Brazil antitrust body oks Petz, Cobasi merger, says local media
SAO PAULO, June 2 (Reuters) - Brazil's antitrust body Cade approved on Monday, without restrictions, the merger of pet product retailers Cobasi and Petz (PETZ3.SA), opens new tab, local news outlet Folha de Sao Paulo reported.
The approval could mark Cade's final green light for the merger, unless an appeal is filed within 15 days. If this happens, the case could be decided by an internal Cade panel.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Cuts to USAID severed longstanding American support for Indigenous people around the world
Miguel Guimaraes Vasquez fought for years to protect his homeland in the Peruvian Amazon from deforestation related to the cocaine trade, even laboring under death threats from drug traffickers. A leader in an Indigenous rights group, Vasquez said such efforts were long supported by financial assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which spent billions of dollars starting in the 1980s to help farmers in Peru shift from growing coca for cocaine production to legal crops such as coffee and cacao for chocolate. The agency funded economic and agricultural training and technology, and helped farmers gain access to international markets. But the Trump administration's recent sweeping cuts to the agency have thrown that tradition of U.S. assistance into doubt, and Indigenous people in the Amazon worry that without American support there will be a resurgence of the cocaine market, increased threats to their land and potentially violent challenges to their human rights. 'We don't have the U.S. government with us anymore. So it can get really dangerous,' said Vásquez, who belongs to the Shipibo-Konibo people and is vice president of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest. "We think the situation is going to get worse.' Several Indigenous human rights defenders have been killed trying to protect their land, Vasquez said, and in some of those cases U.S. foreign aid provided money to help prosecute the slayings. 'We really needed those resources,' he said. Sweeping cuts began in January When Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, began dismantling USAID shortly after President Donald Trump began his second term, it all but eliminated U.S. foreign aid spending, including decades of support to Indigenous peoples around the world. USAID's work with Indigenous peoples sought to address a variety of global issues affecting the U.S., according to former employees. Its economic development efforts created jobs in South America, easing the need for people to work in illicit drug markets and reducing the likelihood they would migrate to America seeking jobs and safety. And its support for the rights of Indigenous peoples to steward their own land offered opportunities to mitigate climate change. That included Vásquez's organization, which was about to receive a four-year, $2.5 million grant to continue fighting illicit activity that affects Indigenous people in the region. Vásquez said that grant was rescinded by the new administration. In January, DOGE launched a sweeping effort empowered by Trump to fire government workers and cut trillions in government spending. USAID, which managed about $35 billion in appropriations in fiscal year 2024, was one of his prime targets. Critics say the aid programs are wasteful and promote a liberal agenda. Trump, Musk and Republicans in Congress have accused the agency of advancing liberal social programs. 'Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement in March. 'Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago. As a result, the gains were too few and the costs were too high.' Musk last week announced his departure from the Trump administration, marking the end of a turbulent chapter that included thousands of layoffs and reams of litigation. Former USAID employees said political pressure from the U.S. often kept foreign governments from violating some Indigenous rights. In the three months since thousands of foreign aid workers were fired and aid contracts canceled, the Peruvian government has moved quickly to strip Indigenous people of their land rights and to tighten controls on international organizations that document human rights abuses. It's now a serious offense for a nonprofit to provide assistance to anyone working to bring lawsuits against the government. The National Commission for Development and a Drug-Free Lifestyle, the country's agency that fights drug trafficking, did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. 'The impact was really, really strong, and we felt it really quickly when the Trump administration changed its stance about USAID,' Vásquez said. The U.S. spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance. Tim Rieser, a senior foreign policy aide in the Senate who works for Democratic Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, called DOGE's cuts to USAID a 'mindless' setback to years of work. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Agency reached Indigenous communities worldwide USAID's work reached Indigenous communities around the world. It sought to mitigate the effects of human rights abuses in South America, created programs in Africa to enable Indigenous people to manage their own communities and led the global U.S. effort to fight hunger. One of the most recent additions to USAID's work was incorporating international concepts of Indigenous rights into policy. Rieser, for instance, was responsible for crafting legislation that created an adviser within USAID to protect the rights and address the needs of Indigenous peoples. The adviser advocated for Indigenous rights in foreign assistance programs, including actions by the World Bank. 'That provided Indigenous people everywhere with a way to be heard here in Washington,' Rieser said. 'That has now been silenced.' That adviser position remains unfilled. Vy Lam, USAID's adviser on Indigenous peoples, who said he was fired in March as part of the DOGE downsizing, said the idea of Indigenous rights, and the mandate to recognize them in foreign operations, was new to USAID. But it gained momentum under President Joe Biden's administration. He said concepts such as 'free, prior and informed consent' — the right of Indigenous people to give or withhold approval for any action that would affect their lands or rights — were slowly being implemented in American foreign policy. One of the ways that happened, Lam said, came in the form of U.S. political pressure on foreign governments or private industry to negotiate mutually beneficial agreements between Indigenous peoples and their governments. For instance, if an American company wanted to build a hotel in an area that could affect an Indigenous community, the U.S. could push for the deal to require Indigenous approval, or at least consultation. 'We had that convening power, and that is the thing that I grieve the most,' Lam said. U.S. foreign aid workers were also able to facilitate the reporting of some human rights violations, such as when a human rights or environmental defender is jailed without charges, or Indigenous peoples are forced off their land for the establishment of a protected area. Money supported attendance at international meetings In some cases, USAID supported travel to the United Nations, where Indigenous leaders and advocates could receive training to navigate international bodies and document abuses. Last year, under the Biden administration, USAID awarded a five-year grant to support Indigenous LGBTQIA people through the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous People, an agency that offers financial support to Indigenous peoples to participate in the U.N. At $350,000 per year, it was the largest grant from any member state in the U.N., fund Secretary Morse Flores said. The money would have paid for attendance at the U.N. and other international bodies to report human rights abuses and to testify on foreign policy. In February, the fund received notice that the grant would be terminated. The State Department does not plan to fulfill its pledge to fund the remaining four years of the grant. In most cases, people receiving assistance to attend major meetings "are actual victims of human rights violations,' Flores said. 'For someone who's unable to come and speak up, I mean, it's really just an injustice.' ___ This story was published in partnership with Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
