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☆ Exclusive: U.S. blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Nichola Groom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 shipments of solar energy components worth hundreds of millions of dollars have piled up at U.S. ports since June under a new law banning imports from China's Xinjiang region over concerns about slave labor, according to federal customs officials and industry sources. The agency would not reveal the manufacturers or confirm details about the quantity of solar equipment in the shipments, citing federal law that protects confidential trade secrets. But the companies have halted new shipments to the United States over concerns additional cargoes will also be detained, the industry sources said. The sources asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. CBP has previously said that it had detained about 1,700 shipments worth $516.3 million under UFLPA through September but has never before detailed how many of those shipments contained solar equipment.

☆ Analysis: North Korea's missile launches show no scarcity of weapons funding, materials despite sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Josh Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week the country fired more than 80 missiles, including its latest short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) and a new variant of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), by far the North's most launches in such a short period. North Korean state media showed older SCUD-type missiles were also fired. Analysts and sanctions experts say North Korea continues to rely on materials and other inputs from overseas. "Russia and China are where most of the overseas North Korean ballistic missile procurement agents are based," said Hugh Griffiths, a former coordinator for a U.N. panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea, and now an independent sanctions consultant. North Korea wants to import some 100 tons of solid propellant by 2030, according to the advisory.

☆ Brex: 2022 Top Startups for the Enterprise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

While Brex broke through as a fintech disruptor offering small businesses and startups access to credit lines and software to manage their finances, it's moved up the corporate food chain in recent years as some of its early clients grew into big companies. Brex boasts more than 10,000 corporate customers, including DoorDash and Airbnb. While its main product – an unsecured, high-limit charge card for start-ups – exposes it to high-risk companies that could fail, the company manages risk by using real-time data on customers to help make dynamic lending decisions. It recently exited the small business sector but expanded its services to include cash flow management software. In April, DoorDash became the first customer for Empower, a spend management tool which also covers travel, procurement, payments and banking access.

☆ Hungary picks PwC partner to lead new anti-graft body overseeing EU funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BUDAPEST, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hungary's State Audit Office has picked PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic partner Ferenc Biro to lead a new anti-graft body to be launched by mid-November as part of efforts to regain access to European Union funds locked up over corruption risks. Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has been locked in battles with Brussels over corruption, migration, LGBTQ rights and democratic standards. The body, to be launched by Nov. 19, will be tasked with reinforcing the prevention, detection and correction of fraud, conflicts of interest and corruption. It will have extensive powers such as instructing contracting authorities to suspend a procurement procedure and requesting probes. ($1 = 1.0229 euros)Reporting by Gergely Szakacs Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: North Asia gears up for peak winter energy demand season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Key North Asian economies are stockpiling fuel, diversifying sources and conserving power to ensure adequate supplies for winter, as an unprecedented global energy crisis makes spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases costly. * City gas providers held 2.54 million tonnes at end-August, ministry data shows, versus 1.97 million tonnes a year earlier and also above a five-year average. * South Korea's LNG stocks stood near 3.9 million tonnes at end-September, a source with knowledge of the matter said. * Households and businesses are being encouraged to reduce energy consumption through incentives like tax cuts, though details have not been announced. CHINA* China is expected to stay clear of spot LNG purchases this winter due to higher prices and slow demand growth amid COVID-19 curbs.

☆ Microsoft's president warns of talent shortage for tackling climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Thousands of businesses will fail to meet pledges to combat climate change unless they start training employees on sustainability, Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) President Brad Smith told Reuters. Microsoft sells software for organizations to track their environmental impact. Still, companies need more than technology to address global warming, said Smith, announcing plans to develop green education materials including on LinkedIn, which Microsoft owns. The findings primarily stemmed from interviews and surveys with Microsoft and eight other large companies in sectors such as finance and consumer goods. "Employers really need to step back and take a broader look at their investment in employee learning and training."

“If I won the lottery, I’d do this for free because I have a passion for public health,” Bernstein said. I had to put other projects on hold to do pro bono work for the CDC. “If we want CDC to get better at fighting diseases, we need to stop tying their hands behind their back,” he said. A senior CDC official called it an “antiquated” system that “has not evolved over time.” The official spoke on the on the condition of anonymity so she could speak freely on the matter. ‘A real challenge to solve’The CDC is preparing a presentation to urge Congress it to fix this, Walensky said.

☆ Miner BHP warns of inflation risks in 2023, says China demand to stabilize
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Praveen Menon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We do expect the lag effect of inflationary pressures to remain a persistent challenge through the 2023 financial year," Agar said. Mining firms have been warning high inflation could hit short-term demand and slow growth plans, although earlier this year skyrocketing prices for iron ore and other resources buoyed profits. Prices of iron ore have since fallen due to a gloomy outlook for China, the world's biggest steel producer. Agar said Europe and the U.K. are "almost certainly going to experience recession", and the U.S. economy will slow down. "We think China will be a source of stability for commodity demand over the next 12 months, as stimulus policies progressively take effect," Agar said.

