B&M benefited from being classified as an essential retailer which allowed it continue trading through the tiered system of restrictions and the subsequent lockdown while non-essential stores were forced to close. Sales have also been helped by having shops at out-of-town retail parks which have been busier than high streets during the pandemic. Sales rose 22.5 per cent to £1.4bn in the 13 weeks to 26 December. The company during the period opened 18 new stores, taking its total to 673.

Simon Arora and his family are the biggest shareholders of B&M via an offshore trust which scooped a £44m payout just two months ago. The founder and chief executive of B&M  handed himself a £30m dividend.

B&M Bargains boss pays himself £30m after bumper lockdown sales | The Independent

 Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, told a news briefing that there is a “clear problem” that low- and middle-income countries are not yet receiving supplies of Covid-19 vaccines.

“Rich countries have the majority of the supply,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that he urged countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals at the expense of the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

Wealthy nations including Britain, European Union members, the United States, Switzerland and Israel have been at the front of the queue for vaccine deliveries from companies including Pfizer and partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

WHO urges end to bilateral vaccine deals, says poor countries left behind (france24.com)

The experts predicted an increasing number of extreme weather events which will accompany the climate crises and sadly they have not been proved wrong. 

America suffered  a record number of weather and climate-driven disasters in 2020, such as extensive wildfires, hurricanes in quick succession and extreme heat, a new federal government report has shown.

A total of 22 major disasters, defined as each causing at least $1bn in damage, swept the US last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). At least 262 people died, with $95bn in total damages recorded.

A total of 10.3m acres burned in wildfires in 2020 across the US west, an area larger than Maryland and well above this century’s average. California recording five of the six biggest fires in its history, an outbreak that destroyed thousands of homes and caused the sky to turn an apocalyptic orange over the San Francisco Bay Area.

On the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico, a record 12 tropical storms made landfall during a year. Seven of these caused more than $1bn in damage, including hurricanes Laura and Sally, which hit the US south in quick succession in August and September. Three hurricanes and two tropical storms hit Louisiana alone.

A major drought and heatwave happened in the US west last year and it was the fifth hottest on record across the contiguous US, which follows a longer-term pattern of national and global heating – all of the five warmest years on record in the US have occurred since 2012.

There were three major tornado-related disasters and a highly destructive derecho, which is an event driven by fast-moving thunderstorms, that downed power lines, damaged houses and flattened crops in the midwest. 

Scientists have found that the strength of storms is increasing as the atmosphere and ocean heats up, while the area eaten up by fire has grown as rising temperatures dry out soils and vegetation.

“The record number of climate change-exacerbated weather disasters this year drives home the fact that, as I like to say, the impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State.

 22 disasters, 262 dead, $95bn in damages: US saw record year for climate-driven catastrophes | Climate change | The Guardian

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay fines and penalties of more than $124 million (€1.02 million) to avoid criminal prosecution in the United States on charges it participated in a bribery scheme to win business in Saudi Arabia. Previously, the bank has agreed to a Securities and Exchange Commission fine of $16 million to resolve separate allegations of corrupt dealings in Russia and China. The Frankfurt-based lender has also agreed to pay the state of New York $150 million to settle claims that it broke compliance rules in its dealings with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There also were reports last year that the bank gave expensive gifts to senior Chinese officials and others to establish itself as a major player in China’s financial industry.

It also faced a commodities fraud charge arising from precious metals futures traders, who were accused of placing fraudulent trades, known as spoofing, to induce other traders to buy and sell futures contracts at prices they otherwise would not have.

Court papers alleged that Deutsche Bank bribed intermediaries to make deals in Saudi Arabia, labeling the payments of up to $1.1 million as “referral fees.” Other intermediaries demanded financing for a yacht and for a house in France as compensation, the papers said.

Deutsche Bank handed $124 million in bribery fines by US court | News | DW | 08.01.2021

 When it comes to comprehending the extent of the wealth held by the mega-billionaires, we, ordinary mortals, have some difficulty in imagining it. 

If Musk’s wealth was ranked alongside the GDP of every country in the world, he would be the 50th richest country in the world.

 Boris Johnson has promised to increase social housebuilding to 300,000 a year by the mid-2020s in a bid to tackle Britain’s housing shortage. But at the rate of increase achieved before the coronavirus lockdown, the government will not reach its target until 2032 – eight years later than planned. Housing experts have warned that a slowdown caused by the pandemic is likely to push numbers even further off course.

“The government wasn’t on track to meet its own targets even before the pandemic hit,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Shelter. “Now with a potential slump in construction as a result of Covid, the chances of getting the homes we need built are looking even slimmer. With over a million households on the social housing waiting list, and many more facing economic turmoil and homelessness this year, we desperately need to get building. We can’t go back to business as usual with missed targets and pitiful numbers of social homes.”

Government set to miss housebuilding target by almost a decade | The Independent

The acting US homeland security secretary, Chad Wolf, said: “Honduras is a valued and proven partner to the United States in managing migration and promoting security and prosperity in Central America.”

US federal prosecutors have filed motions saying the Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, took bribes from drug traffickers and had the country’s armed forces protect a cocaine laboratory and shipments to the US. The documents quote Hernández as saying he wanted to “shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos by flooding the United States with cocaine”.

The motions also implicate senior military, police, political and business figures in laundering money and bribery.

Honduras president took bribes from drug traffickers, US prosecutors say | Honduras | The Guardian

 Boeing is to pay $2.5bn (£1.8bn) to settle US criminal charges that it hid information from safety officials about the design of its 737 Max planes. The charges against Boeing was that it used “misleading statements, half truths and omissions” to dupe the regulator responsible for  maintaining the safety of aviation.

Billionaires whose wealth has soared during the coronavirus pandemic should  provide emergency aid to the record numbers of people facing starvation,  according to Barron Segar, the president and chief executive of the World Food Program USA.

The pandemic and ensuing economic crisis have contributed to a sharp rise in the number of people on the brink of starvation around the world. The WFP, the UN agency that provides emergency relief, was needed by 138 million people last year, up from about 100 million in 2019. That figure is expected to increase again this year, to about 235 million people “marching toward starvation.” The finances  the WFP has available are not increasing at the same rate, and Segar estimates that the shortfall will reach about $5bn (£3.7bn) this year.

Segar said, “Without doubt, we are facing the largest humanitarian assistance programme in history.” He warned that despite the distribution of vaccines, the pandemic and economic crises were showing no signs of releasing their grip on the world. “Things are going to get worse,” he said. “My crystal ball looks very bleak. More people will die not because of Covid, but because of the economic fallout from Covid.”

His solution he explains is “Imagine one person to stand up and say they have heard the call, they will donate $5bn. We are trying to unlock the private sector. There are more billionaires in the US than we have ever had before, and many billionaires are successful because of Covid.” Segar said he was taking the unprecedented step of asking for an individual billionaire, or small number of donors, to come forward because he could see little other prospect of filling the funding gap. “Hunger is solvable,” he said. “This can be solved with significant support from ultra high net worth individuals.”

Is this all what capitalism’s supporters can do to end hunger – appeal to the philanthropic better nature of the rich and powerful.

Covid billionaires should help starving people, says charity boss | Philanthropy | The Guardian