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(CNN) - In a revived push to boost the minimum wage and influence the 2016 elections, fast food workers are planning a nationwide strike this coming Tuesday. Workers from 270 cities are expected to walk out on their jobs, demanding a living wage of $15 an hour and the right to unionize. At the same time, thousands of protesters are expected to make their voices heard Tuesday at the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee...

The United Auto Workers union says its workers at General Motors will strike if it can’t agree on a new contract with the company by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Both sides are still negotiating. The union made a similar threat in recent discussions with FIAT Chrysler before agreeing to a new four-year contract. …

Iraqi security officials have told MEE that US-led coalition strikes, which follow a stringent protocol, have been too slow, ineffective The Iraqi government authorised Russia to target Islamic State group convoys coming from Syria, a senior Iraqi official said. The authorisation for Russia to target IS inside Iraq comes amid security coordination between Iraq, Russia, Iran and Syria. Hakem al-Zamli, chief of the Iraqi parliament’s security and defense committee, told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the measure contributed to weakening IS by cutting off its supply routes. Earlier this month, Iraqi security officials told MEE that Russia would likely be...

It looks like the Palestinians are up to their old tricks again – attacking the Jews instead of fixing their problems. BREAKING: Israeli Air Force targeted terror targets in #Gaza following rocket fire towards Southern Israel earlier. pic.twitter.com/sF7CDQVPNP — Israel News Flash (@ILNewsFlash) September 29, 2015 BREAKING: Israeli jets now striking targets in Gaza in response to rockets fired at Israel tonight.

(note: Translated using Bing translator.) It was confirmed the news about the impact of a meteorite in Qazvin, Iran, there would be serious damage Breaking news: has just confirmed the news of a meteorite impact near Qazvin, Iran, not too far from the capital Tehran Iranian State. The news of the meteorite in Iran has just been confirmed by all the major news agencies in Iran, many of whom speak of damage (when wounded or victims have not been confirmed, although on the web are circulating rumors). The meteorite fell near Qazvin, but also near Karaj, Zanjan and Hamedan. The...

Iran has confirmed that a meteor has hit somewhere in the northern part of the country. The meteor landed in Avaj in the province of Qazvin, Mohammad Ali Ahani, director of Qazvin Crisis Management Staff said, Mehr news agency reported July 31. Also, there have been reports that some pieces of rock have hit areas in Eshtehard, Alborz Province, Arsalan Qasemi, governor of Boeen Zahra, county in Qazvin Province, said. Another local governor of Takestan County, Qazvin Province, said that the area witnessed the passing of the meteor, but nowhere in the district under his supervision had been hit.

(MILWAUKEE) -- Milwaukee union leaders say they're sorry for a work stoppage last week, but cannot promise there won't be another strike. The county says everyone will be able to ride free today because of the inconvenience of last week's strike. Leaders of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 held a news conference overnight to apologize to riders. They say they did not walk off the job last week to punish the public. The union says they are willing to have an arbitrator settle their differences, and accuse MCTS of refusing to allow that to happen. However union leaders gave no...

On the sidelines of the Israel Day Concert in New York's Central Park on Sunday, former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton gave a rundown of Iran's nuclear program and the impending deal on curbing it, in an exclusive Arutz Sheva interview. While negotiations between Iran and world powers have reached an interim agreement ahead of a June 30 deadline for a final deal, Bolton predicts that the Iran negotiations are "doomed to failure." "I don't think Iran has any intention of giving up its efforts to get deliverable nuclear weapons," said the former ambassador. "Even if a deal...

A US air strike in Yemen has killed the senior Al-Qaeda official who appeared in a video claiming the deadly January attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, who was killed in the April strike along with his eldest son and other fighters in the port city of Mukalla, also appeared in Al-Qaeda videos claiming the holding and death of US hostage Luke Somers, SITE Intelligence Group said. The announcement of his death came in a video posted on Thursday on Twitter by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - which Washington considers the international terror network's deadliest...

A US operation has killed the senior al-Qaida figure who issued the claim of responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, according to US sources familiar with the matter and a reported video posted by the group. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said that its ideologue Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi was killed with his eldest son and other fighters in Yemen in a US air strike, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which cited the online video. Reuters could not independently verify the video. Ansi's death would suggest the covert US drone program against the Yemen branch of...

