The leader of France's hardline CGT union on Wednesday urged all workers to join pension strikes that have crippled public transport over the past month, as a showdown with President Emmanuel Macron enters a second month.

In his New Year's address Tuesday Macron vowed not to back down on his plan to replace France's 42 separate pension schemes with a single system that would require people to work longer.

The government says the changes are necessary to make the system fairer for all and more sustainable but unions argue that workers, particularly in the public sector, will lose out.

Companies targeted by Western sanctions will have an opportunity to list their bonds, as Russia plans to create a special stock exchange in 2020 to bolster its national capital markets.

The launch was initially scheduled for December but was then postponed to January, according to Russia's Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev. The official explained that the ministry needed more time to finish the platform.

At least two companies have already announced that they would like to trade on the stock exchange, Moiseev said, though he did not elaborate further. It was previously reported that the platform will be based on the Saint Petersburg Currency Exchange and will be supported by Russian banks, possibly by Promsvyazbank and the Crimea-based Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB).

Ghislaine Maxwell — the British socialite who's long been accused of serving as Jeffrey Epstein's madam — is hiding in a series of safe houses and is being "protected because of the information she has on the world's most powerful people."

Maxwell, 58, allegedly procured young women and groomed them to have sex with Epstein and his wealthy pals, but she has remained out of public view after the convicted sex offender's re-arrest last year and his death in jail in August. She has always denied any wrongdoing.

On the heels of a Reuters report that Maxwell was the main focus of an investigation by the FBI into several "people who facilitated" the dead pedophile's alleged sexual abuse, a source tells Page Six: "Ghislaine is protected. She and Jeffrey were assets of sorts for multiple foreign governments. They would trade information about the powerful people caught in his net — caught at Epstein's house."

Instagram addicts, viewers of Love Island, selfie lovers and gym bunnies are often millennial fashionistas addicted to social media and reality TV - but are they ready for a tough life in the line of duty?

In a subversive twist on normality, the British Army is making use of this modern social mindset for a new recruitment campaign to get such stereotypes "to join its ranks." The campaign is being rolled out this week on Twitter, Facebook and mainstream media.

In one of the ads aimed at young women, the image shows a jigsaw of toned physiques and implies that make-up, fake tan and lip fillers only present a temporary fix to gain confidence. Critics online, however, question the authenticity of the ad and ask if promoting the army to the 'body beautiful' and potentially vacuous snowflake generation is the best way to gain army recruits.

Al-Khalaileh families shocked to wake up and be told army had started to demolish their two houses in East Jerusalem
Israeli forces demolished two houses 0n Wednesday belonging to Palestinian families in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

After two years of construction, the al-Khalialeh families had made ready their houses to move into in the near future, their relative Jamal al-Khalialeh told Middle East Eye.

The two families were shocked to wake up on the first day of the new year to hear that Israeli bulldozers accompanied by military forces were demolishing the two houses.

They were not at the scene when Israeli security forces had earlier broken into the two properties, local media reported.

"They had an Israeli court hearing at 10am to look into the issue of demolishing the houses, but at 8:30 am they were surprised to hear the demolishing vehicles had come to knock down their houses," said Jamal.

Free high-speed Wi-Fi has been launched on the underground metro system in India's capital, Delhi, with key technology for the project provided by the Russian company that developed Wi-Fi for Moscow's subway.

The Delhi Metro is a massive urban transport system spanning 325 kilometers, and linking the Indian capital to its satellite towns. The sheer size of the transport network, used by almost three million commuters every day, sets it firmly among the largest metro systems in the world, including those in London, Shanghai, Beijing, and New York.

Now, with the help of Russian telecoms expertise, the city's underground network has also joined the ranks of metro systems offering free Wi-Fi to its passengers. It's on just one line so far, the link from the city's commercial district to Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The Russian news agency Sputnik says it is closing its operations in Estonia after nearly three dozen of its employees resigned following what they said was pressure from Estonian police.

