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EU ministers seek balance between workplace rights and competitiveness in 21st century jobs act

19 October 2026 at 19:04

EU ministers have discussed how to make labour standards compatible with modern technological conditions and workplace culture, such as telework and AI-led staff oversight, without losing competitiveness.

The law in question, called the Quality Jobs Act, covers a wide range of work protection measures, such as common standards for being able to ‘go home’ and disconnect from remote work, and limits to AI role in recruitment or its scrutiny of workers’ performance.

Technological innovation should “benefit both workers and businesses,” said Portuguese labour minister Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, addressing the ministers’ council on Monday (19 October) in Luxembourg.

Human oversight is essential, especially where AI systems decide on recruitment or workers’ assessment, she said.

Next to innovation, labour rules needed to ensure “fair and transparent practices, respect for human workers’ rights … and effective social dialog,” said Roxana Mînzatu, the EU commissioner for employment.

“This revolutionary technology has to be regulated” so that it “delivers for all,” Isabelle Schömann, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) deputy general secretary had also said during a conference organised by the centre-left S&D group in the European Parliament on 14 October, commenting on the need for the Quality Jobs Act to curb AI.

The draft Quality Jobs Act that the European Commission plans to present in December aims to update the long out of date 1989 and 1990 health and safety workplace rules.

It would also protect subcontractors and create standards for working in heatwaves, becoming more frequent with climate change.

EU legislators need to ensure minimum standards so that “neither jobs nor businesses are jeopardised” with extreme weather, Yolanda Díaz Pérez, the Spanish labour minister, said ahead of Monday’s debate.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

Secretário de Estado das Florestas entrega equipamentos financiados pelo PRR no Alentejo e no Algarve

19 October 2026 at 18:21

O Secretário de Estado das Florestas, Rui Ladeira, participa, nos próximos dias 20 e 21 de outubro, nas sessões de entrega de maquinaria em Santiago do Cacém, Aljezur e Évora, no âmbito do Programa de Mecanização para a Gestão de Combustível, financiado pelo Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR).

Dia 20 de outubro, em Santiago do Cacém, serão assinados os protocolos de cedência de maquinaria entre o Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF) e os municípios de Aljustrel, Almodôvar, Barrancos, Castro Verde, Cuba, Ferreira do Alentejo, Grândola, Mértola, Ourique, Santiago do Cacém, Serpa e Vidigueira, tendo em vista a disponibilização de 12 tratores, um por município, reforçando a capacidade para a realização de operações de gestão de combustível e prevenção de incêndios rurais.

Já no dia 21 de outubro, da parte da manhã, em Aljezur, serão assinados protocolos com os municípios de Alcoutim, Aljezur, Olhão, Portimão e Tavira, para a cedência de 5 tratores; e da parte da tarde, em Évora, serão firmados os protocolos com os municípios de Alandroal, Arraiolos, Borba, Évora, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Viana do Alentejo e Vila Viçosa, tendo em vista a cedência de 8 tratores.

Ao todo, a nível nacional, o ICNF informa que serão entregues 150 tratores a municípios, num investimento total que ronda os 27,5 milhões de euros.

Programa

20 outubro – 15h30 – Santiago do Cacém

  • Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível – Parque de Feiras e Exposições de Santiago do Cacém
  • 15h30 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Santiago do Cacém
  • 15h45 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
  • 16h15 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
  • 16h30 – Entrega dos tratores

21 de outubro – 10h00 – Aljezur

  • Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível, Parque de Estacionamento da CM Aljezur
  • 10h00 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Aljezur
  • 10h15 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
  • 10h45 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
  • 11h00 – Entrega dos tratores

21 de outubro – 15h30 – Évora

  • Sessão de entrega de maquinaria no âmbito do programa de mecanização para a gestão de combustível, Centro de Desenvolvimento Agro-Pecuário de Évora
  • 15h30 – Abertura, Presidente da Câmara Municipal de Évora
  • 15h45 – Assinatura dos protocolos de cedência da maquinaria
  • 16h15 – Encerramento, Secretário de Estado das Florestas
  • 16h30 – Entrega dos tratores

Amanpour announces CNN departure after 43 years

19 October 2026 at 18:16
Journalist Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor who has spent 43 years at the network, said Monday she will leave CNN in June 2027. “After many months of thought and a few sleepless nights, I have decided to separate from CNN, my partner of 43 fantastic years!” Amanpour said in a statement to her employer,…

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh Attacks Mahmood’s Migrant Crackdown

19 October 2026 at 17:00

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh has attacked Shabana Mahmood's migrant crackdown, saying making foreign nationals wait threatens "integration", deepening the split within Andy Burnham’s Cabinet about border controls.

