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☆ Why the 4-day work week isn't the kind of perk most workers want: It's 'an upper-class issue'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Four-day work week trials across the world have been successful for both employers and workers. But when it comes to the four-day work week, that's "an upper-class issue," Gennip said. "They're happy to do a 15-hour stretch, but they want an eight-hour break"Recent studies show that four-day work trials have been big successes. "We have Amazon workers who do four-day work weeks, but ten hours days, and they would prefer five eight-hour days." "Some people would rather have a five-day work week and have six weeks off," she said.

☆ The 4-day workweek may not be the answer to workplace productivity and flexibility, Davos panelists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, included a panel on the four-day workweek. "We have had a static, for many countries, five-day week for about a century," Grant said Thursday at his panel discussion called "The Four-Day Week." While a four-day workweek seems like an obvious answer, there are some key factors to consider before making the change, they agreed. The four-day week "is very much a discussion for the upper class," van Gennip said. Flexibility through reorganizationWhether it be a four-day workweek or another method of schedule restructuring, a focus on both flexibility and productivity also benefits companies, van 't Noordende said.

☆ Death toll after Congo capital floods rises to 169, U.N. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Paul Lorgerie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] People look at a damaged road after heavy rains caused floods and landslides, on the outskirts of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. REUTERS/Justin MakangaraKINSHASA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The death toll after heavy flooding in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa this week has risen to 169, the United Nations' humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Friday, citing authorities. read moreA joint team from OCHA and Congo's social affairs ministry visited the worst-hit neighborhoods on Thursday to assess the damage. The team estimated that around 38,000 people had been impacted by the floods, OCHA said in a statement Friday. Poorly regulated rapid urbanization has made the city increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.

☆ Macau to allow home isolation for COVID infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Health officials said that infected patients would be able to stay at home and self-monitor for five days. Macau, a Chinese special administrative region, has directly followed the mainland's coronavirus strategy since 2020, given its huge reliance on Chinese visitors to fuel its gambling-dependent economy. The former Portuguese colony, home to more than 600,000 people, has recorded just over 900 COVID cases since 2020 and six deaths. Macau Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao said last week that up to 80% of the city's population would likely get COVID following a significant easing of pandemic isolation and testing rules. Officials have urged residents not to worry about contracting the virus since most cases involve mild or no symptoms.

☆ German upper house blocks landmark welfare reform
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] German Labour and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil speaks at an extraordinary session, as Members of German upper House of Parliament or Bundesrat vote on Buergergeld or "citizens' money" welfare reform law, in the plenary hall, in Berlin, Germany November 14, 2022. REUTERS/Michele TantussiBERLIN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Germany's conservative opposition held up a major welfare reform on Monday, setting the scene for a mediation process to find a compromise that could still allow the introduction of ambitious measures to support the unemployed in gaining vocational skills. The welfare reform would introduce Buergergeld, or "citizens' money", to replace the Hartz IV system brought in from 2005, which sanctions people who reject job offers. "Our welfare state can only function if there are duties as well as rights," Baden-Wuerttemberg labour minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut of the opposition conservative CDU party said. German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said the ruling coalition -- of his Social Democrat (SPD) party with the Greens and the liberal FDP -- would call on a mediation committee later on Monday.

Newly elected Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid has named Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister-designate and tasked him with forming a new government in Baghdad, Iraq, October 13, 2022. Rashid, 78, was the Iraqi minister of water resources from 2003-2010. Sudani, 52, previously served as Iraq’s human rights minister as well as minister of labour and social affairs. Under a power-sharing system designed to avoid sectarian conflict, Iraq's president is a Kurd, its prime minister a Shi'ite and its parliament speaker a Sunni. Rashid’s election raises concerns about escalating tensions between the KDP and PUK, who fought a civil war in the 1990s.

☆ Lebanon to resume sending refugees back to war-damaged Syria
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. The plan would not involve the United Nations, which maintains that conditions in Syria do not allow for the large-scale return of refugees. The Lebanon office of the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said it was "not facilitating or promoting the large-scale voluntary repatriation of refugees to Syria." New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in July that "Syria is anything but safe for returnees". In its September report, the United Nations' Syria commission said the country was still not safe for returnees.

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