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Eco/Invest/Demography

Uber to give UK drivers minimum wage, pension, holiday pay

Uber said it’s extending the benefits immediately to its more than 70,000 drivers in the U.K. Drivers will earn at least the minimum wage, which currently stands at 8.72 pounds ($12.12), after accepting a trip request and expenses, and will still be able to earn more.

Drivers will also get holiday pay equal to about 12% of their earnings, paid every two weeks. And they’ll be enrolled in a pension plan that both they and the company will pay into.

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EU regulator: Astra jab benefits outweigh risks

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it was investigating reports of 30 cases of unusual blood disorders out of 5 million recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In total, 45 million Covid shots have been delivered across the region.

The EU regulator will release its findings on Thursday but its head, Emer Cooke, said she saw no reason to change its recommendation of AstraZeneca — one of four vaccines that it has approved for use.

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‘Green’ funds shown to herd less, cutting climate shock risk: EU watchdog

ESMA published what it described as a first attempt to assess vulnerabilities to climate-related financial risks using data from 23,965 EU-based funds worth 10.7 trillion euros ($12.7 trillion).

“Within the European financial sector, investment funds are more exposed to climate-sensitive economic sectors than banks, insurers and pension funds. However, few investment fund climate-related financial risk assessments have been conducted,” ESMA said in its latest summary of market risks.

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Coronavirus variants likely evolved inside people with weak immune systems

If true, the idea has implications for vaccination programs, particularly in countries that have not yet begun to immunize their populations. People with compromised immune systems — such as cancer patients — should be among the first to be vaccinated, said Dr. Adam Lauring, a virus expert and infectious disease physician at the University of Michigan. The faster that group is protected, the lower the risk that their bodies turn into incubators for the world’s next supercharged mutant.

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Buffett’s Berkshire opposes shareholders’ climate change, diversity proposals

Berkshire also said Buffett’s compensation in 2020 totaled $380,328, comprising his usual $100,000 salary plus $280,328 for personal and home security.

Though Buffett’s salary is low for a chief executive of a major company, his 16.2% stake in Berkshire was worth about $98.2 billion as of Friday.
Citing its decentralized model, Berkshire said the climate proposal from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Federated Hermes and Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec was unnecessary, and that many businesses’ climate decisions already made “great sense” for the environment.

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