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Top 10 Best Corporate Law Firms in India 2025 | Legal Excellence RedefinedHow major US stock indexes fared Thursday, 12/5/2024On his way out the door and just before the holidays, President Joe Biden has presented some 42,000 federal workers with a generous gift: a five-year contract that protects their right to work from home for at least part of the week. This the endgame to a saga that has been playing out for most of Biden’s tenure: the tension between the administration’s goal of improving public services and its habit of catering to public-service unions. It would be an exaggeration to say that public dissatisfaction with government services played a major role in President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. But the incoming administration’s fixation with government efficiency, however misguided, will certainly play a role going forward. There was no controversy about federal workers going remote in 2020, during the pandemic, and it was no surprise that they remained remote when Biden was inaugurated in January 2021. But over the next few months, vaccines became widely available, and Americans returned to tourism, business travel and office work. By March 1, 2022, when Biden delivered the State of the Union, there was a clear desire to return to normal. “It’s time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people,” he said. “The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.” Yet it never happened. The White House issued various directives, and every political appointee I know was routinely in the office . But despite this widespread discontent among his own appointees, Biden never got the workers back. One reason is that civil servants overwhelmingly view the return-to-office push as a bad-faith political stunt designed to assuage critics in Congress or provide economic benefits to cities. The belief that regular presence in an office is beneficial, expressed by many managers in the private sector, doesn’t have much traction. The larger issue is that RTO policies need to be bargained collectively with the unions representing federal workers. The job of union leaders is to win concessions for their members, so it is hardly surprising that they would argue that requiring an in-office presence is burdensome and pointless. That lets them maximize financial concessions or whatever else in exchange for going to in-person work. Biden officials generally treated this collective bargaining situation as an external constraint on their ability to manage the federal workforce. But the president’s own appointees controlled the National Labor Relations Board. It’s of course appropriate that a dramatic shift in working conditions should be subject to collective bargaining. But we all lived through the pandemic and saw what happened: Employers made a dramatic shift to remote work as a result of a public health emergency. The idea that this should have also created a new bargaining chit for public-sector unions doesn’t make sense. If the White House really couldn’t persuade the NLRB to treat this more sensibly, it could have tried to work with Congress to make a statutory change to require a common-sense treatment of work-from-home policies. But the Biden administration didn’t do that, either. The president told the public that he was going to bring federal workers back and then didn’t, because deference to labor unions was the order of the day. Under Trump, America is going to get the polar-opposite approach to remote work. Instead of policies that balance the collaborative benefits of time in office with the recruiting and retention benefits of flexibility, there will be a new regime that doesn’t really care about public-sector performance and has clearly indicated it wants to purge the “deep state” of professionalism and its perceived political enemies. To that end, being as strict as possible — in the hope that career civil servants will quit — will serve Trump’s ends. That’s unfortunate. It’s clear that the technologies that powered white-collar America during the pandemic are genuinely useful. The option of working remotely at least some of the time has real value to both workers and employers. For the federal government to stick its head in the sand and pretend that Zoom doesn’t exist would be absurd. Prudent members of Congress should push back against efforts, already apparent among the president-elect’s allies, to use RTO as a hammer to destroy state capacity. For Democrats, there will always be some friction between serving the public’s interest in efficient government services and its own interest in accommodating its supporters in public unions. These interests are not often aligned. Successful Democratic presidents, such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, were especially attentive to the ways in which teachers unions could be impediments to improving public education, and made a point of standing up to them. Biden — and Biden-era Democrats — generally prioritized coalition management over such concerns. That’s why they made Covid-era work policies permanent as a giveaway to civil-service unions. It’s a decision Democrats will come to regret, as the path is now clear for Trump to wield the very real shortcomings of the status quo as a pretext for dismantling systems that Americans very much need. Elsewhere in Bloomberg Opinion: Want more? Subscribe to our newsletter. