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West Ham have made an improved £30million bid for Manchester United and England centre-back Harry Maguire, the PA news agency understands. The Hammers have been linked with Maguire throughout the summer but a previous £20million offer was rejected. Maguire, 30, fell down the pecking order at Old Trafford last season and was recently replaced as captain by manager Erik ten Hag. United, however, have always maintained that Maguire remains an important member of their squad and would be happy for him to stay and fight for his place. Maguire, who joined United for £80million in 2019, faces competition from Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof for a spot in the side. West Ham, meanwhile, have also been linked with a move for Maguire’s United team-mate Scott McTominay. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Hundreds of security guards and marshals at the Qatar World Cup went unpaid for long working periods without days off, before being forced out of the country when the tournament ended, a new Amnesty International investigation has found. Some did not earn enough to pay off the loan required for recruitment costs. The human rights body state that research into Teyseer Security Services “shows pattern of abuses against migrant workers”. Steve Cockburn, Amnesty’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, has meanwhile accused Fifa of failing “to effectively investigate the issue or offer remedies”, demanding that the global governing body step in and “offer immediate and meaningful remediation for the human rights abuses suffered by workers”. The group spoke to 22 men from Nepal, Kenya and Ghana, who were among thousands of migrant workers employed on short-term contracts by Qatar-based Teyseer Security Services to work as marshals and security guards at World Cup sites in the build-up and during the tournament itself. Among the locations were Khalifa International Stadium, Fifa fan zones, the Corniche and the metro station in Souk Waqif. All of the workers interviewed said “false promises” were made by either Teyseer’s representatives or recruitment agents, among them the suggestions they could take up more senior roles to earn an extra £220 a month, or stay and work in the country beyond the three-month contract period. Once in Qatar, however, nothing materialised. Instead, a third of those interviewed – particularly those employed as marshals – said they had to work 12 hours every day for 28 consecutive days. That came without any day off or adequate pay to reflect this work, which breaches Qatari law. The work often involved standing for long hours without sitting down and dealing with large crowds without adequate training or support. “I had to take out a loan to pay for the expenses to travel to work in Qatar during the World Cup,” Marcus, his name changed at his request, told Amnesty. “I am still paying it, what I earned was not enough.” Richard, who has also requested his name be changed and worked at one of the team training grounds, found he would have earned more had he stayed in Ghana. “I lost because I paid almost £550 before going there. I only received about £1,200, so I only made £650. I would get more than that if I had stayed in Ghana. I lost my job as a result [of going] so I came back with little money and no job.” Kiran, a changed name for a worker from Nepal, found the nature of his work at the Souk Waqif metro intimidating and physically arduous. “It was a tough job because there was one metro [station] in the area and too much of a crowd. I had to stand for ten to 12 hours a day… just resting my back on the barricades. At times we felt scared because it was too busy, and people were pushing.” Cockburn puts the primary responsibility on Fifa and Qatar, stating the country’s existing mechanism for redress is “not fit for purpose”. He said: “The World Cup organisers were well aware of the issues but failed to put in place adequate measures to protect workers and prevent predictable labour abuses at World Cup sites, even after workers raised these issues directly. “It’s six months since the tournament concluded but Fifa and Qatar have yet to offer an effective and accessible scheme to enable abused workers to receive the justice and compensation they are owed. Qatar’s existing mechanism for redress is not fit for purpose and has left thousands of workers deprived of compensation for the abuses they suffered. “Fifa has a clear responsibility to ensure human rights are respected throughout the supply chain engaged in preparing and delivering its showcase competition. “Although six months have passed since the World Cup, Fifa has yet to effectively investigate the issue, or offer remedies. Workers have already waited too long for justice. Fifa must now step in and offer immediate and meaningful remediation for the human rights abuses suffered by workers.” The abuses led many of Teyseer’s workers to protest on multiple occasions while they were in Qatar. Some told Amnesty they reported their treatment on the World Cup Grievances Hotline but no action was taken. One said a manager threatened to fire him in relation for complaining and warned him not to report issues again. Hundreds of marshals eventually staged a protest demanding their dues days before their contracts expired in January, after which workers said representatives of both Teyseer and the government promised they would be compensated. That has not yet been honoured. Amnesty report that Teyseer representatives threatened “action” if the men failed to leave Qatar on flights arranged by the company. Hundreds had to