Queen Elizabeth II formally opened a new session of Britain’s Parliament on Thursday with a speech laying out Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to use his commanding majority to take the U.K. out of the European Union and shake up the country’s public services. Johnson’s Conservative Party won an 80-strong majority in the 650-seat House of Commons last week on a pledge… Read more »
*Follow up on previous France Strike Analysis Report* Businesses all over France are reporting turnover rate losses of 30-60% compared to last year due to the continued strikes over pension reform. On the 15th day of striking, the toll on businesses and the transport industry is continuing as well as the strikers’ resilience against Macron’s pension reform. A strike of… Read more »
French President Emmanuel Macron will not drop his plan for a single points-based pension system, but is “willing to improve” it in the face of fierce union resistance, an official in the presidency said Wednesday, as French officials met with union leaders hoping to end an impasse over a hotly contested pensions overhaul, 14 days into a crippling transport strike… Read more »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it would closely examine whether a new Polish draft law undermines the independence of the judiciary, amid tensions between Brussels and Warsaw over democratic standards. The EU has accused Poland’s ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party of politicizing the judiciary since it swept to power in 2015. PiS argues that… Read more »
Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, calling for direct talks between them and the Kyiv government to help restore peace. He said Ukraine had accepted the rebel leaders’ signatures on the 2015 Minsk ceasefire deal, so recognising them. The separatists launched a Russian-backed insurgency in April 2014, seizing most of the Donbas region. Ukraine… Read more »
Europe’s top court ruled Thursday that a former vice president of Spain’s Catalonia region who is serving a prison sentence for launching a banned independence referendum should have the right to parliamentary immunity. The European Court of Justice found that Oriol Junqueras, who was part of the Catalan Cabinet that went ahead with a banned secession referendum in October 2017, had a right to immunity… Read more »
On Thursday, December 5th, potentially the largest strike since 1995 in France began. The most recent strike resulted in the shutdown of France for 3 weeks. Strikes in France are not a peculiar occurrence, but a strike of this size is affecting the daily lives of many citizens. Beforehand, many trains, as well as 20% of flights in and out… Read more »
PARIS (Reuters) – Police fired tear gas at protesters in the center of Paris on Thursday and public transport ground to a near halt in one of the biggest strikes in France for decades, aimed at forcing President Emmanuel Macron to ditch a planned reform of pensions. The strike pits Macron, a 41-year-old former investment banker who came to power… Read more »
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn paused Monday to honor the two people killed in the London Bridge attack, then went back to trading blame for the security failings that allowed a man who had been jailed for terrorist crimes to go on a violent rampage in the heart of London.ADVERTISING Usman Khan stabbed… Read more »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will vote as soon as next week on legislation that would impose stiff new sanctions on Russia over its meddling in U.S. elections and aggression against Ukraine, a committee spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The Republican-led committee has scheduled a business meeting on Dec. 11 where it will consider legislation including the… Read more »