Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 December 2020

Tue Dec 15 11:57:03 CAT 2020

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 15 December 2020

ü  Covid-19: Safety concerns over planes returning to service

ü  EU Digital Services Act set to bring in new rules for tech giants

ü  Pinterest in $22.5m gender discrimination payout

ü  UK loses 819,000 paid jobs since start of pandemic

ü  US regulators open privacy probes into tech giants

ü  Adidas considers selling off its Reebok brand

ü  Asda beefs up anti-Covid security for Christmas

ü  Billionaire Issa brothers in £440m German petrol chain bid

ü  Covid: GPs complain of delays in receiving virus vaccine

ü  Asian stocks dip to one-week lows as infection fears curb vaccine optimism

ü  U.S. tech giants face 6-10% fines as EU set rules to curb their power

ü  Airlines warned over safety as jets return from pandemic storage

ü  U.S. Homeland Security, thousands of businesses scramble after suspected Russian hack

ü  Jet fuel prices take flight as vaccine roll-outs spur hopes of more air travel

ü  Apple plans 30% increase in iPhone production for first half of 2021 - Nikkei

ü  Volkswagen shares gain as CEO gets backing from supervisory board

Covid-19: Safety concerns over planes returning to service

Experts are warning airlines to take extra care when reactivating planes left in storage during the pandemic.

Pilot rustiness, maintenance errors and even insect nests could be potential dangers for aircraft re-entering service.

Travel restrictions have caused a huge decline in flying, with many planes put in extended storage.

As a result, there has been a spike in the number of reported problems as planes return to service.

“Every aircraft is going to have a specific set of instructions for maintenance, but it has never been done on this scale before,” said Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor of aviation magazine FlightGlobal.

Along with regulators, insurers have also expressed concern. “We’ve got people returning to work who are quite rusty, which is a big issue,” said Gary Moran, head of Asia aviation at insurance broker Aon.

Not 'like riding a bike'

One of the most worrying problems is an increase in the number of poorly-handled landing approaches.

The number of so-called "unstabilised approaches" has sharply increased this year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

They can result in hard landings, runway overshoots or even crashes.

In May, a Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an unstabilised approach, killing 97 people, while 18 died in an Air India Express crash on landing in August, also after an unstabilised approach.

Experts say that pilots might need to be more cautious than usual as they re-enter service.

“Flying an aircraft can be quite technical. If you haven’t been doing it for a while, it’s certainly not second nature like riding a bike,” Mr Waldron added.

However, he said airlines are aware of the issue and in many cases have booked extra time for their pilots in flight simulators.

media captionLast landing for BA Boeing 747 plane

Maintenance difficulties

Aircraft in storage typically undergo a routine maintenance schedule to ensure they're ready to return to service when business improves.

Asia Pacific Airline Storage, which has a facility at Alice Springs that stores planes for Cathay Pacific and Singapore airlines, employs more than 70 maintenance crew.

Manufacturers also give very detailed instructions about how to store their aircraft. But there have still been some reported problems.

For example, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said there has been a surge in the number of reports of unreliable airspeed and altitude readings during the first flight after a plane leaves storage.

In some cases, take-offs have had to be abandoned or the aircraft has had to return to base.

Insect nests

In many previous cases problems with airspeed readings have been due to insects or larvae in the aircraft's pitot tubes, which are key components used to measure air speed.

These issues are well known within the aviation industry, and Mr Waldron said he thinks airline travel will remain safe.

But he added that there will be some issues, because planes have been stored for longer than before, and in some cases the planes in storage are new models, which means the potential issues are not as well documented.--BBC

EU Digital Services Act set to bring in new rules for tech giants

The European Union is set to unveil new rules it says will "overhaul" the digital market, including how tech giants operate.

A pair of laws - the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts - will be announced later on Tuesday.

They are expected to be the biggest revision in 20 years, focusing on competition and making platforms responsible for hosted content.

There are also likely to create heavy fines for violations of the rules.

The rules are being spearheaded by commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, both of whom have a history of strong rhetoric against the biggest tech giants - as commissioners for competition and the internal market respectively.

Writing a joint opinion piece for The Irish Times on Sunday, the pair hinted at the tone of the proposals: "The business and political interests of a handful of companies should not dictate our future.

"Our rules on digital services in Europe - the most coveted single market in the world - date back to 2000. Most online platforms hardly existed back then," they wrote.

