motive to commit fraud." The amended complaint includes a chart of the movement of CBS' stock dating all the way back to the time that Roger Ailes resigned from Fox News following allegations of sexual harassment from Gretchen Carlson and others. The story in the suit that is told is that while CBS was telling everyone that it was committed to zero-tolerance sexual misconduct and as Moonves was being hailed as a steward of stability, CBS' culture was rotten, and that executives had affirmative duties to do something. CBS' share price rose significantly in the months following Ailes' departure, and while other factors might have been responsible for this, the company's stock price was relatively stable when allegations against Harvey Weinstein set off the #metoo movement. At the time, as noted in the chart, Moonves called #metoo "a watershed movement, adding "it's important that a company's culture not allow this." "[B]efore the disclosures about the Company’s sexual harassment and hostile work environment problems were revealed to the market, defendant Moonves and other CBS executives...collectively sold over 3.4 million shares of CBS stock during the Class Period, totaling over $200 million in proceeds, to the unsuspecting investing public, thereby profiting from their failure to disclose the truth to the market." As in the earlier iteration of this lawsuit, the suing stockholders including the Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California point to ethical commitments CBS made to its employees and shareholders. Now, boosted by the subsequent investigation by CBS board into Moonves as well as reporting by journalists, the complaint adds notes about the "actively concealed" LAPD criminal sexual assault probe as well as what board members heard about Moonves' conduct before the publication of The New Yorker story. After recounting the sexual harassment allegations against Moonves plus Charlie Rose and producers working on 60 Minutes, the shareholders provide a table of insider stock sales in 2017 and the first six months of 2018. They count nearly $29 million in stock sales from Ianniello, $2.3 million from Liding, $155 million from Moonves and more than $15 million from former CBS communications officer Gil Schwartz. "Taken collectively, these insider sales support an inference of scienter because they were timed to capitalize on CBS’s inflated stock price before defendant Moonves’s misconduct and the pervasive sexual harassment that permeated the Company was revealed to the market," continues the suit. The plaintiffs raise various legal theories about CBS' alleged need to disclose the truth about the sexual misconduct of its top executive, from 10-K warnings about the potential impact from the loss of any key personnel to Item 303 of SEC Regulation S-K, said to require disclosure of "known trends and uncertainties." The complaint even includes the suggestion that CBS should have revealed what Farrow was working on. "By late 2017, Defendants were aware that Farrow was investigating and writing an article on CBS, defendant Moonves and the Company’s culture of sexual harassment," states the complaint. "Defendants knew that the publication of this article could have a negative impact on the Company and its continuing operations yet they failed to disclose it in their SEC filings." The lawsuit, now being led by the firm of Robbins Geller, demands compensatory damages. "CBS has in place clear policies and procedures relating to CBS stock sales by senior executives of the company. Executives who possess material information about CBS that has not been made public may not use that information in selling CBS stock. The vast majority of sales mentioned in this complaint were made as part of pre-planned selling arrangements designed to comply with applicable securities laws. The remaining sales were subject to CBS’ customary pre-clearance policies and procedures and were properly disclosed. While it would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing litigation, we believe that our policies and procedures are fully in compliance with law.” | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/HdxJzLNSw9Y/cbs-shareholders-point-200m-suspicious-insider-stock-sales-prior-les-moonves-expose-1185712 | 2019-02-13 00:16:37+00:00 | 1,550,034,997 | 1,567,548,710 | economy, business and finance | business information |
161,746 | eveningstandard--2019-01-28--Flybe urged by major shareholder to ditch airlineaposs chairman | 2019-01-28T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Flybe urged by major shareholder to ditch airline's chairman | Flybe on Monday threw its support behind its under-fire chairman, despite attempts by the airline’s largest shareholder to oust him following concerns about a cut-price sale of the business. The troubled airline confirmed that investor Hosking Partners, which owns nearly 19% of Flybe, has urged it to remove Simon Laffin as chairman. Flybe said it received correspondence from Hosking Partners on Friday, which also called for industry veteran Eric Kohn to be made a director to investigate the sales process around Flybe. Flybe said it has “full confidence” in Laffin and believes that “any independent scrutiny of its conduct will support the board’s decision-making”. The airline, led by chief executive Christine Ourmières-Widener and buffeted by currency headwinds and softer customer demand, has been slammed for a £2.2 million rescue package agreed this month. It is being taken over by a consortium of Stobart Group, Virgin Atlantic and Cyrus Capital Partners. The deal valued Flybe at 1p per share — a 94% discount to a day before the sale announcement. The firm was valued at £215 million when it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2010. Shares rose 0.8p, or more than 23%, to 4.2p today. | Joanna Bourke | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/flybe-urged-by-major-shareholder-to-ditch-airlines-chairman-a4050526.html | 2019-01-28 10:54:00+00:00 | 1,548,690,840 | 1,567,550,504 | economy, business and finance | business information |
162,056 | eveningstandard--2019-01-29--Shaftesbury hit with fresh attack from Hong Kong billionaire shareholder | 2019-01-29T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Shaftesbury hit with fresh attack from Hong Kong billionaire shareholder | West End landlord Shaftesbury’s largest shareholder, Hong Kong billionaire Samuel Tak Lee, reignited his feud with the property firm on Tuesday in an audacious bid to curb the board’s power. In a letter published by the Chinatown and Carnaby Street property owner, 26% shareholder Lee slammed directors for being “reluctant” to engage with him, and expressed concerns about delays at a new development. The tycoon, who owns the sprawling neighbouring Langham Estate north of Oxford Street, claimed his stake had been diluted by a recent Shaftesbury share placing and called for investors to vote against resolutions at next week’s annual meeting. He plans to oppose votes allowing the board to issue shares or carry out a share placing without consultation. Brian Bickell, chief executive of Shaftesbury, hit back at Lee, saying he has not met the board despite numerous invitations. He told the Standard: “A constructive dialogue [face to face] would be much more productive for both parties rather than endless legal letters.” The letter comes a year after Lee waged another war, saying he would vote against rules surrounding the ability by Shaftesbury directors to allocate shares. The dispute partly stems from Shaftesbury embarking on a £265 million fundraising to boost its portfolio in December 2017. The placing was priced at 952p, a 5% discount on the previous day’s closing price. Lee said: “As a result of the placing, Shaftesbury’s pre-existing shareholders collectively suffered a significant and immediate loss in value of their shareholdings by virtue of the direct equity raising costs, the dilutive effect of the issue and Shaftesbury’s resulting less efficient capital structure.” He added: “I believe the placing was motivated by a desire to dilute my interest.” Any future fundraising could ultimately dilute Lee’s ownership. He has previously been linked to a takeover of the firm. Part of the fundraising in 2017 was used to buy 90-104 Berwick Street, a site being developed by property tycoon Peter Beckwith’s PMB Holdings. The development will include shops and a hotel. Lee claimed Shaftesbury has not kept shareholders fully informed about the project, and added that he has authorised an investigation into the scheme. Shaftesbury said: “The highest standards of corporate governance and behaviour are embedded in the company’s culture and the day-to-day running of its business.” | Joanna Bourke | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/shaftesbury-hit-with-fresh-attack-from-hong-kong-billionaire-shareholder-a4051681.html | 2019-01-29 11:12:00+00:00 | 1,548,778,320 | 1,567,550,360 | economy, business and finance | business information |
163,290 | eveningstandard--2019-02-06--Interserve seals a rescue deal but rebel shareholder demands shake-up | 2019-02-06T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Interserve seals a rescue deal but rebel shareholder demands shake-up | Stricken outsourcer Interserve agreed a rescue deal with lenders on Wednesday as its top shareholder reacted with anger by seeking to oust the board. A consortium of bondholders and lenders will take control of the support services group, a key government contractor employing 75,000 people, after its crippling debt pile was replaced with new shares. That will cut the debt burden from around £650 million to £275 million, saving it from possible collapse. Chief executive Debbie White said: “The board believes that this agreement will secure a strong future for Interserve... its successful implementation is critical to the Interserve group’s future and all of its stakeholders.” Shareholder Coltrane, which will see the value of its stake effectively wiped out, attempted to derail the plan. The New York firm, which owns 15%, launched a shareholder vote off to kick out Interserve’s eight-person board and install two new faces. No vote is proposed against White, whom Coltrane wishes to retain. Following today’s agreement, Interserve will be controlled by banks such as BNP, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland and lenders like Davidson Kempner and Emerald Investment, led by millionaire financier Alan McIntosh. Hopes rest on the company starting to revive now the debt burden has been lifted. The battle to stop Interserve toppling over like Carillion has been rumbling for the past 12 months after poor trading, primarily from a misfiring waste-to-energy initiative, left it saddled with high debts. The deal, which has won support from pension schemes trustees, keeps construction supplier RMD Kwikform, considered the jewel in the crown of the business, inside the company. Around £350 million of debts will be attached to the division but this will be ringfenced from the balance sheet. That leaves Interserve with around £60 million of net cash, which the group hopes will allow it to win more contracts. In December, Interserve revealed plans to spin the RMDK unit off to lenders, which reportedly prompted concern from the Cabinet Office. The sale of RMDK, which has margins far higher than Interserve’s other units, may have jeopardised the future of the business. Interserve has revenues of around £3.2 billion. The Cabinet Office said: “We welcome the announcement that Interserve has made...and recognise it is a key milestone for the company in delivering the long-term recovery plan that it set out in 2018.” The shares rose 14%, or 1.73p, to 14.9p. Five years ago they were worth more than 700p. | Michael Bow | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/interserve-seals-a-rescue-deal-but-rebel-shareholder-demands-shakeup-a4059071.html | 2019-02-06 11:21:00+00:00 | 1,549,470,060 | 1,567,549,423 | economy, business and finance | business information |
