British PM Johnson does not want second national coronavirus lockdown

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he did not want to see a second national lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic, saying it would be completely wrong for Britain and be financially disastrous.

"I don't want a second national lockdown," he told a parliamentary committee. "I think it would be completely wrong for this country and we are going to do everything in our power to prevent it … I very much doubt that the financial consequences would be anything but disastrous."

NeuroMetrix To Pay $4 Mln To Settle Alleged Deceptive Claims About Quell Wearable Pain-Relief Device

NeuroMetrix to pay nearly $4 million to settle alleged deceptive claims related to its Quell, a wearable pain-relief device.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that it is sending refunds of nearly $3.86 million to consumers who bought Quell, l, a wearable device that supposedly would treat chronic pain throughout the body when placed below the knee. The refunds are part of a settlement the FTC reached in March with NeuroMetrix – the maker of Quell – over deceptive advertising.

According to the FTC, Massachusetts-based NeuroMetrix, Inc. and its CEO, Shai Gozani, sold Quell—a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device—to consumers, touting it as “clinically proven” and “FDA cleared” for widespread chronic pain relief.

The FTC says that the defendants lack scientific evidence to support widespread chronic pain-relief claims, and their claims about clinical proof and the scope of FDA clearance for this use are false.

NeuroMetrix, Inc. and its CEO agreed to pay $4 million to the Commission for refunds and to stop making the allegedly deceptive claims.

The FTC is using the settlement funds to send 2,144 refund checks and 67,998 refunds via PayPal to Quell purchasers. The average refund amount is $55.10 per customer.

Belarus charges protest leader Kolesnikova with undermining national security

Belarus investigators have officially charged Maria Kolesnikova, a protest leader, with incitement to undermine national security, the Investigative Committee said in a statement on Wednesday.

Kolesnikova was charged with calling for "actions aimed at undermining Belarusian national security" using the media and the  Internet, the committee said.

Kolesnikova, 38, is currently in jail in Minsk after ripping up her own passport last week to thwart an attempt to expel her to Ukraine.

UN investigators say Maduro told Venezuelan intelligence 'who to target'

United Nations human rights investigators said on Wednesday they had reason to believe that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the director of the national intelligence service SEBIN to detain opponents without judicial order.

"The way SEBIN worked, particularly the SEBIN, was to do intelligence on people beforehand and these people that were targeted – and we have reasonable grounds to believe that the President Maduro did give orders to the director of SEBIN as to who to target," Francisco Cox of the U.N. fact-finding mission told a news briefing.

"After that these people were surveilled, information was gathered, their communications were intercepted and finally they would be detained without judicial order, just because there was such an order by the President," Cox said. "So we have involvement and contribution to the crime by Mr. Maduro, either directly through the chain of command and sometimes circumventing the chain of command and giving the direct order."

Stock Alert: XPO Logistics Up 5%

Shares of XPO Logistics, Inc. (XPO) are rising more than 5 percent or $4.59 in Wednesday’s morning trade at $94.06.

Wednesday, XPO Logistics said it is expanding its Academic Partners Program benefiting hourly workers in the U.S. The company noted that its academic partnerships make thousands of accredited courses, degrees and certifications available to U.S. employees at large discounts.

Qualifying hourly employees can couple XPO’s $5,250 annual tuition reimbursement with an Academic Partners discount to earn tuition-free college degrees in over 80 separate fields of online study. In addition, the company’s partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Industrial Liaison Program enables employees to access MIT Sloan Executive Education and MIT Professional Education short courses at a reduced cost.

XPO Logistics has traded in a range of $38.47 to $100.18 in the past 52 weeks.

Stock Alert: Kindred Biosciences Gains 17%

Shares of Kindred Biosciences, Inc. (KIN), are rising more than 17% Wednesday morning after the company, which develops biologics drugs for pets, announced positive results from the pivotal efficacy study of KIND-030, a monoclonal antibody targeting canine parvovirus (CPV).

The results showed 100% efficacy in the prevention of parvovirus, as well as a mortality benefit in the treated group.

KIND-030 is currently being pursued for two indications in dogs: prophylactic therapy to prevent clinical signs of canine parvovirus infection and treatment of established parvovirus infection.

The studies are expected to be completed by this year-end, with approval expected by early 2021.

Kindred Biosciences stock is currently trading at $5.38. It has traded in the range of $3.10- $11.93 in the last one year.

Amazon To Host 2020 Career Day; 33,000 Jobs On Offer

Tech behemoth Amazon (AMZN) Wednesday announced it will host its 2020 Career Day on September 16 and said it there are 33,000 new corporate jobs on offer.

Amazon said it will give the attendees of 2020 Career Day the opportunity to learn about the 33,000 corporate and tech jobs currently available across the country, and the thousands of additional hourly positions in the company’s operations network to be announced soon.

Amazon will also mobilize 1,000 of its recruiters to provide 20,000 career coaching sessions to attendees in a single day.

Amazon currently has 33,000 openings for jobs that include Amazon’s smart home device, Alexa; Amazon Web Services (AWS); Operations Technology and Prime Video.

Anyone can participate in Career Day 2020 by going to amazon.jobs/careerday to register and book an appointment with an Amazon recruiter.

“COVID-19 continues to affect millions of people across the country, and people are eager for the opportunity to get back to work,” said Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President Human Resources at Amazon. “We’ve created more jobs in the U.S. over the past decade than any other company – and we are continuing to hire people from all backgrounds and at all skill levels. We are glad to be able to mobilize more than 1,000 experienced recruiters and HR professionals to help job seekers across the country learn about opportunities at Amazon and elsewhere.”

Last year, 17,000 job seekers attended Amazon Career Day events in six U.S. cities – and more than 200,000 people applied for jobs in the week leading up to the even