Tag Archives: united

Total sacks 600 UK steel workers on ‘illegal’ strike

Around six hundred workers at Total’s Lindsey oil refinery in Northern England have been told they no longer have jobs after staging what the company calls an "unofficial, illegal walk out." The steel workers started striking last Thursday after one contractor axed 51 jobs while another employer on the same site was recruiting. The dispute has prompted a number of wildcat strikes at power stations and oil refineries around the United Kingdom. The workers’ union GMB, which represents around half of the sacked workers, estimates that, as of late yesterday, up to 4,000 other workers at four power stations and three oil refineries had walked off the job in sympathy

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi turns 64 in prison

Myanmar pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi turned 64 in prison Friday, while a judge considers when to hear her appeal to allow more witnesses at her subversion trial. Suu Kyi, under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years, had been expected to be freed by the military junta last month, until the new subversion charge was filed. Thousands of supporters left birthday messages of 64 words or less for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on a Web site created for the occasion.

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Suspected drone attack kills at least 5 in Pakistan

A suspected drone strike on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan killed five to seven people Thursday, intelligence sources said. The move will save the company £26 million ($42 million) annually and is the latest measure to help the airline through the economic downturn. Under the deal, pilots will see their pay cut by 2.6 percent while extra flying time allowances are reduced by 20 percent.

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African couples urged to get HIV ‘love test’

Couples in the African kingdom of Swaziland are being urged to get tested together as part of a HIV "love test" campaign. The nationwide initiative — funded by the United States government and implemented by global charity ‘Population Services International’ (PSI) — is aimed at couples because tests can be useless if partners are not aware of the others’ HIV status. “If partners get tested separately, they may not disclose the results and not get the support they need,” Dominic McNeill, spokesman for PSI Swaziland, told CNN.

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Climate Change Report Shows Things Going From Bad to Worse

Even as Congress belatedly tackles legislation that would cut U.S. carbon emissions and international negotiators have bickered over a global climate deal in Bonn, a new report by several federal agencies underscores the truths that too often risk getting lost in politics: global warming is real, it’s happening now and if we don’t act soon, the consequences are likely to be catastrophic. Scientists and officials working with the United States Global Change Research Program released on Tuesday the first climate change assessment to be completed during Barack Obama’s presidency.

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Obama to meet South Korean president

North Korea and its nuclear ambitions are expected to be a key part of discussions as U.S. President Barack Obama hosts the president of South Korea on Tuesday. Obama is to meet with President Lee Myung-bak in a closed-door session at the White House on Tuesday morning and then share a working lunch

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