CBS News
Grenfell Tower fire inquiry says U.S. company Arconic “deliberately concealed” dangers of building materials
London – The public inquiry into the deadly 2017 fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a high-rise public housing apartment building in central London, published its final report Wednesday on the disaster that killed 72 people. The blaze — London’s deadliest since World War II — was blamed on a litany of failures, from shoddy construction and materials to poor local management and inadequate fire safety standards.
Among the parties found to have played a role in the tragedy by the inquiry is the American company Arconic, which made and sold the building’s exterior cladding through a French subsidiary.
The report’s authors said the Pittsburgh-based company “deliberately concealed from the market the true extent of the danger of using” the materials that were added to Grenfell Tower during a renovation, “particularly on high-rise buildings.”
Dan Kitwood/Getty
“By late 2007 Arconic had become aware that there was serious concern in the construction industry about the safety of ACM panels and had itself recognized the danger they posed,” the report says. “By the summer of 2011 it was well aware that Reynobond 55 PE in cassette form [the material used on Grenfell Tower] performed much worse in a fire and was considerably more dangerous than in riveted form. Nonetheless, it was determined to exploit what it saw as weak regulatory regimes in certain countries (including the UK) to sell Reynobond 55 PE in cassette form, including for use on residential buildings.”
CBS News has asked Arconic to comment on the allegations laid out in the report published Wednesday.
Ongoing inquiry
Earlier phases of the multi-year inquiry concluded that some of the companies that manufactured the materials used in the cladding on Grenfell Tower, including Arconic, continued to market their products as safe, despite some employees knowing they were flammable.
Emails shared with the inquiry appeared to show that some Arconic employees knew of the fire risk associated with the cladding used on Grenfell Tower, but that the company continued to sell it anyway.
When approached in 2021 about whether its employees knew about the fire risks associated with Arconic’s cladding, Arconic told CBS News it was “continuing to offer their full support to the authorities as the inquiry works through the complex questions presented. It is not appropriate for us to comment further while the Inquiry is ongoing and before all evidence has been presented in Phase Two.”
HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP/Getty
“These corporations are still operating as if nothing has happened,” Karim Mussilhy, whose uncle was killed in the fire, told CBS News in 2021.
In the wake of the deadly blaze, apartment buildings across the U.K. that were covered in the same or similar external cladding materials were found to be unsafe, leaving thousands of people trapped in dangerous homes and unable to sell because banks won’t provide new mortgages on the properties in question.
“People should be safe in their homes. People shouldn’t have to feel like they’re going to sleep and not knowing if they’re going to wake up or not,” Mussilhy said in 2021.
Victims still seeking justice
The Grenfell Inquiry launched with a first hearing on Sept.14, 2017. The families of some victims and survivors said they’ve been denied justice as it’s gone on.
“It’s meant criminal prosecutions couldn’t have happened,” said Nazanin Aghlani, whose mother Sakina Afrasehabi was killed in the fire. She told CBS News’ partner network BBC News that prosecutions should have happened before the public inquiry.
She said the inquiry had even given “all those people that should be facing criminal prosecutions” a platform “to tell their version of the story.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said in May that no criminal prosecutions related to the Grenfell fire would begin until 2026, according to the BBC. The police were expected to make a statement later Wednesday.
“We’ve been waiting seven years to find out the facts, that are gonna be in black and white,” Nick Burton, who was rescued from the 19th floor of the tower, told the BBC, hoping the report would “tell the truth about these corporations and their part that they played in the fire.”
“We need to know who is actually accountable, who actually made the decisions that led to this horror and who can actually be pinned down and charged,” Emma Dent Coad, a former member of parliament for London’s central Kensington district, told the BBC.
Marek Mnich/Getty Images
With the holiday season just days away and, with it, the commencement of shopping, many Americans may be wondering about what to gift to family members and friends. This is a popular time for selling and buying gold, whether it be in the form of jewelry or just simple gold bars and coins. And even though the price has been elevated for much of 2024, it can still be affordable for many in the form of fractional gold.
That said, there are multiple benefits of gifting gold bars and coins, particularly during this upcoming holiday season. Below, we’ll break down three big benefits buyers should be aware of currently.
Start exploring your top gold options online now.
3 big benefits of gifting gold bars and coins this holiday season
Not sure if gold is worth giving now? Here are three reasons why it could be a smart gift:
Rising value
Despite a small drop in the price at the start of November, gold has been on a steady upward trend for much of 2024, breaking numerous price records throughout the year before surpassing the $2,700 mark at the end of October. Currently priced at $2,702.94 per ounce, according to American Hartford Gold, gold is positioned to break additional records, possibly before the holidays even begin.
Understanding the real potential of rising value, then, buyers would be well-served by gifting gold bars and coins today, even if they’re in a smaller, more affordable size. Waiting, however, could cause the price to become prohibitive. So start your holiday gold shopping sooner rather than later.
Get started with gold here today.
A tangible investment
You can invest in gold in multiple ways but gold bars and coins are one of the few tangible ways to do so. Gift receivers can hold them in their hands, inspect them and store them for safekeeping on their own. This feature is a major advantage compared to other, more opaque gold types like stocks, futures and ETFs. While you can, theoretically, gift those other gold investment types, too, only gold bars and coins can provide the same experience as other, more conventional gift types.