"We need to update our toolbox and make sure that our rules and principles are respected everywhere. Online as well as offline."

One key part of the legislation is expected to address the dominance of big players such as Google and Facebook - which tend to be US-based.

In particular, the European Commission has indicated it objects to such giants using the data they gather from one service to "improve or develop" a new one in a different area, making it difficult to compete with them.

The Commission labels such firms "gatekeepers", saying they "set the rules of the game for their users and their competitors".

Technology analyst Benedict Evans said the new rules are likely to have "unintended consequences".

"California thought Uber drivers should be classed as employees, which we can debate, but passed a law that accidentally banned all freelance work," he said, referencing the years-long controversy over worker's rights in the state, which was only settled by popular vote last month.

"GDPR aimed to protect privacy, but also strengthened Google and Facebook and weakened independent media," Mr Evans added. Smaller media outlets have found it difficult to comply with the privacy, leading many US outlets to simply not allow EU readers on their sites.

He said he expected the new acts to "probably contain sensible things, contentious things, and silly things".--BBC

Pinterest in $22.5m gender discrimination payout

Social media firm Pinterest has agreed to pay $22.5m (£16.9m) to settle claims of gender discrimination brought by its former chief operating officer.

The settlement with Francoise Brougher is the largest payout of its kind to be publicly announced.

The photo-sharing company, known for having a heavily female user base, said the action was part of a broader effort to "improve its culture".

The case came amid other criticism from black female former staff.

In the lawsuit, filed in August, Ms Brougher accused Pinterest of excluding her from meetings after she pushed for equal pay.

She said Pinterest ultimately fired her after she pushed for equal pay and raised concerns about sexist comments by a colleague to the company.

The complaint said the move had "solidified Pinterest's unwelcoming environment for women and minorities".

Ms Brougher, 55, worked at Pinterest from March 2018 until her firing in April of 2020. She oversaw a team of roughly 1,000 people.

In a statement, Ms Brougher said that she welcomed "the meaningful steps Pinterest has taken to improve its workplace environment and is encouraged that Pinterest is committed to building a culture that allows all employees to feel included and supported".

The company and Ms Brougher said about $2.5m of the settlement will be donated to organisations that work to advance women and minorities in the tech industry.

'Seismic shift'

"Pinterest recognizes the importance of fostering a workplace environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive and will continue its actions to improve its culture," the company said in a statement.

After Ms Brougher went public with her claims, some Pinterest staff staged a walkout in response to her accusations, as well as in response to the claims of discrimination by two former Black Pinterest employees. There was also a petition by staff demanding change.

Ms Brougher's lawyer, David Lowe, told reporters that the settlement was significant for its size, donation to charity, and also its public disclosure.

Sharon Vinick, an employment lawyer who is representing women in similar cases, told the New York Times the size of the settlement reflected the "seismic shift in attitudes towards gender discrimination".-BBC

UK loses 819,000 paid jobs since start of pandemic

There were 819,000 fewer workers on UK company payrolls in November than at the start of the pandemic, official figures show.

Hospitality was the worst hit sector, accounting for a third of the job losses, followed by retail, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.9% in the three months to October, with the jobless total up to 1.7 million people.

And redundancies hit a record high over the period.

Hospitality has been particularly badly hit by coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions, resulting in large numbers of workers losing their jobs.

Bars and restaurants in England had to shut throughout November, and thousands based in areas covered by tier three rules remain closed.

The industry will suffer even more when London, a hive of hospitality firms, enters tier three on Wednesday.

"We can see the hospitality sector has really struggled during the pandemic," the ONS's director of economic statistics, Darren Morgan, told the Today programme.

"It you look at the number of people losing their jobs, the number of people on furlough and the vacancies available for people looking for jobs in the hospitality sector, all that adds up to a very difficult time for that industry."

The jobs numbers are again grim over the course of the pandemic with 819,000 fewer employees on payrolls since February, and a record rise in redundancies in the three months to October.

However without extension of the furlough scheme they would have been even more concerning. The official headline unemployment rate is up only a little at 4.9%. But for most of October it was above 5%.

These numbers reflect mainly the period before the second national lockdown. And for the first time they are broken down by industry. Well over half of the lost employees during the pandemic have been in hospitality and retail, 456,837 out of 819,000. Health and social care have seen an extra 74,342 jobs.

