Over 30,000 Ethiopian maids ran away in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia registered over 30,000 cases of Ethiopian domestic workers walking out of their jobs over the past year, authorities said. According to official statistics from the Ministry of Labour, around 31,700 Ethiopian maids ran away from their jobs. Economists estimate that the citizens were left with a heavy financial burden as a result of these cases. The overall number of domestic workers who left their sponsors high and dry was estimated at 58,715 based on a report prepared by the Ministry of Labour.

The report indicated that 54 percent of absconding expatriates were maids, while 45 percent were drivers. 
Riyadh registered the highest number of runaway housekeepers, followed by the Eastern Province and Makkah. The Northern Province and Al-Baha witnessed the least number of absconding domestic workers.  The report also pointed out that around 500,000 expatriates were absent from their jobs in various companies and establishments across the country during the first quarter of the year, with rates of absenteeism pegged at 6 percent. 

Around 59 percent of those who had walked out of their jobs had left the country on multiple exit/re-entry visas, while 40 percent remained in the country. The number of absconding women working for private companies was 9,454. The phenomenon of runaway domestic workers was a cause for concern for many Saudi families especially since domestic recruitment offices were previously not required to supply families with alternative maids after the end of the three-month trial period. 

Khalid Al-Azhari, an employee working at a domestic recruitment office, highlighted that the new recruitment regulations provide clients with guarantees against absconding maids, including providing an alternative housekeeper even if she had one remaining month of service.  The new regulations are considered to be an improvement to the previous system, which compensated clients for absconding domestic workers only during the first three months of employment.

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Over 30,000 Ethiopian maids ran away in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia registered over 30,000 cases of Ethiopian domestic workers walking out of their jobs over the past year, authorities said. According to official statistics from the Ministry of Labour, around 31,700 Ethiopian maids ran away from their jobs. Economists estimate that the citizens were left with a heavy financial burden as a result of these cases. The overall number of domestic workers who left their sponsors high and dry was estimated at 58,715 based on a report prepared by the Ministry of Labour.

The report indicated that 54 percent of absconding expatriates were maids, while 45 percent were drivers. 
Riyadh registered the highest number of runaway housekeepers, followed by the Eastern Province and Makkah. The Northern Province and Al-Baha witnessed the least number of absconding domestic workers.  The report also pointed out that around 500,000 expatriates were absent from their jobs in various companies and establishments across the country during the first quarter of the year, with rates of absenteeism pegged at 6 percent. 

Around 59 percent of those who had walked out of their jobs had left the country on multiple exit/re-entry visas, while 40 percent remained in the country. The number of absconding women working for private companies was 9,454. The phenomenon of runaway domestic workers was a cause for concern for many Saudi families especially since domestic recruitment offices were previously not required to supply families with alternative maids after the end of the three-month trial period. 

Khalid Al-Azhari, an employee working at a domestic recruitment office, highlighted that the new recruitment regulations provide clients with guarantees against absconding maids, including providing an alternative housekeeper even if she had one remaining month of service.  The new regulations are considered to be an improvement to the previous system, which compensated clients for absconding domestic workers only during the first three months of employment.

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Video game tech can improve rehab for stroke patients"

London: In a unique study, researchers have used 3D technology from the film and video game industry to analyse everyday movements of stroke patients. The results of the study indicate that computerised motion analysis increases the knowledge of how stroke patients can improve their ability to move through rehabilitation. 
In the film and video game industry, motion capture technology is used to convert people's movements into computer animations--famous examples include the character Gollum from the Lord of the Rings and Na'vi from the blockbuster film Avatar. 

Margit Alt Murphy and colleagues at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, have brought the technology into the research laboratory.  Researchers used motion-capture technology to film everyday movements among roughly one hundred people, both healthy people and people who suffered a stroke.  The 3D animations have provided a completely new level of detail in terms of mobility in stroke patients--knowledge that can help patients achieve more effective rehabilitation. 

"Computer technology provides better and more objective documentation of the problem in terms of the everyday life of the patient than what human observation can provide." Murphy said. "With 3D technology, we can measure a patient's movements in terms of numbers, which means that small changes in the motion pattern can be detected and can be fed back to the patient in a clear manner."

"Our results show that computerised motion analysis could be a complement to a physician's clinical diagnosis and an important tool in diagnosing motion problems." Murphy added.  The technology is highly advanced, but for the patient, the method is simple. In the study, the test subjects were equipped with small, round reflex balls on their arm, trunk and head, and they were then instructed to drink water out of a glass. 

