Pension discrimination could cost Muslim Brits $18bn
Britain’s 2010 Equality Act means companies failing to offer a Sharia-compliant pension to employers could be breaking the law
As many as one in three British Muslims do not have a pension, posing a financial risk to the taxpayer as well as individuals
Updated 24 May 2021
May 24, 2021 20:21
LONDON: The next generation of British Muslims could lose out on as much as $18 billion over the course of their lives because of workplace discrimination that prevents Muslims from taking advantage of government-backed pension schemes.
According to a legal opinion obtained by top Islamic finance advisers, employers could be unwittingly breaking anti-discrimination legislation introduced in 2010 by failing to give Muslims the option of a Sharia-compliant pension fund.
LONDON: Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen has criticized Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey, over the platform’s failure to take action over antisemitic posts.
In a message posted on Saturday, Cohen wrote: “The surge in antisemitism on the streets is fueled by antisemitism on social media. @Jack @Twitter Why do you allow #HitlerWasRight?! Those who celebrate the Holocaust aim to perpetuate another. #StopHateForProfit.”
The award-winning actor also provided a link to a report published last week by the Anti-Defamation League that found more than 17,000 tweets “used variations of the phrase ‘Hitler was right’” between May 7 and May 14.
Meanwhile the BBC has announced that it is investigating one of its journalists, Tala Halawi, after media-monitoring website Honest Reporting on Sunday highlighted a Tweet she posted several years ago that included the hashtag “HitlerWasRight”.
May 23 2021
As the world wakes up to the imminent climate crisis facing it, there is an increasing onus on industrial companies to clean up their environmental acts and limit the amount of greenhouse gases they emit. Installing sustainable carbon capture and storage technology is one way to improve their environmental performance, but transitioning to renewable energy will form another key facet of the strategy aimed at achieving a greener tomorrow.
However, adopting renewables doesn’t just make sense in terms of helping the environment and complying with national and international legislation on the issue. It also holds a raft of other benefits which any forward-thinking company would be well advised to take heed of when planning their business policy for the years ahead. Here are a handful of the advantages that switching to renewables would bring to any company operating in any industry.
JEDDAH: The Middle East’s hotel occupancy rates approached 2019 levels during Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr this year, according to data from the hotel management analytics firm STR.
The report highlighted near-normal occupancy levels in the region during the holy month, helping key markets outperform global peers.
Hotels in Alkhobar city, in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, reported the highest average occupancy level in the Kingdom with 63.5 percent.
On the country’s west coast, Jeddah’s occupancy levels dropped during the last week of Ramadan but climbed back during Eid to 58.6 percent. With the return of Umrah this year for vaccinated or COVID-recovered pilgrims only, Makkah’s hotel industry showed improved performance, although it remains below its full capacity due to safety measures and the suspension of overseas pilgrims.