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Canadian rail decision is a win for federally-regulated companies, union leader says
A choice obliging more than 9,000 Canadian rail workers to remain on the task is a win for the railways and could impact bargaining in other federallyregulated sectors like aviation, the head of a. Canadian rail employees' union told Reuters. Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail. Conference, also said the union would deal with other labour. groups as it installs a legal obstacle to a Saturday decision. that halted work interruptions at the nation's two biggest trains. and imposed arbitration. While the Teamsters will obey the order to return to. work, the union has actually warned it might result in the imposition of. future contracts, wearing down employees' bargaining power. The. choice comes as Air Canada pilots press for a brand-new. agreement and can commence task action as early as mid-September. if there is no agreement with the country's biggest carrier. Air Canada stated on Sunday its intent is to reach a. worked out settlement with the pilots over the coming weeks. Any federally managed business, it's a win for them at. this point, Boucher told Reuters in his first interview because. the Thursday lockout. This is dreadful for labour, for. employees. The Canada Industrial Relations Board made the decision. after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked it on Thursday to. end a deadlock in different talks between the Teamsters, Canadian. National Train, and Canadian Pacific Kansas City . The disagreement, which activated a first ever lockout of. Teamsters workers on Thursday at both freight rail providers, led. to extraordinary disturbances that threatened to hammer Canada's. export-driven economy, leading farming companies to plea. for relief. CN has said the business would have preferred a negotiated. contract, but was satisfied that the labour interruption is over. Representative Jonathan Abecassis said on Sunday that CN tried to. get a contract for 9 months and made 5 offers that would. have actually enhanced wages and working conditions however the union did not. engage. Both trains have stated they are concentrated on restoring. service, with the Teamsters calling off a CN strike on Monday,. however preparing to appeal the choice in federal court. This historic minute is so incredibly important that. labour needs to get included and they will, Boucher stated. We're going to be getting in touch with all labour throughout Canada to. join our battle and take this all the method. Other unions could participate as intervenors in their legal. case and provide support to the Teamsters, Boucher said. The 58-year-old Boucher, who as soon as struggled to keep his. on-call rail task while raising a child as a single daddy, has been. bargaining with CN out of a 2nd flooring meeting room at a. downtown Montreal hotel. The Teamsters union disagreed with CN and CP over. scheduling, shift duration and schedule. CN, for example,. wants workers to develop to 12-hour shifts, compared with 10. hours in the current arrangement, a relocation opposed by the union. Boucher stated he has actually been in contact with the union. representing more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots who approved a. strike required recently. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) which represents Air. Canada pilots, and CPKC were not immediately available for. remark. A representative for Canada's labour minister was not. instantly offered for talk about whether the choice to. enforce binding arbitration on trains would work as a. precedent in other sectors, consisting of air travel.
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Twenty dead, 5.2 mln affected in Bangladesh floods
At least 20 individuals have actually died and more than 5.2 million have been affected in Bangladesh by floods triggered by relentless monsoon rains and upstream river water, officials said on Sunday. The floodwaters have left lots of people separated and in urgent requirement of food, clean water, medicine, and dry clothes, particularly in remote areas where blocked roads in a number of districts have hindered rescue and relief efforts. Chief Consultant Mohammad Yunus said in a telecasted address that the federal government has actually embraced all essential steps to make sure a quick return to normality for flood victims, operating in coordination with both government and private institutions. Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is leading an interim government that was sworn in after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ran away the nation following a student-led uprising this month. Abdul Halim, a 65-year-old farmer from a town in the Comilla district, said his mud hut was suddenly swept away by a. 10-foot-high surge of floodwater in the middle of the night. There are no items and no water. Barely anybody has come. with the relief (help) deep inside the towns. You have to. physically go close to the primary roadway to collect it, he told. Reuters tv. Some individuals in Bangladesh have actually alleged that the floods were. triggered by the opening of dam sluice gates in neighbouring India,. an assertion New Delhi has declined. We have actually begun conversations with neighbouring nations to. avoid future flood situations, Yunus said. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has alerted that. flood conditions could continue if the monsoon rains continue, as. water levels are declining really gradually. More than 400,000 people have taken refuge in 3,500 shelters. in the flood-hit districts, with military and border guards. helping in the rescue and relief efforts, authorities said. An analysis in 2015 by the World Bank Institute estimated that. 3.5 million individuals in Bangladesh, one of the world's most. climate-vulnerable countries, were at risk of annual river. flooding. Researchers associate the worsening of such. catastrophic occasions to environment modification. The impact of this year's monsoon rains has been extensive. and devastating, said Kabita Bose, Country Director of Strategy. International Bangladesh. Whole communities have actually been completely inundated, and. there are now millions of individuals, consisting of children, in need of. safe shelter and lifesaving humanitarian help, she. stated.