Air raid sirens sounded across the Golan Heights on early Tuesday afternoon, warning of possible incoming rockets from Syria or Lebanon. Initial reports indicate local residents heard explosions in the area following the sirens, which were triggered around 12 pm. It is believed that two mortars landed near the Ein Zivan kibbutz, Channel 2 reported. After a brief investigation, the IDF concluded that rocket fire was spillover from the civil war in Syria and was unintentionally shot towards Israel. The Golan Regional Council said in a statement: “As a result of spillover from fighting between rebels and the Syrian army,...

Israeli warplanes struck military targets in Syria early Saturday, according to media reports that were not confirmed by Israeli or Syrian officials. According to Arab media and pro-opposition sources in Syria, the strikes targeted several bases belonging to Syrian missile brigades in the mountainous Qalamoun region near the Syrian-Lebanese border. The targets reportedly were Syrian army brigades said to keep long-range missiles and other strategic weaponry...

None of the workers on strike at 15 refineries and plants in seven states has yet returned to work. And it could be days before any do as the union and individual companies hammer out individual contracts. Last week, negotiators for Shell, which was representing the industry, and the union, agreed on a deal that provides a national framework for contracts. It outlined pay increases and an agreement to review safety and staffing levels, among other provisions. But local issues must be worked out and a contract ratified at each facility before employees return to work. The Steelworkers called the...

Four-year deal includes modest pay raises but addresses union concerns over contracted labor and worker fatigue. The United Steelworkers union and oil companies have reached a tentative deal to end the largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years, the labor group and people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday. The new agreement for about 30,000 workers would last four years, a year longer than previous agreements. The deal, which still needs to be ratified, may not end strikes right away at all refineries that have suffered walkouts as local union chapters could still need to work out pending issues....

The ongoing United Steelworkers strike hasn’t impacted the market for refined products much yet, but it could if the strike continues for much longer, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. The credit ratings agency says the strike could have an especially pronounced effect on the U.S. gasoline market. So far, the implications of the strike — now in its second month and affecting 15 refineries and chemical plants — has been relatively limited, Fitch experts said. But that could be changing. The first quarter of the year typically has lower demand for refined products, Fitch said; meanwhile, adequate...

The first nationwide oil refinery strike in more than 30 years expanded this weekend in a labor dispute that may start having more of an impact on the price consumers pay for gasoline. The United Steelworkers union (USW) said Saturday that workers at the largest refinery in the U.S., the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, started their strike at midnight Friday. Employees at two other refineries and a chemical plant in Louisiana started their strike at the end of Saturday. The USW represents workers at 65 refineries that produce about two-thirds of the oil in the U.S The...

The National Right to Work Foundation announced Wednesday that three employees at LyondellBasell filed unfair labor practice charges against the United Steelworkers Union. The charges allege that union officials from Steelworkers Local 13-227 are harassing workers who are going back to work. The charges were filed Monday with the National Labor Relations Board, according to the foundation that is providing free legal help. The foundation accused an unnamed local union official of making threats toward workers who continue to work during the strike. The group also alleges that union officials have allowed a union Facebook page to threaten union-represented employees...

At Delta Airlines' Philadelphia refinery, the local chapter of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) and Monroe Energy (a Delta subsidiary) have called in a federal mediator to resuscitate talks between the two parties in the hopes of averting the spread of the largest US oil worker strike in 35 years to the US east coast. National negotiations between Shell (on behalf of the oil companies) and the USW are set to resume Wednesday. In April 2012, Delta acquired the Trainer refinery (located near Philadelphia in Delaware County, PA) from Phillips 66 through subsidiary Monroe Energy for $180 million . The...

LyondellBasell announced Tuesday that it has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Steelworkers union, alleging that union representatives have made threats against employees who have returned to work and have used abusive language in social media. The company also contends it has witnessed threatening behavior at the gates of its Houston refinery as employees arrive to work, according to a letter to employees from Kevin Brown, executive vice president of global manufacturing, refining, global engineering services and global projects. The company filed the charge with the National Labor Relations Board. “This action by the USW is extremely...

On February 18, an explosion and fire occurred at ExxonMobil's refinery in Torrance, California. The Torrance refinery, the third-largest refinery in Southern California, has about 20% of the region's fluid catalytic cracking capacity and is an important source of gasoline and distillate fuel oil supply for Southern California. Unplanned refinery outages can have noticeable effects on liquid fuel markets, disrupting supplies of gasoline and distillate, particularly in regions that are tightly balanced, such as the West Coast (defined as Petroleum Administration for Defense District (PADD) 5). When refineries undergo planned maintenance, they make arrangements for alternative sources of supply to...