168,390 | eveningstandard--2019-03-19--Jim Armitage Stabbersapos hurting shareholders get good news at last | 2019-03-19T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Jim Armitage: Stabbers' hurting shareholders get good news at last | Good news has been in short supply for shareholders in Standard Life Aberdeen since the merger that created it. What with massive redemptions from clients hacked off with poor investment returns and a staggering loss of value on the stock market, the wheel of fortune surely had to turn eventually. On Tuesday, it finally did. Arbitrators have decided Lloyds was wrong to pull its £100 billion fund management contract with Aberdeen Asset Management after the merger. Lloyds had claimed that Aberdeen’s new love, Standard Life, was a direct competitor to its own insurance division, thereby triggering a break clause. The trouble with Lloyds’ argument, the tribunal ruled, was that there was no competitive threat after Staberdeen flogged its insurance book to Phoenix. Stabbers now finds itself in the rare position of holding all the cards. It can demand either that Lloyds honours the contract and lets it run to its original term of 2022, or coughs up the £330 million in fees it would have paid over that period. Such a vast sum makes even António Horta-Osório’s pension look small. Standard’s Keith Skeoch could be forgiven for glorying in this big-game triumph, a safari-booted foot on the prone body of his vanquished quarry. Instead, he was ’umbler than Uriah Heep. Conciliatory words abounded as he invited his foe to negotiate. Clever. Lloyds is Britain’s biggest high street bank and will be a potential client for decades yet. Skeoch will play the long game and keep relations sweet. Extract lower reparations now in return for more business later. That shows good judgment from which investors should take comfort. Perhaps SLA’s 9% divi yield is missing something. | JIM ARMITAGE | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/jim-armitage-stabbers-hurting-shareholders-get-good-news-at-last-a4095436.html | 2019-03-19 11:18:00+00:00 | 1,553,008,680 | 1,567,545,623 | economy, business and finance | business information |
170,378 | eveningstandard--2019-04-04--Jim Armitage Shareholdersapos pain isnapost sure to lead to customersapos gain | 2019-04-04T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Jim Armitage: Shareholders' pain isn't sure to lead to customers' gain | Saga says that this is a good day for customers, a bad day for shareholders. For the former — older folks buying insurance — it’s about time they caught a break. They’ve been putting up for years with insurers punishing loyalty by offering cheaper rates to newcomers. Saga reckons it’s now going to end the practice by offering “fairer”, three-year fixed deals. But will this newfound saintliness gull customers into joining? I’m not so sure. They’ve been conditioned not to trust financial companies and, if the oldsters of my acquaintance are anything to go by, are better than the rest of us at shopping around for the best deals. With time on their hands, Which? magazine readers among them even relish the challenge. They’ll be suspicious of Saga tying them down for three years, especially when it admits they’ll pay more in year one. As for shareholders, too right, it’s a bad day. But they’re used to those. Since Saga’s private equity owners persuaded them to buy the debt-laden company off them five years ago, they’ve watched the shares plunge 62%. Today they’re told their dividend is to be slashed and the insurance side of the business is worth, erm, £310 million less than the company previously said. But while that is painful for shareholders, it’s possibly more honest than the new insurance products. Since the float, Saga’s dividend payout has been rising every year while operating cashflow has been falling. That never felt like straight dealing. Saga’s financial structure looks more trustworthy than it has been for years. Whether its customers will think the same of its products remains to be seen. | JIM ARMITAGE | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/jim-armitage-shareholders-pain-isn-t-sure-to-lead-to-customers-gain-a4109596.html | 2019-04-04 14:30:00+00:00 | 1,554,402,600 | 1,567,544,005 | economy, business and finance | business information |
171,131 | eveningstandard--2019-04-09--Michael Harrison Small shareholders get hurt when big guns want a deal | 2019-04-09T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Michael Harrison: Small shareholders get hurt when big guns want a deal | When Neil Woodford buys shares in a company, he invariably invests big. There is a very good reason for this. With a large shareholding comes power. And with power comes control. So it is with the ill-tempered bid for the doorstep lender Provident Financial from its much smaller rival NSF, where Woodford Investment Management and two other big investors have emerged as kingmakers. Between them, Woodford, Invesco (where Woodford first made his name as a top stockpicker) and Marathon own 50% of Provident and 65% of NSF. Wearing their hats as Provident shareholders, these three investors have already accepted the all-share offer from NSF, even though the bidder is not offering any premium for control. This matters less for Woodford and co because some of what they lose on the swings as Provident shareholders they gain on the roundabouts as NSF shareholders. For Woodford, there is another agenda at play. By his own admission, his equity income fund has had a grisly couple of years. The value of the fund has halved because of poor stock performance and investor withdrawals. This has put Woodford under pressure to sell more of his shareholdings to meet those redemptions or stem the level of redemptions. He recently told the FT that unless he succeeds he could be out of business in two-and-a-half years. If the Provident-NSF deal goes through, it will help stave off that day because part of the rationale is to asset-strip the combined group by selling off Provident’s car loans business and returning the proceeds to shareholders. That would constitute good news for Woodford. But it would be small consolation for the remaining minority investors in Provident. They are being denied the kicker they would have enjoyed had this hostile offer been made in cash and at the usual premium to the target’s current share price. Instead, they are being asked to take NSF paper and put their trust in NSF’s ability to make a better fist of running Provident. Some of these minority investors, such as Standard Life, Legal & General and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, are big and ugly enough to look after themselves. But spare a thought for the 2700 or so small retail investors who have stuck with Provident through thick and (mostly) thin as its shares have sunk to a 22-year low. Being offered a decent cash exit would have been some compensation for all the years of pain. Of course, these shareholders could have sold out long ago and moved on. Many do, which is why investors such as Woodford and Invesco often find themselves in the pivotal position they occupy less by design and more by default, possessing large holdings in companies that have become uninvestable. Nor can conviction investors such as Woodford be accused of only ever acting in their own interest. They are often a force for good, taking large strategic stakes in companies and galvanising them into action. Investors are forever being urged to act less like short-term opportunists interested only in making a quick buck and more like supportive proprietors of companies committed to their long-term success. Woodford and Invesco fit this bill. The electricity generator Drax would never have embarked on its transformation from biggest carbon emitter in Europe to one of the world’s largest renewable power companies had Woodford not used his large shareholding to support its conversion to biomass and then help bankroll the huge investment required. But the tussle between Provident and NSF is a timely reminder that markets do not operate on altruism alone, which is why minority shareholders can easily find themselves short-changed and squeezed out. They enjoy very little protection in company law and have very limited room for manoeuvre when one or two large shareholders embark on a particular course of action. It is also eerily reminiscent of an earlier takeover in which Woodford and Invesco were major shareholders in bidder and target company. That was the contested all-share bid in July 2017 by IP for its fellow commercialiser of intellectual property, Touchstone. Woodford and Invesco’s combined 52% shareholding in Touchstone was pledged to IP on day one. Touchstone’s remaining minority shareholders eventually succumbed and agreed to accept IP shares too. Today those shares are worth 40% less. | Michael Harrison | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/michael-harrison-small-shareholders-get-hurt-when-big-guns-want-a-deal-a4113086.html | 2019-04-09 10:54:00+00:00 | 1,554,821,640 | 1,567,543,431 | economy, business and finance | business information |
171,931 | eveningstandard--2019-04-16--Jim Armitage Galliford Try shocks shareholders with profits estimate | 2019-04-16T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Jim Armitage: Galliford Try shocks shareholders with profits estimate | We all know you have to take builders’ estimates with a pinch of salt. But for Galliford Try to slash its profit forecasts by more than a quarter just three months after telling shareholders all was dandy seems pretty poor even by this industry’s standards. That said, these are not normal times for construction firms. The collapse of Carillion has totally shaken this critical UK industry. Partly in immediate financial terms; Galliford was among those who lost millions shouldering Carillion’s share of the liabilities on major joint venture projects when it went bust. But more significantly, in the matter of trust. The City no longer believes any but the most prudent of firms in the sector. High debts — once overlooked by fund managers — are no longer tolerated. Over-optimistic valuations of projects are punished. Builders are belatedly taking off their rose-tinted safety goggles. Having seen Kier’s new boss launch a review of the company yesterday, Galliford Try today got real about its profits, and signalled a major retrenchment from its road and bridge building arm. Expect more realistic — ie lower — valuations of its current projects to come next. For current shareholders this all hurts horribly. But there are reasons to be cheerful. What should emerge is a construction sector in better health, and even a little more honest. What do Debenhams, House of Fraser, AA and Saga all have in common? They all tumbled into financial crisis a few years after being sold on the stock market by private equity investors. When performing at their best, private equity owners restructure troubled businesses away from the glare of the public markets. At their worst, they grab conservatively financed plcs on the cheap, strip out the cash while starving them of investment, then float them again, laden with unsustainable debts. In recent years, valuations of firms on the UK and European stock markets have been widely seen as too high to do such tricks. Brexit has also dented appetites. UK private equity deals nearly halved to €24 billion last year. But firms who advise on such buyouts think that might be changing. Private equity houses with a wall of unspent money to put to work are getting itchy feet, and are looking for hidden gems. One deal Svengali tells me enquiries have been picking up rapidly of late, particularly for mid-size target companies. He expects a chunky rise in activity within the next year — largely in Europe, but in the UK too. If he’s right, that will be good news for current shareholders, perhaps. A more dubious prospect for the country as a whole, though. | JIM ARMITAGE | https://www.standard.co.uk/business/jim-armitage-galliford-try-shocks-shareholders-with-profits-estimate-a4119141.html | 2019-04-16 09:44:00+00:00 | 1,555,422,240 | 1,567,542,801 | economy, business and finance | business information |