The post Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh Attacks Mahmood’s Migrant Crackdown appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare

19 October 2026 at 15:00

Andy Burnham has announced "big changes" to welfare to get one million NEETs back into work – but only once he's "rebuilt the education system". Sounds expensive, says Mary Gilleece. It’s clearly never going to happen.

The post Andy Burnham Will Never Cut Welfare appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

teleSUR President Defends South-South Cooperation at Global Forum

19 October 2026 at 15:19

Patricia Villegas highlights digital infrastructure, media sovereignty and cooperation with China.

On Sunday, teleSUR President Patricia Villegas participated in the closing session of the Global South Academic Forum, held in Shanghai, where she defended South-South cooperation to strengthen communications sovereignty.

RELATED:

Global South Media Center: 4 Outlets Launch Bold New Platform in China

During her presentation, the Colombian journalist argued that power in the international arena is also exercised through digital infrastructure, undersea cables and algorithms that determine the global circulation of news.

Villegas warned that the digital environment is not neutral but instead reflects power relations that prioritize content with immediate impact at the expense of the peoples’ memory and identity.

She also urged Latin America and the Caribbean to engage more decisively in Global South initiatives to narrow the gap between existing knowledge and strategic decision-making.

teleSUR President highlighted the partnership with China as a key channel for diversifying the capacity of developing nations to produce their own content.

Villegas pointed to concrete advances, including the teleSUR+ platform, created in July 2026 to distribute material produced by creators from the Global South, and the joint bureau operated in Beijing with Prensa Latina and Brasil de Fato.

On the sidelines of the 2026 Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, I held discussions with the forum’s organising committee, led by Prof. Lu Xinyu, Chair of the Global South Academic Forum, about China’s experience in rural revitalisation, poverty reduction, and community… pic.twitter.com/xnoslb0ouk

— Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang (@NJOAgyemang) October 19, 2026

U.S. Blockade Affects Cuban News Agency

During the same panel on communication and governance, Prensa Latina Vice President Alejandro Gomez denounced the severe obstacles facing the Cuban news agency as a result of the U.S. blockade.

Gomez explained that unilateral restrictions limit the acquisition of fuel for electricity generation and the purchase of basic medical supplies for Cuba’s children.

He said the financial blockade directly affects the work of the agency’s foreign bureaus through the arbitrary closure of bank accounts and restrictions on transfers. These coercive measures hinder the objective reporting of the Cuban reality and the provision of communications services across several continents.

The international forum brought together more than 200 delegates in the Chinese metropolis to discuss modernization, governance, and social mobilization from the perspective of developing countries.

Speakers agreed that content exchange, journalism training and the fight against disinformation are essential to democratizing the global media landscape.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: teleSUR

No 10: Hegseth ‘wrong’ to say most non-US Nato soldiers didn’t fight in Afghanistan – UK politics live

19 October 2026 at 16:39

Downing Street delivered a rare rebuke to a senior member of Donald Trump’s administration

Asked why the Lib Dems were opposed to a third runway at Heathrow when they professed to be in favour of growth, Cooper said she did not accept that a third runway would produce all the benefits its supporters claimed.

She explained:

On Heathrow, it is clear from looking at all of the economic analysis of airport growth over the last few years that many of the promises made by all sorts of different airport companies simply haven’t come to bear.

The promise of higher wage jobs hasn’t been substantiated. Often it’s lower paid jobs, and often not as many as they’ve claimed.

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© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

© Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Burnham urged to launch inquiry into unequal health impacts of air pollution

Letter from 150 scientists, MPs and activists calls for action to protect lower-income and minority-ethnic communities

The government must hold an inquiry into the unequal impacts of air pollution, 150 scientists, MPs and activists have urged.

Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that across England, lower-income areas have persistently higher levels of air pollution than wealthier areas.

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© Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

© Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

© Photograph: Alicia Canter/The Guardian

Britain cannot deal effectively with geopolitical crises without rejoining EU, says thinktank

19 October 2026 at 05:00

‘Sovereignty without the ability to act on it is not autonomy,’ paper by Institute for Public Policy Research says

Britain cannot deal effectively with geopolitical crises such as Russian aggression and political turmoil in the US without rejoining the EU, according to an influential thinktank.

The Institute for Public Policy Research has become the latest organisation close to the Labour party to call for the UK to re-enter the bloc, after Andy Burnham said he wanted to examine all possible options.

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© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Andy Burnham launches campaign against ‘headphone dodgers’ on public transport

Passengers urged to ‘share the carriage, not the noise’ as guidance sets out £100 penalties for nuisance behaviour

Andy Burnham has announced a crackdown on “headphone dodgers” who play loud music on public transport, as he extends his promise to give voters “breathing space” in the confines of a train carriage.

The prime minister will unveil a campaign against nuisance behaviour on public transport on Monday, alongside guidance allowing local transport authorities to levy fines of up to £100 for non-compliance.

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© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/AFP/Getty Images

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