leave Qatar without compensation. Teyseer denied the allegations to Amnesty, saying the company followed an “ethical recruitment process” while detailing various measures it had taken to protect workers’ rights. Fifa told Amnesty due diligence was conducted on the security firm but there were “different perceptions and views” on the experience of workers. The global governing body said it would seek further clarification on the issues raised but did not offer commitment to provide remedy. Qatar has introduced a grievance mechanism but workers must still be in the country to access the state’s labour courts and any compensation scheme. There is no way to complain remotely and, with workers inevitably forced to leave once their contracts are up, Amnesty state they have been “denied justice”. The Qatari government repeated the common line to Amnesty that measures had been taken in recent years to reform its labour system. Amnesty conclude by stating that the abuses endured are “part of a pattern suffered by migrant workers in Qatar” since the decision was taken to award the state the World Cup in 2010. In a statement to The Independent, Fifa said: “Fifa, in collaboration with its Qatari counterparts, implemented a far-reaching due diligence process with the aim to ensure that companies involved in Fifa World Cup-related construction and services abide by the Supreme Committee’s Workers’ Welfare Standards. We consider any non-compliance with these standards unacceptable and are actively following up when we learn about alleged breaches. “After receiving Amnesty International’s allegations concerning Teyseer’s workers on 19 April 2023, Fifa promptly followed up with the SC’s Worker Welfare Department (WWD) as well as with the Doha Office of the International Labour Organisation ILO. It is the primary responsibility of the respective companies as well as the Qatari authorities to rectify possible adverse impacts on workers. As Fifa, we work to use our leverage with the relevant entities to promote the provision of remedy when we become aware of such allegations, in line with our responsibilities under international standards. “We kindly refer you to the SC and the ILO for further information on this case. “More broadly, one should not lose track of the bigger picture: International experts and trade union representatives who have assessed and collaborated in the labour rights programme for Fifa World Cup workers have repeatedly recognised that it led to heightened protection and welfare for Fifa World Cup workers. “In addition, according to the International Labour Organisation, Qatar’s labour reforms have been significant and benefitted hundreds of thousands of workers with the World Cup being an important catalyst for these reforms. It is undeniable that significant progress has taken place, and it is equally clear that the enforcement of such transformative reforms takes time and that heightened efforts are needed to ensure the reforms benefit all workers in the country.” Read More This is the side of the World Cup that Qatar would prefer you ignore Everything wrong with the Qatar World Cup The man who was jailed after working on Qatar’s World Cup

Our head hurts already, and that’s before we’ve had our first glass of mulled wine, but the Virginia Tech professor John Lewis – who often gets confused on Twitter/X for the popular department store – has finally had his say on this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. Often heralded as one of the first signs that the festive season is fast approaching, the commercial this year tells the story of a Venus flytrap named Snapper who wreaks havoc in the family home, to the song “Festa” by the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The ad also doesn’t feature a ‘dad’, but rather a mother and grandmother, with John Lewis explaining that they “always attempt to show a broad representation of British life” across their marketing and that it is a “very realistic scenario for thousands of families in the UK”. Though of course, in addition to the advert itself being a tradition at this point, in the world of social media, it’s to be expected that Mr Lewis will get a misplaced tweet as a result of having the handle @johnlewis (the store’s handle is @johnlewisretail, by the way). Giving his take on the ad, Mr Lewis wrote: “I’ve had some interesting Christmas tress before, but…” It’s the first tweet the academic has posted to Twitter (now known as X) since April, when he commented on the Elon Musk-owned platform stripping him and other verified users of their blue ticks if they didn’t want to pay for the once coveted icon. “Whatever will I do without my #BlueCheckMark? My identity is destroyed. I have no reason to go on,” he said, likely with a good degree of sarcasm. Back in November 2022, he went viral after telling Musk not to suspend the Twitter account for John Lewis (the shop), saying "they are not doing a parody of me, it's a homage". While Mr Lewis has broken his Twitter/X silence this week, the last time he offered a helping hand for someone who tagged the wrong account was back in March. It is not known if he’ll return to redirecting complaints and questions to the department store’s account this year. When indy100 approached Mr Lewis for a comment or interview, he declined, saying he was not “doing interviews, even written, about this topic this season”. Please don’t log off this year, John – we could do with your tongue-in-cheek fun on our timelines as some brief comic relief while browsing the hellscape. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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