176,158 | eveningstandard--2019-05-31--Mark Zuckerberg to remain Facebook chairman after failed bid by shareholders to oust him | 2019-05-31T00:00:00 | eveningstandard | Mark Zuckerberg to remain Facebook chairman after failed bid by shareholders to oust him | Mark Zuckerberg will remain as chairman of Facebook after an attempt to strip him of the position put forward by a group of shareholders was rejected. Investors in the social network are growing increasingly agitated with Mr Zuckerberg holding both chairman and chief executive roles amid "a seemingly endless stream of controversies and data breaches", one shareholder said during an annual general meeting. However, Mr Zuckerberg was unlikely to be rattled by questions over his leadership, given that he holds the majority of the voting power. Investment firms such as Trillium and NorthStar have long called for the 35-year-old to stand down from his chairman post and focus on being chief executive, urging him to take the example of other tech firms such as Google owner Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft, which have independent board chairs. Outside the meeting, protesters convened to voice their concerns about Mr Zuckerberg's power, while the Fight for the Future advocacy group projected a 'Fire Mark Zuckerberg' display. Abigail Shaw of NorthStar Asset Management said during the meeting: "We estimate that last year over 80 per cent of independent shareholders voted yes on this proposal therefore telling Mr Zuckerberg and the board that they are unhappy with the current arrangement. "Shareholders continue to have no resource against the board or management when scandals pull down shareholder value. "It is no secret that our company has struggled in the past two years due to a seemingly endless stream of controversies and data breaches. "These include critiques of the company's likely role in proliferating fake news that affected the 2016 US election, stories that, quote, laid bare Facebook's lax policies around the use and sharing of user information, and risked losing users' trust in the platform and multiple allegations that the company's communications app WhatsApp and even the Facebook platform itself facilitated the spread of hate in places such as Myanmar and India. "These examples illustrate the risk to a company when a board is formed by the CEO to meet his needs and is primarily composed of insiders or other affiliated people, rather than truly independent directors who would provide proper management in the oversight, to protect shareholders and investments." Preliminary results indicated that a total of seven activist motions were rejected, including a majority voting system and proposals to ensure ideological diversity on the board. "At a time when there is little public trust in Facebook, it is navigating a regulatory landscape that is changing quickly," said Jonas Kron of Trillium Asset Management. "It is at a time like this that we need two different people in these two distinctly different leadership positions." In closing remarks, Mr Zuckerberg did not address calls for him to reduce his power directly, instead repeating his goals to make Facebook more transparent, and speaking about its future plans to make the social network more privacy-focused. "We're fighting to do the right things every day," he said. | Katy Clifton | https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/mark-zuckerberg-to-remain-facebook-chairman-after-failed-bid-by-shareholders-to-oust-him-a4156501.html | 2019-05-31 14:03:00+00:00 | 1,559,325,780 | 1,567,539,531 | economy, business and finance | business information |
77,969 | breitbart--2019-12-23--White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | 2019-12-23T00:00:00 | breitbart | White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | Americans without colleges degrees and with martial backgrounds are seeing the “biggest gains” within the econcomy under President Donald Trump’s administration, said White House Deputy Director of Communications Adam Kennedy in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Matt Boyle. Boyle invited Kennedy’s remarks on the House of Representatives’ passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and the broader economy. Kennedy replied, “The president, since day one … has been working hard to make sure that American families — the American people — are at the center of this administration, and what we are trying to achieve, and we’ve seen that in the economy. … We’ve seen that in our new trade agreement, the USMCA, with South Korea, and with many others. This is a president who has put the economy and the American people first and foremost in every single one of our policy initiatives.” Kennedy added, “One of the things this economy has really been spectacular at is making sure that people who used to be left behind in previous economies — people without college degrees, people who come from more martial backgrounds — have seen some of the biggest gains.” Blue-collar workers, added Kennedy, had yielded the largest economic benefits across Trump’s presidential tenure. “So in manufacturing, the non-supervisory positions — the people who are actually on the floor doing the work — have received the highest wage gains,” stated Kennedy. “What USMCA does, one of the most important things it does, is put in place tougher labor standards for manufacturing so we’re going to have [fewer] factories and manufacturers moving to Mexico, moving out of this country. Instead, because of these provisions, there’s a strong incentive for them to stay here.” Kennedy remarked, “So one of the big things we’ve seen is manufacturing is kind of roaring back in this country, after so many people that it was never going to come back, at all, that we had to resign ourselves to losing all of our factories. USMCA is really going to solidify that growth and accelerate it.” Republicans are unified in opposing Democrats’ impeachment push against the president, estimated Kennedy. Boyle asked, “If there is a [Senate impeachment trial], and there’s an eventual Senate vote, do you expect that there may be a bipartisan opposition in the Senate … and do you expect Republicans will stick together other there? I don’t think we’ve seen any Republicans really breaking with the president in the Senate. We’ve seen all the Republicans unified in the House, and Democrats, like Joe Manchin, [he] says he is very uneasy with what’s going on. … Do you think there’s a possibility that there’s a bipartisan vote against convicting the president and a partisan vote [like] what we saw in the House in favor of it?” “Absolutely, I think that’s actually the more likely outcome than the other way around,” responded Kennedy. Kennedy concluded, “We’ve seen the Republicans be incredibly unified on this, and we’ve seen the Democrats just completely divided, completely coming apart, almost, at the very idea.” Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific). | Robert Kraychik | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/GVbfGrwUJug/ | Mon, 23 Dec 2019 23:23:56 +0000 | 1,577,161,436 | 1,577,189,271 | labour | employment legislation |
77,969 | breitbart--2019-12-23--White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | 2019-12-23T00:00:00 | breitbart | White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | Americans without colleges degrees and with martial backgrounds are seeing the “biggest gains” within the econcomy under President Donald Trump’s administration, said White House Deputy Director of Communications Adam Kennedy in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Matt Boyle. Boyle invited Kennedy’s remarks on the House of Representatives’ passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and the broader economy. Kennedy replied, “The president, since day one … has been working hard to make sure that American families — the American people — are at the center of this administration, and what we are trying to achieve, and we’ve seen that in the economy. … We’ve seen that in our new trade agreement, the USMCA, with South Korea, and with many others. This is a president who has put the economy and the American people first and foremost in every single one of our policy initiatives.” Kennedy added, “One of the things this economy has really been spectacular at is making sure that people who used to be left behind in previous economies — people without college degrees, people who come from more martial backgrounds — have seen some of the biggest gains.” Blue-collar workers, added Kennedy, had yielded the largest economic benefits across Trump’s presidential tenure. “So in manufacturing, the non-supervisory positions — the people who are actually on the floor doing the work — have received the highest wage gains,” stated Kennedy. “What USMCA does, one of the most important things it does, is put in place tougher labor standards for manufacturing so we’re going to have [fewer] factories and manufacturers moving to Mexico, moving out of this country. Instead, because of these provisions, there’s a strong incentive for them to stay here.” Kennedy remarked, “So one of the big things we’ve seen is manufacturing is kind of roaring back in this country, after so many people that it was never going to come back, at all, that we had to resign ourselves to losing all of our factories. USMCA is really going to solidify that growth and accelerate it.” Republicans are unified in opposing Democrats’ impeachment push against the president, estimated Kennedy. Boyle asked, “If there is a [Senate impeachment trial], and there’s an eventual Senate vote, do you expect that there may be a bipartisan opposition in the Senate … and do you expect Republicans will stick together other there? I don’t think we’ve seen any Republicans really breaking with the president in the Senate. We’ve seen all the Republicans unified in the House, and Democrats, like Joe Manchin, [he] says he is very uneasy with what’s going on. … Do you think there’s a possibility that there’s a bipartisan vote against convicting the president and a partisan vote [like] what we saw in the House in favor of it?” “Absolutely, I think that’s actually the more likely outcome than the other way around,” responded Kennedy. Kennedy concluded, “We’ve seen the Republicans be incredibly unified on this, and we’ve seen the Democrats just completely divided, completely coming apart, almost, at the very idea.” Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific). | Robert Kraychik | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/GVbfGrwUJug/ | Mon, 23 Dec 2019 23:23:56 +0000 | 1,577,161,436 | 1,577,189,271 | labour | labour market |
78,191 | breitbart--2019-12-27--Working Class Secures Largest Wage Hikes Thanks to Tight Labor Market | 2019-12-27T00:00:00 | breitbart | Working Class Secures Largest Wage Hikes Thanks to Tight Labor Market | The bottom 25 percent of American wage earners secured the largest wage hikes year-to-year compared to all others for November, newly released data reveals, thanks to President Trump’s tightening of the United States labor market. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows that for the lowest wage earners, Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” economy has delivered the quickest rate of wage hikes in more than a decade. In November, the bottom 25 percent of wage earners saw their wages rise 4.5 percent compared to November 2018. These bottom-tier workers, those earning less than all other Americans, have secured a labor market that now resembles the labor market of top-tier workers — a result of less low-skilled foreign competition against Americans through increased interior immigration enforcement. “A strong labor market makes the bargaining power of lower-paid workers more like the labor market higher-wage workers experience during good times and bad,” Indeed.com economist Nick Bunker told the Wall Street Journal. Overall wage growth year-to-year stands at about 3.6 percent. When broken down by industry, Americans in construction, mining, finance, hospitality, and manufacturing are all enjoying some of the highest wage growth in the country. Americans in finance, for instance, secured 4.1 percent wage growth year-to-year, while those in the construction and mining industry — where Americans are most likely to compete against lower-wage illegal aliens — have secured four percent wage growth. Manufacturing workers, as well, have gotten a four percent wage hike year-to-year. For the first year in decades, the U.S. economy has tipped toward American workers rather than employers in terms of the labor market. Today, due to less foreign competition, workers have more chances to seek out the highest-paying job. For decades, it was employers who would bid on workers. President of the Mooyah Burgers restaurant chain, Tony Darden, told the Wall Street Journal that the tightening of the labor market has forced wages up for his employees: Experts, though, have warned that huge surges in illegal immigration — and increased legal immigration levels — can quickly diminish wage gains for America’s working and middle class. Despite calls for more foreign workers from corporate interests and the big business lobby, there remain about 11.5 million Americans who are either unemployed, underemployed, or out of the labor market – all of whom want good-paying full-time jobs. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. | John Binder | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/F7C1NWUhFvo/ | Fri, 27 Dec 2019 23:41:04 +0000 | 1,577,508,064 | 1,577,534,910 | labour | employment |