The motion is documented by high-speed cameras whose infrared light is reflected by the balls and sent back to the computer where they create a 3D animated image in the form of a stick figure.  "With 3D animation, we can measure the joint angle, speed and smoothness of the arm motion, as well as which compensating motion patterns the stroke patient is using. This give us a measurement for the motion that we can compare with an optimal arm motion in a healthy person." said Murphy. "Our study shows that the time it takes to perform an activity is strongly related to the motion quality." "Even if this technology is not available, we can still obtain very valuable information about the stroke patient's mobility by timing a highly standardised activity, and every therapist keeps a stopwatch in their pocket," said Murphy. 

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Video game tech can improve rehab for stroke patients"

London: In a unique study, researchers have used 3D technology from the film and video game industry to analyse everyday movements of stroke patients. The results of the study indicate that computerised motion analysis increases the knowledge of how stroke patients can improve their ability to move through rehabilitation. 
In the film and video game industry, motion capture technology is used to convert people's movements into computer animations--famous examples include the character Gollum from the Lord of the Rings and Na'vi from the blockbuster film Avatar. 

Margit Alt Murphy and colleagues at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg in Sweden, have brought the technology into the research laboratory.  Researchers used motion-capture technology to film everyday movements among roughly one hundred people, both healthy people and people who suffered a stroke.  The 3D animations have provided a completely new level of detail in terms of mobility in stroke patients--knowledge that can help patients achieve more effective rehabilitation. 

"Computer technology provides better and more objective documentation of the problem in terms of the everyday life of the patient than what human observation can provide." Murphy said. "With 3D technology, we can measure a patient's movements in terms of numbers, which means that small changes in the motion pattern can be detected and can be fed back to the patient in a clear manner."

"Our results show that computerised motion analysis could be a complement to a physician's clinical diagnosis and an important tool in diagnosing motion problems." Murphy added.  The technology is highly advanced, but for the patient, the method is simple. In the study, the test subjects were equipped with small, round reflex balls on their arm, trunk and head, and they were then instructed to drink water out of a glass. 

The motion is documented by high-speed cameras whose infrared light is reflected by the balls and sent back to the computer where they create a 3D animated image in the form of a stick figure.  "With 3D animation, we can measure the joint angle, speed and smoothness of the arm motion, as well as which compensating motion patterns the stroke patient is using. This give us a measurement for the motion that we can compare with an optimal arm motion in a healthy person." said Murphy. "Our study shows that the time it takes to perform an activity is strongly related to the motion quality." "Even if this technology is not available, we can still obtain very valuable information about the stroke patient's mobility by timing a highly standardised activity, and every therapist keeps a stopwatch in their pocket," said Murphy. 

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He was strong till the end, recalls man who oversaw Saddam hanging

BAGHDAD: Mowaffak al-Rubaie sits in his office with a statue of Saddam Hussein behind him, the rope used to hang the dictator around its neck, recalling his final minutes. The former national security advisor, who oversaw Saddam's 2006 execution, said he remained strong until the end, and never expressed any regret. "A criminal? True. A killer? True. A butcher? True. But he was strong until the end.

"I received him (Saddam) at the door. No one entered with us -- no foreigners, and no Americans," Rubaie said in an interview with AFP at his office in the Kadhimiyah area of north Baghdad, near the prison where the execution took place seven years ago. "He was wearing a jacket and a white shirt, normal and relaxed, and I didn't see any signs of fear. "Of course, some people want me to say that he collapsed or that he was drugged, but these facts are for history," Rubaie said.

"I didn't hear any regret from him, I didn't hear any request for mercy from God from him, or request for pardon. 
"A person who is about to die usually says, 'God, forgive my sins -- I am coming to you.' But he never said any of that," Rubaie told AFP. Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq for more than two decades marked by brutal repression, disastrous wars and punishing international sanctions, was hanged after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite villagers in Dujail.

He was president from July 1979 until the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and was found by American forces hiding in a hole on a farm in December of that year. Saddam was executed three years later on December 30, 2006 after a  summary trial. Some Iraqis, particularly Sunni Arabs, look back fondly on the time of Saddam's rule, especially the periods of internal stability that stand in stark contrast to the brutal violence that has plagued the country since his overthrow.

Saddam is also held in high regard by some Arabs for his 1980-88 war with Iran, his confrontations with the United States, his strikes against Israel, and his composure during his execution, which was recorded on mobile phone videos. "When I brought him, he was handcuffed and holding a Koran," said Rubaie, ignoring the statue of Saddam behind him, which depicts the dictator dressed in a uniform bearing the insignia of his exclusive military rank.

