Watches with celebrity ties are getting all the attention on the auction circuit in 2017.

The number of “distressed retailers” in the US – those whose troubled finances mean they are in danger of filing for bankruptcy – is set to keep growing over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a new report.

The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) is calling on members of the European Parliament to call for a trade investigation into labour rights abuses as part of a resolution on Bangladesh set to be debated tomorrow (14 June).

German sportswear giant Adidas has revealed a strategic global partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) aimed at shaping the future of sport and with a key focus on sustainability and supply chain traceability.

US retail giant Sears Holdings Corp has revealed the next steps in its transformation plan, including cutting a further 400 jobs, despite assurances it is on track to deliver on its US$1.25bn savings target.

A number of fashion giants, including Sweden’s H&M and Inditex’s Zara, are said to be buying viscose from highly polluting factories that are contributing irreparable damage to environmental and human health.

EL SEGUNDO — The previous 75 minutes had entailed exercises that tested his conditioning, accuracy and competitiveness. Moments after, Kentucky guard De’Aaron Fox rattled off what he believed gave him a passing grade for his private workout with the Lakers on Tuesday at their practice facility .

“I felt like I shot the ball well,” Fox said. “I showed I can play point guard, getting up and down the court. Even if I was fatigued, I felt like I could probably do it.”

Fox represents the third player the Lakers watched in an individual workout whom they would consider for their No. 2 pick, which also includes UCLA guard Lonzo Ball and Kansas guard Josh Jackson. Before the Lakers would bring Jackson in for a second workout Tuesday at their practice facility, Fox said he believed he addressed his weaknesses and highlighted his strengths.

Though Fox averaged 16.7 points on 52 percent shooting during his lone season with the Wildcats, and also shot only 24.6 percent from 3-point range. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound Fox said he has since devoted most of his training toward bulking up and improving his shooting accuracy.

“I can shoot the ball well. I stay in the gym. I’ve always been a gym rat,” said Fox, who also worked out with Sacramento and plans to work out for another undisclosed team. “I’ve always been working on my shot. That’s one thing. Coming in, I’m a fighter. Even though I’m tired, I have my hands up on my knees. But you’re still going to get the most out of me.”

Some on the Lakers who watched Ball’s workout last week said they thought he struggled with his conditioning. That rarely has been an issue with Fox, who is considered the best defender in this year’s draft class. He also has impressed NBA talent evaluators with his speed and aggressiveness.

Though Fox did not have the opportunity to fully showcase those skills in an individual workout, he believed he compensated when he played and defended the Lakers’ assistant coaches.

“I was prepared for it,” Fox said. “I felt like I attacked the workout pretty well today.”

The Lakers have insisted they have kept an open mind on whom they will select with their No. 2 pick. Still, the sentiment around most NBA circles suggests they will select Ball. Most NBA mock drafts project the Boston Celtics selecting Washington guard Markelle Fultz with the No 1 pick.

Does Fox draw any motivation from that commentary?

“Yeah, you can say that with anybody,” Fox said. “But right now, I’m just worried about myself. I’m not worried about those other guys.”

Fox then downplayed if the general public has not fully appreciated certain parts of his game.

“I think there are. But at the end of the day, we’re all going to play basketball and going to get drafted no matter what,” Fox said. “Where we’re playing, you want to see the NBA career. College is over. I just put that behind me.”

That also explains why Fox said he made little of outperforming Ball in the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 win over the Bruins in late March. Fox scored 39 points, a record for a freshman in the NCAA Tournament, while Ball had 10 points, eight assists and four turnovers.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s college. You put that behind us,” Fox said. “Kyrie (Irving) was the No. 1 pick and Isaiah Thomas was the last pick. So you see how that worked out. They’re both playing extremely high level of basketball. That doesn’t really matter. College doesn’t really matter at this point.”

So, what matters?

Fox believed that centers on two things.

One part involved leadership. Though he led the Wildcats to the Elite 8, Fox said it wasn’t until 2½ months into the season that Kentucky coach John Calipari told Fox, “This is your team.” While he attributed that heightened role to his work ethic and production, Fox also credited the vote of confidence for elevating his game. Fox said he planned to have the same mindset in the NBA.

“I’m an extreme competitor, good locker room guy and never really bump heads with anybody,” Fox said. “I’m someone that can lead and earn the respect from the guys. You’ll be one of the youngest guys on the team. So if you earn the guys’ respect, that helps in a long way.”

The second component entailed how he would match up against the NBA’s elite point guards, including Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Damian Lillard and Eric Bledsoe. Fox also listed Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell as one of those players in case the Lakers pass on Fox.

“I want to be one of those elite point guards. In the league every night, you’re playing against a top point guard. The best point guard usually is the best player on the team,” Fox said. “Day in and day out, you have to bring your ‘A’ game or that person is going to come at you all the time.”

Fox believed he showed those qualities in his workout. Yet, he remained mindful of the limitations a team can learn in an individual workout.

“I’m going to have to perform in games,” Fox said. “What happens in a workout doesn’t even matter.”

Irvine-based chipmaker Conexant Systems has been acquired by Synaptics Inc. for $300 million in cash and 726,666 shares of Synaptics stock.