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Matthew Yglesias is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A co-founder of and former columnist for Vox, he writes the Slow Boring blog and newsletter. He is author of “One Billion Americans.” /opinion This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.The number of affordable homes started in London has fallen 88 per cent, new statistics have revealed, with some boroughs starting just one new affordable property each in the space of a year. Only 3,156 affordable homes began construction across the whole of Greater London between April 2023 and March of this year, down from 26,386 starts in the previous 12 months, according to Government data. Bexley, Harrow, Richmond-upon-Thames, and the ‘square mile’ of the City of London each saw only one new affordable property started. Work began on just two in Kensington and Chelsea, and only three each in Brent, Enfield and Lambeth. In Newham, four got started. ‘Affordable housing ’ is a wide-ranging category which includes homes let at rents of no more than 80 per cent of local market rates, as well as shared ownership homes and social rent properties which are set at around 50 per cent of market levels, among other property types. London’s 88 per cent reduction in affordable homes started in the last financial year compares with a 39 per cent fall across the whole of England, where starts fell from 71,771 in 2022/23 to 43,439 in 2023/24. A Government spokesman said the statistics “emphasise the scale of the housing crisis we have inherited” and that changes to the planning system, along with increased funding and making local housing targets mandatory, would improve the situation. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her recent Budget a £500m “top up” to the previous Conservative Government’s £11.5bn England-wide Affordable Homes Programme. Of that extra £500m, London was allocated £100m, bringing the capital’s total share to £4.1bn . Rob Anderson, research director at the Centre for London think tank, said: “While policy change such as planning reform to unlock areas on the ‘grey’ belt or incentivise housebuilding on brownfield land is a step in the right direction, it will not be enough to turn the corner on this crisis... “The £500m uplift announced in the recent Budget was welcome, [but] the evidence suggests it will not be enough to deliver the number of social homes needed - estimates range from £4.6bn a year as a minimum, while a comprehensive programme could require up to £15.1bn annually. “That’s why the upcoming spending review [in the spring of next year] is crucial. The Government needs to commit to a real step-change in investment, collaborating with the mayor, local authorities, and housing providers to deliver on their housebuilding targets. “These are significant sums. But housing is a foundational issue – it affects our health, our productivity and is key to sustainability. If the Government really wants to fix the foundations, reduce waiting lists for the NHS, kickstart a new era of growth and achieve its net-zero targets, housing is the place to start.” The London boroughs which saw the most affordable homes started in 2023/24 were Barking and Dagenham (584 starts, down from 1,021 the previous year), Greenwich (406, down from 2,615) and Redbridge (351, down from 575). Andy Hulme, chief executive of housing association The Hyde Group, said: “At a time when record numbers of homeless children are living in temporary accommodation, this sharp fall in affordable housing starts should be concerning for everyone. “Unfortunately, this will lead to more people becoming homeless in the coming months and years, as less affordable housing is being delivered at a time when the demand for affordable housing is increasing. “However, the most acute housing problem is the steep long-term fall in the supply of social housing, which has fallen off a cliff over the past thirty years... “To tackle the housing emergency, we need more grant funding to build more social homes and we need a more ambitious ten-year rent settlement that includes a fair approach to rent convergence.” A spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “These statistics emphasise the scale of the housing crisis we have inherited. We will fix this by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation. “We will also make changes to the planning system, restore mandatory housing targets for councils, and we have boosted the Affordable Homes Programme by £500m. “Everywhere must play its part to bring the housing crisis to an end and we will work in close partnership with the mayor to radically boost housebuilding in the capital and build the homes that London needs.” A spokeswoman for mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The disastrous inheritance from the previous Government has left national housebuilding on its knees, with developers previously predicting housebuilding could fall to the lowest level since the Second World War. “While the impact of this legacy is being felt most acutely in London, it is apparent across the country, with the Office for Budget Responsibility projecting housing completions will fall this year and next. “Despite this, thousands of affordable homes are still being built across London, with the mayor’s success on affordable housing meaning the capital is well placed to carry on building homes, even during this incredibly tough period. “Under his tenure the mayor has started more new council homes than any time since the 1970s, and Sadiq will continue to work hand-in-hand with the new Government to turn the tide on the last 14 years of underinvestment in housebuilding, helping to create a better, fairer London for everyone.” A spokeswoman for London Councils, the capital’s local government association, said: “Despite massive challenges, boroughs are working hard to accelerate housebuilding and have made solid progress in recent years. London saw more council-built homes started in 2022 than any year since the 1970s. “However, market conditions for starting to build new housing are currently incredibly tough. There are 287,000 potential new homes in London with planning permission, including 70,000 affordable homes, that have yet to be built. There are a lot of barriers to unlocking these sites – such as skyrocketing construction costs, and in recent years, a lack of capital funding and infrastructure. “On top of this, London's higher land values mean that current grant levels are insufficient to secure the viability of schemes. Many boroughs can’t make up the shortfall – across London there’s a cumulative £700m funding gap in social housing budgets. “We are committed to overcoming these barriers to our building ambitions, working closely with Government and the Greater London Authority.”