High street chain with over 500 locations shuts long-standing branch and launches huge closing down sale
A POPULAR high street chain with more than 500 locations is shutting one of its branches — and everything inside must go. The Works in Acocks Green, Birmingham, which has been a familiar face on Warwick Road for over 20 years, is holding a huge closing down sale, with posters in the window reading: 'Sorry, we are closing! Everything must go.' 2 The stationery and books chain sits between Peacocks and New Image opticians but now appears to be preparing to vacate the unit. The closure follows several other big-name exits from the area, including Costa Coffee, which shut earlier this year. A spokesperson for The Works said: 'We are currently in negotiations with our landlord regarding our store in Acocks Green and would like to reassure customers that we're doing all we can to retain a presence in the town.' Locals have taken to social media to share their disappointment, calling the once-thriving centre 'finished'. One anonymous resident wrote: 'Can remember years ago you could spend hours mooching around all the shops they had... now all we have is barbers and nail bars. Such a shame.' Ann Kain added: 'One of the few decent shops left in The Green. What a dump now.' The closing down sale has seen prices slashed, with many items now going for less than half their usual price as the store clears its shelves. It comes as the high street faces mounting pressure across the UK, with more well-known names either cutting down locations or disappearing entirely. The Original Factory Shop is preparing to shut ten shops, including nine set to close this month. Why are shops closing stores? The firm previously warned some locations were no longer sustainable. Poundland is also closing its Surrey Quays branch in London this week, with a further 200 stores reportedly at risk. A final decision on the sale of the chain is expected in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, long-running department store Daniel of Ealing will shut its doors for good on June 8 after 120 years in business. It has launched a massive clearance sale to mark the closure. Iceland will also shut its College Square, Margate branch on June 21, though the supermarket has not confirmed the exact reason. Staff will be offered other roles within the business. Ginger, a family-run clothing store operating since the 1970s, will close for good on June 7 after nearly five decades on the high street. With more shops closing and fewer new businesses moving in, many local centres like Acocks Green are struggling to maintain footfall and retain a mix of useful shops. Why are retailers closing shops? EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline. The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors. In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping. Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed. The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing. Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns. Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead. In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few. What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online. They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. 2
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Topshop boss confirms standalone shops are coming back
Topshop has confirmed it plans to open bricks and mortar shops across Britain as its revival gathers pace. Michelle Wilson, managing director at Topshop and Topman, told Drapers that the brand has 'something planned' for August and beyond. Topshop hosted a one-day pop-up event in Shoreditch, London earlier this year, called 'Topshop In The House'. The one-day pop up was a collaboration with Defected Records and marked Topshop's first physical event in four years. Wilson said this week: 'We have something planned in August to bring Topshop back into real life again, with a more semi-permanent presence than the one-day pop-up. 'In the shorter term that will be something with partner support and in the longer term we will do something standalone.' She said that Topshop and Topman would return to the high street in autumn via one wholesale partner. Wilson told Drapers: 'I'm excited to see Topshop back in person. I think the partner that we are collaborating with is an incredible partner. 'I think it will surprise a few people. I'm looking forward to the day that we launch that and seeing people's reaction and excitement.' However, Wilson stressed that the brand was not seeking to recreate what it had in its heyday, but was looking to build a presence, both in bricks and mortar and online, fit for the current market. The retailer is gearing up for the relaunch of standalone and websites, which are both currently understood to be going live in August. Asos boss José Antonio Ramos Calamonte said in April that the chain had spent 'two years rebuilding the product assortment of Topshop' ahead of the relaunch. ''The time has come to come back, to be much more present with consumers in the UK, but also globally,' he said. Topshop will not be returning to its former flagship store at 214 Oxford Street in London, which is now occupied by the new Ikea which opened last month. Earlier this year, London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan was among those calling for the return of Topshop, stating at the time: 'I'd meet my mates outside Topshop, my daughters took me shopping at Topshop and I know every type of Topshop jean. 'Wouldn't it be great to get Topshop back on Oxford Street?' Topshop was founded in 1964 youth-focused offshoot of the department store Peter Robinson. At its peak, Topshop was a titan of the British high street, raking in about £100million in profit, with hundreds of stores spread across almost every large town and city in the UK. But the store's popularity waned as it struggled to compete with fast fashion online, losing its younger shoppers to aggressive digital e-tailers like Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing. In 2018, former owners Arcadia revealed it was haemorrhaging cash, reporting a £93.4million pre-tax loss compared with £164.6million profit in the year before. And sales slumped 4.5 per cent from £1.8billion. Amid the demise of Arcadia, owned by Philip Green, in 2021, Asos acquired Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge for £330million. At the time of its collapse, there were 70 Topshop stores across Britain. In September last year, Asos sold a 75 per cent stake in Topshop and Topman for approximately £135million to form a joint venture with Danish holding company Heartland, controlled by the Holch Polvsen family. It was at this point last year that Asos said it planned to relaunch the and websites by the summer of 2025.