While some optimism has emerged from the prospect of a functioning vaccine, the next few months are likely to remain very challenging, with unemployment continuing to rise. Those rises continue to be contained by the furlough scheme.

--BBC

US regulators open privacy probes into tech giants

The US has ordered nine tech companies including Amazon, Facebook and TikTok to hand over information as part of a new review of consumer privacy.

The study is intended to help regulators understand what data the companies collect and how that information is used, especially to target children.

It is the latest effort by the US government to respond to concerns about tech giants' influence.

The companies have 45 days to comply.

Officials on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal regulator focused on consumers, voted 4-1 to launch the inquiry.

"It is alarming that we still know so little about companies that know so much about us," the four commissioners supporting the move said in a statement.

"Given how much these companies rely on the organization and analysis of data as a core underpinning of their business models, we expect that compliance with this order will be expeditious and comprehensive."

The nine social media and video streaming companies include Facebook and its subsidiary WhatsApp, YouTube, China's ByteDance, owner of TikTok, Amazon's Twitch, as well as Snap, Twitter, Reddit, and Discord.

"We're working, as we always do, to ensure the FTC has the information it needs to understand how Twitter operates its services," a Twitter spokesperson said.

The other companies did not immediately comment.

'Appearance of action'?

Google and Amazon last week were hit with fines by French consumer privacy watchdog.

But American regulators have long lagged their counterparts in Europe when it comes to confronting tech giants on questions of privacy.

In recent years, politicians and others have increasingly pressed the FTC and others to take a more active approach.

The order issued on Monday comes just days after the FTC announced it was taking Facebook to court for actions it has taken to stay ahead of its rivals. The agency accused the firm of violating competition laws, arguing the public had been harmed, including by the erosion of data privacy.

Last year Facebook paid $5bn to resolve an FTC privacy inquiry triggered by concerns about data collection by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Commissioner Noah Phillips, the lone voter against launching the inquiry, said the privacy review announced on Monday was too broad and unlikely to yield results.

"The actions undertaken today trade a real opportunity to use scarce government resources to advance public understanding of consumer data privacy practices—critical to informing ongoing policy discussions in the United States and internationally—for the appearance of action on a litany of gripes with technology companies," he said.--BBC

Adidas considers selling off its Reebok brand

Adidas, the German sportswear giant, says it has started looking at whether to keep its Reebok brand or sell it.

The company said it had made no firm decisions yet about Reebok, which is mainly focused on the US market.

Adidas said it would make the announcement on its future in March.

It paid $3.8bn (£2.85bn) for Reebok in 2006 and a number of names have emerged as potential buyers, including the private equity firm Permira and Timberland brand owner, VF Corp.

Permira owns the Dr Martens footwear company.

Adidas said the possible sale was part of the development of its new five-year strategy.

Adidas said action it had taken in 2016 under a turnaround plan called "Muscle Up" had revived Reebok's flagging fortunes, increasing sales and profits.

Figures show Reebok's revenue grew by 4% to €1.7bn in 2019, making up just 7% of Adidas' total annual sales.

However, the brand's sales were down 7% in the most recent quarter - a steeper fall than other parts of the business, which executives blamed on a slower recovery in North America than in Europe.

Since Adidas took over the company, Reebok's popularity has waned.

The brand once held major sponsorship deal with the US's lucrative National Basketball Championship (NBA) but that was assumed by Adidas when it took over Reebok.

It currently has a six-year $70m deal with the martial arts promotion company, Ultimate Fighting Championship, but that is due to come to an end shortly.

Last year, the company cut nearly in half its estimate of the brand's value.

Reebok's headquarters are in Boston, Massachusetts, but its roots are in Bolton, England, where the Reebok name was first employed in the 1950s, before being picked up by a US entrepreneur.

The company's modern success came on the back of its development in 1982 of the Reebok Freestyle aerobics shoe, the first athletic shoe designed for women, at the start of the aerobics fitness trend.--BBC

Asda beefs up anti-Covid security for Christmas

Asda has announced it is beefing up its coronavirus safety measures in the run-up to Christmas, including more security staff at entrances.

The extra staff will help prevent overcrowding in its superstores from 19 to 24 December, the supermarket said.

The move comes amid fears that shoppers might be tempted to hoard some products in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit.

But the retail industry has urged people not to buy more food than usual, saying there is no need to stockpile.

