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u.s. news Diamars 29 December 2020

More than 190,000 ceiling fans recalled after blades fly off

(AP) — More than 190,000 sold in the U.S. and 8,800 and inspect them for blades
ceiling fans sold at Home were sold in Canada. They aren't secure or have a gap be-
Depot are being recalled cost about $150. tween them and the base of
after reports that the the fan, the CPSC said.
blades fell off while spin- The U.S. Consumer Prod-
ning, hitting people and uct Safety Commission said King of Fans, which makes
causing property damage. it received 47 reports of the the ceiling fans, published a
blades falling off, two reports video on its website with in-
The Hampton Bay Mara in- of people being hit by them structions on how to inspect
door and outdoor ceiling fans and four reports of the blades the fan. The company said it
were sold this year between causing property damage. will replace any of the faulty
April and October at Home ceiling fans for free.
Depot stores and its website. Owners of the fans should
About 182,000 of them were stop using them immediately

Southwest pulls threat of furloughs after relief bill signed

loughs at American, United cuts in 2021. But, he added, caused a nosedive in travel,
and smaller carriers. the airline is "still overstaffed airlines warned of massive
in many areas,” and he ap- layoffs unless Congress pro-
Delta and Southwest avoid- pealed to employees to con- vided federal aid. That led in
ed furloughs by convincing sider voluntary time off. March to the first round of
thousands of workers to take taxpayer assistance – up to
voluntary buyouts or early A spokesman for United said $25 billion to cover payrolls
retirement and, in the case Monday the airline was still for six months, and another
of Delta, negotiating contract working on details for tem- $25 billion in low-interest
concessions from pilots. This porarily bringing back 13,000 loans. Some airlines turned
month, Southwest warned furloughed workers through down the government loans.
nearly 7,000 workers that March.
their jobs could be in danger This fall, with travel still well
if their unions did not accept Last week, after Congress below half of 2019 levels,
pay cuts of about 10%. passed the latest relief mea- airlines lobbied Washington
sure, American Airlines CEO for another round of aid, and
(AP) — Southwest Air- will bring those workers back Southwest Chairman and Doug Parker said his car- they were rewarded.
lines is lifting the threat of temporarily. CEO Gary Kelly told em- rier would recall 19,000 fur-
furloughs or pay cuts for ployees Monday that fed- loughed workers and make The rapid development of
thousands of workers now The $900 billion relief pack- eral relief “was always our their pay and benefits retro- vaccines has again raised
that U.S. airlines will get age signed after some delay preferred plan, and it means active to Dec. 1. A spokesman hopes for a recovery in travel,
up to $15 billion more in by President Donald Trump we can stop the movement said Monday that American maybe in time to salvage the
taxpayer aid contained in on Sunday night includes toward furloughs and pay also intends to soon restore key summer vacation season.
the coronavirus-relief bill. $15 billion for airlines to cuts that we previously an- flights to smaller cities that However, a new strain of the
keep all their employees on nounced.” were dropped this fall after a coronavirus in the United
American and United Air- the payroll through March federal requirement to main- Kingdom has led to new trav-
lines, which together fur- 31. A previous round of $25 Kelly said Dallas-based tain those flights expired. el restrictions in Europe and
loughed 32,000 employees in billion in payroll aid expired Southwest doesn’t expect the sent another shiver through
October, said Monday they Sept. 30, leading to the fur- need for any furloughs or pay This spring, as the pandemic the airline industry.

US stocks higher after Trump signs $900B aid package

(AP) — Stocks began His signature helped to clear pean Union - United King- which Alibaba owns a 33% to $48.00 per barrel in elec-
the final week of 2020 away uncertainty as reinstat- dom trade deal as part of the stake. tronic trading on the New
moderately higher after ed travel and business curbs U.K.'s exit from the trade York Mercantile Exchange.
President Donald Trump threaten to weigh on global bloc. In energy markets, bench-
signed a $900 billion eco- economic activity. mark U.S. crude fell 23 cents
nomic aid package that Companies that were hit In Asia, the Shanghai Com-
helps reduce uncertainty the hardest by the pandemic posite Index rose less than
amid the re-imposition of — restaurants, airlines and 0.1% to 3,397.29 while the
travel and business curbs the cruise industry — were Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added
in response to a new coro- among the biggest gainers. 0.7% to 26,854.03.
navirus variant. American Airlines was up
2.5%, Norwegian Cruise The Hang Seng in Hong
The S&P 500 index was up Lines rose 4.6% and Carnival Kong declined 0.3% to
0.9% as of 1:05 p.m. Eastern. gained more than 4%. 26,314.63 after e-commerce
The Dow Jones Industrial giant Alibaba Group an-
Average rose 196 points, or Trading is expected to be nounced it was expanding a
0.7%, to 30,429 and the Nas- light this week, as most fund share buyback from $6 bil-
daq composite was up 0.9%. managers and investors have lion to $10 billion.
closed their books for the
Trump signed the measure, year. It will be another hol- Alibaba shares declined 7%
which also includes money iday-shortened week, with following last week's an-
for other government func- New Year's Day on Friday. nouncement of an anti-
tions through September, monopoly investigation and
despite expressing frustra- European indexes were the suspension of the stock
tion that $600 payments to broadly higher, helped by market debut of Ant Group,
the public weren’t bigger. more details about the Euro- an online finance platform in