Ineos to cut a fifth of Hull jobs, blaming ‘dirt-cheap’ imports from China

Ineos, the chemicals company owned by the billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is to cut a fifth of jobs at its East Yorkshire plant, blaming “sky high” energy costs and “dirt-cheap” imports from China.The company said it would cut 60 jobs at the Ineos Acetyls site in Hull, which makes petrochemical products such as acetic acid, and said more roles would be at risk across the industry unless the government stepped in.Ineos said “dirt-cheap carbon-heavy” imports from China were “flooding the market” in Britain and the rest of Europe, after they were deterred from entering the US because of Donald Trump’s tariffs, and called on the UK government and European Commission to launch their own border levies.It claimed that many Chinese competitor products made using coal emitted up to eight times more CO2 than Ineos’s UK operations, saying that “more sites will close and thousands more jobs will be lost” across the chemicals sector if “the UK government and European Commission do not support tariffs to protect its industry”.In June, the petrochemicals company closed its Grangemouth plant, Britain’s oldest oil refinery, on the Firth of Forth with the loss of 400 jobs

Australia Post releases footage of posties being hit by cars as it urges drivers to ‘keep an eye out’

At least five posties are injured each week on Australia’s roads, according to data released by Australia Post as the service published video of collisions and urged motorists to “keep an eye out”.More than 280 posties sustained broken limbs, concussions or serious trauma from third-party road crashes in the past financial year.“Many of these incidents resulted in hospital treatment, time off work and ongoing psychological trauma,” Australia Post said on Tuesday.The corporation’s general manager of safety, Russell Munro, said posties were on the road “delivering for Australians but, increasingly, they’re also being put at risk by unsafe driver behaviour”.Sign up: AU Breaking News email“Our priority is to deliver for all Australians whilst ensuring the safety of our team members, so they return home to their families safely each day,” Munro said

‘We want justice’: workers at Amazon warehouses in Saudi Arabia still waiting on financial redress

Warehouse laborers from Asia say the world’s second largest employer, Amazon, has failed to live up to its promises to compensate them for financial abuses tied to their work for the online retailer in Saudi Arabia.In 2023, Amazon promised to reimburse recruitment fees to its contract workers from Asia who had been forced to pay large sums to secure jobs at the company’s warehouses in Saudi Arabia. Since then, Amazon has paid more than $2.6m in compensation to roughly 950 workers from multiple countries.But two years later, many migrants are still waiting for their recruiting fees to be repaid – and they are not sure if they will ever get financial redress

‘Obedient, yielding and happy to follow’: the troubling rise of AI girlfriends

Eleanor, 24, is a Polish historian and lecturer at a university in Warsaw; Isabelle, 25, is a detective serving with the NYPD; Brooke, 39, is an American housewife who enjoys an opulent Miami lifestyle financed by her frequently absent husband.All three women will flirt and chat and send nude photographs and explicit videos via one of a soaring number of new adult dating websites that offer an increasingly realistic selection of AI girlfriends for subscribers willing to pay a monthly fee.At the TES adult industry conference in Prague last month, delegates noted a sharp increase in new websites offering users the chance to form relationships with AI-generated girlfriends, who will remove their clothes in exchange for tokens purchased by bank transfer.Developers of the new businesses claim they represent an improvement on web-cam businesses, where real women undress on camera and talk to men, because they remove the potential for the exploitation seen in parts of the industry. They also argue that AI performers do not get ill, do not need to have days off, do not get exhausted at the end of a shift, or feel humiliated by the demands made by clients

Trevor Lawrence’s trip and score TD leads Jaguars to thrilling late win over Chiefs

Trevor Lawrence tripped, got up and scrambled for a one-yard touchdown with 23 seconds remaining – turning a laughable miscue into an improbable score – and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat Kansas City 31-28 on Monday night. The wild ending halted the Jags’ eight-game losing streak to the Chiefs (2-3), which stretched back to 2009. Lawrence ran for two touchdowns on the night, and also threw for a score, helping balance a performance that included two turnovers. He was perfect when it mattered most for the Jaguars (4-1). Lawrence dropped a precision pass to Brian Thomas Jr for a 33-yard gain on the go-ahead drive and then hit Dyami Brown for another big gain

Marnus Labuschagne dropped from Australia ODI squad to face India

Marnus Labuschagne has been dropped from Australia’s squad for the three-match ODI series against India as in-form Queensland teammate Matt Renshaw is handed a surprise call-up.Labuschagne has been omitted from the one-day international side after being dismissed for one in each of his two innings during the top-end series against South Africa in August. The right-hander has a top score of 47 in his last 10 ODI innings.The 31-year-old has played 68 ODIs and amassed 1,871 runs at an average of 34.64 but will now continue to press his claims for a Test recall in time for the Ashes starting in Perth on 21 November