"I took him to the judge's room, where he read the list of indictments, as Saddam repeated: 'Death to America! Death to Israel! Long live Palestine! Death to the Persian magi!" Rubaie then took Saddam to the room in which he was to die. "He stopped, looked at the gallows, then he looked me up and down... and said: 'Doctor, this is for men'." When it was time for Saddam to mount the gallows, his legs were still bound, so Rubaie and others had to drag him up the steps

He was strong till the end, recalls man who oversaw Saddam hanging

BAGHDAD: Mowaffak al-Rubaie sits in his office with a statue of Saddam Hussein behind him, the rope used to hang the dictator around its neck, recalling his final minutes. The former national security advisor, who oversaw Saddam's 2006 execution, said he remained strong until the end, and never expressed any regret. "A criminal? True. A killer? True. A butcher? True. But he was strong until the end.

"I received him (Saddam) at the door. No one entered with us -- no foreigners, and no Americans," Rubaie said in an interview with AFP at his office in the Kadhimiyah area of north Baghdad, near the prison where the execution took place seven years ago. "He was wearing a jacket and a white shirt, normal and relaxed, and I didn't see any signs of fear. "Of course, some people want me to say that he collapsed or that he was drugged, but these facts are for history," Rubaie said.

"I didn't hear any regret from him, I didn't hear any request for mercy from God from him, or request for pardon. 
"A person who is about to die usually says, 'God, forgive my sins -- I am coming to you.' But he never said any of that," Rubaie told AFP. Saddam Hussein, who ruled Iraq for more than two decades marked by brutal repression, disastrous wars and punishing international sanctions, was hanged after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite villagers in Dujail.

He was president from July 1979 until the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and was found by American forces hiding in a hole on a farm in December of that year. Saddam was executed three years later on December 30, 2006 after a  summary trial. Some Iraqis, particularly Sunni Arabs, look back fondly on the time of Saddam's rule, especially the periods of internal stability that stand in stark contrast to the brutal violence that has plagued the country since his overthrow.

Saddam is also held in high regard by some Arabs for his 1980-88 war with Iran, his confrontations with the United States, his strikes against Israel, and his composure during his execution, which was recorded on mobile phone videos. "When I brought him, he was handcuffed and holding a Koran," said Rubaie, ignoring the statue of Saddam behind him, which depicts the dictator dressed in a uniform bearing the insignia of his exclusive military rank.

"I took him to the judge's room, where he read the list of indictments, as Saddam repeated: 'Death to America! Death to Israel! Long live Palestine! Death to the Persian magi!" Rubaie then took Saddam to the room in which he was to die. "He stopped, looked at the gallows, then he looked me up and down... and said: 'Doctor, this is for men'." When it was time for Saddam to mount the gallows, his legs were still bound, so Rubaie and others had to drag him up the steps

McDonald's closes employee website amid criticism

ILLINOIS: McDonald's Corp has shut down a website intended to provide employees with work and life guidance after it generated negative publicity for the fast-food company. The McResource program has been criticized for creating unrealistic budgets and offering advice that was out of touch with its workers' pay. The website, which was run by an outside company, also reportedly discouraged workers from eating fast food.

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, said Thursday that it is having its vendor take down the website. "Between links to irrelevant or outdated information, along with outside groups taking elements out of context, this created unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary," the company said in a statement.

Earlier this year, media and labor groups criticized the website for content including sample budgets for employees that were based on holding two jobs and included no costs for heating, as well as suggestions on what to tip a personal fitness trainer or au pair. One critic, the ``Low Pay is Not Okay'' campaign, was one of the groups behind strikes and rallies by fast-food workers and labor organizers earlier this month that demanded better pay. While efforts vary by state, organizers are hoping to build public support to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work.

And in an embarrassing moment for McDonald's, the world's largest hamburger chain, CNBC reported last week that the McResource website discouraged eating fast food as part of its tips for healthy living. While it has shut down the website, McDonald's said it plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which the majority of its employees access its work-life help resources.

McDonald's closes employee website amid criticism

ILLINOIS: McDonald's Corp has shut down a website intended to provide employees with work and life guidance after it generated negative publicity for the fast-food company. The McResource program has been criticized for creating unrealistic budgets and offering advice that was out of touch with its workers' pay. The website, which was run by an outside company, also reportedly discouraged workers from eating fast food.

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, said Thursday that it is having its vendor take down the website. "Between links to irrelevant or outdated information, along with outside groups taking elements out of context, this created unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary," the company said in a statement.

Earlier this year, media and labor groups criticized the website for content including sample budgets for employees that were based on holding two jobs and included no costs for heating, as well as suggestions on what to tip a personal fitness trainer or au pair. One critic, the ``Low Pay is Not Okay'' campaign, was one of the groups behind strikes and rallies by fast-food workers and labor organizers earlier this month that demanded better pay. While efforts vary by state, organizers are hoping to build public support to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25, or about $15,000 a year for full-time work.