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Pakistan bus accidents eliminate at least 34, authorities say
Two bus mishaps in northeast and southwest Pakistan eliminated as a minimum of 34 individuals on Sunday, the authorities said. Twelve pilgrims passed away on the Makran Coastal Highway in the southwest, the interior ministry stated, while a rescue authorities said 22 had actually passed away when their guest bus plunged into a deep ravine in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir. Rescue planner Rawalpindi Muhammad Usman stated the second bus had 25 guests, including 6 females and a kid, of whom 22 had actually died and one was critically injured. All the bodies have been recovered from the ravine, he stated. The interior ministry, nevertheless, stated 29 had died because crash. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a declaration expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the households of the deceased in both accidents. On Wednesday, a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims reversed in central Iran, eliminating 28 travelers and hurting another 23 people.
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Royal Jordanian airline companies suspends flights to Beirut, state news firm states
Jordan's flag carrier Royal Jordanian suspended flights to Beirut on Sunday due to the existing situation, the state news company reported without giving an exact time frame for the suspension. Authorities informed Reuters there was no disturbance to Jordanian airspace. Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah motion released hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel early on Sunday in retaliation for the assassination of its senior commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30. The Israeli military stated its jets struck targets in Lebanon shortly before the military evaluated Hezbollah was preparing to launch the attacks. The latest escalation in between Israel and Hezbollah comes amidst regional worries of a broader response by Iran and its local proxies to the assassination of Palestinian Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
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Australia police state 4 people injured in Sydney stabbing attack
Australian cops said on Sunday that 4 people consisting of a law enforcement officer were injured in a mass stabbing in Sydney, the current in a series of stabbing attacks in the city this year. Cops stated in a declaration on Sunday morning that four people were hurt following a crash and presumed stabbing a. short time ago. There is definitely an occurrence in Engadine, an authorities. spokesperson said, referring to a suburb in the south of the. city of around 5 million people. Cops said they did not believe anyone was eliminated in the. attack. They said a man who supposedly ran from the scene was Tasered. and had actually been taken into custody. A police officer was among those hurt in the attack,. authorities stated. Sydney has seen a spate of knife attacks this year,. prompting the New South Wales state government to toughen its. knife laws. The state parliament passed laws in June providing. police electronic metal-detecting scanners to examine individuals. without a warrant at shopping centres, sporting locations and. public transportation stations. In April, six people were eliminated and 12 hurt in a knife. attack at a mall in Sydney's Bondi area.
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Canada labor board orders end to train work blockage
The Canada Industrial Relations Board bought on Saturday a stop to work stoppages at the country's largest trains, the Teamsters union stated, signaling an end to an unmatched service interruption at both main freight rail carriers. The independent labor tribunal decided after Canada asked it on Thursday to end a deadlock in separate talks in between more than 9,000 Teamsters members, and Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City. The board's choice is the current twist in the labor disagreements at CN and CPKC, which locked out Teamsters members on Thursday, activating a simultaneous rail blockage that business groups stated could cause numerous countless dollars in financial damage. Canada, the world's second-largest country by area, relies greatly on trains to transport a large range of products and goods. The disruption might considerably affect farmers and farming companies in both Canada and the United States. The labor board's choice will avoid a planned strike on Monday at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) by locomotive engineers, conductors and other employees at Montreal-based CN just days after Canada's biggest railway ended a lockout and began restoring service. Teamsters members stay locked out at CPKC. The Teamsters union has said it will lawfully comply with any decision from the CIRB, but is prepared to submit obstacles in federal court if necessary. On Thursday, Canada's Labour Minister, Steven MacKinnon, stated his relocate to refer the matter to the CIRB would survive a. court challenge given his broad power under the nation's labor. code. The Teamsters union wants its members' working conditions. and pay to be determined by bargaining, regardless of disagreements with CN. and CP over scheduling, shift period and schedule. CN, for. example, desires workers to develop to 12-hour shifts, compared. with 10 hours in the existing agreement, a move opposed by the. union.