78,191 | breitbart--2019-12-27--Working Class Secures Largest Wage Hikes Thanks to Tight Labor Market | 2019-12-27T00:00:00 | breitbart | Working Class Secures Largest Wage Hikes Thanks to Tight Labor Market | The bottom 25 percent of American wage earners secured the largest wage hikes year-to-year compared to all others for November, newly released data reveals, thanks to President Trump’s tightening of the United States labor market. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta shows that for the lowest wage earners, Trump’s “Buy American, Hire American” economy has delivered the quickest rate of wage hikes in more than a decade. In November, the bottom 25 percent of wage earners saw their wages rise 4.5 percent compared to November 2018. These bottom-tier workers, those earning less than all other Americans, have secured a labor market that now resembles the labor market of top-tier workers — a result of less low-skilled foreign competition against Americans through increased interior immigration enforcement. “A strong labor market makes the bargaining power of lower-paid workers more like the labor market higher-wage workers experience during good times and bad,” Indeed.com economist Nick Bunker told the Wall Street Journal. Overall wage growth year-to-year stands at about 3.6 percent. When broken down by industry, Americans in construction, mining, finance, hospitality, and manufacturing are all enjoying some of the highest wage growth in the country. Americans in finance, for instance, secured 4.1 percent wage growth year-to-year, while those in the construction and mining industry — where Americans are most likely to compete against lower-wage illegal aliens — have secured four percent wage growth. Manufacturing workers, as well, have gotten a four percent wage hike year-to-year. For the first year in decades, the U.S. economy has tipped toward American workers rather than employers in terms of the labor market. Today, due to less foreign competition, workers have more chances to seek out the highest-paying job. For decades, it was employers who would bid on workers. President of the Mooyah Burgers restaurant chain, Tony Darden, told the Wall Street Journal that the tightening of the labor market has forced wages up for his employees: Experts, though, have warned that huge surges in illegal immigration — and increased legal immigration levels — can quickly diminish wage gains for America’s working and middle class. Despite calls for more foreign workers from corporate interests and the big business lobby, there remain about 11.5 million Americans who are either unemployed, underemployed, or out of the labor market – all of whom want good-paying full-time jobs. John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder. | John Binder | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/F7C1NWUhFvo/ | Fri, 27 Dec 2019 23:41:04 +0000 | 1,577,508,064 | 1,577,534,910 | labour | labour market |
77,969 | breitbart--2019-12-23--White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | 2019-12-23T00:00:00 | breitbart | White House: Trump’s Economic Boom Benefiting Working Class Most | Americans without colleges degrees and with martial backgrounds are seeing the “biggest gains” within the econcomy under President Donald Trump’s administration, said White House Deputy Director of Communications Adam Kennedy in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Matt Boyle. Boyle invited Kennedy’s remarks on the House of Representatives’ passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) and the broader economy. Kennedy replied, “The president, since day one … has been working hard to make sure that American families — the American people — are at the center of this administration, and what we are trying to achieve, and we’ve seen that in the economy. … We’ve seen that in our new trade agreement, the USMCA, with South Korea, and with many others. This is a president who has put the economy and the American people first and foremost in every single one of our policy initiatives.” Kennedy added, “One of the things this economy has really been spectacular at is making sure that people who used to be left behind in previous economies — people without college degrees, people who come from more martial backgrounds — have seen some of the biggest gains.” Blue-collar workers, added Kennedy, had yielded the largest economic benefits across Trump’s presidential tenure. “So in manufacturing, the non-supervisory positions — the people who are actually on the floor doing the work — have received the highest wage gains,” stated Kennedy. “What USMCA does, one of the most important things it does, is put in place tougher labor standards for manufacturing so we’re going to have [fewer] factories and manufacturers moving to Mexico, moving out of this country. Instead, because of these provisions, there’s a strong incentive for them to stay here.” Kennedy remarked, “So one of the big things we’ve seen is manufacturing is kind of roaring back in this country, after so many people that it was never going to come back, at all, that we had to resign ourselves to losing all of our factories. USMCA is really going to solidify that growth and accelerate it.” Republicans are unified in opposing Democrats’ impeachment push against the president, estimated Kennedy. Boyle asked, “If there is a [Senate impeachment trial], and there’s an eventual Senate vote, do you expect that there may be a bipartisan opposition in the Senate … and do you expect Republicans will stick together other there? I don’t think we’ve seen any Republicans really breaking with the president in the Senate. We’ve seen all the Republicans unified in the House, and Democrats, like Joe Manchin, [he] says he is very uneasy with what’s going on. … Do you think there’s a possibility that there’s a bipartisan vote against convicting the president and a partisan vote [like] what we saw in the House in favor of it?” “Absolutely, I think that’s actually the more likely outcome than the other way around,” responded Kennedy. Kennedy concluded, “We’ve seen the Republicans be incredibly unified on this, and we’ve seen the Democrats just completely divided, completely coming apart, almost, at the very idea.” Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific). | Robert Kraychik | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/GVbfGrwUJug/ | Mon, 23 Dec 2019 23:23:56 +0000 | 1,577,161,436 | 1,577,189,271 | labour | employment |
105,990 | cnn--2019-07-26--Tim Ryan What my cousin Donnie taught me about Americas working class | 2019-07-26T00:00:00 | cnn | Tim Ryan: What my cousin Donnie taught me about America's working class | A few years ago, I received a call from my cousin Donnie, a proud Ohioan, Vietnam veteran and seasoned steelworker. Throughout his life, Donnie bounced between jobs in steel mills across our state, earning a living wage. Donnie told me on the phone that it was his last day at Delphi Automotive, a General Motors supplier, and that his job and the entire company were getting outsourced to cut costs. Donnie spent his last few hours on the job unbolting his machine from the floor, boxing it up and shipping it to China. Unfortunately, Donnie's story is one that hits home to a lot of folks who grew up, like I did, in the Rust Belt. It's been almost 40 years since the economic decline hit the Midwest and Northeast. One after another, factories closed their doors due to inflation, import of foreign steel and cheap foreign labor costs. As I grew up, I saw the steel industry slowly crumble, and it forever shaped both my ideology and my relationships with the diverse working-class community in Youngstown, Ohio. The struggle of the Ohioan working class still inspires me to do my job in Congress -- and also led me to become a Democratic Presidential candidate. I believe America needs to reinvest in our manufacturing industry. After all, the manufacturing industry has seen an upswing in the last two years, with multiple indicators suggesting we could see pre-recession output levels return before the end of the year. The industrial sector continues to grow rapidly as technology companies make advancements, but the volatility of the labor market persists We must invest in our new industries and laborers to ensure longevity and stability. And we need to put our country in a position to succeed. That is why I am introducing a National Industrial Policy to protect the future of manufacturing in America -- and cut the workers in on the deal. On day one, I will appoint a Chief Manufacturing Officer who will report directly to me to develop and drive a national manufacturing strategy, set goals for production, increase advanced manufacturing and troubleshoot manufacturing-related issues. My administration will organize every needed federal agency and research institution to work closely with businesses and investors in order to dominate the industries of the future. We need to double union membership nationwide. Throughout our country's history, unions have helped pave the way for safer working conditions, higher wages and essential benefits. Establishing strong unions with robust membership -- for all industrial sectors -- is critical to building an economy that works for everyone. I would enact legislation that certifies a union as the collective bargaining representative if a majority of employees have signed authorization cards, allow independent contractors to organize and collectively bargain, ban states from enacting right to work policies, make it illegal to replace striking workers and allow public sector employees to bargain. Why Tim Ryan says Dems should appear on Fox News Why Tim Ryan says Dems should appear on Fox News Women and minorities have received very little aid in breaking down the cultural and economic barriers that hinder their access to careers in the industrial sector. We must provide apprenticeships and training opportunities to engage them. According to the Department of Labor, among those who complete apprenticeships programs -- only 7.3% were women and 10.7% were African-American. My plan will create a task force at the Department of Labor that prioritizes both growing apprenticeships opportunities for women and minorities, and increases the diversity of existing programs. I also want to help workers who have been left behind, like my cousin Donnie, by creating a job assistance program similar to our country's Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. The TAA program assists eligible workers whose working wages are reduced as a result of increased imports by providing new career training, employment and case management services, and allowances for time spent job searching and costs of relocation. My plan would provide training stipends for these workers, create wage insurance for older workers to protect their