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Dramatic arrest of Rashays co-founder after mask dispute

<p>Rashays, a high-profile restaurant chain has been involved in a massive crackdown after they did not adhere to COVID lockdown compliances.</p> <p>Rami Ykmour, the founder of the popular eatery was arrested, and two of his staff were fined for not wearing masks.</p> <p>The confrontation began when over 100 officers began patrolling the Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield and Liverpool local government areas on Friday.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">COVID Arrest: A Rashays co-founder has been charged after a tip-off that a number of workers weren't wearing masks.<br /><br />Rami Ykmour said his staff put their masks back on after eating, but he was led to a police van after allegedly refusing to provide details. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19NSW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19NSW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sydney?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sydney</a> <a href="https://t.co/LQ3Voyn2hg">pic.twitter.com/LQ3Voyn2hg</a></p> — 10 News First Sydney (@10NewsFirstSyd) <a href="https://twitter.com/10NewsFirstSyd/status/1413270911722000387?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <p>It was announced on Thursday that officers were showing extra show of force to ensure compliance: with lockdown restrictions as the city faces a surge of COVID-19 transmission.</p> <p>Footage that has since gone viral on Facebook shows Mr Ykmour speaking calmly with officers in the front of the office on Ferngrove Place at Chester Hill.</p> <p>Police were reportedly tipped off about a Covid-19 health order breach by an anonymous caller about 3.50 pm on Thursday.</p> <p>Two staff members allegedly became aggressive with police and the Rashays co-founder refused to provide his details.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842350/rashay-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/8269026daf3a44f2a1c8f8dd8c0eb54f" /></p> <p>The video shows police pointing at staff who are not wearing masks, to which Mr Ykmour says is not a good enough reason to fine the restaurant as the workers could have been eating lunch or blowing their noses.</p> <p>“I'm here to follow the law,” Mr Ykmour can be heard saying to the officer.</p> <p>“You've just got to understand that these people here, are here supporting people who are unemployed. That's what we're doing, during a pandemic.”</p> <p>The argument escalated after Mr Ykmour asked the officer to wait in the lobby, but he refused to do so as “an offence has been committed.”</p> <p>Several officers soon appeared.</p> <p>“He's calling for backup,” Mr Ykmour can be heard saying to the camera.</p> <p>“Look how many police officers he's got. He's got 10 officers.”</p> <p>A staff member sitting at the reception desk can be seen becoming emotional.</p> <p>“One, two, three, four,” Mr Ykmour says while pointing around at the officers.</p> <p>“There's 20 people here for a young girl.”</p> <p>The woman then collapses onto the floor and Mr Ykmour calls an ambulance while yelling at the officers.</p> <p>“A police officer walks in and says to me there's 30 people in here, I got an anonymous call, that 30 people in here don't have a mask on,” he recalls calmly.</p> <p>The other officer confirms that police received the anonymous call to the shock of Mr Ykmour.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842349/rashay-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/02a7d5173aeb48f59e9ca1a84b4607b5" /></p> <p>A NSW Police spokesperson said two staff members have since been issued $200 fines for not wearing face masks.</p> <p>Mr Ykmour was arrested and issued a Field Court Attendance Notice for hinder police.</p> <p> </p>

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Incredibly generous gesture from megastar Ed Sheeran

