A Brazilian judge ruled that a driver using the Uber ride-hailing app is an employee of the San Francisco-based company and is entitled to workers' benefits, adding to the global debate over labor rights for drivers on the platform.

Uber said on Tuesday it would appeal the decision by Judge Marcio Toledo Gonçalves, who issued the ruling late Monday in a labor court in Minas Gerais state.

Gonçalves ordered Uber to pay one driver around 30,000 reais ($10,000) in compensation for overtime, night shifts, holidays and expenses such as gasoline, water and candy for passengers.

The consequences for Uber, if the ruling is upheld, could be far greater if more drivers follow suit and if state and federal regulators and tax agencies start treating it, as the judge suggested, as a transportation company rather than a tech firm.

Similar cases in the United States, Britain, Switzerland, and Europe's highest court have threatened to increase Uber's costs and subject it to stricter regulation, with implications for peers building platforms for part-time work in the so-called 'gig economy'.

Uber said in a statement that it was appealing the decision, citing a contradictory ruling by another labor judge in Minas Gerais two weeks ago. The company said drivers are free to set their own hours, cancel or pass on trips and use competing apps, making them service providers rather than employees.

The ride-hailing app has also raised concerns about the safety of its drivers in Brazil.

A Reuters investigation revealed a 10-fold increase in attacks on drivers, including several murders, after enabling cash payments on its platform at the end of July. Questions were raised within the company as to why it did not act faster to address the problem.

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KUALA LUMPUR

Two female secret agents are thought to have been behind the death of Kim Jong-un’s brother, it has been reported, after the arrest of a taxi who picked them up from the airport.

Kim Jong-nam, 45, was killed at Kuala Lumpur airport on Tuesday after being attacked by two women with “poisoned needles” while waiting to board a flight back to Macau, according to local TV reports.

A taxi driver in his thirties was arrested soon after CCTV footage had been analysed prompting a search for the two women, according to the Telegraph.

An unnamed senior police official told the newspaper: “We have already looked through the CCTV footage, hence we managed to arrest the taxi driver who had taken the two woman who carried out the assassination.”

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SALISBURY

THREE women say they have been inappropriately touched by a man claiming to be a taxi driver in Salisbury City centre.

The latest incident was reported in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police appealed for witnesses after the first incident was reported on November 26 last year, but now two further victims have come forward saying they they too were touched inappropriately.
In each case the suspect was described as of Asian appearance, aged in his 30s-40s, of slim build with short, dark hair.

 A 39-year-old local man was arrested in relation to one of the incidents and released on police bail pending further enquiries.

In each incident the offender is purporting to be a taxi driver working in Salisbury city centre in the early hours of the morning at the weekend.
The victims were all women who were on their own at the time and describe the man trying to kiss them or touch them when they reached their destination.

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DELHI

Ola, Uber strike in Delhi: Taxi set on fire by drivers, commuters’ woes continue
The strike by drivers of app-based cab aggregators turned violent late on Tuesday night as some unidentified protesters set a cab afire near Green Valley in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.

The cab driver, Rahul Kumar, said that he operated for Uber and has lodged a police complaint. Kumar, who is from Vijay Nagar, said that the protesters allegedly stopped the cab returning from Vaishali and poured some inflammable substance before setting it afire.

“There were nearly 15-20 protesting drivers who were hovering around on bikes. They hurled stones and I had to stop before they poured inflammable substance and set my car afire. They took away one mobile while two mobile got burnt inside the car. I have been driving for Uber for past 3-4 months,” Rahul said.

The strike by Ola and Uber drivers, meanwhile, worsened on Wednesday morning, as agitating drivers turned violent. Office-goers had to once again resort to alternative ways to reach their workplace while the autos reportedly refused to go by the meter. Instances of drivers, who returned to work, being assaulted and their cars getting vandalised were reported from across the Capital, though no police complaint was made.

After a meeting with representatives of Rajdhani Tourist Driver Union and managements of Ola and Uber, the government said, “It was firmly conveyed to the companies to look into the problems faced by drivers… Majority of the drivers are not in favour of any strike but some external anti-social elements are illegally preventing the app-based drivers from plying their vehicles”.

Transport minister Satyendra Jain also directed his department to inform Delhi Police about locations where groups leading the protest are attacking drivers and ensure criminal complaints are lodged.

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BURNLEY

 A TAXI driver has denied making a series of sexual suggestions to three underage girls while taking them to school.

Syed Shah, 27, also became a Facebook friend of one of the schoolgirls, who sent him pictures of herself, Burnley Crown Court heard.

Shah has admitted talking about sex with the girls, as he took them from their homes in the Burnley area to a Blackburn school, the court was told.
But he has insisted he was “only joking” when it came to inviting them to perform a sex act on him, according to prosecutors.

Eric Lamb told jurors that Shah also asked one of the girls: “Which back alley am I going to take you then?”

This could be plainly understood as the pair of them going to a back alley for sex together, said Mr Lamb.

The court heard that Shah’s cousin usually drove the girls to school but when he was unavailable the defendant would step in.

Shah, who worked for Prince’s Taxis in Burnley, was arrested by police last June, after officers received complaints about his conduct.

Interviewed under caution, he said that conversation with the girls had occasionally turned to sex and he had made joking references to what they could do for him. Two of the girls had also asked him for cigarettes.

Shah maintained that one of the girls had made contact with him via Facebook before sharing pictures of herself, the court heard.

She had shared a picture of herself which “showed a lot of cleavage” but he denied asking her to send her pictures exposing herself yet further.

And he said if he had made any sexual remarks on social media then he would always follow them up with LOL (laugh out loud) to show he was not being serious, jurors heard.

Shah said he knew that the girls were underage but they frequently talked about drinking alcohol in town and smoking ‘weed’, the court heard.

Shah, of Thurston Street, Burnley, denies seven offences of inciting underage girls to engage in sexual activity. The trial continues.

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