livelihoods and raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour to ensure that our laborers can afford to live comfortably. My administration will also rebuild our forgotten cities by investing in infrastructure, green technology and modern transportation technology while creating a National Infrastructure Development Bank. Finally, we need to decentralize economic opportunity by creating the Distressed Community Investment Agency within the US Department of Commerce. This agency would have the mission of promoting, establishing and strengthening venture capital in distressed communities through grants, contracts and other agreements with public and private entities. As American industry continues to create and develop new technologies and careers that grow our economy and communities, we must acknowledge the disproportionate geographic centralization of job growth created by companies. Currently four states, New York, California, Massachusetts and Texas, receive 80% of venture capital dollars, but there are innovators and entrepreneurs throughout the country who are being overlooked because they don't have the same access to that capital. Sign up for our new newsletter. Join us on Twitter and Facebook The Democratic Party has historically been the party for working people, and we continue to carry their interests at heart. In 1980, many working people in Rust Belt cities felt abandoned by the Democratic Party and voted for Ronald Reagan. In 2016, we found ourselves lost and desperate for change -- and made the same mistake again in electing Donald Trump. It's time for Democrats to take a stand and play offense when it comes to the rights and well-being of working-class Americans. We must show the working class that Democrats care about their ability to achieve the American dream and that we understand they comprise the backbone of our history, and ultimately our future, in the United States. If elected President, I will ensure our workers get the recognition they deserve and the best resources our country has to offer them. | Tim Ryan | http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/4KNe_NPuiOM/index.html | 2019-07-26 14:10:42+00:00 | 1,564,164,642 | 1,567,535,743 | labour | labour market |
105,990 | cnn--2019-07-26--Tim Ryan What my cousin Donnie taught me about Americas working class | 2019-07-26T00:00:00 | cnn | Tim Ryan: What my cousin Donnie taught me about America's working class | A few years ago, I received a call from my cousin Donnie, a proud Ohioan, Vietnam veteran and seasoned steelworker. Throughout his life, Donnie bounced between jobs in steel mills across our state, earning a living wage. Donnie told me on the phone that it was his last day at Delphi Automotive, a General Motors supplier, and that his job and the entire company were getting outsourced to cut costs. Donnie spent his last few hours on the job unbolting his machine from the floor, boxing it up and shipping it to China. Unfortunately, Donnie's story is one that hits home to a lot of folks who grew up, like I did, in the Rust Belt. It's been almost 40 years since the economic decline hit the Midwest and Northeast. One after another, factories closed their doors due to inflation, import of foreign steel and cheap foreign labor costs. As I grew up, I saw the steel industry slowly crumble, and it forever shaped both my ideology and my relationships with the diverse working-class community in Youngstown, Ohio. The struggle of the Ohioan working class still inspires me to do my job in Congress -- and also led me to become a Democratic Presidential candidate. I believe America needs to reinvest in our manufacturing industry. After all, the manufacturing industry has seen an upswing in the last two years, with multiple indicators suggesting we could see pre-recession output levels return before the end of the year. The industrial sector continues to grow rapidly as technology companies make advancements, but the volatility of the labor market persists We must invest in our new industries and laborers to ensure longevity and stability. And we need to put our country in a position to succeed. That is why I am introducing a National Industrial Policy to protect the future of manufacturing in America -- and cut the workers in on the deal. On day one, I will appoint a Chief Manufacturing Officer who will report directly to me to develop and drive a national manufacturing strategy, set goals for production, increase advanced manufacturing and troubleshoot manufacturing-related issues. My administration will organize every needed federal agency and research institution to work closely with businesses and investors in order to dominate the industries of the future. We need to double union membership nationwide. Throughout our country's history, unions have helped pave the way for safer working conditions, higher wages and essential benefits. Establishing strong unions with robust membership -- for all industrial sectors -- is critical to building an economy that works for everyone. I would enact legislation that certifies a union as the collective bargaining representative if a majority of employees have signed authorization cards, allow independent contractors to organize and collectively bargain, ban states from enacting right to work policies, make it illegal to replace striking workers and allow public sector employees to bargain. Why Tim Ryan says Dems should appear on Fox News Why Tim Ryan says Dems should appear on Fox News Women and minorities have received very little aid in breaking down the cultural and economic barriers that hinder their access to careers in the industrial sector. We must provide apprenticeships and training opportunities to engage them. According to the Department of Labor, among those who complete apprenticeships programs -- only 7.3% were women and 10.7% were African-American. My plan will create a task force at the Department of Labor that prioritizes both growing apprenticeships opportunities for women and minorities, and increases the diversity of existing programs. I also want to help workers who have been left behind, like my cousin Donnie, by creating a job assistance program similar to our country's Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. The TAA program assists eligible workers whose working wages are reduced as a result of increased imports by providing new career training, employment and case management services, and allowances for time spent job searching and costs of relocation. My plan would provide training stipends for these workers, create wage insurance for older workers to protect their livelihoods and raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour to ensure that our laborers can afford to live comfortably. My administration will also rebuild our forgotten cities by investing in infrastructure, green technology and modern transportation technology while creating a National Infrastructure Development Bank. Finally, we need to decentralize economic opportunity by creating the Distressed Community Investment Agency within the US Department of Commerce. This agency would have the mission of promoting, establishing and strengthening venture capital in distressed communities through grants, contracts and other agreements with public and private entities. As American industry continues to create and develop new technologies and careers that grow our economy and communities, we must acknowledge the disproportionate geographic centralization of job growth created by companies. Currently four states, New York, California, Massachusetts and Texas, receive 80% of venture capital dollars, but there are innovators and entrepreneurs throughout the country who are being overlooked because they don't have the same access to that capital. Sign up for our new newsletter. Join us on Twitter and Facebook The Democratic Party has historically been the party for working people, and we continue to carry their interests at heart. In 1980, many working people in Rust Belt cities felt abandoned by the Democratic Party and voted for Ronald Reagan. In 2016, we found ourselves lost and desperate for change -- and made the same mistake again in electing Donald Trump. It's time for Democrats to take a stand and play offense when it comes to the rights and well-being of working-class Americans. We must show the working class that Democrats care about their ability to achieve the American dream and that we understand they comprise the backbone of our history, and ultimately our future, in the United States. If elected President, I will ensure our workers get the recognition they deserve and the best resources our country has to offer them. | Tim Ryan | http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/4KNe_NPuiOM/index.html | 2019-07-26 14:10:42+00:00 | 1,564,164,642 | 1,567,535,743 | labour | employment |
151,620 | drudgereport--2019-09-25--Decline of White Working Class Spells Trouble for Trump | 2019-09-25T00:00:00 | drudgereport | Decline of White Working Class Spells Trouble for Trump? | (Bloomberg) -- The number of white working-class Americans dropped below 40% of the population for the first time last year, reflecting demographic shifts that could pose a challenge for President Donald Trump’s election in 2020. White Americans without a four-year college represented 71% of the population in 1975. Their decline as a share of the population is expected to continue and they will no longer be the largest demographic group by 2034, according to a blog post Tuesday from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. There’s no single cause for the decline. More Americans are seeking a college education, and leading causes of death — including the opioid epidemic, alcoholism and suicide — are hitting working-class whites hardest. And birth rates for whites are slowing compared with nonwhites. “Whatever the cause, the decline of this group will undoubtedly continue to have lasting economic and social consequences for the U.S.,” researchers Bill Emmons, Ana Kent and Lowell Ricketts wrote in the blog post, which focused on the demographic trends and didn’t mention the political implications. Among those consequences: the shrinking of one of Trump’s most reliable voting blocs. White voters without a college degree supported Trump by 66% to Hillary Clinton’s 29%, according to 2016 exit polls. Among men in that group, the margin was even higher, 71% to 23%. That’s the largest support from white working-class voters for any presidential candidate since 1980, according to the Pew Research Center. Trump also won college-educated whites, but by a smaller margin of 48% to 45%, while Clinton won large majorities of black, Latino and Asian voters. While the ranks of working-class whites has dropped 2% nationally since 2016, they remain a slight majority in the Midwest, the report notes. That’s a key 2020 battleground where the Trump campaign is focusing its turnout efforts in swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Midwest has also been hit hard by the manufacturing slowdown, exacerbated by the U.S.-China trade war Trump has steadily escalated. The steepest declines in the white working-class population have been in the Northeast and Western U.S., the report showed. In the West, the non-white working class now outnumbers the white working class. To contact the reporters on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at [email protected];Gregory Korte in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at [email protected], ;Wendy Benjaminson at [email protected], Max Berley For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/gTwL63fYKQw/decline-white-working-class-u-190138594.html | 2019-09-25 07:43:37+00:00 | 1,569,411,817 | 1,570,222,283 | labour | labour market |