It’s easy to buy
Gold bars and coins aren’t like other hot holiday gift ideas. They’re ubiquitous and easy to purchase both online and in person. Big retailers like Costco and Walmart sell them in their stores and on their websites (and some even sell silver, too). So if you’re worried about your ability to be able to secure this sort of gift, don’t be. That said, as the holidays get closer, it’s possible retailers could sell out of these items (as Costco has in the past). So don’t wait until Christmas Eve to act, either.
The bottom line
There are scarce gift options this year that will come with a rising value, tangible and visible benefits and an easy ability to be purchased by shoppers. But gold bars and coins offer all of those benefits right now. So if you want to add a shiny precious metal to your shopping list this holiday season, gold may be the best one to consider.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Former cyber czar urges vigilance ahead of holiday season — “it’s not the attackers … it’s us”
Just a week before Thanksgiving, shoppers at Stop & Shop stores across Massachusetts were forced to leave empty-handed after a cyberattack against the supermarket chain’s parent company led to inventory shortages.
Parent company Ahold Delhaize said in a statement earlier this month, that it had alerted law enforcement about the cyber breach and had taken some systems offline. “While there may be some limited inventory for certain products, we are working to re-stock our shelves and anticipate item availability to continue to improve over the next few days,” the company said. But the incident may be a sign of things to come during the holiday season, when cybersecurity crises are likely to peak.
Already this year, corporate giants like AT&T, Ticketmaster and United Health have suffered paralyzing cyberattacks, and now, businesses are bracing for the holidays, a time when many cybersecurity operations rely on skeleton staffing. But the FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning that it’s no time for them to be taking a “cyber vacation.”
The vast majority of ransomware attacks that hobbled businesses and organizations over the past year — 86% — occurred on a weekend or holiday, according to a new global study of 900 IT and security professionals released this week by cybersecurity firm Semperis. But researchers also found that 85% of surveyed organizations — 90% in the U.S. — reduce security staffing by as much as 50% during those same periods.
“This study would say that we’re not making thoughtful choices,” former White House “cyber czar” and Semperis strategic adviser Chris Inglis told CBS News. “If you realize that most of these attacks take place on holidays and weekends and you reduce your manning, you take away your opportunity to essentially have parity with your adversaries,” said Inglis. He added, “The advantage goes to the attacker, because they’re not taking a day off. They never take a day off.”
According to the report, organizations consistently overestimate their defenses, with 81% of respondents reporting that they believe they have the necessary expertise to safeguard their digital identities from threats. Still, 83% of participants suffered a successful ransomware attack within the past year.
Organizations are beginning to sense they’re more vulnerable around the holidays, but Inglis suggested consumers, too, need to be vigilant. Technologies like smart phones and tablets are now cheaper and nearly ubiquitous, but safety measures have not kept up.
“We’ve not actually made the necessary investments to make it such that these technologies — or this system of technologies — is defensible and well defended,” he said.
According to the survey, mergers, acquisitions, stock launches or layoffs also functioned as “magnets” for ransomware attacks, with a majority of respondents – 63% – also experiencing a cyber attack following what’s known as a “material corporate event.”
With financial executives predicting that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House could usher in a wave of bank mergers and acquisitions, cybersecurity experts worry that cybercriminals will be able to take advantage of these “moments of distraction.”
“Our adversaries – be they criminal or foreign, rogue nations – they test the waters every day. They’re conscious of the fact that our attention waxes and wanes,” Inglis said. “If there’s a merger or an administration transition, those are moments of distraction. So we can expect that they will do what they always do. It’s not that they search at this moment, it’s that they see their opportunities being perhaps more productive at this moment.”
In February, UnitedHealth Group suffered the biggest hack in U.S. healthcare history after its acquisition of Change Healthcare meant it inherited outdated technology, with digital systems not yet safeguarded by multi-factor authentication.
Beyond an anticipated onslaught of big bank deals, changes in administration – regardless of politics – have historically enticed foreign adversaries to test the defenses of new leadership in Washington. In 2021, President Joe Biden inherited fallout from a sophisticated Russian cyberattack leveled against Texas software-maker SolarWinds and used to breach roughly 100 top U.S. companies and a dozen government agencies.
In June 2017, the Russian military waged the devastating ‘NotPetya’ cyber attack during Trump’s first year in office, unleashing a virus that crippled parts of Ukraine’s infrastructure and ravaged computer systems worldwide, amounting to billions in damages.
Security staffing also remains a widespread challenge across industries, with just 85% of organizations maintaining a year-round, 24-hour Security Operations Center, according to Semperis, and staffing challenges prompted by higher overtime costs when most employees are typically out of the office around the holidays.
Contributing to cybersecurity staffing headaches, cybersecurity workforce growth worldwide has flatlined for the first time since 2019. With growth of just 0.1% year-over-year in 2024, budget cuts, layoffs and hiring freezes have exacerbated a global staffing shortage of cybersecurity professionals, according to a recent report released by ISC2.
The former U.S. national cyber director said that he’s routinely asked what keeps him up at night. “It’s not the attackers, the Russians, the Chinese or any kind of ransomware actors. It’s us,” Inglis said. “Sometimes, it’s the complacency and the proactive ambivalence on our side that is actually, I think, more determinative of our future.”
