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UK & Euro-Asian News

People

Five Norwegian airports shut down by strike


Associated Press
Fri, 16 May 2008 15:04 EDT

Five Norwegian airports were shut down by a strike early Friday when 220 union members walked out after all-night contract talks failed to reach a settlement with the national airport authority Avinor.

The strike stranded an estimated 17,000 passengers a day before Norway's May 17 Constitution Day, when thousands of people fly home to join parades and celebrations.

''Avinor strongly regrets the consequences a strike will have for airlines and passengers. Our community and financial considerations made it impossible to meet the demands from the employee representatives,'' said Avinor Chief Executive Sverre Quale.




Stormtrooper

Russia to join large-scale NATO-led naval exercises


RIA Novosti
Fri, 16 May 2008 15:02 EDT

The Russian Navy will participate for the first time in a large-scale submarine rescue exercise conducted by NATO countries and their allies, a Navy spokesman said on Friday.

The Bold Monarch 2008 exercise will be staged near the Norwegian coast from May 26 to June 7.

"The purpose of the exercise is to ensure compatibility of rescue equipment used by the Russian Navy and the navies of NATO countries, and to demonstrate ability to coordinate cooperative efforts during escape and rescue missions," Captain 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said.




Eye 1

Josef Fritzl: From the cellar of our deepest fears

Patrycja Romanowska
Edmonton Sun
Sun, 11 May 2008 14:44 EDT

When I was traveling through Austria, I was struck by the cleanliness and orderliness that characterized its countryside.

The roadside fields looked like a patchwork quilt and the houses in the towns looked like a picture in a storybook.

The streets of Vienna were so clean you could practically eat off them.

Since my Austrian travels, any mention of that country has brought to mind all that is pristine and picturesque.

Now those Austrian scenes routinely feature in my nightmares.

Comment: The "patchwork quilts" of Austria seem to be covering up all sorts of pathological individuals.




People

French workers strike in protest of job cuts

Jean-Marie Godard
Associated Press
Fri, 16 May 2008 14:47 EDT

Teachers, postal workers and other public servants staged a one-day strike and tens of thousands marched through French cities Thursday, a widespread protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned job cuts.

Schools were shut around the country as nearly half the teachers stayed away from work, while about 15 percent of all public workers adhered to the 24-hour walkout, according to the Public Service Ministry.

At the same time, tens of thousands of protesters marched through Paris and other cities to oppose the government austerity moves.




No Entry

Cyprus bans private boats ferrying to Lebanon


Reuters
Wed, 14 May 2008 14:29 EDT

Nicosia - Cyprus has enforced a ban on pleasure boats ferrying passengers to Lebanon, shipping officials said on Wednesday.

The move comes as local media reported that private boat owners were charging large amounts of money to ferry people out of but also into Lebanon, wracked by sectarian violence and with its international air links cut for the past week. Since last weekend 34 yachts have sailed from Lebanon to Cyprus, carrying an estimated 340 people, including the ambassador of Saudi Arabia, authorities said. Between 15 and 20 people had left Cyprus for Lebanon on private boats.




Attention

China on alert against quake radiation leaks

Benjamin Kang Lim
Reuters
Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57 EDT

China is on precautionary alert against possible radiation leaks from the deadliest earthquake to hit the country in three decades, according to government website seen on Friday.




Light Saber

Diving Bell star joins outcry against Sarko


The First Post
Mon, 12 May 2008 05:03 EDT

Juliette Binoche with Sarkozy
©Unknown
Juliette Binoche with Sarkozy

Last month the French actress Juliette Binoche revealed the shame she felt at having Nicolas Sarkozy as her country's head of state. Now Mathieu Almaric (pictured), star of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the baddie in the forthcoming Bond movie Quantum of Solace, has added his own protest against the president. "It's not a joke," he told the Observer. "It's very tough, very, very tough and it's only been one year that he's in power. It's finished. I mean, the belief people had in him is just dead. I have a lot of difficulty now to find that exotic or funny or ridiculous. I'm disgusted."

Mathieu Almaric
©unknown
Mathieu Almaric

Comment: According to The First Post, Juliette Binoche has told the Daily Mail's You magazine:

"I feel ashamed about Sarkozy for France," [...]"I do feel ashamed having a president like that."

[...]"It's a monarchy - he is a republican monarch, as I see it, making his own decisions without consulting his government."




Stop

Greeks march and strike against privatisations

Karolos Grohmann
Reuters
Thu, 15 May 2008 17:46 EDT

Thousands of Greek workers walked off the job on Thursday and marched through central Athens in protest at the conservative government's privatisation plans.

Dock workers, hospital and civil aviation authority staff and workers at Greece's biggest phone company OTE walked out a day after the government agreed to sell a stake in OTE to Deutsche Telekom and share management with the German firm.

"This is how workers show their discontent with the government's sell-out policy," said Stathis Anestis, spokesman for the GSEE private sector umbrella union.




Stop

Greek fuel truckers continue strike, supplies dry up

George Georgiopoulos and Renee Maltezou
Reuters
Thu, 15 May 2008 17:44 EDT

Athens - Greece's fuel truckers on Monday decided to extend a strike that has cut petrol supplies, causing queues at filling stations and transport disruptions that threaten to bring the economy to a halt.

The strike has already lasted a week, leaving about three quarters of Greece's petrol stations without fuel for the fourth consecutive day.

Talks between unions and the government have failed to reach agreement so far. Fuel truck drivers want a 13 percent increase in their commission.




Stop

French teachers go on strike over job cuts

Brian Rohan
News Daily
Thu, 15 May 2008 17:33 EDT

PARIS - Hundreds of thousands of French teachers and other public sector workers went on strike on Thursday to protest against job cuts and reforms announced by conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.

It was the third broad public sector strike since Sarkozy took office a year ago promising reforms to reinvigorate the economy. Unions are already planning a bigger strike on May 22 involving a larger chunk of the workforce.

French high school students demonstrate with teachers
©REUTERS/Charles Platiau
French high school students demonstrate with teachers and other public sector workers in Paris May 15, 2008 to protest against job cuts and reforms announced by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy's government. The placard reads, "High school students on strike".

Teachers and students marched through central Paris in a demonstration that flowed through some of the French capital's biggest boulevards. Police estimated the number of marchers at 18,000 while organizers put the figure at more than 50,000.




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