Kenya marks Int'l Labor Day with pledge to improve workers' welfare

STORY: Kenya marks Int'l Labor Day with pledge to improve workers' welfare SHOOTING TIME: May 1, 2024 DATELINE: May 2, 2024 LENGTH: 00:01:48 LOCATION: Nairobi CATEGORY: POLITICS/SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the celebrations 2. SOUNDBITE (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President 3. various of the celebrations STORYLINE: Kenya marked this year's International Labor Day on Wednesday with President William Ruto renewing a pledge to improve the welfare of workers through skills upgrading, legal protection, and better remuneration. Speaking during the Labor Day celebrations in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Ruto said the government is committed to incentivizing workers in the public and private sectors to achieve people-centered economic transformation. Ruto announced the formation of a task force to explore modalities of increasing the minimum wage by 6 percent to protect workers from inflationary pressures and ensure they have disposable income. He added that the government has enacted the 2024 Soc

UK economy stagnates in February amid impact of strikes

STORY: UK economy stagnates in February amid impact of strikes DATELINE: April 14, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:54 LOCATION: London CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of bank of landmarks in London 2. various of London metro station 3. various of teachers' strikes and rail workers' strikes STORYLINE: The United Kingdom's (UK) economy recorded no growth in February as a wave of public sector strikes offset the growth in other sectors, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday. The services sector fell by 0.1 percent and production output by 0.2 percent, while the construction sector grew by 2.4 percent last month after a poor January, the ONS said. Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at ONS, attributed the stagnation to the effects of civil service and teachers' strikes, which impacted the public sector, and an unseasonably mild weather, which led to falls in electricity and gas consumption. On the positive side, economic growth in January was revised up to