And in an embarrassing moment for McDonald's, the world's largest hamburger chain, CNBC reported last week that the McResource website discouraged eating fast food as part of its tips for healthy living. While it has shut down the website, McDonald's said it plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which the majority of its employees access its work-life help resources.

India to be world's 3rd largest economy by 2028 after China,US

NEW DELHI: India is likely to overtake Japan in 2028 to become the third largest economy in the world after China and United States, according to London-based economic consultancy Cebr. As per Cebr's World Economic League table report for 2013, India has lost a place in the league table in 2013 to Canada and is now the 11th largest economy in the world.

"But demographics and economic growth will eventually drive the Indian economy up the table and the forecast for 2028 has India becoming the world's 3rd largest economy overtaking Japan," the report said. The Cebr World Economic League Table (WELT) is an annual calculation by the consultancy. The base data for 2012 is taken from the IMF World Economic Outlook and the GDP forecast draws on Cebr's Global Prospects model to forecast growth, inflation and exchange rates.

The report gives an end of year report on GDP in the 30 largest economies in the world and forecasts countries that will be in the 'top thirty' after 5, 10 and 15 years. In the 2013 league table, India is at the 11th place with a GDP of USD 1.7 billion, and by 2018 the country is likely to be at the 9th place with a GDP of USD 2,481 billion, and by 2023 it would be at 4th place, with GDP size of USD 4,124 billion, and it will claim 3rd spot with GDP of USD 6,560 billion by 2028, it said.

The 2013 league table shows only two changes in the list of top 20 economies. Firstly, Russia overtook recession- stricken Italy to gain 8th place and Canada overtook India as a result of the collapse of the rupee to retake its position as the second largest economy in the Commonwealth and the 10th largest economy in the world, the report said. By the year 2018, the emerging economies will be "on the move". Russia would be at the 6th place; India 9th, Mexico 12th, Korea 13th and Turkey 17th, it said.

By 2023, India and Brazil would be "on the march" and are likely to claim the 4th and 5th place, respectively. 
By the year 2028, the league table will be reordered. China will move to the number one place, followed by the United States (2nd), India (3rd), Mexico (9th) and Canada (10th).The report further said China's GDP in dollar terms is likely to overtake the US in 2028 – much later than most previous predictions. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom would overtake Germany to become the largest Western European economy 'around 2030', it added.

India to be world's 3rd largest economy by 2028 after China,US

NEW DELHI: India is likely to overtake Japan in 2028 to become the third largest economy in the world after China and United States, according to London-based economic consultancy Cebr. As per Cebr's World Economic League table report for 2013, India has lost a place in the league table in 2013 to Canada and is now the 11th largest economy in the world.

"But demographics and economic growth will eventually drive the Indian economy up the table and the forecast for 2028 has India becoming the world's 3rd largest economy overtaking Japan," the report said. The Cebr World Economic League Table (WELT) is an annual calculation by the consultancy. The base data for 2012 is taken from the IMF World Economic Outlook and the GDP forecast draws on Cebr's Global Prospects model to forecast growth, inflation and exchange rates.

The report gives an end of year report on GDP in the 30 largest economies in the world and forecasts countries that will be in the 'top thirty' after 5, 10 and 15 years. In the 2013 league table, India is at the 11th place with a GDP of USD 1.7 billion, and by 2018 the country is likely to be at the 9th place with a GDP of USD 2,481 billion, and by 2023 it would be at 4th place, with GDP size of USD 4,124 billion, and it will claim 3rd spot with GDP of USD 6,560 billion by 2028, it said.

The 2013 league table shows only two changes in the list of top 20 economies. Firstly, Russia overtook recession- stricken Italy to gain 8th place and Canada overtook India as a result of the collapse of the rupee to retake its position as the second largest economy in the Commonwealth and the 10th largest economy in the world, the report said. By the year 2018, the emerging economies will be "on the move". Russia would be at the 6th place; India 9th, Mexico 12th, Korea 13th and Turkey 17th, it said.

By 2023, India and Brazil would be "on the march" and are likely to claim the 4th and 5th place, respectively. 
By the year 2028, the league table will be reordered. China will move to the number one place, followed by the United States (2nd), India (3rd), Mexico (9th) and Canada (10th).The report further said China's GDP in dollar terms is likely to overtake the US in 2028 – much later than most previous predictions. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom would overtake Germany to become the largest Western European economy 'around 2030', it added.