Flash floods caused by heavy rain killed seven Iraqi tourists in north-eastern Iran on Saturday, Iranian state media reported, the latest in rising casualty tolls as the downpours continue.
The official IRNA news agency said the tourists were part of a 13-member group of Iraqis visiting Iran.
They were travelling in an estate car on a road near the city of Mashhad, about 800 kilometres east of the capital, Tehran, when a flash flood swept their car away.
The dead included five women and the group’s Iranian driver. Three Iraqis were missing while the other passengers managed to get to safety.
Iranian authorities on Saturday raised the death toll from landslides and flash floods that engulfed the country since Thursday to 61 as eight more bodies were retrieved.
It said at least 32 people were still missing.
The national crisis centre said the heavy rain, which has affected 21 of Iran's 31 provinces, was expected to continue until Monday.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited a rescue operation centre in Firuzkuh, one of the stricken villages north-east of Tehran, on Saturday and promised more help for the area.
He said that a quick reaction team and a group of search and rescue dogs continue to search the area to find missing people.
Tehran province was the hardest-hit with 35 deaths. Nearby Mazandaran province had the highest number of missing people at 20, a list published by the Red Crescent showed.
There were fears the death toll could rise further as more bodies were uncovered as the rains abated. Thousands of people have been transferred from remote areas to safer places.
The heavy rain is unusual for this time of year in Iran, which is in the middle of its summer, and are regarded as part of a pattern of extreme and unpredictable weather worldwide as a result of climate change.
Last Saturday, flash floods in Iran’s drought-stricken southern Fars province killed at least 22 people and affected about a dozen villages in the province.
This week’s storm is the deadliest among Iran’s rain-related incidents in the past decade. In 2019, a flash flood killed at least 21 people in the southern city of Shiraz, and two years earlier, a storm claimed 48 lives in north-western Iran.
Mudslides in northern Iran in 2001 and in Tehran in 1987 killed 500 and 300 people, respectively.
Authorities have blamed the high death tolls on a wide disregard for safety measures by people who venture out in the storms, while critics cite mismanagement in construction projects as well as late warnings as other causes.
With reporting from agencies.
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
