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Strikes and street demonstrations called by all major trade unions to denounce budget cuts were expected Thursday across France, as new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu talks with political opponents about curbing France's massive deficit and debt. Unions are urging Lecornu to abandon draft budget measures proposed by his predecessor, which include social welfare freezes and austerity measures that many say will further erode the purchasing power of low-paid and middle-class workers. In a joint statement issued before the change of prime minister last week, unions described such measures as unprecedented brutality, regretting that previous government had "chosen to make workers, those in precarious employment, retirees, and the sick pay the price. Unions also continue to denounce President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform that raised the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64. Outgoing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said Wednesday he expects a very strong mobilization in the ...
Israeli drone strikes on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus killed eight soldiers and wounded others, officials and a war monitor reported Wednesday. Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that drone strikes Tuesday in the southern Damascus suburb of Kiswah killed eight soldiers. It called the attack a grave violation of international law and clear breach of (Syria's) sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also comes in the context of the repeated aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation aimed at undermining security and stability in the region, the statement said. The Israeli military did not comment on the strikes. Late Wednesday evening, Syrian state news agency SANA reported more Israeli strikes and an airdrop commando raid in the area, the details of which are not known. SANA reported that the initial strikes on Tuesday had targeted soldiers who, while on patrol, discovered surveillance and eavesdropping devices." Ongoing strikes prevented
More than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants went on strike after a deadline to reach a deal passed, the union confirmed early Saturday. Canadian Union of Public Employees spokesman Hugh Pouliot confirmed the strike has started after no deal was reached. Air Canada has said all flights will be cancelled for the duration of the work stoppage. Canada's largest airline has already cancelled more than 620 flights, leaving travellers around the world stranded and scrambling during the peak summer travel season. A bitter contract fight between Canada's largest airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as the union turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.
Israel struck tents outside two major hospitals in the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people, including a local reporter, and wounding another nine, including six reporters, medics said Monday. Fifteen others were killed in separate strikes across the territory, according to hospitals. A strike on a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis at around 2 a.m. set the tent ablaze, killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today TV station, and another man, according to the hospital. The six reporters were wounded in that strike. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant, without providing further information. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because it is deeply embedded in residential areas. Israel also struck tents on the edge of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, wounding three people, according to the hospital. Nasser Hospital said it received another 13
New York fired more than 2,000 prison guards Monday for failing to return to work after a weekslong wildcat strike that crippled the state's correctional system, but said enough officers had come back on the job to declare the illegal work stoppage over. After 22 days of an illegal strike, the governor and I are happy to report it is now ended, Commissioner Daniel Martuscello said during a virtual press briefing. The state and the guards' union struck a new deal to end the strike this weekend, but it was contingent on at least 85% of staff returning to work by Monday morning. Although the number fell short of the 85% goal needed to trigger the agreement, Martuscello said the state would honor the deal's overtime and some other provisions. He said the National Guard would remain in place at prisons in a support position while the department undertakes an aggressive recruiting campaign to attract additional employees. About 10,000 security staff are available to work in prisons across
The State Food Commission on Saturday warned of legal action against ration traders on their proposed indefinite strike in Kerala from January 27. Legal action will be taken against anyone obstructing ration cardholders from receiving their entitled share of food grains, according to an official release issued by the Commission. "It is the responsibility of the State Food Commission to ensure that the food rights guaranteed under Section 16 (6) (b) of Chapter II of the National Food Security Act, 2013, are upheld and made available to consumers through the public distribution system." "The Commission will take a serious view of any act that disrupts the delivery of food grains to ration cardholders and will initiate legal proceedings against those responsible," the release stated. The Ration Traders Coordination Committee announced the indefinite strike starting January 27 after talks with Finance Minister K N Balagopal and Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil failed to resolv
