Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
FRAUD AND ERROR IN UK COVID FURLOUGH SCHEME COULD HIT GBP3.5 BILLION
The UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme could have paid out up to GBP3.5 billion (USD4.56 billion) fraudulently or by error, a senior treasury official told a parliamentary committee on September 7. The scheme, which pays out 80% of a previous salary to workers furloughed during the Covid-19 crisis, has cost the country GBP35.4 billion (USD45.99 billion) since March.…
COURT FINALISES TAKEOVER DEAL OF GREEK COLD CUTS PRODUCER CRETA FARMS
The takeover of troubled Greek cold cuts producer Creta Farms has been approved by a court, with Dutch-Bulgarian investment trust Impala Invest Group, which already runs food manufacturers in Bulgaria, to gain ownership.
A court of first instance in the Cretan city of Rethymno has formally approved a restructuring plan filed at the court by the new owner, which had been previously approved by the Greek banks and includes debt haircut of 64.12%.…
BANGLADESH LEATHER INDUSTRY SAYS IT AFFORD NEW MINIMUM WAGE RATES
THE Bangladesh leather and footwear sector says it can afford to pay new minimum wages for the leather sector, with the industry association being upbeat about implementing the new system and remaining “compliant”.
The ministry of labour and employment on September 8 issued a gazette fixing a minimum monthly pay of USD84 for the leather and footwear sector workers, just short of USD95 rate for garment industry employees.…
FEMALE CHIEF OF MOROCCO’S CLOTHING AND TEXTILE INDUSTRY HELPS COMPANIES WITHSTAND COVID-19 CHAOS
When Fatima Alaouia-Zohra stepped up to become the first female director-general of Morocco’s textile and clothing industry association AMITH last September (2019), she was ready to lead this important near-sourcing manufacturing hub through a process of massive change.
Little did she know that within months she would also be facing the gargantuan challenge of steering the industry through the Covid-19 global crisis, a pandemic that while hugely disruptive, creates opportunities for Moroccan clothing and textile makers.…
DRC UNIVERSITIES REOPEN, EVEN AS COVID-19 SPREADS AND HEALTH FEARS PERSIST
The government and higher education sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have succumbed to pressure from students and academics about avoiding further delays in the academic calendar, resuming classes despite Covid-19 continuing to spread.
Universities and colleges reopened on August 10, following more than four months of inactivity following a state of emergency declared by DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, crippling higher education institutions.…
CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS HELP CRITICAL REGIONAL TOURISM SECTOR SURVIVE COVID-19
From bringing traditionally outsourced services in house to right-sizing staff, Caribbean financial professionals advising the region’s critically important tourism sector are making tough decisions to keep businesses afloat and redundancies to a minimum during Covid-19.
ACCA members speaking to A&B, however testified to solidarity among workers, clients and suppliers – and the resilience of a region used to disaster, albeit usually through extreme weather.…
SOUTH SUDAN UNIVERSITIES SEEKING WAYS TO REOPEN IN SEPTEMBER, BUT NEED GOVERNMENT APPROVAL AND GUIDANCE
South Sudan is struggling to deliver a plan to reopen its higher education sector to face-to-face learning in September, which is attempting to shrug off Covid-19, just as the country is emerging from civil war. The latest push follows an abortive early attempt to pull South Sudan’s universities out of lockdown in May and comes as Gabriel Changson Chang as the new minister of higher education, science and technology – the third minister to hold that office since January 2020. …
ENERGY CONSORTIUM RELEASES EUROPEAN HYDROGEN NETWORK PLAN
A PLAN to build a dedicated hydrogen pipeline network of almost 23,000 km within nine European countries by 2040 has been released by 11 European gas infrastructure companies. Enagás, Energinet, Fluxys Belgium, Gasunie, GRTgaz, NET4GAS, OGE, ONTRAS, Snam, Swedegas (Nordion Energi), Teréga and a consultancy Guidehouse call their proposed network a ‘European Hydrogen Backbone’.…
QUANTUM COMPUTING RESEARCH DEVELOPING ACROSS AFRICA, WITH SOUTH AFRICAN WORK UNDERPINNING PROGRESS
The cutting edge IT field of quantum computing is developing across Africa, with South Africa considered the hub, in part through an IBM centre in Johannesburg that enables academics throughout the continent to freely access its quantum computer network, based in the USA, through the cloud.…
QUANTUM COMPUTING OFFERS MAJOR EFFICIENCY INNOVATION BENEFITS TO PAINT AND COATING SECTOR
QUANTUM computing is coming to fruition after decades of research and these new powerful systems will offer paint and coating manufacturers the opportunity to develop new chemicals and products unimaginable using classical computers.
These new computers excel in complex calculations needed to model molecules, especially those from nature, whose assessment are often at the core of designing new chemical solutions delivering new functionality and colour to paints and coatings.…