Synaptics, a maker of touchpads, fingerprint sensors and more, is based in San Jose.

The pairing will help the combined company be “positioned to invest in new opportunities that greatly enhance the human-machine-interface experience,” according to a statement by Conexant.

“We have spent the past few years sharpening Conexant’s focus on providing silicon and software solutions for voice-enabled devices, consumer and commercial imaging, and next-generation audio applications,” Jan Johannessen, CEO of Conexant, said in a statement. “We believe that by joining Synaptics, we will further scale in the USB-C headphone market, while also enabling device makers to develop innovative applications for some of the industry’s most advanced human-machine-interface technologies, including voice.”

Conexant has more than 480 patents. It has 60 different products which include home appliances, security devices and toys. It was founded in 1999.

The company, once one of Orange County’s biggest chipmakers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2013 in Delaware under a plan to reorganize the company to eliminate debt and cut real estate expenses.

Conexant, which was based in Newport Beach before shifting to Irvine, did not immediately return a request for information about how employees might be affected by the deal.

After months of debate and a town hall, the United Mutual board approved a resolution to terminate the land-use policy, which would have allowed the exclusive use of common area for manor alterations.

The resolution to terminate the policy was passed 5-2-2, at United’s meeting on Tuesday, June 13. Director Cash Achrekar spoke in favor of passing the resolution.

“Common area is common area, it means for everybody else to use,” Achrekar said.

Resident Dick Rader also spoke in favor of the resolution.

“In the name of fairness, what you’re doing today is saying nobody can expand,” he said. “The common land should remain in everybody’s use.”

Director Pat English, who had previously advocated for the land-use policy, spoke out against the resolution at the meeting.

“For many years people have been making generally small changes with the approval of their neighbors – they may have squared off their patio or various other things,” English said. “I believe we all bought here because we like the look of the community and the community was modified by a little alteration here and there; we’re not cookie-cutter condos by any means.”

Resale report

The average resale price of a co-op in United in May was $264,813, up from $230,494 in May 2016. Resales year-to-date numbered 215, with 224 during the same period last year. Sales volume in May was $15.8 million, up from $10.8 million in May 2016.

Trinity Broadcasting Network, which preaches the “prosperity gospel,” is on the hook for the entire $2 million in damages that a jury awarded to the aggrieved granddaughter of Trinity’s founders, a judge decided.

After a trial that lasted nearly one month, a jury concluded on June 5 that late televangelist Jan Crouch behaved outrageously when she blamed and berated her then-13-year-old granddaughter for a suspected sexually assault by a Trinity employee. The granddaughter, Carra Crouch, now 24, argued that her grandmother never reported the incident to authorities to avoid bad publicity for TBN.

The $2 million awarded by the jury last week was carved up so that Trinity was only responsible for paying 45 percent of it – $900,000. The other $1.1 million was the responsibility of Crouch’s mother and the man involved, the jury decided – even though neither was named in the suit.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson up-ended that formula with an order made public on Monday. The jury found that Crouch is entitled to $2 million, Wilson said, and ordered Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, TBN’s corporate parent, to pay the entire sum, with interest accruing at 10 percent per year until it’s paid.

Trinity is prepared to fight. “Unless this Court is going to declare a mistrial, the only judgment that may be entered against Trinity is for $900,000,” it said in court filings. “Trinity reserves all rights to challenge that judgment.”

Carra Crouch’s suit originally named John Casoria, a family cousin and attorney who works for Trinity, and was the one who fired the man suspected of the assault, according to court documents. The judge dismissed Casoria from the claim, saying Crouch shall take nothing from him, and allowing him to recover fees and costs as provided by law.

It was unclear Tuesday what those fees and costs might amount to, and whether they would be deducted from any award.

Crouch said she was sexually assaulted by a TBN employee at a Praise-A-Thon fundraiser in Atlanta in 2006, according to court records. Her grandmother had accompanied her on the trip. Crouch said she smoked a cigarette, drank alcohol and watched a movie on her bed with a 30-year-old man, and that the man fondled her, tried to kiss her, and gave her a glass of water that she suspects was laced with a drug that made her pass out. When she awoke, she suspected she had been raped.

After that, Carra Crouch’s life took dark turns for which Trinity should be held responsible, her lawyers argued.

While the fight over the award is apparently not over, a $2 million judgment would not be inconsequential for Trinity. Recently, the empire has hit bumpy financial times, and is downsizing.

In March, TBN’s iconic headquarters in Costa Mesa – a cross between a wedding cake and the White House, with twinkling white lights – sold for $18.25 million, according to CoStar Group, a commercial property database. The 65,000-square-foot, three-story building on a 6.19-acre campus is familiar to many for its bright holiday displays along the 405 Freeway on Bear Street.

Trinity has also sold several multi-million dollar homes since Paul Crouch Sr.’s death and Jan Crouch’s death, last year, at age 78.

Trinity’s revenue has taken a precipitous dive during the drama, from $207 million in 2006 to $121.5 million in 2014, according to a Register review of its most recent tax filings. Reports are that revenue was up in 2015, but Trinity’s most recent tax returns have not yet been made public.