On Sunday, the UK and the EU agreed to extend a deadline aimed at reaching a deal on post-Brexit trade.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said uncertainty made it harder for firms to prepare for the New Year.

However, several supermarkets told the BBC that they were "making contingency plans" and were "prepared for a number of scenarios".

Last week, Tesco's chairman, John Allan, said it had been stockpiling some non-fresh food as it prepares for potential shortages.

Antimicrobial coating

"The festive season is always the busiest time of year for our stores, so we have introduced additional safety measures to protect colleagues and customers during this period," said Asda chief executive Roger Burnley.

"These new measures will help customers to get in and out of our larger stores quickly and safely and we are confident they will continue to play their part by respecting social distancing when they shop."

Asda has 421 superstores around the country, which will all have extra security personnel for the six days before Christmas.

Asda already has safety marshals on duty outside every store.

Other measures include a virtual queuing app called Qudini that lets customers to wait outside in their cars if the store is too busy to let them in.

In the chain's 100 busiest stores, customer numbers will also be restricted by automatic counting technology, with the aim of helping them to maintain social distancing.

Antimicrobial coating is being added to areas that might harbour the virus, such as fridge and freezer handles and the checkout areas,

The coating, which provides a protective film that helps to kill bacteria and viruses, is also being applied to all basket and trolley handles.

Asda called on its customers to shop on their own if possible to ease congestion in stores.

Last week, Asda said its shops would be shut on Boxing Day, unlike some other supermarkets which intend to open for a limited number of hours.

The company said it wanted as many staff as possible to be able to enjoy an extended Christmas break with their family and friends.

However, some in-store pharmacies will remain open on Boxing Day. Customers wishing to use them will be escorted by a member of staff.--BBC

Billionaire Issa brothers in £440m German petrol chain bid

EG Group, owned by billionaire brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa, is buying a 285-strong chain of German petrol station forecourts in a €485m (£440m) deal.

The move will extend the company's 6,000-strong petrol station empire across the UK and Europe.

In October, EG Group agreed to buy Asda in a deal that valued the UK supermarket chain at £6.8bn.

The Asda deal is being examined by competition authorities and is also subject to approval by regulators

Shortly after the Asda deal was announced, the Blackburn-based Issa brothers were both made CBEs.

Who are Asda's new owners the Issa brothers?

Fast-growing EG was founded by the Issa brothers in 2001, initially called Euro Garages and expanding out from a single site in Bury, Greater Manchester.

Last month, it moved to buy Caffe Nero's 650-strong chain - a move dismissed by that company as "opportunistic". It has already established brand partnerships with the likes of Starbucks and KFC.

EG said the new outlets in Southern Germany, which it is buying from OMV Deutschland, would expand its presence in that country.

It already operates sites there under the Esso fuel brand.

Earlier this year, questions were raised about the company's finances after EG Group's auditor, Deloitte, suddenly quit in October and was replaced by KPMG.

EG Group said the auditor had signed a "clean audit" for EG Group's 2019 financial accounts and there had been "no disagreements on any auditing or accounting matters".--BBC

Covid: GPs complain of delays in receiving virus vaccine

Some doctors in England have complained of delays in receiving doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

One Kent GP has been forced to cancel 80 vaccination appointments set for tomorrow after a vaccine delivery was postponed.

A GP in Southport, Merseyside cancelled 128 appointments for the same reason.

NHS England says delays are caused when vaccination hubs haven't demonstrated the necessary safety checks, but doctors dispute this.

One GP told the BBC they were told by their Clinical Commissioning Group there was a software glitch with Pinnacle, the IT system used for recording vaccinations. NHS England says there are no reports of technical issues.

'It's chaos'

Dr Yvette Rean's vaccination site was due to receive 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine today, but was told yesterday the doses won't be arriving until Tuesday.

"We've had to cancel 80 patients who had all arranged transport. It's chaos and it's not fair on the patients or the GP practices and staff," she said.

Adding to the pressure on GPs is the vaccine's short life span once it's been removed from frozen storage. GPs have been told they have just five days from when a batch of vaccines has thawed from -70C, to when the doses must be discarded.

Dr Rean says the delay in getting the batch to the vaccination site in Kent means she'll be left with 3.5 days to carry out nearly 1000 vaccinations.

"We are having to rebook for a full day of vaccinating," she said. "There isn't a central booking system in place, so this is having to be done manually, so it is a logistical nightmare. All this and we are running our GP service at the same time."

