The Daily Populous

Saturday December 18th, 2021 evening edition

image for ‘Worst fashion wage theft’: workers go hungry as Indian suppliers to top UK brands refuse to pay minimum wage

The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) estimates the total amount of unpaid wages so far to be more than £41m.

One worker said she only earned about half of what she needed to cover basic living costs, such as food and rent.

“If we had got the wage increase last year, we could have at least eaten vegetables a few times a month.

“I tried to talk to the factory management about it,” she added, “but they said, ‘this is what we pay to work here.

The children of garment workers are going hungry so brands can make a buck.”.

Marks & Spencer said it was working with the Ethical Trading Initiative to “demand” that its suppliers paid the legal minimum wage.

The statement added: “Wages should always be enough to meet at least the basic needs of workers and their families.”. »

Taylor Swift album party becomes superspreader event after nearly 100 test positive for Covid

Authored by nbcnews.com
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A Taylor Swift album party in Sydney, Australia, appears to have been a superspreader event, with authorities issuing an urgent warning after the party was connected to nearly 100 Covid cases.

The artist's recent 'On Repeat: Taylor Swift Red Party' in Sydney, Australia, has been linked to dozens of Covid cases.

The superspreader event also comes as countries around the world grapple with a surge in Covid cases amid the spread of the omicron variant. »

Scotland just blew up its last coal-fired power plant - as the country transitions to renewable energy

Authored by weforum.org
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Scotland’s last remaining coal-fired power plant has been blown up, a visual reminder of the country’s transition away from fossil fuels to embrace net-zero emissions.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pushed the button on a controlled explosion that reduced the decommissioned 600-foot Longannet chimney to rubble.

Scottish Power closed the plant in 2016, marking the end of coal-fired power generation in the country. »

No, Members of Congress Should Not Own Individual Stocks

Authored by newrepublic.com
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In February 2020, just one month before the COVID-19 pandemic upended American life, Burr sold more than $1.6 million in stocks.

That same day, ProPublica reported in October, he also called his brother-in-law and spoke with him for 50 seconds.

But among some lawmakers and their spouses, stock trading appears to be more of a passion than a mere investment strategy. »

The Steam Deck is still 'on track' for February launch, Valve says

Authored by pcgamer.com
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"We do feel like we're on track for that," Valve designer Greg Coomer said in an interview with PC Gamer on Thursday.

With that in mind I asked Coomer what kind of numbers Valve will actually be able to ship in February.

The bottleneck for Valve isn't production of the Steam Deck itself, but rather getting all the parts needed for the system. »