An airstrike targeting an armed group in northwestern Nigeria mistakenly killed at least 10 civilians, the West African nation's military said Friday. The villagers were killed on Christmas Day when the air force targeted a logistics base of the Lakurawa insurgent group in the Silame area of Sokoto state, Edward Buba, Nigerian defense spokesperson, told journalists at a press conference. On Thursday, the Sokoto state government said the air force mistakenly shelled the villagers in the early hours of Wednesday in an attempt to dislodge the insurgents from the area. However, on Friday, Buba said only that the Lakurawa insurgents were directly hit by munitions and that the civilians died from secondary explosions. The Lakurawa insurgent group began infiltrating Africa's most populous country following a wave of coups that disrupted Nigeria's relations with neighbouring Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, hurting their ability to cooperate on transnational threats. Initially gaining local
Unionised factory workers at Boeing are voting Monday whether to accept a contract offer or to continue their strike, which has lasted more than seven weeks and shut down production of most Boeing passenger planes. A vote to ratify the contract would clear the way for the aerospace giant to resume airplane production and bring in much-needed cash. If members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers vote for a third time to reject Boeing's offer, it would plunge the company into further financial peril and uncertainty. In its latest proposed contract, Boeing is offering pay raises of 38% over four years, as well as ratification and productivity bonuses. IAM District 751, which represents Boeing workers in the Pacific Northwest, endorsed the proposal, which is slightly more generous than one the machinists voted down nearly two weeks ago. It is time for our members to lock in these gains and confidently declare victory," the union district said in schedulin
Ahead of the Ganesh festival, the bus services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) got disrupted on Tuesday in most parts of Maharashtra, as a large section of its employees launched a strike over salary-related and other demands, officials said. Due to the strike launched by the action committee of 11 trade unions starting midnight, the bus services of the state-run corporation were completely stopped at 35 out of the MSRTC's 250 bus depots across the state, a spokesperson of the corporation said. "Other depots are either fully or partially operational," he said. The strike will create problems for the people who wish to travel to their native places for the 10-day Ganesh festival, which is celebrated on a large scale in the state. The Maharashtra State Transport (ST) Kamgar Sanyukta Kruti Samiti (joint action committee) began this strike over salary-related issues of employees, after talks with the state government failed last month. The action committee
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea against the 12-hour 'Bangla Bandh' called by the BJP since the petitioner was debarred perpetually from filing public interest litigations (PIL) before the court in a previous order. Petitioner Sanjoy Das, who claimed to be a lawyer practising at the high court, sought that the bandh be declared illegal. A division bench, presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, dismissed the PIL, as the court in its previous order perpetually debarred Das from presenting any PIL. The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, in that order rejected Das's PIL, where it held that he had made false statements about himself in that petition, seeking a change of roster of a particular judge presiding over police inaction/overaction matters. The bench also imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Das in connection with that petition. Maintaining that the petitioner has abused the process of this court, attempted to intimidate the office of the ch
Israeli tank and drone strikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 17 people, according to hospital staff and Associated Press journalists who counted the bodies. The strikes happened in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south. Lebanon's Hezbollah on Wednesday launched more than 50 rockets, hitting a number of private homes in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Hezbollah said the attack was in response to an Israeli strike deep into Lebanon on Tuesday night. The attacks came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar as he pressed ahead with the latest diplomatic mission to secure a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signalled that challenges remain. Diplomatic efforts had redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation. Meanwhile, key mediator Egypt expressed skepticism Wednesda
Canada's second largest airline, WestJet, said it canceled 407 flights affecting 49,000 passengers after the maintenance workers union announced it went on strike. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said its members started to strike Friday evening because the airline's unwillingness to negotiate with the union made it inevitable. The surprise strike affecting international and domestic flights came after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday. That followed two weeks of turbulent discussions with the union on a new deal. WestJet said it will continue to park aircraft through Sunday for the long weekend culminating in Canada Day on Monday. The airline has about 200 aircraft and says they'll operate approximately 30 by Sunday evening. The airline's CEO, Alexis von Hoensbroech, put the blame for the situation squarely on what he said was a rogue union from the U.S. that was trying to make inroads in Canada. Von Hoensbroech sai