A spokesperson for the NHS, said: "Practices will start vaccinating once all the necessary safety checks have been completed, and when surgeries can demonstrate they meet updated guidance."

But Dr Rean said her vaccination team received an email on Saturday from the regional NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, saying the site had been cleared for vaccines to go ahead.

How will we keep the vaccine cold enough?

It's been a similarly frustrating experience for Dr Simon Tobin, a GP in Southport, Merseyside. He and his staff spent Sunday lining up vaccination appointments for 128 of the surgery's most vulnerable patients, only to be told the doses would be delivered 24 hours late.

"It was absolutely gutting for myself and the staff," he said.

He tweeted: "I'm just so frustrated after all our hard work today. We'll have to ring them [the patients] ALL again tomorrow."

"So relieved I could cry."

Dr Richard Van Mellaerts clinical director of the Kingston Primary Care Network in London, said he had staff working over the weekend in case his batch of vaccines arrived. Late on Sunday he was told the delivery might not arrive until Tuesday.

When the delivery did arrive on Monday morning he tweeted: "I am so relieved I could cry."

Pfizer, which is working with the German firm BioNTech to manufacture the vaccine, confirmed there are no delays at its factory in Belgium, nor in delivering the vaccine doses to UK distribution centres.

A Pfizer spokeswoman told the BBC: "We are working closely with the NHS across all four nations to support the efficient roll-out of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID 19 vaccine.

"Pfizer is supporting the delivery of the vaccine to the Government's requested locations which is progressing according to plan. The Government and NHS are then handling the onward distribution to vaccination sites."--BBC

Asian stocks dip to one-week lows as infection fears curb vaccine optimism

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as worries about increasing COVID-19 deaths and lockdowns overshadowed optimism about the roll-out of coronavirus vaccinations, just days after indexes hit record highs.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures dipped 0.4% and FTSE futures fell 0.6%, indicating a weaker open for European stock markets. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.05%.

Markets showed little reaction to China’s industrial output, which grew in line with expectations in November, expanding for an eighth straight month as an economic recovery gathered pace.

The number of coronavirus deaths in the United States crossed 300,000 on Monday as the hardest hit nation started its first vaccine inoculations, while tighter COVID-19 restrictions were imposed on London.

“While investors can approach 2021 with optimism that an effective COVID-19 vaccine will be available, the path of the economic recovery remains unclear,” Allianz Global Investors said in a report.

Most Asian markets retreated, with MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan falling 0.6% to 637.8, the lowest in more than a week after having hit a string of record highs in recent weeks.

Chinese stocks eased 0.3% and Hong Kong lost 0.9%.

Markets in Japan and South Korea, both grappling with surging infection numbers and growing public frustration, slipped 0.4% and 0.5%.

Australian stocks fell 0.4%, pulled down by heavyweight miners on fears of higher regulatory scrutiny over surging iron ore prices in top consumer, China.

News of vaccines has powered gains in the last few months, with the Asian benchmark up nearly 16% so far this year, sitting just shy of a record struck last week. The rally has been led by markets in South Korea, China and Taiwan.

Last week, the United States authorised the emergency use of its first COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The vaccine has already been authorised in a handful of countries including Britain and Canada.

“We now know we are building a bridge to somewhere, providing clarity for policymakers, households and companies about getting to a post COVID stage,” strategists at BlackRock Investment Institute said in a report.

“Yet disappointing jobs data in recent weeks pointed to near term risks as the virus surges around the U.S., potentially slowing the restart,” they said.

On Monday, the S&P 500 closed down 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high but fell back 0.6% for the day.

In foreign exchange markets, the British pound was firm against the dollar at $1.3332, after rising 0.8% on Monday as the UK and Europe agreed to continue Brexit talks.. It reached a 2 1/2-year high of $1.3540 earlier this month.

The dollar traded near 2-1/2-year lows against major peers as demand for the safest assets flagged. [USD/]

U.S. Treasury yields were relatively stable ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting on Tuesday.

Market expectations are growing that the Fed will further ease monetary policy by expanding its bond buying programme, as U.S. lawmakers struggle to agree on a fiscal stimulus package.

The Bank of England and the Bank of Japan also close out their 2020 meetings this week.

Gold prices advanced 0.5% to $1,835.9 per ounce.

