by Andrew Beatty / with AFP correspondents in Damascus © Agence France-Presse UNITED STATES (AFP) — The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave of punitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime on Saturday in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks that President Donald Trump branded the “crimes of a monster.” As Trump embarked on a White House address to announce the action — taken in defiance of Russia’s threat to respond — […]
Tag: strike
French rail strike resumes as gov’t warns it won’t back down
by Joseph Schmid © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French rail workers launched their latest two-day strike on Sunday over plans to overhaul the heavily indebted train operator SNCF, the biggest test yet to President Emmanuel Macron’s wide-ranging drive to reform the country’s economy. Neither side appears ready to back down, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe warning that the government would not be deterred despite union pledges for three months of rolling stoppages, […]
French railways warn of major disruption ahead of anti-Macron strike
by Adam Plowright and Joseph Schmid © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French state railway operator SNCF warned Sunday of major disruption caused by strikes this week that analysts say will be a major test of how much weight the country’s once fearsome trade unions still carry. Train drivers and other staff are set to walk off the job from Monday night at the start of three months of planned stoppages against reform plans […]
French police scuffle with striking guards at Europe’s largest jail
FLEURY-MEROGIS, France (AFP) — French police fired tear gas to break up a picket line of striking prison guards outside Europe’s biggest prison on Friday as unions pressed the fourth day of strikes across France over security concerns. The scuffles took place outside the Fleury-Merogis facility just south of Paris as prison guards protested after a string of brutal attacks that have focused a spotlight on security problems and radicalisation inside often overcrowded French facilities. […]
Israel strike kills 2 Palestinians, says Gaza officials
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — An Israeli air strike on a Gaza base of Hamas’s military wing killed two people on Saturday, health officials of the territory’s Palestinian Islamist rulers said. The strike on a base in Nusseirat in the central Gaza Strip, one of several in the early hours, came amid protests across the Palestinian territories against US President Donald Trump’s deeply controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The Hamas health […]
US warship in Med wary of ‘tensions’ with Syria’s allies
Agence France Presse A senior officer aboard a United States Navy supercarrier deployed in the eastern Mediterranean said Monday his forces were wary of “tensions” with allies of Syria’s regime but were ready to defend US-backed forces. The USS George H.W. Bush has been a leading part of the US bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, primarily against the Islamic State group but on occasion targeting Syrian government forces and their allies fighting US-backed groups. […]
472 civilians dead in month of US-led Syria strikes: monitor
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — US-led coalition air strikes on two Syrian provinces targeting jihadists have killed 472 civilians over the past month, a monitor said Friday, more than double a previous 30-day toll. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the period between May 23 and June 23 saw the highest civilian death toll in coalition raids for a single month since they began on September 23, 2014. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said 222 […]
Transport group to hold transport strike on Friday, June 2
QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) — The transport group SM Malls Integrated Transport Terminals Federation announced that it would hold a transport strike tomorrow, June 2, in all terminals based in SM Malls. The transport strike is in answer to the move by the Supermalls Transport Service Incorporated of increasing its transport terminal rents by 100% despite the lack of agreement between the two groups. “We have been talking to the SMMITT officers since 2015 […]
General strike grips Greece over new cuts
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – A 24-hour strike gripped Greece on Wednesday, disrupting travel and shutting down services, as unions mobilized against a new round of austerity cuts imposed by the country’s international creditors. The walkout cuts off maritime traffic for a second day while dozens of flights had to be cancelled or rescheduled and hospitals ran on emergency staff. Separate protests will be held in Athens and other major cities during the day. “We want […]
N.Korea leader revisits island strike site: media
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspected a military unit that was responsible for bombarding a southern island, state media said Friday ahead of a presidential election in the South. Pyongyang fired a barrage of 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong island in November 2010, killing four people including two civilians in the first North Korean attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War. Tensions have soared on the Korean […]
Clashes break out as Brazil is gripped by first general nationwide strike in decades
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) — Clashes broke out in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (April 28) as Brazilian unions led the nation’s first general strike in over two decades to protest President Michel Temer’s austerity measures, hitting public transport and closing schools, factories, banks and other businesses in every state. Even so, analysts and government officials said the strike would have little impact on Temer’s efforts to push economic reforms through Congress, which are […]
US steps up pressure on Syria ahead of Russia talks
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States stepped up pressure Sunday on Russia to rein in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning that any further chemical attacks would be “very damaging” to their relationship and suggesting there can be no peace in Syria while Assad remains in power. President Donald Trump’s top advisers took to Sunday television talk shows to set the stage for a diplomatic confrontation in Moscow this week when US Secretary of […]