198,588 | fortruss--2019-04-17--Why does the Left sneer at the Traditional Working Class Labour alienates this Integral Element at | 2019-04-17T00:00:00 | fortruss | Why does the Left sneer at the Traditional Working Class? Labour alienates this Integral Element at its Peril | Why does the Left sneer at the Traditional Working Class? Labour alienates this Integral Element at its Peril By Paul Embery – It was a straightforward political point. “Labour comes out in favour of keeping free movement – an utter betrayal of traditional working-class people, the majority of whom oppose it and voted to end it in the referendum. The party will pay a heavy, but deserved, price for this at the ballot box.” This was my tweet after Labour had declared its support for the Common Market 2.0 proposal earlier this week. Cue hordes of offendotrons, utterly certain that my use of the term “traditional” was really a euphemism for “white”. Others from the woke Left quickly joined the fray. My critics were, of course, unwittingly betraying their own deep prejudice. Did they really believe that the term ‘traditional working class’ by definition excluded all those without white skin – such as, say, the thousands of Commonwealth immigrants who arrived here over half a century ago and found work in manual industries or our public services? Apparently they did. It’s true that the term is not especially tightly defined. Nonetheless, so extensively has it been used over the years in political discourse and throughout the media – including by Left-wingers such as the Guardian’s Owen Jones – as well as wider society, it is fair to argue that it is broadly understood to refer to that social group which is older; often politically tribal; either currently or at least once employed in blue-collar labour; and usually located in the post-industrial areas of Britain, though prevalent in rural and coastal communities too. This group is rooted, patriotic, communitarian in outlook, often holding small ‘c’ conservative views on social and cultural issues. As with all social classes in the UK, it is mainly white, but certainly not exclusively so. The results of a BBC class survey in 2013 showed that 9% of this group came from an ethnic minority background, only slightly lower than the total percentage of the UK’s ethnic minority population at the time. It is certainly true that these struggles were shunned by some sections of the working-class at the time. In the case of the Bristol bus boycott, the Transport and General Workers’ Union was shamefully complicit in discriminating against black drivers – but that doesn’t make those engaged in the struggle any less a part of the traditional working class, nor does it mean that we should join the efforts to exclude them from it. I dare my opponents to speak to my own in-laws, who landed in Britain on a plane from Calcutta back in the 1960s. My late father-in-law, a deckhand in the Indian Merchant Navy as a young man, spent the rest of his working life in the UK as a sheet metal worker and raised his family in a council home in pre-gentrification Hackney. Tell any of them that they do not meet the criteria for membership of Britain’s traditional working-class, and you’d get short shrift. When some on the Left argue that the term ‘traditional working-class’ is obscure or divisive or racist and should therefore be ditched, what they are really demonstrating, unintentionally, is their own hidden contempt for this group. They would rather it didn’t exist at all in the form it does. They think its members are ‘nativist’ and reactionary and – God forbid – voted to leave the European Union. Because, you see, the group-thinkers and virtue-signallers and woke liberals and quasi-Marxists and echo-chamber-dwellers who comprise so much of the modern Left believe themselves to be Inherently Better People than those of us from the more traditional Left. We are Gillian Duffy and White Van Man of Rochester – ripe for votes, but not fit to be seen in public with. It is this patronising mindset that compels them to assume that ethnic minority voters cannot possibly be in favour of Brexit or opposed to free movement. Yet research shows that around a third of ethnic minority voters supported Leave, and that many of these, particularly the older generation, were hostile to free movement, not least because they considered it unfair that prospective migrants from outside the EU – in many cases, people like themselves – faced bigger hurdles in coming to the UK than did those from inside it. Sure, the working class is forever altering, and it is fair to argue that the traditional working class isn’t necessarily representative of the working-class generally. Indeed, a consequence of our rapidly-changing economy and society over recent years – and the subject of an insightful book by Claire Ainsley – has been the emergence of a new working class. This group is younger, heavily represented in the service sector, often in precarious employment and on a low income, less politically tribal and more culturally diverse. It is unquestionably an integral part of today’s working class and should command the attention of those of us in the labour movement. But, in electoral terms, Labour already has much of this vote in the bag. It is also true to say that this new working class is not as marginalised or ostracised politically, socially or culturally to the same degree as is the traditional working class, and it is thus the latter whom Labour should be moving heaven and Earth to reconnect with. Labour has haemorrhaged support among the traditional working class in recent years. In the 2017 general election, there was a swing to the Tories in some of its post-industrial heartlands of the north and Midlands, and the party lost working-class strongholds such as Stoke-on-Trent South, Mansfield and Walsall North. Post-election polling even saw the Tories take a lead among the working-class C2DEs. Sixty-one per cent of Labour constituencies voted Leave, as did 35 of the 45 seats in England and Wales which Labour must take if it is to win an election. At a time when the traditional working class has never felt so disillusioned with Labour, the party’s support for policies such as free movement, which did so much to alienate this group in the first place, will do nothing to win them back. Whatever their skin colour. | Guest Author | https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/04/why-does-the-left-sneer-at-the-traditional-working-class-labour-alienates-this-integral-element-at-its-peril/ | 2019-04-17 18:41:36+00:00 | 1,555,540,896 | 1,567,542,753 | labour | employment |
151,620 | drudgereport--2019-09-25--Decline of White Working Class Spells Trouble for Trump | 2019-09-25T00:00:00 | drudgereport | Decline of White Working Class Spells Trouble for Trump? | (Bloomberg) -- The number of white working-class Americans dropped below 40% of the population for the first time last year, reflecting demographic shifts that could pose a challenge for President Donald Trump’s election in 2020. White Americans without a four-year college represented 71% of the population in 1975. Their decline as a share of the population is expected to continue and they will no longer be the largest demographic group by 2034, according to a blog post Tuesday from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. There’s no single cause for the decline. More Americans are seeking a college education, and leading causes of death — including the opioid epidemic, alcoholism and suicide — are hitting working-class whites hardest. And birth rates for whites are slowing compared with nonwhites. “Whatever the cause, the decline of this group will undoubtedly continue to have lasting economic and social consequences for the U.S.,” researchers Bill Emmons, Ana Kent and Lowell Ricketts wrote in the blog post, which focused on the demographic trends and didn’t mention the political implications. Among those consequences: the shrinking of one of Trump’s most reliable voting blocs. White voters without a college degree supported Trump by 66% to Hillary Clinton’s 29%, according to 2016 exit polls. Among men in that group, the margin was even higher, 71% to 23%. That’s the largest support from white working-class voters for any presidential candidate since 1980, according to the Pew Research Center. Trump also won college-educated whites, but by a smaller margin of 48% to 45%, while Clinton won large majorities of black, Latino and Asian voters. While the ranks of working-class whites has dropped 2% nationally since 2016, they remain a slight majority in the Midwest, the report notes. That’s a key 2020 battleground where the Trump campaign is focusing its turnout efforts in swing states like Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Midwest has also been hit hard by the manufacturing slowdown, exacerbated by the U.S.-China trade war Trump has steadily escalated. The steepest declines in the white working-class population have been in the Northeast and Western U.S., the report showed. In the West, the non-white working class now outnumbers the white working class. To contact the reporters on this story: Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at [email protected];Gregory Korte in Washington at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at [email protected], ;Wendy Benjaminson at [email protected], Max Berley For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com | null | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DrudgeReportFeed/~3/gTwL63fYKQw/decline-white-working-class-u-190138594.html | 2019-09-25 07:43:37+00:00 | 1,569,411,817 | 1,570,222,283 | labour | employment |
225,715 | frontpagemagazine--2019-07-21--quotExploiter of the Working Classquot Bernie Sanders Attacks Workers for Asking for a Raise | 2019-07-21T00:00:00 | frontpagemagazine | "Exploiter of the Working Class" Bernie Sanders Attacks Workers for Asking for a Raise | 1% Socialist Bernie Sanders, who has three homes and used to serve white wine on a private jet that was flown to campaign events, is outraged that his staff not only demanded $15 an hour in pay, but [also went to the media](https://www.mediaite.com/news/bernie-sanders-gripes-about-his-workers- complaining-to-media-but-agrees-to-pay-15-bucks-an-hour/) to complain about his plutocratic ways. > Sanders came under criticism this week for failing to pay his own campaign workers the $15 an hour minimum wage for which he has advocated after workers spoke out to complain about what they called “poverty” wages being paid to some field staff. > > According to The Washington Post, average hourly pay for the campaign workers in question is “less than $13” based on a 60-hour workweek at a salary of $36,000 a year, which is only a “poverty” wage for a family of seven. But, like all socialists, Bernie firmly believes that $15 an hour is the minimum wage that... other people should pay their workers. > In an interview with the Des Moines Register Friday, Sanders groused about the way some his workers went about airing their grievances: > > “It does bother me that people are going outside of the process and going to the media,” he said. “That is really not acceptable. It is really not what labor negotiations are about, and it’s improper.” Last time I checked, labor negotiations currently involve protests, acts of violence, inflatable rats, and yes, going to the media. I'm sorry that Bernie thinks that's awesome when it happens to other people, but that his socialist working people's campaign should be immune from the reality of the conflict between labor and capital. But that's something Bernie has in common with his Soviet comrades. They didn't like worker protests either. Sadly, Bernie isn't the Premier of the United States and can't put down the protests with machine guns. Yet. | Daniel Greenfield | https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274373/exploiter-working-class-bernie-sanders-attacks-daniel-greenfield | 2019-07-21 18:41:29+00:00 | 1,563,748,889 | 1,567,536,270 | labour | employment |