Oil prices dipped 0.7% to $46.6 a barrel as persistent oversupply largely offset hopes that a rollout of coronavirus vaccines will lift global fuel demand.

U.S. tech giants face 6-10% fines as EU set rules to curb their power

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Alphabet unit Google may have to change their business practices in Europe or face hefty fines between 6-10% under new draft EU rules to be announced on Tuesday.

The rules are the most serious attempt by the 27-country bloc to rein in the power of the U.S. tech giants which control troves of data and online platforms on which thousands of companies and millions of Europeans rely on.

They also mark the European Commission’s frustration with its antitrust cases against the tech giants, notably Google, which critics say did not address the problem.

Regulatory scrutiny has been growing worldwide of tech giants and their power.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton will present the rules, a bid not just to rein in tech giants but also to prevent the emergence of anti-competitive dominant companies.

One set of rules called the Digital Markets Act calls for fines up to 10% of annual turnover for online gatekeepers found breaching the new rules, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.

It also sets out a list of dos and don’ts for gatekeepers, which will be classified according to criteria such as number of users, revenues and the number of markets in which they are active, other sources said.

The second set of rules known as the Digital Services Act also targets very large online platforms as those with more than 45 million users.

They will be required to do more to tackle illegal content on their platforms, misuse of their platforms that infringe fundamental rights and intentional manipulation of platforms to influence elections and public health, among others.

The companies will also have to show details of political advertising on their platforms and the parameters used by their algorithms to suggest and rank information.

The draft rules need to reconcile with the demands of EU countries and EU lawmakers, some of which have pushed for tougher laws while others are concerned about regulatory over-reach and the impact on innovation.

Tech companies, which have called for proportionate and balanced laws, are expected to take advantage of this split to lobby for weaker rules, with the final draft expected in the coming months or even years.

Airlines warned over safety as jets return from pandemic storage

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Regulators, insurers and experts are warning airlines to take extra care when reactivating planes left in extended storage during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing potential pilot rustiness, maintenance errors and even insect nests blocking key sensors.

The unprecedented number of aircraft grounded as coronavirus lockdowns blocked air travel - at one point reaching two-thirds of the global fleet - has created a spike in the number of reported problems as airlines return them to service.

The number of “unstabilised” or poorly handled approaches has risen sharply this year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Such mishaps can result in hard landings, runway overshoots or even crashes.

Worried by IATA’s data, insurers are questioning airlines about whether they are doing extra pilot training to focus on landings, said Gary Moran, head of Asia aviation at insurance broker Aon PLC.

“They want to know about the circumstances of the training,” he said.

Approaches and landings place significant demands on crew for which training and regular experience are seen as vital.

According to aircraft maker Airbus SE, the largest category of fatal accidents can be traced back to the approach to an airport, while the largest number of non-fatal accidents happen during landing.

In May, a Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an unstabilised approach, killing 97 people, while 18 died in an Air India Express crash on landing in August, also after an unstabilised approach.

INSECTS IN TUBES

Training is not the only concern.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has reported an “alarming trend” in the number of reports of unreliable airspeed and altitude readings during the first flight after a plane leaves storage.

In some cases, take-offs had to be abandoned or the aircraft had to return to base.

In most cases, the problem was traced back to undetected insect nests inside the aircraft’s pitot tubes, pressure-sensitive sensors that feed key data to an avionics computer.

In June, a Wizz Air Holdings PLC jet halted take-off after the captain found the airspeed was reading zero.

Examination of the plane found insect larvae in one of the pitot tubes, with the aircraft having been parked for 12 weeks before the flight, the U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch said last month. No passengers were on board.

Insects blocking a pitot tube contributed to the 1996 crash of a chartered Birgenair plane in the Dominican Republic that killed all 189 people on board.

Kate Seaton, a Singapore-based aerospace partner at law firm HFW, said flight crews need to be aware of potential defects that might not have been identified properly as planes return to service after an unprecedented grounding.

“We are in new territory - the industry must take steps to mitigate the risks but need to be prepared for the unexpected,” she said.

HONEST ASSESSMENT

EASA said last month that issues found after prolonged parking included an engine shutdown in flight after technical problems, fuel system contamination, reduced parking brake pressure and emergency batteries losing their charge.

“We’ve got people returning to work who are quite rusty, which is a big issue,” insurer Aon’s Moran said.