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Hungary's foreign minister implicates EU of interrupting oil materials from Russia
Hungary's foreign minister stated on Saturday the European Commission's decision not to mediate in a dispute over blocked oil materials from Russia through Ukraine suggested that Brussels lagged the interruption. Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia have been objecting given that Ukraine put Russian oil manufacturer Lukoil on a. sanctions list in June, stopping that business's oil from passing. through Ukrainian territory to Slovak and Hungarian refineries. The assertion from Hungary's Peter Szijjarto, which he made. without supplying proof, came a day after the European. Commission decreased a request from Hungary and Slovakia for it. to moderate in between them and Ukraine over the sanctions. The reality that the European Commission declared that it was. reluctant to help to protect the energy supply of Hungary and. Slovakia recommends that the order was sent from Brussels to Kyiv. to trigger obstacles and problems in the energy supply of Hungary. and Slovakia, Szijjarto stated at a conservative political. celebration. On Friday, a Commission representative stated there were no. indications that Ukraine's sanctions had endangered European. energy products, as Russian oil continued to flow through the. different Druzhba pipeline, which likewise connects Russia to. Slovakia and Hungary by means of Ukraine. The European Commission and Ukraine's federal government did not. immediately respond to an ask for comment on the Hungarian. declaration on Saturday. Last month Szijjarto made similar comments when he accused. the European Commission of blackmail in the oil disagreement and stated. that perhaps Brussels, not Kyiv, that invented the whole thing. The Commission did not respond straight to that declaration at. the time, but stated it had actually been gathering info on the. scenario. Slovakia and Hungary are both EU countries that have opposed. Western allies' military help to Ukraine as it fights the. intrusion that Russia introduced in February 2022. The Druzhba oil pipeline continues to operate, even as the. EU works to wean itself off most other sources of Russian. energy. The pipeline's southern branch runs through Ukraine to the. Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, and has acted as their. refineries' primary supply source for many years. A Hungarian federal government authorities stated on Thursday that. Hungarian oil business MOL was in the lasts of. conversations to establish a scheme to guarantee petroleum flows from. Russia.
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Novonor system settles $30.76 million for agreement incompliance with Panama City airport
Panama's Tocumen International Airport stated on Friday that a construction firm controlled by Brazil's Novonor had been bought to pay some $ 30.76 million to the airport for failure to adhere to a. contract to expand one of its terminals. The firm now known as CNO, S.A. was approved a contract to. expand Tocumen's Terminal 2 in 2012, the airport stated in a. declaration. The work suffered repeated delays due to constant. breaches of agreement by the building and construction company, Tocumen said. Tocumen, which is owned by the state, was required to. presume extraordinary expenses as an outcome, it stated. Building had originally been approximated at $679. million, but wound up costing more than $900 million, the. airport said. An estimated $15 million in repair work are likewise now required,. according to Tocumen. CNO previously ran as Construtora Norberto. Odebrecht, S.A. Its parent Novonor was known as Odebrecht before. a corruption scandal involving bribes to authorities throughout Latin. America was discovered.
Power blackout hits Balkan states as heat overloads system, minister states
A major power failure hit Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania and most of Croatia's coast on Friday, disrupting companies, closing down traffic signal and leaving people sweltering without a/c in the middle of a heatwave.
Montenegro's energy minister said the shutdown was triggered by an unexpected boost in power usage caused by high temperatures, and by the heat itself overloading systems. Power circulation is connected across the Balkans for transfers and trading.
This was just waiting to occur in this heat, Gentiana, a 24-year-old trainee in Montenegro's capital Podgorica, informed . Temperature levels hit 40 degrees Celsius ( 104 degrees Fahrenheit) across the southeastern European region.
Electrical power and wifi networks went down from around 1 p.m. ( 1100 GMT), officials and social networks users said. Suppliers in the 4 countries stated they started restoring supply by mid-afternoon and power was mainly back by the night.
At the start of the blackout, traffic control failures triggered gridlock in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo and the cities of Banja Luka and Mostar, press reporters said.
Numerous lost water in Podgorica as pumps quit working, residents reported. Air conditioning unit closed down and ice cream melted in tourist stores.
Vehicles also ground to a stop in the Croatian seaside city of Split, state television HRT reported. Ambulance sirens sounded out throughout the city, it added.
The failure took place as an outcome of a heavy load on the network, a sudden boost in power consumption due to high temperature and the high temperatures themselves, Montenegro's. energy minister, Sasa Mujovic, stated in a television broadcast.
Specialists were still attempting to determine where the breakdown. come from, he included.
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Montenegro's Vijesti television said a fire had actually been found in. a 400KW transmission line in a rugged area along the border with. Bosnia - though it was not right away clear if this could have. been the cause of blackouts or in some method associated to them.
The report cited unnamed sources from the electrical. transmission company CGES which, it stated, would require helicopters. to access the website.
Albanian Energy Minister Belinda Balluku stated there had actually been. a breakdown in an interconnector in between Albania and Greece and. he had actually heard there had actually been similar scenarios in Montenegro. and parts of Croatia and Bosnia.
A complete examination would require time, however early analysis. recommended that huge volumes of power in the transmission system. at the minute and extremely high temperatures in record levels have. produced this technical problem, Balluku added in a video. address.
Power in Albania was restored within half an hour, but the. country remained at a high threat of additional shutdowns as power. use and heat levels were still high, he stated.
Shifts in the area's energy supplies have actually put pressures on. its transmission systems, market officials say.
Western Balkan countries have seen a boom in solar power. financial investment, implied to relieve a power crisis that had actually threatened a. shift away from coal.
But the infrastructure is not prepared for brand-new energy. feeds, the president of North Macedonia's Energy Regulatory. Commission and other industry figures told in April last. year.
(source: Reuters)