☆ Iran appears to be using Chinese knock-offs of Western parts to build suicide drones for Russia's war in Ukraine, researchers find
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Iran appears to be using Chinese knock-offs of Western hardware in its suicide drones. According to a new report from the Institute for Science and International Security, these weapons appear to be built using Chinese parts that are based on Western designs. Iran has also designed its own parts that are based on these knock-off Chinese parts. And this Chinese engine is based on a British design. It's also unknown when specific Chinese parts arrived in Iran.

☆ U.S. FDA warns of tracheostomy tube shortage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Monday there was a shortage of tracheostomy tubes, a surgical device that helps patients to breathe, including those manufactured by ICU Medical (ICUI.O). The agency said the shortage was due to difficulties in raw material procurement and would most likely impact pediatric patients. They will be affected by the limited supply of tubes with similar functionality as ICU Medical's Bivona, that are made from flexible silicone and easier to use in children. The health regulator has recommended reusing tracheostomy tubes after following proper sanitary procedures in order to deal with the current shortage. Reporting by Khushi Mandowara; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A 12.4% decline in auto-related production - the sector's steepest fall in eight months - drove down the overall index. Manufacturers surveyed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) expected output to fall another 0.4% in October and rise 0.8% in November. "Rather, with rising procurement costs on the weak yen, coupled with (higher) energy prices, some firms have voiced concerns for their business conditions." Separate data showed retail sales rose 4.5% year-on-year in September, extending a rebound since March when the government ended domestic COVID-19 containment measures. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, retail sales grew 1.1% in September, rising for a third month.

☆ Germany set to attach conditions to gas price 'brake', sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Christian Kraemer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Berlin last month set out an energy relief package, including a gas price brake and a cut in fuel sales tax to help households and small and medium-sized business (SMEs). The government is expected to accept many of the commission's proposals once finalised, the sources said. Any companies that breach the conditions would have to pay back the price difference to the government. The gas procurement price for some 25,000 large industrial customers will be capped at 7 euro cents per Kwh for 70% of consumption, the sources added. Private households and small companies will benefit from the cap from March 2023 until the end of April 2024 while the measure could come into force in January for industrial customers.

☆ What to do when something at work goes against your moral code — and your boss doesn't care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This week's letter is from a manager whose colleague has lied and his boss doesn't care. Experts say he's experiencing moral injury — when an event or behavior violates your values. I'm a bank procurement manager who's dealing with a difficult situation with one of my colleagues, "Melanie." Most research related to moral injury concerns members of the military, as combat and war create situations that might conflict with people's moral and ethical values. There's no easy remedy for moral injury.

NBC News, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Washington Post, and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism, interviewed more than 40 current and former employees of contractors at military bases. According to an NBC News analysis, at least 10 companies with substantiated trafficking violations since 2007 have received billions in new government contracts. ‘Mad scramble’Foreign workers are crucial for the more than 700 military bases with U.S. service members around the world. One company that continues to get work at Middle East bases despite past violations documented in an Army compliance agreement is Tamimi, Abdulla’s employer. Lusambu Karim, a 50-year-old Ugandan, told NBC News about trafficking violations he said he encountered working for Aegis in Afghanistan from 2018 to 2020.

☆ IBM salaries revealed: Engineers can earn nearly $200K. See how much analysts, managers, and others at the tech giant make.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

IBM is among the oldest and largest computer companies in the world and has more than 350,000 employees. These offers must be equal to what US employees earn making them a great guide to employee salaries at the company. When Insider analyzed IBM salary data in 2021, the highest offer was to an engineering program director, earning $335,000. A technical team lead, for instance, earned $57,500 in Monroe, LA, and as much as $114,500 in Parsippany, NJ. Insider has also compiled a database of salaries across other big tech companies like Google, Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and more.

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"SAP is fully committed to winding down our business in Russia as quickly as possible," a SAP spokesperson said. Russia's parliament has been discussing draft legislation that would allow Moscow to seize Western companies' assets and possibly prosecute executives involved in implementing sanctions against Russia. While Gazprom and Sberbank were hit by Western sanctions, Nornickel was not. The SAP case sheds light on the complications Western companies face leaving Russia. While some departing companies have fired local staff, SAP gave them the option to relocate from Russia.

☆ Kraft Heinz CEO: Inflation and supply shortages are here to stay for a while
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio says higher inflation and supply issues are coursing through the food industry, forcing companies to adopt new strategies for everything from production to promotion to packaging. For its second quarter ended June 25, Kraft Heinz raised its prices overall by 12.4 percentage points compared to the year-earlier period. Beyond the double-barrel challenges of shortages of raw materials and inflation, issues like the continuing pandemic, the war in Ukraine and climate change are adding to the uncertainty. Kraft Heinz has also leaned into different packaging and pricing options for consumers, including bulk value packs of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and wider variety of bottle sizes for products like Heinz ketchup for shoppers who want smaller, lower-priced choices. And this is what we’re trying to do.”Those supply issues are broader than the Covid era, however.

