Uber loses minimum wage case in Britain

LONDON • US ride-hailing app Uber has lost a landmark case in Britain that would give drivers the right to paid holidays and the national minimum wage, claimants' lawyers said.

The London employment tribunal yesterday rejected Uber's appeal against an October ruling last year in a case that is being closely watched for the wider implications for Britain's booming "gig economy".

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Catalan Speaker of Parliament freed

MADRID • Catalonia's sacked Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell was freed from prison yesterday, but bail conditions may prevent her from campaigning on a pro-independence ticket for regional elections next month.

She faces charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, after she enabled a declaration of independence by the Catalan Parliament late last month.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Candidate urged to give up Senate bid

WASHINGTON • Several Republicans urged their party's candidate for a vacant US Senate seat to quit the race if an explosive report that he had had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl nearly 40 years ago is true.

Mr Roy Moore, 70, a former judge from Alabama, has denied any sexual impropriety.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Russia drafts new rules for US media

MOSCOW • Russian lawmakers raced yesterday to draft measures requiring US media outlets, and possibly social media networks as well, to register as foreign agents, saying they could be adopted as early as next week.

The measures, which are being prepared ahead of Russia's presidential election in March, would be a huge blow to already tattered US-Russia ties.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE