Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
Transport for London is considering issuing licenses and insurance for pedicab drivers, following the prices that rip-off customers within the capital.
Following last year’s Pedicab London Act, which was introduced by the government last year, TfL now have the power to bring in rules and standards to follow – something similar that taxis and private-hire vehicles have to follow, but “tailored to the unique nature of the pedicab and the market they operate in” according to a TfL spokesperson.
There could be a charge based on either time, distance or a zonal structure; with a limit of noise levels too.
There is a public consultation ongoing, which you can respond to now by clicking here.
Crazy News
People have queued for hours at a Sydney greenhouse to smell the corpse flower, after it bloomed for the first time in seven years.
The amorphophallus titanium is rare, with as many as 1,000 to be found worldwide, native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra – but the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden has one of them.
Its smell has been described as rotting flesh, rotting food, sweaty socks or garlic; and has grown from 25cm in December to 1.6m last Thursday.
More than 20,000 people have walked past the flora hoping to get a smell for themselves, with the guests giving it the nickname Putricia – a combination of putrid and Patricia.
Happy News
200 businesses and charities here within the United Kingdom have signed a pledge to reduce the working week down to four days, without a loss in pay.
Sectors to follow the new working patterns include marketing, advertisement; tech, IT and software. It is said that a more balanced workforce is important to driving productivity.
138 of the companies are located in London, as they set to follow Japan in their four-day workweek pattern.
The 4 Day Week Foundation is a company that rallies for this workweek change, and Joe Royle of the foundation says: “With 50% more free time, a four-day week gives people the freedom to live happier, more fulfilling lives. As hundreds of British companies and one local council have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers”.
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