Airlines have developed training programmes for pilots re-entering service ranging from theory refreshers to multiple simulator sessions and supervised in-flight checks, depending on the length of absence.

Australia’s aviation regulator said on Nov. 30 its inspectors would beef up surveillance on COVID-19 related risks involving the re-entry into service, pilot training and safety risk management for the remainder of the year through to June 30, 2021.

Pilots also need to make an honest assessment of their skills and confidence upon returning to work, International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations representative Peter Meiresonne said at an industry webinar in October. They may need to turn down offers like shorter landing approaches from air traffic control if they do not feel ready, he said.

“Maybe now is a good time to say, ‘We are not able today’ or ‘Give us a six- or 10-mile lineup rather than a four-mile lineup’, which you might accept when you are more proficient and (flight experience is) more recent,” he said.

U.S. Homeland Security, thousands of businesses scramble after suspected Russian hack

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and thousands of businesses scrambled Monday to investigate and respond to a sweeping hacking campaign that officials suspect was directed by the Russian government.

Emails sent by officials at DHS, which oversees border security and defense against hacking, were monitored by the hackers as part of the sophisticated series of breaches, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters Monday.

The attacks, first revealed by Reuters Sunday, also hit the U.S. departments of Treasury and Commerce. Parts of the Defense Department were breached, the New York Times reported late Monday night, while the Washington Post reported that the State Department and National Institutes of Health were hacked. Neither of them commented to Reuters.

“For operational security reasons the DoD will not comment on specific mitigation measures or specify systems that may have been impacted,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Technology company SolarWinds, which was the key steppingstone used by the hackers, said up to 18,000 of its customers had downloaded a compromised software update that allowed hackers to spy unnoticed on businesses and agencies for almost nine months.

The United States issued an emergency warning on Sunday, ordering government users to disconnect SolarWinds software which it said had been compromised by “malicious actors.”

That warning came after Reuters reported suspected Russian hackers had used hijacked SolarWinds software updates to break into multiple American government agencies. Moscow denied having any connection to the attacks.

One of the people familiar with the hacking campaign said the critical network that DHS’ cybersecurity division uses to protect infrastructure, including the recent elections, had not been breached.

DHS said it was aware of the reports, without directly confirming them or saying how badly it was affected.

DHS is a massive bureaucracy among other things responsible for securing the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The cybersecurity unit there, known as CISA, has been upended by President Donald Trump’s firing of head Chris Krebs after Krebs called the presidential election the most secure in American history. His deputy and the elections chief have also left.

SolarWinds said in a regulatory disclosure it believed the attack was the work of an “outside nation state” that inserted malicious code into updates of its Orion network management software issued between March and June this year.

“SolarWinds currently believes the actual number of customers that may have had an installation of the Orion products that contained this vulnerability to be fewer than 18,000,” it said.

The company did not respond to requests for comment about the exact number of compromised customers or the extent of any breaches at those organisations.

It said it was not aware of vulnerabilities in any of its other products and it was now investigating with help from U.S. law enforcement and outside cybersecurity experts.

SolarWinds boasts 300,000 customers globally, including the majority of the United States’ Fortune 500 companies and some of the most sensitive parts of the U.S. and British governments - such as the White House, defence departments and both countries’ signals intelligence agencies.

Because the attackers could use SolarWinds to get inside a network and then create a new backdoor, merely disconnecting the network management program is not enough to boot the hackers out, experts said.

For that reason, thousands of customers are looking for signs of the hackers’ presence and trying to hunt down and disable those extra tools.

Investigators around the world are now scrambling to find out who was hit.

A British government spokesman said the United Kingdom was not currently aware of any impact from the hack but was still investigating.

Three people familiar with the investigation into the hack told Reuters that any organisation running a compromised version of the Orion software would have had a “backdoor” installed in their computer systems by the attackers.

“After that, it’s just a question of whether the attackers decide to exploit that access further,” said one of the sources.

Early indications suggest that the hackers were discriminating about who they chose to break into, according to two people familiar with the wave of corporate cybersecurity investigations being launched Monday morning.

“What we see is far fewer than all the possibilities,” said one person. “They are using this like a scalpel.”

FireEye, a prominent cybersecurity company that was breached in connection with the incident, said in a blog post that other targets included “government, consulting, technology, telecom and extractive entities in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.”

