Teen arrested after hold-up in Qormi

Apr 1 2021

Police have arrested a 19-year-old teenager moments after he allegedly committed a hold-up in a shop in San Bartolomew Road, Qormi. The incident happened on 30th March 2021, with authorities convening immediately on location after an employee, 34-years-old, reported the incident. Investigations revealed that the employee was approached by a man wielding a pointed weapon and demanded money.

The authorities managed to identify the individual and initiated the search. He was later arrested in a residence in Sliema, and is now being held in Floriana lock-up. The teenager is expected to appear in court today around 12:30 in front of Magistrate Dr Victor Axiak LL.D.

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PwC to allow employees to start and leave whenever they like

Apr 1 2021

PriceWaterhouseCooper is implementing a revision of the traditional work week by allowing its employees to work from home, start and/or leave whenever they like. The change follows the pandemic’s effect on businesses and the accounting company wants to offer its workers much more freedom over their working patterns. Chairman Kevin Ellis said that this flexibility should become the norm rather than the exception, making employees feel trusted and empowered.

This post-pandemic strategy aims to retain a mix of working from home and office, as ‘without conscious planning now there’s a risk we lose the best bits of these new ways of working when the economy opens up again’ stated Ellis.

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Child abuse reports increase since school closure

Apr 1 2021

Child Protective Services used to receive a median of 100 reports of child abuse every month before the pandemic. These numbers however increased to 140 ever since schools closed down due to lockdown. Steve Libreri, the Manager of Foundation for Social Welfare Services, stated that the increases surprised him as reports usually came from schools.

The reports seem to consist all manners of abuse such as verbal, physical and even sexual abuse. The reports also seem to come mainly from adults who notice the abuse, but in certain isolated cases it is the children themselves who report the abuse. Libreri stated that there is a degree of hope as the agency Sedqa does hold courses for children in order for them to realise what constitutes abuse.

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New Zealand raises minimum wage and taxes on rich

Apr 1 2021

New Zealand has decided to raise the minimum wage of workers to $20 per hour whilst also increasing tax rates for the country’s richest to 39%. Being implemented Thursday, the changes will also see increases to unemployment and sickness benefits with the minimum wage increase affecting up to 175,500 workers and increasing wages across the economy by $216m.

Any New Zealander earning more than $180,000 yearly will have taxes raised up by 2%. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that these changes represent ‘real and long-overdue improvements to the support we provide our most vulnerable.’ New Zealand’s previous minimum wage as of 2019 was already among the top five highest globally.

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