Adam Pemble, an Associated Press video journalist who covered some of the biggest global news of the past two decades, from earthquakes and conflicts to political summits and elections, has died. He was 52. Pemble died Thursday in Minneapolis surrounded by friends and family, according to his friend Mike Moe, who helped care for him in the final weeks of his fight against cancer. Known for bringing stories alive with his camera, Pemble epitomized the best of television news traditions, casting a curious and compassionate lens onto the lives of the people and communities whose stories he told. He joined the AP in 2007 in New York before moving to Prague in 2011 to help launch AP’s first cross-format operation combining photography, text stories and video. He enhanced Eastern European news coverage, creating distinctive stories highlighting the region’s culture and society. “Adam was an incredibly talented and passionate journalist and an empathetic storyteller. He had this amazing ability to get anyone to talk to him on camera, which I attribute to the Midwestern charm he embodied throughout his life.” said Sara Gillesby, AP’s Director of Global Video and Pemble’s former manager in New York when he joined the AP. “He was the best of us.” Pemble was born in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, in 1972 and grew up in Minneapolis. After graduating with a degree in mass communications from Minnesota State University Moorhead, he started his journalism career in 1997 at KVLY, a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, and later worked at WCCO in Minneapolis. “He had the skills of the old-school camera people to meet a deadline and turn a beautiful story,” said Arthur Phillips, a cameraman who worked with Pemble at WCCO. “But he had a calling for greater things.” Moving to New York, Pemble covered some of the biggest stories in the city, including the trial of Bernie Madoff, interviews with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and with then-real estate developer, now U.S. president-elect, Donald Trump. He went to Haiti to cover the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, where he captured shocking images of devastation. A few weeks later he was in Vancouver, covering the Winter Olympics. With his transfer to Prague, Pemble quickly became the go-to video journalist deployed to the biggest news events in Europe, interviewing government leaders, covering violent protests, the aftermath of terror attacks and numerous national elections across the continent. “An inquiring mind, a keen eye and a healthy skepticism for those in power who tried to spin away from the truth all combined to make Adam’s stories as rich in colour as he was in character,” said Sandy MacIntyre, former AP head of global video. “Time and again he was asked to do the impossible and without fail he delivered the exceptional.” ”But more than all of that, he was the colleague and friend you wanted by your side because if Adam was there we knew we were going to be the winning team.” As civil unrest rocked Ukraine in 2014, Pemble reported from Kyiv and later Donetsk, where he covered the first Russian-backed demonstrations before spending weeks in Crimea during Russia’s annexation of the strategic peninsula. His video reports included the last remaining Ukrainian sailors loyal to Kyiv, who had finally abandoned their ship and came ashore. With the Russian national anthem playing from a car in the background, his final shot showed two distraught sailors heckled as they walked away. Pemble returned to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022. Among his many assignments was filming the exclusive March 2023 AP interview by Executive Editor Julie Pace with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a train shuttled them across Ukraine to cities near some of the fiercest fighting. “Adam showed up to every assignment with enthusiasm, creativity and commitment to his work and his colleagues. He loved what he did, and so many of us at AP are better for having worked alongside him,” Pace said. When not deployed overseas, Pemble set his camera’s gaze on his new home in the Czech Republic, offering insight into the traditions and unique stories of Eastern Europe. From Christmas carp fishing at sunrise to graffiti artists in Prague to the intimate story of a Slovak priest challenging the celibacy rules of the Catholic Church, he brought his unmistakable style. He worked with a traditional large broadcast camera in an era where many video shooters shifted to smaller, lighter cameras. He always put himself in the right place to let reality unfold like “an old school analog painter in an often fast and furious digital age,” former AP cameraman Ben Jary recalled. Pemble’s interest in visual storytelling led to experimenting with new technologies, including aerial videography. In 2015, he was the first major news agency camera operator to film live drone footage when reporting on the migration crisis in the Balkans. An avid gardener who planted trees and chilis on his rooftop in Prague, he was adventurous in the kitchen and especially proud of his vegan “meatloaf,” friends said. He loved a seedy dive bar as much as a Michelin restaurant and foods as varied as charcoal choux pastry with truffle creme and his favourite road trip junk food, Slim Jim’s jerky and Salted Nut Rolls. Pemble’s wit, wisdom, energy and positivity enriched the lives and experiences of those around him, friends and colleagues recalled. “If someone asked me to see a picture of quiet strength and courage, dignity and grace, and most of all kindness, I would show them a picture of a man for all seasons,” said Dan Huff, a Washington-based AP video journalist, “I would show them a picture of Adam Pemble.