Alitalia cancels more than 300 flights due to strike
AP, Milan
Italy’s struggling airline Alitalia has canceled over 300 flights because of a 24-hour strike called to protest deteriorating conditions in the sector, including the government’s failure to relaunch the carrier. Alitalia says it cancelled about half of its flights, both domestic and international, due to the strike Tuesday.
But it says it has reorganized schedules so that at least half of the affected passengers could fly the same day. Flights are guaranteed by law from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. local and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Water supplie restored to besieged Libyan capital
AP, Benghazi
Authorities say the Libyan capital, which has been under attack by commander Khalifa Hifter’s forces since last month, has seen its water supplies resume two days after gunmen shut the pipes down, depriving over 2 million residents of water.
The Interior Ministry says the gunmen on Sunday stormed the offices of a water distribution agency that runs a network of underground pipelines providing the capital and the region with water, and shut it at gunpoint.
Venezuelans fleeing crisis deserve refugee status: UN
Reuters, Geneva
Venezuelans fleeing the worsening crisis in their country deserve protection as refugees, the United Nations refugee agency said in updated guidance issued on Tuesday.
Some 3.7 million people have left Venezuela, the majority since 2015, it said. “It is incredibly important that given the situation in Venezuela that there aren’t deportations, expulsions or forced returns,” UNHCR spokeswoman Liz Throssell told a news briefing.
Israel eases Gaza fishing restrictions after truce
AFP, Gaza City
Israel announced Tuesday it had eased fishing restrictions off the blockaded Gaza Strip after a ceasefire with Hamas ended a deadly escalation earlier this month. Israel extended the fishing limit to up to 15 nautical miles, said COGAT, the defence ministry unit that oversees such regulations. The move restores the fishing zone to the limits set in April ahead of Israel’s general election. Gaza fishing union official.