“If it is cyber espionage, then it one of the most effective cyber espionage campaigns we’ve seen in quite some time,” said John Hultquist, FireEye’s director of intelligence analysis.

Jet fuel prices take flight as vaccine roll-outs spur hopes of more air travel

SINGAPORE/LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global jet fuel markets are coming back to life, resuscitated by a rebound in air cargo demand, gradually recovering passenger traffic and hopes that COVID-19 vaccines will spur more international flights in 2021.

The pandemic brought air travel to a virtual halt this year, and analysts say it may take years before global appetite for jet fuel returns to pre-pandemic levels.

But refining profits for the fuel surged to multi-month highs in all key trading hubs in December on hopes of higher demand in 2021, with U.S. and European margins underpinned by a recovery in air cargo volumes and Asian margins also by a rebound in domestic travel and heating consumption.

Jet refining margins in Asia - the world’s top fuel market - have soared 580% and export prices by 45% since mid-September to their highest since March. Domestic air travel picked up as some countries eased coronavirus curbs.

“We expect vaccines will become available by (the) end of Q1 2021 and some travel restrictions will remain in place,” said Qiaoling Chen, research associate at consultancy Wood Mackenzie in Singapore, forecasting Asian jet fuel demand at 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of next year.

The consultancy expects appetite for jet fuel in the region to hit 1.3 million bpd in the fourth quarter of 2020, up by 460,000 bpd from Q2, but still 41% below the same period in 2019.

“TIRED OF NOT TRAVELLING”

In the United States, margins to refine crude into distillates, which includes jet fuel, have about doubled since mid-September to more than $13 a barrel, but are still about $10 per barrel below year-ago levels, according to Refinitiv data.

Artyom Tchen, senior analyst at Rystad Energy in Norway, said U.S. jet fuel demand is currently around 1.34 million bpd, 30% off pre-coronavirus levels in January. International flights account for over 60% of global appetite for jet fuel.

“We will see the demand recovery going forward, but it will take some time and is especially dependent on how quickly international traffic volumes from the U.S. recover,” he said.

While passenger air travel globally has recovered from its plunge to near total stoppage in May, the number of scheduled flights remained around 45% below year-ago levels in November.

Cargo traffic, however, has recovered far more briskly, and in October was only 6% below year-ago levels thanks to booming e-commerce.

Global air cargo demand is expected to receive a further boost as airlines prepare to play a key role in mass vaccine roll-outs.

Against this backdrop, European jet fuel margins rose above $4 a barrel for the first time since March this month, after falling deep into negative territory in April-May at the height of regional lockdowns.

JP Morgan pegs European jet fuel demand at 700,000 bpd in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. That is up from around 400,000 bpd in the second quarter but around half the 1.3 million bpd seen in the first quarter.

“It (jet fuel) may pick up in Q2 (2021). At least I hope it does. We are all tired of not travelling!” said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta.

Apple plans 30% increase in iPhone production for first half of 2021 - Nikkei

(Reuters) - Apple Inc plans to manufacture up to 96 million iPhones in the first half of 2021, a nearly 30% year-on-year increase, Nikkei reported s.nikkei.com/3mlVbPC on Tuesday.

It has asked suppliers to produce around 95 million to 96 million iPhones, including the latest iPhone 12 range as well as older iPhone 11 and SE, though shortage of key parts could threaten the target, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

This would mark a 20% rise from 2019 though the target will be regularly reviewed and revised in response to any changes in consumer demand, according to the report.

The tentative full-year forecast that the iPhone maker shared with its suppliers suggests it plans to make up to 230 million iPhones in 2021, including both old and new models, the report said.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Volkswagen shares gain as CEO gets backing from supervisory board

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Shares in Volkswagen rose as much as 3.7% on Tuesday after the carmaker said its CEO had the full support of its supervisory board, temporarily ending a power struggle over the measures to accelerate the push towards electric cars.

A Frankfurt-based trader called it some “kind of compromise” after Volkswagen also said it would cut overhead costs by 5% and procurement costs by 7% over the next two years.

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

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INVESTORS DIARY 2020

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Zimbabwe

National Unity Day

Zimbabwe

22/12/2020

Christmas Day

25/12/2020

Boxing Day

26/12/2020

New Year’s Day

01/01/2021

Companies under Cautionary

ART

Seed co Int.

Dairibord

Starafrica

Medtech

Turnall

Seed co

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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