<p>Singer Ed Sheeran is reportedly set to close his London-based restaurant amidst the coronavirus pandemic - but not without taking care of his employees.<br /><br />The star’s Notting Hill restaurant Bertie Blossoms has been forced to shut down temporarily due to the UK’s strict government measures that states no eateries are allowed to stay open as the country battles COVID-19.<br /><br />It’s claimed the pub, which was only open for four months before being forced to close, will still be paying its employees in full.<br /><br />The chart-topping British singer is worth an estimated $160 million and is said to have encouraged all of his staff to take on extra work elsewhere if they wanted extra cash on top of their salaries during the temporary shutdown.<br /><br />It is reported Sheeran also suggested some of his employees would be able to use their time to volunteer if they chose to do so before they're able to return to work at his restaurant.<br /><br />“Ed's told everyone not to worry and that he's picking up the tab and he'll see them all again for a massive p***-up once the world gets back to normal,” an insider told The Sun.<br /><br />“Ed even told staff they could go out and seek other employment if they wanted or go help the nation by doing voluntary work.”<br /><br />The UK government has not clarified how long restaurants, pubs and gyms will have to remain closed.<br /><br />Ed Sheeran has appeared to be happily settling into married life with his wife Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2018.<br /><br />The star is currently on a hiatus from releasing any new music as he said he wants to explore reading, writing and travelling.</p>

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Outrage over McDonald’s major change to loyalty card

<p>Australia’s leading fast food chain has come under fire for “technology discrimination" after ditching its paper loyalty coffee cards.</p> <p>Over the last few years, McDonald’s had been gradually phasing out paper coffee cards but the cut was made permanent throughout Australia for the past six weeks. Now, if a customer wants to cash in and save money, they must first download the MyMacca’s app to access the “buy five, get one free” deal.</p> <p>Customers are unhappy with the change, some going as far as reporting glitches resulting in “stamps” lost. Others are enraged by how unfairly they believe it impacts older customers.</p> <p>McDonald’s is Australia’s largest fast-food chain and most popular go-to spot for coffee with over 800 locations nationwide. The restaurant sells around a quarter of a million cups of coffee a day.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/6BE-dzBa4A/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/6BE-dzBa4A/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">The perfect morning starts with a view, and the fresh aroma of a barista made coffee from McCafé.</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/mcdonaldsau/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> McDonald's Australia</a> (@mcdonaldsau) on Aug 5, 2015 at 2:30pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Customers have even flocked to social media to complain about the change.</p> <p>“My mum… nearly 80… does not have a smart phone, does not use the app and uses your coffee cards constantly… So now she misses out?” Dearne Carroll wrote on the McDonald’s Facebook page.</p> <p>"I have multiple cards in multiple places all with multiple stamps on them. If they will not be honoured, I am not going to be impressed.”</p> <p>One disgruntled customer told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/mcdonalds-ditches-paper-coffee-cards/news-story/28e7734576bb37fdfa88866febe71dac">news.com.au</a> his phone is unable to run the latest app as he carries an 8-year-old HTC Desire phone.</p> <p>“That cuts me out from the loyalty system immediately,” he explained.</p> <p>“Then I thought of the many people that just use a flip phone — they’ll be left out too. And also, the many older folk that don’t bother with mobile phones. This is ‘technology discrimination’.”</p> <p>Cornel Brophy also expressed his dissatisfaction with the new system.</p> <p>“My usual 3 min drive thru experience turned into 10 to download the stupid app then at the window the code wasn’t processing, cars banking up behind me peeved I’m taking so long.</p> <p>“What a stupid decision McDonalds have made!” he wrote.<br /><br /></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/8SNe1PBa_q/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/8SNe1PBa_q/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank">We hope you took some time to enjoy a McCafé moment today #InternationalCoffeeDay</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/mcdonaldsau/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_medium=loading" target="_blank"> McDonald's Australia</a> (@mcdonaldsau) on Sep 30, 2015 at 11:14pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>A spokeswoman for the fast food restaurant told news.com.au McDonald’s had received “great feedback from customers on the app and more people than ever before are taking advantage of our coffee loyalty program”.</p> <p>“We’re proud to always offer our customers great value regardless of whether they are dining in our restaurants, using our MyMacca’s app, or ordering McDelivery through UberEats,” she said.</p> <p>“Customers with a seniors card continue to be able to take advantage of offers which entitle them to a free coffee, juice or soft drink with a purchase in our participating restaurants.”</p> <p>Are you happy about McDonald's changing its paper loyalty cards to a digital app you need to access on a mobile phone? Let us know in the comments below. </p>

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