Author: Gulf News Week

Companies registered with the Mohre are obligated to pay workers’ wages through the approved Wage Protection System or any other systems adopted by the Ministry The UAE has introduced a new Wage Protection System (WPS) rule standardising private-sector salary payments, requiring wages to be paid on the first day of each Gregorian month for the previous month’s work. Payments made after this date will be considered delayed under the system starting June 1, 2026. Under the new regulation, all companies registered with the ministry must distribute wages through the approved Wage Protection System or other payment channels authorised by the…

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People smugglers are directing migrants to pay for illegal Channel crossings using a network of UK-registered businesses, a BBC investigation has found.We secretly filmed staff at a shop in south-east London telling an undercover researcher that nearly £3,000 in cash could be deposited with them and sent to a smuggler in France.”You put your money here. If your friends reach [the UK], you shouldn’t come back,” we were told at the mobile phone store in Woolwich.Our three-month investigation gives insight into how smugglers appear to be using UK companies’ bank accounts to facilitate small-boat crossings – something a leading expert…

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I was born in 1962, at the tail end of the baby boom era.Does that make me especially lucky? Should I languish in guilt?The claim has been made that the baby boomers in general, and the late baby boomers in particular, have done rather better than the generations that followed.This argument has been bubbling for some years, but my interest was piqued by comments from the former foreign secretary William Hague, now chancellor of the University of Oxford – born in 1961 – who argued a few months ago that the early 1960s is one of the best periods in…

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Taiwan will not provoke any conflict but will also not give up its sovereignty, said its president Lai Ching-te after a high-stakes summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping where they discussed the issue of Taiwan’s independence.According to Chinese state media, Xi had told Trump that Taiwan, a self-governed island claimed by Beijing, was “the most important issue” in bilateral ties and mishandling it could lead to conflict.After his visit to Beijing, Trump issued a warning to Taiwan, telling Fox News: “I’m not looking to have somebody go independent.” The US is a longstanding ally of Taiwan and is bound…

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After 225 days stuck in a front-line foxhole, the Ukrainian infantryman’s muscles were so weak he could barely walk. His commanders had tried five times to swap him with another soldier – but they could never reach him. Rotating soldiers on the front line in eastern Ukraine is extremely difficult because of the constant threat of drones.This area near Kostyantynivka is currently one of the most dangerous hotspots and the Ukrainian military admits that Russian forces have reached its outskirts.Known as Kenya, the infantryman took two days to walk 11km (6.8 miles) to get back to his brigade, avoiding mines…

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The line is crackly. But the voice of Mehrab Abdollahzadeh is clear and, given the circumstances, surprisingly steady.He’s on death row in western Iran. He speaks quickly – as if time is running out. And his message is desperate.”You are hearing my voice from Oromiyeh Central Prison, and this may be the last time you hear it,” he says in a voice note obtained by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network.”From the very first day of my arrest, they forced confessions out of me through torture and threats, confessions that were entirely false. None of the charges against me are true.…

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A US official has struck down security funding allotted for President Trump’s White House ballroom project from a proposed spending package, in a win for Democrats.The Senate rule-keeper ruled against the use of taxpayer funds in the bill on Saturday, after Democrats argued that security money doesn’t belong in it.Trump has said private donors will fund the $400mn ballroom as Republicans have sought to use a portion of $1bn in taxpayer funds for Secret Service security upgrades.Republicans are seeking the funds to bolster presidential safety following a shooting at a gala Trump attended in April at a hotel. The administration…

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Swatch stores in Manchester and Liverpool were shut for a second day after queues built up again, with shoppers keen to buy a new £335 pocket watch.They were first closed by the Swiss firm on Saturday “due to safety considerations”, along with its shops in Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Cardiff and London.In a social media post after crowds gathered at branches worldwide, Swatch asked people “not to rush to our stores in large numbers” and said the items – which have been resold online for up to £16,000 – would “remain available for several months”.Some have criticised the company, saying the…

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