The state-controlled agency published a statement on January 1 saying 35 people employed in its Estonian unit had ended their labor contracts and resigned, fearing possible criminal prosecution.

"Estonia's Police and Border Guard Board has presented each of us with an ultimatum," the statement said: "either we terminate our labor contracts...and no longer work for Sputnik Estonia or they open criminal cases against us."

A helium balloon traveled more than 2,500km by air from a tiny Austrian town to a mountainous village in Russia's North Caucasus, prompting one of this year's most amazing Christmas stories.

Amin, a farmer from the village of Krasny Kurgan in Russia's southern Karachay-Cherkess Republic, told the Mash Telegram channel about how he became a real life Santa.

Straight out of a fairy tale, the story began one day in mid-December when Amin spotted a white helium balloon falling from the sky and right into his backyard. The farmer took interest in the unusual "intruder" and discovered that it had a handwritten letter attached to it.

I believe it's a fair assumption that most social creatures understand when one is the newest arrival to, say, a party or a community, it is their responsibility to ingratiate themselves to the local, existing populace. The most unwelcome guest is the one who arrives late and then proceeds to redecorate. But this is exactly what we see happening, repeatedly, when Hasidic Jews descend on predominantly gentile communities. In every case, the arrival of these orthodox groups is met with hostility and resistance by their host. Is it possible that anti-Jewish sentiment is inherent in the gentile mind or are there natural grievances that need to be explored?

Having lived for 8 years in a neighborhood that is home to a very large and quite powerful Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic community, I can say there are legitimate grievances. I began delving into this phenomenon some time ago when I learned about the chaos surrounding Kiryas Joel, a Satmar sect of Hasidim in the town of Monroe in Orange County, NY. The Satmar purchased land in an unincorporated section of Monroe to relocate some of the sect from Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The community started small, but due to the nature of Jewish ultra orthodox pro-creation practices, it multiplied at lightening speed. The existing residents of Monroe grew weary as they watched their green, sprawling small town become inundated with multi-family dwellings to house the growing Hasidic population. The Satmar fought to become part of the incorporated section, which would allow them access to public funds. It wasn't long before plans to annex massive acres of public land were put in motion for Jewish-only use and this sparked a fire storm between the two communities. The details of the struggle can be seen in this 2016 documentary, Love Thy Neighbor. Another issue was the exceedingly high numbers of Hasidics, who typically vote in blocs, impacting the local governing board in their favor, at the expense of the rest of the population. Public school funds were being diverted to Jewish-only yeshivas. In some cases, public schools have actually collapsed as a result of this. It's worth mentioning Kiryas Joel has the highest poverty rate in the nation (although, it is estimated that the dynasty controls $1 billion in assets in the U.S.) More than 2/3 of the population live below the poverty line with 40% receiving food stamps. So, we see a large handout to this community with zero return on investment.

Human trafficking erodes personal dignity and destroys the moral fabric of society. It is an affront to humanity that tragically reaches all parts of the world, including communities across our Nation. Each day, in cities, suburbs, rural areas, and tribal lands, people of every age, gender, race, religion, and nationality are devastated by this grave offense. During National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to eradicate this horrific injustice.

Trafficking crimes are perpetrated by transnational criminal enterprises, gangs, and cruel individuals. Through force, fraud, coercion, and sexual exploitation of minors, traffickers rob countless individuals of their dignity and freedom, splinter families, and threaten the safety of our communities. In all its forms, human trafficking is an intolerable blight on any society dedicated to freedom, individual rights, and the rule of law.

Human trafficking is often a hidden crime that knows no boundaries. By some estimates, as many as 24.9 million people ‑- adults and children — are trapped in a form of modern slavery around the world, including in the United States. Human traffickers exploit others through forced labor or commercial sex, and traffickers profit from their victims' horrific suffering. The evil of human trafficking must be defeated. We remain relentless in our resolve to bring perpetrators to justice, to protect survivors and help them heal, and to prevent further victimization and destruction of innocent lives.