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UK Retailer Debenhams Sheds 2,500 Jobs in Latest Blow to Stores Sector

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French Privacy Watchdog Opens Preliminary Investigation Into TikTok

PARIS—France’s data privacy watchdog CNIL said on Tuesday that it has opened a preliminary investigation into Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok after it received a complaint. TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is already under investigation over privacy concerns by U.S., European Union and Dutch authorities. “A complaint about TikTok was received in May. This complaint is now under investigation,” a CNIL spokesman said, confirming a Bloomberg report. He declined to elaborate on the nature of the complaint or the identity of the plaintiff. In the United States, officials have said that TikTok poses a national security risk because of the personal data it handles. President Donald Trump has threatened to ban TikTok and has given ByteDance 45 days to negotiate a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft. In June, the…

UK Retailer Debenhams Sheds 2,500 Jobs in Latest Blow to Stores Sector

LONDON鈥擲truggling British department store chain Debenhams is to cut a further 2,500 jobs, dealing the latest blow to the country’s battered retail sector from the COVID-19 crisis.

Debenhams shed hundreds of head office jobs in May and its latest round of redundancies adds to thousands already announced by major British retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Boots, John Lewis and WH Smith.

Official data, also published on Tuesday, showed the number of people in work in Britain has suffered the biggest drop since 2009 and signs are growing that the coronavirus will take a heavier toll on the labour market as the government winds down its huge job-protection scheme.

鈥淲e have successfully reopened 124 stores, post-lockdown, and these are currently trading ahead of management expectations,” Debenhams said in a statement.

“At the same time, the trading environment is clearly a long way from returning to normal and we have to ensure our store costs are aligned with realistic expectations.”

It said it would take “all necessary steps” to give Debenhams every chance of a viable future.

In April, Debenhams went into administration for the second time in a year, seeking to protect itself from legal action by creditors during the crisis that could have pushed it into liquidation. The retailer is owned by a lenders’ consortium called Celine UK NewCo 1 Ltd that includes U.S. hedge fund Silver Point Capital.

Last month Debenhams, assisted by investment bank Lazards, started a process to assess ways for the business to exit administration.

It said there were a range of possible outcomes, including the current owners retaining the business, new joint venture arrangements with existing and new investors or a sale to a third party.

That process is due to run until the end of next month.

Debenhams’ latest job cuts were first reported by The Sun.

By James Davey

Focus News: UK Retailer Debenhams Sheds 2,500 Jobs in Latest Blow to Stores Sector

Kodak Shares Drop After Loan Paused Amid Insider Trading Allegations

The agency had signed a letter of interest with Eastman Kodak on July 28 to provide the company with a $765 million loan. President Donald Trump announced the deal on the same day. The federal loan was intended to launch Kodak Pharmaceuticals to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients for generic drugs, to help reduce the United States’s reliance on other countries. The deal marked Trump’s 33rd use of the Defense Production Act. Kodak shares skyrocketed more than 1,100 percent just two days after the deal’s July 28 announcement. It reached a high of $60 a share on July 29. Kodak shares closed at $14.88 on Friday, and at $10.73 by Monday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter on Aug. 3 asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an independent U.S. government agency that regulates…