Being forced to classify drivers as employees could temporarily idle Uber operations in its home state of California, the ride-sharing firm’s chief said Wednesday.
The comments from Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi to MSNBC come after a court gave Uber and rival Lyft until the middle of next week to reclassify drivers as employees instead of contract workers in compliance with a new state law.
“If the court doesn’t reconsider, then in California, it’s hard to believe we’ll be able to switch our model to full-time employment quickly,” Khosrowshahi said in the MSNBC interview.
“We’ll have to essentially shut down Uber until November when the voters decide.”
Uber and Lyft are backing a referendum in the state to overturn the law, while pledging to provide benefits for a social safety net that would keep gig workers independent
The order came Monday when a judge granted a restraining order in a lawsuit filed by California attorney general Xavier Becerra and three cities including San Francisco, where Lyft and Uber are based.
The suit calls on Lyft and Uber to comply with a state law that went into effect at the start of this year that requires “gig workers” such as smartphone-summoned ride service drivers to be classified as employees, eligible for unemployment, medical and other benefits.
Uber and Lyft expect to appeal the decision, which could buy them more time.
A backup plan for Uber would be to pause operations in California, eventually restarting with “a much smaller service, much higher prices” and probably focused in the center of cities or in suburbs,” according to Khosrowshahi.
The rideshare rivals have maintained that most of their drivers want to remain independent even if they also are looking for benefits.
-AFP
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been named Hollywood’s top-paid actor for a second year running, heading a list dominated by lucrative Netflix contracts.
The former professional wrestler banked $87.5 million in the year ending June 2020, according to Forbes’ annual ranking.
That figure — slightly down from last year’s $89.4 million haul, but comfortably ahead of second-placed Ryan Reynolds ($71.5 million) — was boosted by Johnson’s $23.5 million fee for upcoming Netflix action flick “Red Notice,” as well as endorsements.
Netflix shelled out more than a quarter of all the paychecks collected by this year’s top 10.
O thers benefiting from the streaming giant’s $140 million A-lister splurge included Reynolds (“Six Underground” and “Red Notice”), third-placed Mark Wahlberg (“Spenser Confidential”) and fourth-placed Ben Affleck (“The Last Thing He Wanted.”)
“Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda made his debut on the list after Disney paid $75 million for the movie rights to the smash hit Broadway production, which soared on Disney+ streaming last month.
Perennials such as Bollywood megastar Akshay Kumar and martial arts legend Jackie Chan returned to the top 10, as did Will Smith and Adam Sandler.
Largely absent this year were the cast of Marvel’s “Avengers” films — who dominated last year — with the record-breaking franchise taking an extended break from the big screen.
But Vin Diesel, lynchpin of the ever-popular “Fast & Furious” franchise, returned at number five with $54 million.
The ranking does not include actresses, who will be featured in a separate list next month.
The top 10:
1. Dwayne Johnson ($87.5 million)
2. Ryan Reynolds ($71.5 million)
3. Mark Wahlberg ($58 million)
4. Ben Affleck ($55 million)
5. Vin Diesel ($54 million)
6. Akshay Kumar ($48.5 million)
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda ($45.5 million)
8. Will Smith ($44.5 million)
9. Adam Sandler ($41 million)
10. Jackie Chan ($40 million)
Manchester United defender Phil Jones has received an apology from Twitter after its official UK account mocked the England international.
The verified @TwitterUK account took a swipe at the much-maligned Jones on Tuesday, posting: “Name a better footballer than Phil Jones”.
The incident came after the social media network had previously said “being the target of online abuse is not easy to deal with” on a dedicated help centre page about coping and reporting abuse.
United are understood to have complained to Twitter about the subsequently deleted post, with the social network apologising to both club and player.
Jones has endured a difficult season and missed out on a place in United’s squad for the current Europa League campaign with an ankle injury.
He last featured for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team in January’s FA Cup fourth-round win at Tranmere, netting the fourth goal in a 6-0 romp.
-AFP
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, says the Nigeria Police Force is being overstretched as the nation confronts the numerous security challenges.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Governor Akeredolu called for the decentralising of the police.
“There are a lot of problems we have with our security architecture in this country. It is important for us to understand the way everybody’s mind is watching.
“We cannot run away from it. What we have said and what we know is that the police is overstretched,” he said.
According to him, the policing system in the United States, Britain and other countries of the world is decentralised.
He, therefore, called for the creation of state police; calling on the National Assembly to create the right framework for the nation’s policing structure.
READ ALSO: Ondo Govt Inaugurates Amotekun Corps
The governor, who noted that policing involved carrying the local along, stressed that a situation whereby key decisions are taken from Abuja does not tackle the several security challenges.
When asked for an approach to tackling the threats in the country, he said “the time has come. We cannot continue in the manner at which we are doing and expect to have effective policing of lives and properties.
“You have said I am the Chief Security Officer. But Chief Security Officer that I am subjected to what the Inspector General of Police will direct?” he asked.
Akeredolu’s remarks come hours after he inaugurated the pioneer officers of Ondo State Security network Agency, Amotekun Corps.
The governor who officially set up the corps in Akure, the state capital expressed delight with the performance of the pioneer Amotekun Corps officers who just completed their training.
He, however, asked for more funding from the Federal Government to equip the police, adding that the Amotekun Corps is designed to support the existing security framework in the state.
Two hundred and ninety-two Nigerians have returned from the United Arab Emirates, taking the number of evacuees from the Arab nation to 2,933.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) disclosed this in a tweet via its official handle on Wednesday.
It explained that the evacuees arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 02:30 pm on board an Emirates flight.
Although the agency said the evacuees had tested negative to COVID-19, they would be undergoing a mandatory 14-day self-isolation, in line with the guidelines issued by the Federal Government.
BREAKING NEWS: EVACUATION UPDATE:@emirates flight with 292 Evacuees arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe Int’l Airport, Abuja at about 1430HRS from the United Arab Emirates, today Wednesday, 12th of August, 2020 bringing the total number of evacuees from the UAE to 2,933 1/2. pic.twitter.com/hNrFu6BLlK
— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) August 12, 2020
All evacuees tested Negative to #COVID__19 and will now proceed on a 14-day SELF-ISOLATION as mandated by @NCDCgov, @Fmohnigeria, and Presidential Task Force on #COVID-19.@NigeriaGov @DigiCommsNG. 2/2. pic.twitter.com/EGPUAfnyD1
— Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (@nidcom_gov) August 12, 2020
Today’s evacuation from the UAE comes two days after 288 more Nigerians returned from the country.
On Sunday, NIDCOM said 327 Nigerians returned from the United Kingdom.
READ ALSO: 331 Nigerians Arrive In Abuja From UAE
As at June 2020, the Federal Government said it had spent N169 million on the evacuation of Nigerians from overseas.
During a briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on April, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had directed all Nigerians interested in returning to the country to work with Nigeria’s embassies and high commissions where they are.
“What is important to get out to all Nigerians is that their engagement and communication should be with the embassies, high commissions and not with any other parallel agency, department of government or anything like that.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted regular daily activities in several countries across the world, leaving millions of people stranded in foreign nations.
Against the backdrop of the outbreak, many countries initiated the process of evacuating their citizens back home.
Nigeria is not left out as the Federal Government has facilitated the repatriation of thousands of its citizens stranded abroad.
Among the nations where Nigerians have been brought back home include the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Sudan, France, Ethiopia, and several others.