Latest news with #HowardKennedy
Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Iran International's Journalists Subjected To Transnational Repression Globally
In August 2025, international lawyers from a U.K.-based Doughty Street Chambers and Howard Kennedy raised the dire situation of Iranian journalists globally, with several of them being subjected to serious threats. According to their statement, over the past six weeks, Iranian authorities have intimidated and threatened 45 journalists and 315 of their family members. Iranian authorities are said to have threatened to kill these journalists and their relatives unless they stop working for Iran International by specific deadlines, which have all now passed. Iran International is a news platform dedicated to covering events and developments related to Iran, as well as regional and global stories that affect Iranians at home and abroad. Headquartered in London, with bureaus in Washington, DC, and around the world, it broadcasts internationally, providing a vital source of news and information to people living in and outside Iran. Iranian authorities have a long-standing pattern of targeting the Iran International journalists and their families. Since its formation in 2017, Iran International journalists have been targeted by the Iranian authorities in retaliation for their reporting, with assassination and kidnap threats, serious physical assaults, online abuse, harassment and hacking, among others. Among others, in March 2024, journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed by men believed to be acting for the Tehran regime. In March 2025, two men, believed to be acting for Iran, were convicted in a murder-for-hire scheme targeting an Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad (in July 2022). Iranian authorities are known to perpetrate transnational repression globally. In a recent report published by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, a committee consisting of members of both Houses of the U.K. Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords), British parliamentarians raised that, 'Tactics reportedly used by Iran include assassination plots, physical attacks, intimidation of family members, asset freezing, judicial proceedings, smear campaigns, online abuse, surveillance and digital attacks such as hacking, doxing30 and impersonation.' In response to the threats against the 45 journalists and 315 of their family members, the legal team for Iran International has filed an Urgent Appeal with five United Nations experts, U.N. Special Rapporteurs responsible for freedom of expression (Ms Irene Khan), extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions (Mr Morris Tidball-Binz), counter-terrorism (Professor Ben Saul), torture (Dr Alice Edwards) and Iran (Ms Mai Sato). The Urgent Appeal calls upon the UN to take action against Iran over serious risks to the lives and safety of their journalists in seven countries worldwide, namely, the U.K., the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Germany, Turkey and Belgium, and to the safety of their family members, most of whom reside in Iran. As the legal team argues, despite such threats not being anything new, the past six weeks, since mid-June 2025, have witnessed 'an alarming and unprecedented escalation' of the situation, with an ever-growing and real risk to the lives of the journalists and their family members. As their statement indicated, 'Without any justification, Iranian authorities immediately began - on a systematic and widespread basis – to accuse Iran International journalists of being spies for Israel, responsible for providing information about Iranian infrastructure to Israeli intelligence.' As they emphasized, 'Express and credible threats have been made to kill both journalists and named family members.' While the Urgent Appeal is focused on 45 journalists and 315 of their family members, the legal team made it very clear that the number of targeted journalists continues to rise at a rapid and alarming rate: 'We anticipate that more will be added within hours of this Urgent Appeal being filed.' The U.N. experts are yet to confirm whether and what steps they will be calling for. However, as the situation is of utmost urgency, other avenues must be considered to ensure the safety and well-being of all those at risk. Some of such steps have been recently proposed by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, as means to address the issue of transnational repression. States around the world must identify how best to protect people within their jurisdiction, and responding to transnational repression must be a part of their national security strategy.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Europe has caught a work absenteeism bug, turning one of the continent's biggest advantages into a multi-billion euro strain
Calling in sick from work is not just a one-off episode in Europe. It's now become a widespread trend among employees, making the 'sick man' monicker that's chased European economies all too real. Take France, for instance. The number of people taking sick leave has risen so sharply in recent years that it has figured into the French budget as an economic issue with a billion-euro price tag. German employees take over 19 days off due to illness, marking a record high when the economy is riddled with challenges. It's costing the economy €200 billion annually, or the equivalent of 4.5% of the German GDP. The picture isn't too different in the Nordics, where work-life balance is embedded into the culture. In fact, Norway is leading the charge in terms of absenteeism, with the number of sick days taken by workers reaching a 15-year high, Bloomberg reported in December. Unlike vacation days, which employees are entitled to a specific number of, sick days are taken on a need basis. There are limitations on how and when people utilize them across different parts of Europe. But as the rate of sickness-related absences spikes, they're starting to hurt economies grappling with worker shortages and low productivity. In the U.K., employee sickness has cost the economy £30 billion over five years, according to an IPPR report from July. Leaders are paying more attention now than ever: former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the 'sick note culture' a threat to the social safety net. 'Increasing sickness absence levels in the U.K. cause not only an enormous cost to the economy but significant implications for businesses, which are left short-staffed and with major skills gaps in their workforces,' Lydia Christie, legal director at law firm Howard Kennedy, told Fortune. 'This also adds burden to those staff at work who are required to try to fill the gaps.' What is the matter with Europe, and why is sickness-linked absenteeism such a problem in the region? The factors differ depending on where you look, but they are related to one or more of the following: mental health, an overly generous welfare system, and cultural factors. People are not just taking more sick leaves, they are also absent for longer. The COVID-19 pandemic drew people's attention to physical and mental health concerns, such as long-term sickness, depression, and anxiety, which have now become a big driver of workplace absenteeism. That's also set off a larger problem of worker inactivity in the U.K. Europe has always offered generous workplace welfare benefits, making it an example for other regions to aspire to. But those perks might be hurting it. In France, for example, the national health insurance kicks in on the fourth day someone is out sick and pays them about 50% of their salary within a certain threshold. Germany allows workers to take up to six weeks of paid sick leave, which critics have slammed as too much. There are also broader cultural factors at play, too. Gallup found in 2022 that Europeans 'work to live' rather than 'love to work,' resulting in lower employee engagement than in other parts of the world. Top executives have noticed employees' lax attitudes trickle down to the workplace. Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, said last year that Europeans don't work as hard as their American peers and lack career ambition in their quest for work-life balance. Absenteeism isn't helping anyone—neither companies nor the economy. But if they're taken when employees genuinely need them, they improve productivity, said OECD's employment expert Christopher Prinz. 'We want people who are sick to be on sick leave. There's a strong argument for sickness schemes actually helping productivity, health and labour market participation,' he told the Financial Times in November. Countries must strike a delicate balance between encouraging employees to take sick leave and dissuading them from exploiting it, which can result in economic strain. But this might be the key to Europe's brewing productivity battle, making it all the more crucial for policymakers and companies to play the cards right. A version of this story was originally published on on Dec. 5, 2024. This story was originally featured on
