Reuters, London
Working women in Britain face a 100 year wait to be paid the same as men, with progress towards closing the gender pay gap stalling as younger women’s wages lag behind, a women’s rights group said on Friday.
The pay gap between men and women in Britain stands at 14.1 percent, unchanged over the past two years, but has grown significantly for women in their twenties, to 5.5 percent this year from 1.1 percent in 2011, according to the Fawcett Society.
Saudi-led strikes hit defence
ministry in Sanaa
AFP, Sanaa
The Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes on the defence ministry in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa late Friday, witnesses and rebel media said, leaving at least three civilians wounded.
The Huthi rebel media outlet Al-Masirah reported two air strikes targeting the defence ministry. One of the strikes hit a residential area near the ministry, witnesses said. “I was sitting at home and heard the first strike hit the ministry of defence. Everyone was afraid. Minutes later, another strike hit my neighbour’s house,” resident Mohammed Aatif said.
French MPs to block Muslim street prayers north of Paris
AFP, Clichy
Around 100 local French lawmakers attempted to block Muslims praying in a street north of Paris on Friday and called on the government to ban what they see as an unacceptable use of public space.
The lawmakers, led by the head of the regional government of the Paris area, Valerie Pecresse, disrupted the crowd of around 200 all-male devotees and sang the national anthem in the multiethnic Clichy suburb.
Iraqi forces launch offensive to recapture last IS control town
Reuters, Erbil
Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to capture Rawa, the last remaining town under Islamic-State control, leaving the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate on the verge of complete defeat.
The capture of the town would mark the end of Islamic State’s era of territorial rule over a so-called caliphate that it proclaimed in 2014 across vast swathes of Iraq and Syria. Syria’s army declared victory over the militants on Thursday, after seizing the last substantial town on the border with Iraq.
Croatia’s govt survives no-confidence vote
AP, Zagreb
The center-right Croatian government has survived a no-confidence vote launched by the opposition over the cabinet’s handling of the debt crisis at Agrokor, the country’s largest private food and retail company.
The vote early Saturday in the Croatian parliament was 78-59 in favor of the center-right government. The vote was triggered by the opposition, which claims the government bailout of the biggest retailer in the Balkans favored some creditors and lacked transparency.