225,715 | frontpagemagazine--2019-07-21--quotExploiter of the Working Classquot Bernie Sanders Attacks Workers for Asking for a Raise | 2019-07-21T00:00:00 | frontpagemagazine | "Exploiter of the Working Class" Bernie Sanders Attacks Workers for Asking for a Raise | 1% Socialist Bernie Sanders, who has three homes and used to serve white wine on a private jet that was flown to campaign events, is outraged that his staff not only demanded $15 an hour in pay, but [also went to the media](https://www.mediaite.com/news/bernie-sanders-gripes-about-his-workers- complaining-to-media-but-agrees-to-pay-15-bucks-an-hour/) to complain about his plutocratic ways. > Sanders came under criticism this week for failing to pay his own campaign workers the $15 an hour minimum wage for which he has advocated after workers spoke out to complain about what they called “poverty” wages being paid to some field staff. > > According to The Washington Post, average hourly pay for the campaign workers in question is “less than $13” based on a 60-hour workweek at a salary of $36,000 a year, which is only a “poverty” wage for a family of seven. But, like all socialists, Bernie firmly believes that $15 an hour is the minimum wage that... other people should pay their workers. > In an interview with the Des Moines Register Friday, Sanders groused about the way some his workers went about airing their grievances: > > “It does bother me that people are going outside of the process and going to the media,” he said. “That is really not acceptable. It is really not what labor negotiations are about, and it’s improper.” Last time I checked, labor negotiations currently involve protests, acts of violence, inflatable rats, and yes, going to the media. I'm sorry that Bernie thinks that's awesome when it happens to other people, but that his socialist working people's campaign should be immune from the reality of the conflict between labor and capital. But that's something Bernie has in common with his Soviet comrades. They didn't like worker protests either. Sadly, Bernie isn't the Premier of the United States and can't put down the protests with machine guns. Yet. | Daniel Greenfield | https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/274373/exploiter-working-class-bernie-sanders-attacks-daniel-greenfield | 2019-07-21 18:41:29+00:00 | 1,563,748,889 | 1,567,536,270 | labour | labour relations |
235,731 | hitandrun--2019-08-14--Bernie Sanders Is Right That the Working Class Is Shrinking Hes Wrong To Suggest Thats a Bad Th | 2019-08-14T00:00:00 | hitandrun | Bernie Sanders Is Right That the 'Working Class' Is Shrinking. He's Wrong To Suggest That's a Bad Thing. | In a tweet this morning, Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, shows that his grasp of economics is about as strong as his grasp of "breaking news." He writes, exactly do you figure Bernie is talking about? Working class is sometimes used to denote blue-collar workers, especially factory workers. If we're going that route, it's undeniable that factory jobs have indeed massively declined, but not just over the past 40 years. In fact, industrial jobs as a percentage of the total workforce peaked not in 1979 but in 1943 Over the past couple of decades—at least since the 1990s, especially as President Bill Clinton was putting finishing touches on the North American Free Trade Agreement that critics wrongly feared would crater the U.S economy—we've spent a lot of time fretting over the end of factory jobs. In 2016, one of Donald Trump's main speaking points was that he was going to keep the factory jobs that remained and then bring back old ones that he mistakenly thought had gone overseas (between 2000 and 2010, according to one representative study, about 85 percent of factory job losses were due to automation, not free trade and off-shoring of jobs). The nostalgia with which factory jobs are treated is one sign that they've been gone for a very long time. Just as with Native Americans, we don't really embrace and romanticize objects of fear and ire until they are truly dispatched. Very few people loved factory jobs when they were a big part of the American economy—instead, you got movies like Modern Times, which portrayed working on an assembly line as torture and degradation. Same with farm work, which was something everyone wanted to escape when everyone had to do it. Rose divvied Americans into five income groups; the poor at $0 to 29,999; the lower middle class, from $30,000 to $49,999; the middle class, from $50,000 to $99,999; the upper middle class, from $100,000 to $349,999; and the rich, $350,000 and up. He then examined how each group had fared between 1979 and 2014. The percentage of American families with incomes over $356,000 grew from 0.1 percent in 1979 to 1.8 percent in 2014. Meanwhile during that period the percent of Americans in the middle-middle class, the lower middle class and the poor fell from 38.8 to 32 percent, 23.9 to 17.1 percent and 23.4 to 19.8 percent respectively. But maybe Bernie is talking about the "middle class" when he breaks the decades-old news that the rich are getting richer. Here, too, he seems off. As Reason's Ronald Bailey has pointed out , between 1979 and 2014, the income distribution in America has gotten markedly better, with more people clustered in its upper reaches. Citing work done by Stephen Rose, an economist at the liberal Urban Institute, Bailey writes: And as you can see in the chart above, folks in the "upper middle class" jumped from about 30 percent in 1979 to 52 percent in 2014. Yes, the rich do get richer, but when you start looking at individuals rather than statistical averages, an even-more heartening picture emerges for those of us who care about income mobility (I certainly do). Here's economist and Econtalk podcast host Russ Roberts sussing out the important data: One study finds that when you compare the income of parents working in the early 1960s to their children's income from the early 2000s, "84% earned more than their parents, corrected for inflation. But 93% of the children in the poorest households, the bottom 20% surpassed their parents. Only 70% of those raised in the top quintile exceeded their parent's income." A different study also found that kids in lower-income groups were far more likely to outstrip their parents' income than those born to wealthy parents: "70% of children born in 1980 into the bottom decile exceed their parents' income in 2014. For those born in the top 10%, only 33% exceed their parents' income." looks at people who were 35–40 in 1987 and then looks at how they were doing 20 years later, when they are 55–60. The median income of the people in the top 20% in 1987 ended up 5% lower twenty years later. The people in the middle 20% ended up with median income that was 27% higher. And if you started in the bottom 20%, your income doubled. If you were in the top 1% in 1987, 20 years later, median income was 29% lower. Like Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders is a populist whose rhetoric is intended to rile up people who feel like they are being taken to the cleaners by various elites (Trump zeroes in on cultural elites and institutions such as the academy and news media, Sanders focuses on economic elites). Each paints massively misleading pictures of contemporary life in America in an attempt to woo voters his way. None of this is to say that things are perfect as is, or even tolerable. But on the one hand, you have someone like Donald Trump, whose positive contributions to economic growth—tax reform and deregulation, say—are offset by really stupid policies on trade, immigration, and deficit-spending. On the other hand, you have someone like Bernie Sanders, who may not be a classic socialist that wants the state to own the means of production but does want to grow the size, scope, and spending of government with regard to every aspect of the government. These are not good options and they should not be the only options available to American voters in 2020, or any other year for that matter. | Nick Gillespie ([email protected]) | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/HitandRun/~3/SDDFeaG-gOM/ | 2019-08-14 18:15:21+00:00 | 1,565,820,921 | 1,567,534,208 | labour | labour market |
235,731 | hitandrun--2019-08-14--Bernie Sanders Is Right That the Working Class Is Shrinking Hes Wrong To Suggest Thats a Bad Th | 2019-08-14T00:00:00 | hitandrun | Bernie Sanders Is Right That the 'Working Class' Is Shrinking. He's Wrong To Suggest That's a Bad Thing. | In a tweet this morning, Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who is running for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party, shows that his grasp of economics is about as strong as his grasp of "breaking news." He writes, exactly do you figure Bernie is talking about? Working class is sometimes used to denote blue-collar workers, especially factory workers. If we're going that route, it's undeniable that factory jobs have indeed massively declined, but not just over the past 40 years. In fact, industrial jobs as a percentage of the total workforce peaked not in 1979 but in 1943 Over the past couple of decades—at least since the 1990s, especially as President Bill Clinton was putting finishing touches on the North American Free Trade Agreement that critics wrongly feared would crater the U.S economy—we've spent a lot of time fretting over the end of factory jobs. In 2016, one of Donald Trump's main speaking points was that he was going to keep the factory jobs that remained and then bring back old ones that he mistakenly thought had gone overseas (between 2000 and 2010, according to one representative study, about 85 percent of factory job losses were due to automation, not free trade and off-shoring of jobs). The nostalgia with which factory jobs are treated is one sign that they've been gone for a very long time. Just as with Native Americans, we don't really embrace and romanticize objects of fear and ire until they are truly dispatched. Very few people loved factory jobs when they were a big part of the American economy—instead, you got movies like Modern Times, which portrayed working on an assembly line as torture and degradation. Same with farm work, which was something everyone wanted to escape when everyone had to do it. Rose divvied Americans into five income groups; the poor at $0 to 29,999; the lower middle class, from $30,000 to $49,999; the middle class, from $50,000 to $99,999; the upper middle class, from $100,000 to $349,999; and the rich, $350,000 and up. He then examined how each group had fared between 1979 and 2014. The percentage of American families with incomes over $356,000 grew from 0.1 percent in 1979 to 1.8 percent in 2014. Meanwhile during that period the percent of Americans in the middle-middle class, the lower middle class and the poor fell from 38.8 to 32 percent, 23.9 to 17.1 percent and 23.4 to 19.8 percent respectively. But maybe Bernie is talking about the "middle class" when he breaks the decades-old news that the rich are getting richer. Here, too, he seems off. As Reason's Ronald Bailey has pointed out , between 1979 and 2014, the income distribution in America has gotten markedly better, with more people clustered in its upper reaches. Citing work done by Stephen Rose, an economist at the liberal Urban Institute, Bailey writes: And as you can see in the chart above, folks in the "upper middle class" jumped from about 30 percent in 1979 to 52 percent in 2014. Yes, the rich do get richer, but when you start looking at individuals rather than statistical averages, an even-more heartening picture emerges for those of us who care about income mobility (I certainly do). Here's economist and Econtalk podcast host Russ Roberts sussing out the important data: One study finds that when you compare the income of parents working in the early 1960s to their children's income from the early 2000s, "84% earned more than their parents, corrected for inflation. But 93% of the children in the poorest households, the bottom 20% surpassed their parents. Only 70% of those raised in the top quintile exceeded their parent's income." A different study also found that kids in lower-income groups were far more likely to outstrip their parents' income than those born to wealthy parents: "70% of children born in 1980 into the bottom decile exceed their parents' income in 2014. For those born in the top 10%, only 33% exceed their parents' income." looks at people who were 35–40 in 1987 and then looks at how they were doing 20 years later, when they are 55–60. The median income of the people in the top 20% in 1987 ended up 5% lower twenty years later. The people in the middle 20% ended up with median income that was 27% higher. And if you started in the bottom 20%, your income doubled. If you were in the top 1% in 1987, 20 years later, median income was 29% lower. Like Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders is a populist whose rhetoric is intended to rile up people who feel like they are being taken to the cleaners by various elites (Trump zeroes in on cultural elites and institutions such as the academy and news media, Sanders focuses on economic elites). Each paints massively misleading pictures of contemporary life in America in an attempt to woo voters his way. None of this is to say that things are perfect as is, or even tolerable. But on the one hand, you have someone like Donald Trump, whose positive contributions to economic growth—tax reform and deregulation, say—are offset by really stupid policies on trade, immigration, and deficit-spending. On the other hand, you have someone like Bernie Sanders, who may not be a classic socialist that wants the state to own the means of production but does want to grow the size, scope, and spending of government with regard to every aspect of the government. These are not good options and they should not be the only options available to American voters in 2020, or any other year for that matter. | Nick Gillespie ([email protected]) | http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reason/HitandRun/~3/SDDFeaG-gOM/ | 2019-08-14 18:15:21+00:00 | 1,565,820,921 | 1,567,534,208 | labour | employment |