☆ How a conviction in Trump Org's upcoming trial could bar Trump from federal contracts, even for Secret Service
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Laura Italiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A ban could end his 'exorbitant' billing of Secret Service agents who protect him at his resorts. Add to that the recent news that the Trump Organization had billed the Secret Service more than $ 1.4 million to stay at Trump properties during the former president's time in office. At the Trump Organization headquarters in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, the cars, apartments and tuition were considered part of Weisselberg's $940,000-a-year income, prosecutors allege. Secret Service a tough targetWatchdogs concede that Trump's Secret Service billing is a tough target. Barring the unlikelihood of a cash-free solution — Trump letting the Secret Service "stay at our properties for free," as Eric Trump once promised, or forgoing Secret Service protection voluntarily, as Richard Nixon did — Trump's Secret Service spigot may well remain open, watchdogs acknowledge.

☆ Hungary gets exemption from planned EU gas price cap, PM Orban says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BUDAPEST, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Hungary's prime minister said on Friday that an agreement had been reached at the EU summit in Brussels that any future EU gas price cap will not apply to long-term gas supply deals like the 15-year deal that Hungary has with Russia's Gazprom. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on his Facebook page that "We got an exemption from the gas price cap so that will not jeopardize Hungary's security of gas supply." He also said that even if there is a joint gas procurement in Europe "that will not be mandatory for Hungary." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Krisztina Than; editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Reducing gas consumption — not gas price caps will solve energy crisis, policy analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailReducing gas consumption — not gas price caps will solve energy crisis, policy analyst saysSimon Dekeyrel, policy analyst at the European Policy Centre, discusses the issues faced by the European Commission such as the gas price cap and procurement of natural gas.

☆ Dutch government to spend billions on military procurement
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, Oct 19 (Reuters) - The Dutch government will invest up to 3.5 billion euros ($3.44 billion) in military procurement, the defence ministry said, in a policy turnaround in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. After years of declining spending, the Dutch military will purchase between 2023 and 2026 a rocket artillery system and 10 howitzer cannons for up to 1 billion euros. The new mobile air defence system is intended to improve defence against threats from enemy helicopters, aircraft, drones and cruise missiles, Van der Maat said. Poland is set to buy rocket artillery systems from South Korea. In fulfillment of that, Dutch spending will be 2.03% in 2024 and 2.01% in 2025.

☆ Why Russia accused China of copying its stealth fighter design
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alex Hollings | Sandboxx News | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

China is often accused of stealing plans for the US F-22 and F-35 to design its J-20 stealth jet. A Chinese J-20. Russia called out the J-20's similarities with the MiG 1.44 immediately after the Chinese fighter was revealedRussia's Su-47 Berkut forward-swept wing aircraft. REUTERS/StringerMikoyan has denied providing any kind of support for China's stealth fighter development which dates back to well before the J-20 was officially unveiled. "It looks like they got access … to documents relating to the Mikoyan — the aircraft that the Ministry of Defence skipped over in its tender to create a stealth fighter," he said.

Some of the electronics obtained through the scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said. They used a German company to ship the military technologies, as well as Venezuelan oil, to Russian purchasers, prosecutors said. The U.S.-origin technologies can be used in fighter aircraft, ballistic and hypersonic missile systems, smart munitions, and other military applications, Treasury said. After the initial round of U.S. sanctions on PDVSA, Russia's Rosneft emerged as a key intermediary for Venezuelan crude. After Washington sanctioned Rosneft subsidiaries over their dealings with PDVSA, dozens of firms with no track record of oil trading have been intermediating in sales of Venezuelan oil to Chinese buyers.

☆ Russia's attack on Ukraine shows that the US and Europe have to relearn how to fight an industrial war
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Alexander Clarkson | World Politics Review | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The military effort to support Ukraine shows how US and European defense priorities have been distorted. The war is a reminder that the US and Europe must fundamentally reassess how they prepare for war. The military responses Western states formulated toward these perceived threats were shaped by wider neoliberal policy approaches shaped by the impact of globalization. This greater reliance on private-sector actors to develop and administer key military functions also reflected a period of tightening defense budgets. An airman secures a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition on an aircraft at Barksdale Air Force Base in August 2014.

☆ This startup helps Microsoft and P&G make their products more sustainable. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise $17.5 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A startup that helps companies build more sustainable products just raised $17.5 million. We got an exclusive look at the 14-slide pitch deck it used to raise the Series A round. A German startup that enables companies to assess the sustainability of their products before going to market just landed 18 million euros (around $17.5 million) in its first institutional raise. Makersite uses AI to create software-based replicas of product designs using technology known as digital twins. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck Makersite used to raise the fresh funds below.

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