AFP, Paris
Facing a wave of reforms by President Emmanuel Macron touching nearly every aspect of daily life, French unions kick off a wave of strikes Tuesday that analysts say will test how much weight they still carry.
Workers at the state rail operator SNCF will start downing tools two days out of every five-a strategy aimed at limiting lost wages-but the disruptions are likely to spill over into non-strike days as well.
Governor of Russia’s Kemerovo resigns
AFP, Moscow
Aman Tuleyev, the longtime governor of Russia’s Kemerovo region where a huge mall fire killed at least 64 people including 41 children last weekend, resigned on Sunday.
“I submitted my resignation letter to the Russian president,” he said in a three-minute video address released by his office.
Fire ravages UN Food Agency warehouse
in Yemen
AFP, Aden
A fired ripped through a warehouse of the UN’s World Food Programme on Saturday in Yemen’s rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, destroying humanitarian aid supplies, authorities said.
Hodeida is Yemen’s largest port and a lifeline for people in the war-battered country dependent on food imports and, according to the United Nations, on the verge of famine.
2 Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai
AP, Cairo
Egypt’s military says two soldiers have been killed in the last week in the northern Sinai Peninsula, where it is battling an Islamic State-led insurgency.
The statement issued Sunday said another two soldiers were wounded, and that six militants were killed. The military said more than 500 suspected militants and criminals have been arrested. It said troops had dismantled more than 160 explosive devices.
Afghan Parliamentary election in Oct
Reuters, Kabul
Long-delayed Afghan parliamentary and district council elections should be possible this year despite major security and logistical challenges, Afghan election authorities said on Sunday as they confirmed Oct. 20 as the date of the vote.
President Ashraf Ghani, his credibility on the line with both Afghan voters and increasingly impatient international partners, has vowed to hold the elections before presidential elections next year.
4 killed in Beijing shop fire
Xinhua, Beijing
Four people were killed in a fire at an electric bike shop in Beijing early Sunday, municipal fire department said.
The fire broke out at 1:23 a.m. at the shop in Haidian district and affected an area of 50 square meters. It was put out shortly before 2 a.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
