Total in Talks for 500 Voluntary Job Cuts in France, CEO Says

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Total SE is discussing a plan for 500 voluntary job cuts in France, where the oil company has 35,000 employees, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with France Inter radio.

Pouyanne said talks are ongoing. “We’ll see, there’s a negotiation. It could be 300, it could be 700,” he said Saturday.

He denied that Total has decided on reducing 700 positions, a number given by the CGT labor union. The plan is part of a project to reorganize research and development, and hire younger workers with necessary skills, Les Echos reported last month, citing the union.

“We’re simply talking about a plan for voluntary departures,” Pouyanne said. “The employees are not at all the adjustment variable at Total.”

Dubai’s Aviation Regulator to Become More Autonomous

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Dubai issued a new law giving its aviation regulatory body more autonomy.

The law, which consolidates Dubai’s global leadership in civil aviation, allows Dubai Civil Aviation Authority to sign air traffic rights and implement them in coordination with the federal aviation authority based in the capital Abu Dhabi. The previous law stated that the DCAA had to seek approval from the federal authority.

Other highlights:

• DCAA to represent Dubai locally and internationally in negotiations related to air traffic rights, air space and air navigation.
  • Previous law stated Dubai will regularly report to General Civil Aviation Authority statistics and data on air traffic in the emirate.

  Dubai is home to Emirates Airline, the world’s largest long-haul carrier, and its airport was the busiest in terms of international traffic before the Covid-19 pandemic.

  — With assistance by Farah Elbahrawy

  Chris Hayes Shreds Donald Trump, GOP For Holding ‘Loaded Gun To American Democracy’

  Chris Hayes said President Donald Trump and his GOP lawmaker backers in Congress “got their butts handed to them” on Friday when the Supreme Court rejected the Texas lawsuit attempting to hijack the 2020 election.

  But the host of MSNBC’s “All In” warned of the chilling consequences had the lawsuit succeeded, saying “it would have represented the worst crisis for the country since secession, and I don’t think that’s an overstatement.”

  “If you live in a country where the state apparatus can successfully overturn an election to keep the ruling regime in power, even when it loses, you do not live in a democracy,” said Hayes. “You live in a dictatorship.”

  He later likened the attempt to steal the election for Trump to “holding a loaded gun to American democracy.” “Just because the safety’s on now does not mean it will not fire the next time,” he said.

  Check out Hayes’ full monologue above.

  RELATED…

  Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Crowned TIME’s Person of the Year 2020

  Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been named TIME magazine’s Person (or people) of the Year for 2020. The pair follow in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg, who won the award in 2019, Barack Obama, and the Pope.

  The selection is made by TIME editors who recognize someone who “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year.” Biden and Harris beat three other finalists—frontline healthcare workers and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the racial justice movement, and Donald Trump.

  TIME magazine said of the winning pair, “Together, they offered restoration and renewal in a single ticket. And America bought what they were selling: after the highest turnout in a century, they racked up 81 million votes and counting, the most in presidential history, topping Trump by some 7 million votes and flipping five battleground states.”

  https://www.instagram.com/p/CIpLuyUMLc1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

  A post shared by TIME (@time)

  Biden will officially take office on 20 January. At age 78, he will be the oldest person to do so, while Harris will be the first woman, the first Black person, and the first person of South Asian descent to be inaugurated as vice president.

  TIME editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal praised the two for “changing the American story, for showing that the forces of empathy are greater than the furies of division, for sharing a vision of healing in a grieving world.”

  From: Harper’s BAZAAR UK

  PRESENTING: 8 women entrepreneurs under 30 to watch in 2021

  Investors, founders, CEOs, and other industry experts sent in over 50 nominations for women who rose above tough economic challenges with their sharp business acumen and tenaciousness.

  From the cofounders of an online rental service for South Asian fashion to a 15-year-old inventor of teeth cleaning candy popular on Amazon, here are Business Insiders top picks for entrepreneurs to watch out for this coming year. 

  Subscribe here to read our feature: 8 women entrepreneurs under 30 to watch in 2021, according to investors, CEOs, and executives

  Congo Agrees to Freeport’s Sale of Copper Mine to China Moly

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  Democratic Republic of Congo will agree to Freeport-McMoRan Inc.’s sale of its undeveloped Kisanfu copper and cobalt project to China Molybdenum Co., Mines Minister Willy Kitobo Samsoni said in a text message Saturday.

  Kitobo said his ministry was required to sign off on the deal according to the country’s mining code, which was revised in 2018. He would not share the terms of the agreement. Freeport did not respond to an email and phone call Friday. A phone call to CMOC went unanswered after normal business hours.

  Freeport tried to sell Kisanfu to CMOC when it was still under exploration in 2016 along with its $2.65 billion stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine. At the time, Freeport was asking $50 million for Kisanfu, which is located between Tenke and Glencore Plc’s massive Mutanda copper and cobalt project, according to its website.