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge on Monday upheld the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, allowing the state to continue prohibiting treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers for people under 18. Circuit Court Judge Robert Craig Carter from southern Douglas County wrote in a 74-page order on Monday that the ban was constitutional. The ruling rejects a lawsuit brought on behalf of families of trans youth, medical providers and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations. In addition to ruling that the ban was constitutional, Carter went a step further, finding that there was “an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics” of treating adolescent gender dysphoria, which is typically defined as the feeling of distress when a person’s gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth. “The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable,” Carter wrote in the order. Carter’s ruling comes after a nine-day trial that concluded in Jefferson City last month. The trial and lawsuit centered on a law that the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed and Gov. Mike Parson signed into law in 2023. The law, which took effect in August 2023, bans gender transition surgeries on minors and imposes a three-year moratorium on hormone therapy and puberty blockers unless the patients were already receiving the medications. The legislation also affects adults, prohibiting Missouri Medicaid dollars from covering gender-affirming care and bans prisons and jails from providing gender-affirming surgeries. The ban was part of a nationwide push to regulate the lives of transgender people and has sparked fear in Missouri’s transgender community, prompting some to leave the state. The Kansas City-area was at the center of the fight , with transgender residents straddling two states that sought to restrict their rights. The ACLU of Missouri and the national LGBTQ civil rights law firm Lambda Legal, representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, sharply criticized the ruling in a joint statement. The two groups said they planned to appeal. “The court’s findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care,” the groups said in the statement. The lawsuit alleged the ban violated the Missouri Constitution by discriminating against trans patients on the basis of sex and their trans status, and deprives parents of a fundamental right to seek medical care for their children. The law also forces medical providers to choose between abandoning their patients or keeping their medical licenses, according to the suit. Carter disagreed, upholding the law on all counts, according to his order. Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office defended the law in court. The ban came after Bailey had previously attempted to severely restrict gender-affirming care by issuing a regulation, leading even some Republicans to question its legality. He eventually abandoned that effort after lawmakers approved the ban. Bailey and other Republicans have regularly framed restrictions on gender-affirming care as necessary to protect children, an argument Bailey reiterated after Monday’s ruling. “Mutilation is not healthcare,” Bailey wrote on social media on Monday. “We will never stop fighting to protect your children.” Bailey’s office put out a release later in the day, saying he was proud of the work his office put in to “shine a light on the lack of evidence supporting these irreversible procedures.” “We will never stop fighting to ensure Missouri is the safest state in the nation for children,” Bailey said. Impact on Kansas City Bailey had pushed for restrictions on gender-affirming care after a former employee at Washington University in St. Louis’ transgender center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital alleged the center was harming patients. The university’s internal report found the allegations to be unfounded. Despite Bailey’s argument, the ACLU of Missouri and Lambda Legal said Monday that Missouri had “prioritized politics over the well-being of its people.” “This ruling sends a chilling message that, for some, compassion and equal access to health care are still out of reach,” the groups said. The law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner also represented the plaintiffs in the suit. After the ruling came down, Celeste Michael, a 23-year-old transgender woman from Kansas City, said that she felt for transgender kids. Trans people, she said, are facing “even more vitriol and more hatred.” “I think it’s a really scary time to be a trans person,” Michael said. “If they’re going to go for kids, which are our most vulnerable subset of trans people, they’re going for incarcerated people, which are also some of our most vulnerable trans people, who’s to say they’re not going to go for me next?” ©2024 The Kansas City Star. Visit kansascity.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Farage: Badenoch must apologise for ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ on Reform numbersFarage: Badenoch must apologise for ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ on Reform numbers