246,667 | humortimes--2019-06-12--Trump to Working Class Adios Chumps | 2019-06-12T00:00:00 | humortimes | Trump to Working Class: ‘Adios, Chumps’ | ### _Lavish payouts to top-floor bosses — combined with a miserliness toward rank-and-file employees who actually produce the corporate wealth — is creating an untenable income disparity in corporate America._ Congratulations on that nice pay raise you got last year, a 7% hike — wow! Seven percent might not sound all that big, but after 40 years of stagnant wages, even a small uptick can help cover some of your old credit card bills or get an upgrade on your 10-year-old pickup. Oh, wait… You say _you_ didn’t get 7%? Oops, my mistake. It was the CEOs of corporate giants who reported to the Associated Press that they enjoyed a median jump of 7% last year. And as their paychecks were already king-size, that uptick amounted to an extra $800,000 in their take-home, for a median yearly income of $12 million each. Bear in mind that “median” means half of the corporate bosses grabbed more than 7%. For example, David Zaslav, honcho of the [Discovery television network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Channel), had a 207% boost in pay, raising his total take in 2018 to $130 million. These lavish payouts to top-floor bosses — combined with a miserliness toward rank-and-file employees who actually produce the [corporate wealth](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/24/workers-are- creating-massive-wealth-why-are-corporations-hoarding-it-all) — is creating an untenable income disparity in corporate America, stretching inequality in our Land of Egalitarianism to the snapping point. The pay gap between aloof CEOs and typical employees nearly doubled last year at a range of corporate giants, from PayPal to CVS Pharmacy, and it _tripled_ at Discovery. AP’s recent survey of 340 major corporations found that compensation inequality is now so extreme that a middle-wage employee would have to work _158 years_ to make as much as his or her chief executive was given last year alone. This separation is widening at warp speed, propelled by the boundless greed and narcissism of so- called leaders like Zaslav. To amass as much pay as he pocketed in 2018, a typical Discovery employee would have to work 989 years. When you hear corporate chieftains and such corporate cheerleaders as [Donald Trump](https://www.humortimes.com/74143/donald-trump-flight-risk/) gloat that our economy is “booming,” ask yourself: A boom for whom? We have a president who mistakes price for value. Thus, to measure America’s economic health is simple for him: Just check the price of corporate stocks and any fool can see that he’s the best president ever at running the economy. After all, since he’s been in office, Wall Street has been whizzing! Unfortunately, though, it’s whizzing on you and me. Wall Street is an inequality machine. It encourages top executives to jack up their own wealth by artificially inflating their corporation’s stock prices. Then it rewards executives who offshore jobs, cut wages, monopolize markets, bust unions, gouge consumers and dodge taxes. Far from reining in Wall Street’s destructive plutocratic power, Trump has juiced it up with new tax advantages for big investors and the removal of rules to restrain banker scams. Meanwhile, the guy who pretended in his campaign to be a champion for America’s workers has been a one-man working-class wrecking crew, systematically destroying employee rights and protections against income disparity and the abuses of corporate bosses. On everything from overtime pay and minimum wage to workplace safety and the right to form a union, Trump & Company has sided with corporate interests over working stiffs, essentially saying to workers: “You’re on your own. Adios, chumps.” So, the economic “boom” that he so vaingloriously talks about is actually the sound of the middle class crashing. That thunderous boom-boom-boom represents millions of Americans who’re living paycheck to paycheck, who have little to no savings and inadequate health coverage, who can’t afford the rip-off drug prices Big Pharma is being allowed to charge, who’re sinking in debt. And all they’re getting from Trump are his vapid political rallies, shouting “MAGA” — “Make America Great Again.” Inequality doesn’t just happen; it’s caused by the deliberate actions of power elites. Far from reducing inequality, Trump has intentionally escalated the corporate war on working-class Americans. Under his regime, nearly half of all new income today is going to the wealthiest 1%. The following two tabs change content below. National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow," Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower is a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, spreading the message of progressive populism all across the American grassroots. He broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried in more than 150 commercial and public stations and on the web. | Jim Hightower | https://www.humortimes.com/76749/working-class-income-disparity/ | 2019-06-12 00:46:16+00:00 | 1,560,314,776 | 1,567,539,111 | labour | labour relations |
246,667 | humortimes--2019-06-12--Trump to Working Class Adios Chumps | 2019-06-12T00:00:00 | humortimes | Trump to Working Class: ‘Adios, Chumps’ | ### _Lavish payouts to top-floor bosses — combined with a miserliness toward rank-and-file employees who actually produce the corporate wealth — is creating an untenable income disparity in corporate America._ Congratulations on that nice pay raise you got last year, a 7% hike — wow! Seven percent might not sound all that big, but after 40 years of stagnant wages, even a small uptick can help cover some of your old credit card bills or get an upgrade on your 10-year-old pickup. Oh, wait… You say _you_ didn’t get 7%? Oops, my mistake. It was the CEOs of corporate giants who reported to the Associated Press that they enjoyed a median jump of 7% last year. And as their paychecks were already king-size, that uptick amounted to an extra $800,000 in their take-home, for a median yearly income of $12 million each. Bear in mind that “median” means half of the corporate bosses grabbed more than 7%. For example, David Zaslav, honcho of the [Discovery television network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Channel), had a 207% boost in pay, raising his total take in 2018 to $130 million. These lavish payouts to top-floor bosses — combined with a miserliness toward rank-and-file employees who actually produce the [corporate wealth](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/24/workers-are- creating-massive-wealth-why-are-corporations-hoarding-it-all) — is creating an untenable income disparity in corporate America, stretching inequality in our Land of Egalitarianism to the snapping point. The pay gap between aloof CEOs and typical employees nearly doubled last year at a range of corporate giants, from PayPal to CVS Pharmacy, and it _tripled_ at Discovery. AP’s recent survey of 340 major corporations found that compensation inequality is now so extreme that a middle-wage employee would have to work _158 years_ to make as much as his or her chief executive was given last year alone. This separation is widening at warp speed, propelled by the boundless greed and narcissism of so- called leaders like Zaslav. To amass as much pay as he pocketed in 2018, a typical Discovery employee would have to work 989 years. When you hear corporate chieftains and such corporate cheerleaders as [Donald Trump](https://www.humortimes.com/74143/donald-trump-flight-risk/) gloat that our economy is “booming,” ask yourself: A boom for whom? We have a president who mistakes price for value. Thus, to measure America’s economic health is simple for him: Just check the price of corporate stocks and any fool can see that he’s the best president ever at running the economy. After all, since he’s been in office, Wall Street has been whizzing! Unfortunately, though, it’s whizzing on you and me. Wall Street is an inequality machine. It encourages top executives to jack up their own wealth by artificially inflating their corporation’s stock prices. Then it rewards executives who offshore jobs, cut wages, monopolize markets, bust unions, gouge consumers and dodge taxes. Far from reining in Wall Street’s destructive plutocratic power, Trump has juiced it up with new tax advantages for big investors and the removal of rules to restrain banker scams. Meanwhile, the guy who pretended in his campaign to be a champion for America’s workers has been a one-man working-class wrecking crew, systematically destroying employee rights and protections against income disparity and the abuses of corporate bosses. On everything from overtime pay and minimum wage to workplace safety and the right to form a union, Trump & Company has sided with corporate interests over working stiffs, essentially saying to workers: “You’re on your own. Adios, chumps.” So, the economic “boom” that he so vaingloriously talks about is actually the sound of the middle class crashing. That thunderous boom-boom-boom represents millions of Americans who’re living paycheck to paycheck, who have little to no savings and inadequate health coverage, who can’t afford the rip-off drug prices Big Pharma is being allowed to charge, who’re sinking in debt. And all they’re getting from Trump are his vapid political rallies, shouting “MAGA” — “Make America Great Again.” Inequality doesn’t just happen; it’s caused by the deliberate actions of power elites. Far from reducing inequality, Trump has intentionally escalated the corporate war on working-class Americans. Under his regime, nearly half of all new income today is going to the wealthiest 1%. The following two tabs change content below. National radio commentator, writer, public speaker, and author of the book, "Swim Against The Current: Even A Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow," Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the Powers That Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be - consumers, working families, environmentalists, small businesses, and just-plain-folks. Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower is a modern-day Johnny Appleseed, spreading the message of progressive populism all across the American grassroots. He broadcasts daily radio commentaries that are carried in more than 150 commercial and public stations and on the web. | Jim Hightower | https://www.humortimes.com/76749/working-class-income-disparity/ | 2019-06-12 00:46:16+00:00 | 1,560,314,776 | 1,567,539,111 | labour | employment |
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