All posts tagged: clampdown

‘We lost £14,000’: can a new clampdown stamp out cowboy builders? | Consumer affairs

‘We lost £14,000’: can a new clampdown stamp out cowboy builders? | Consumer affairs

Published by Sam Flores

In hindsight, Sheri Ingram, 35, can see the red flags. Lee Slocombe, a builder hired to renovate her ex-boyfriend’s home in the south Wales valleys, offered to do the work cheaply because he had materials left over from another job, then asked for money upfront to buy additional supplies. “At the time, we believed him,” says Sheri, who was in her early 20s when it happened, and had just left university. The couple budgeted about £8,000 for work that included removing a supporting wall and building an extension with a balcony. Within weeks, the house had been ripped apart. “He pulled up the floorboards and removed the floor joists – he said they had wood rot and needed to come out – took out the staircase, took down the walls, and removed the ceiling,” Ingram says. “The first floor was pinned up using metal poles, and he threw the rubble out the back.” Slocombe kept finding problems and asking for more money, so Ingram’s then boyfriend borrowed another £6,000 from family. By the end, the …

U.S. to sanction another bank in Iran transaction clamp-down: Bessent

U.S. to sanction another bank in Iran transaction clamp-down: Bessent

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., Aug. 24, 2026. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters President Donald Trump’s administration plans to impose sanctions on another bank this week as it intensified efforts to economically isolate Iran, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press on Sunday. “This is going to be financial violence if we have to,” Bessent said in the interview. “We are showing people that we know who you are, you know who you are, and this has got to stop.” Bessent spoke with the AP ahead of Group of 20 meetings in Asheville, North Carolina, where he will meet individually with his counterparts from the world’s major and developing economies to encourage cooperation against Iran. The Trump administration recently signaled that it would shift from military strikes to economic pressure during a war that recently reached the six-month mark, promising what it called an “economic D-Day” against a country that has already weathered decades of punishing sanctions. However, hostilities between the U.S. and Iran flared on Sunday. U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on …

Walz orders ethics clampdown targeting state employees using prediction market information

Walz orders ethics clampdown targeting state employees using prediction market information

Published by skeptic

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has signed an executive order barring state employees from using confidential or nonpublic government information to participate in prediction markets, saying the measure is designed to strengthen ethics rules and preserve public confidence in state government. The action arrives as online prediction markets continue attracting more users, letting people wager on the outcomes of future events ranging from elections and sporting contests to government decisions and economic developments. Walz argued the platforms are especially vulnerable to insider trading because people with access to confidential information could gain an unfair financial advantage. Trump and companies like Kalshi are more interested in lining their pockets than protecting public trust and keeping people safe. Regardless of their grift, I’m taking action to reinforce the strong ethical standards we have in Minnesota. https://t.co/CbXrQwHR1B — Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) July 28, 2026 Announcing the order on social media, Walz criticized President Donald Trump and prediction market operator Kalshi. “Trump and companies like Kalshi are more interested in lining their pockets than protecting public trust and keeping …

German Clampdown On Sick Leave: No More Phoning It In, Doc Note Needed On Day 1

German Clampdown On Sick Leave: No More Phoning It In, Doc Note Needed On Day 1

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a stark departure from its reputation for employee-coddling, the German government is attacking the mass abuse of sick leave with strict new policies that would require a doctor’s note obtained on the very first day an employee is sick, with no ability to simply take a sick day with a mere phone call. The reform package also targets retirement ages, tax rates,  regulations, welfare benefits and the ease of hiring and firing. It’s expected to pass parliament by year’s end.  “The number of sick days is too high,” German chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters. “We are creating a set of tools that will enable those involved, both employees and companies, to correct this. We know this is a tough decision. But we can no longer afford the competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work.” Merz said the changes are needed to invigorate Germany’s economy, which has faltered after the COVID pandemic and suffered from the West’s interventions in the Ukraine war and Iran.  After months of disagreements, Germany’s governing coalition has agreed on …

Mahmood introduces radical reforms to asylum system including clampdown on modern slavery claims

Mahmood introduces radical reforms to asylum system including clampdown on modern slavery claims

Published by Sam Flores

Shabana Mahmood has unveiled further radical reforms to the asylum system, including clamping down on migrants’ ability to stay in the UK based on family ties and restricting modern slavery claims. The home secretary‘s legislation, which was introduced to parliament on Tuesday, includes a restriction to the application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which safeguards the right to private and family life and is used by some migrants to halt their deportation. The bill will tighten the application of Article 8 by defining family as an immediate family member, such as a parent, spouse or child under 18, except in exceptional circumstances. Foreign nationals will also be required to live with their spouse, partner, or child if they are claiming they need to stay in the UK to be with them. If they do not live with their child, visa overstayers and others fighting their deportation will need to show a genuine parental relationship. When a foreign national is in the UK without leave to remain, or they are …

Putin imposes security clampdown in Moscow ahead of Victory Day parade | World | News

Putin imposes security clampdown in Moscow ahead of Victory Day parade | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

A increasingly paranoid Vladimir Putin has imposed a massive secutiry clampdown on Moscow ahead this week’s huge annual Victory Day parade. The move comes amid an overnight strike on the city’s “Hollywood” district when an elite high-rise tower in Mosfilmovskaya Street was hit and damaged by a Ukrainian drone. The attack on the high-rise building – rumoured to be home to key figures in Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service – was by an unmanned plane which evaded sophisticated air defences installations in the city. The strike occurred at the beginning of a week leading up to Putin’s annual Victory Day military parade on Red Square, scheduled for Saturday and featuring thousands of Russian troops to mark the end of the Second World War. There is growing concern in Moscow that Ukraine might target the parade rehearsals—or even the main event itself—where Putin is expected to deliver what has been described as a “very important” address. According to VChK-OGPU, a Telegram channel reported to have links to the security services, as well as the associated Rucriminal …