LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The United Arab Emirates and its international finance hub Dubai are switching to a four-and-a-half-day work week ending at midday Friday to make it easier to do business globally.
The move away from the current Sunday to Thursday schedule — the first by a Gulf state — will help the UAE "achieve business continuity and alignment with global economies and banking," the government said in a statement. The change will take effect on January 1, and will apply to government employees and schools.
The UAE, which has a predominantly Muslim population, said that work will end at 12 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) on Friday to allow people to attend prayers. Friday is considered the holiest day of the week for Muslims. From January, prayers will begin at 1.15 pm local, about an hour later than at present.
Public sector employees will also be offered the chance to work flexibly on Friday, including from home, the government said.
Abdulrahman Al Awar, director general of human resources for the UAE government, said private companies would be able to choose the weekend they feel is best for their business, provided employees are given at least one day off.
"So each company will decide based on the sector that they operate in, based on their clients and operations that they're managing," he told CNN.
Other predominantly Muslim countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Morocco and Malaysia, have adopted a Monday-Friday schedule.
While smoothing business ties around the world, the shift will mean the UAE is no longer synchronized with neighbors such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
The government of Dubai announced it would shift its week in compliance with the Emirates-wide policy.
This is not the first time the UAE has changed its work week. Between 1999 and 2006, the country had a Thursday and Friday weekend, before changing it to Friday-Saturday.
— Caroline Faraj in Dubai and Celine Alkhaldi in Abu Dhabi contributed to this story.
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.