Free Republic

Swine flu strikes isolated North Korea By HYUNGJIN KIM, Associated Press Writer - 1 hour 58 minutes ago SEOUL, South Korea – Swine flu has struck isolated North Korea, the regime acknowledged Wednesday, although it was unclear whether there were any fatalities from the virus that has been circling the globe for months. North Korea made its first acknowledgment of an H1N1 outbreak with a short dispatch in state media citing nine confirmed cases in northwestern Sinuiju on the Chinese border and in Pyongyang, the capital. The official Korean Central News Agency reported that a quarantine system to prevent the...

Remember how unions are for “the little guy”? Remember how unions can’t wait to take to the street with obnoxious signs and thug behavior to strong-arm some business or another to their will? It’s all about the workers, dontcha know? Well, unless those workers that want to strike happen to be a union’s headquarters staff, that is. In that case union bosses frown on any striking going on. As LaborReport.com notes, this hilariously hypocritical situation has, indeed, happened inside Teamsters headquarters (known as the “marble palace” for its opulence) in Washington D.C. The HQ staffer’s union has announced that they...

Whatever the outcome of Iran's presidential election tomorrow, negotiations will not soon -- if ever -- put an end to its nuclear threat. And given Iran's determination to achieve deliverable nuclear weapons, speculation about a possible Israeli attack on its nuclear program will not only persist but grow. So what would such an attack look like? Obviously, Israel would need to consider many factors -- such as its timing and scope, Iran's increasing air defenses, the dispersion and hardening of its nuclear facilities, the potential international political costs, and Iran's "unpredictability." While not as menacingly irrational as North Korea, Iran's...

WASHINGTON - Sometimes even unions have union problems. Dozens of employees of the Service Employees International Union picketed their own union Friday over its decision to lay off about 75 workers. The staffers marched outside SEIU headquarters in Washington as they yelled into bullhorns, passed out flyers and chanted, "Justice for all, not just some." "This union is supposed to be at the forefront of the progressive movement, but it can't seem to follow its own ideology," said Malcolm Harris, president of the Union of Union Representatives, which represents 210 SEIU organizers and field staff around the country. (Excerpt,,,)

The nationwide strikes in France over the government's handling of the financial crisis are provoking strong, and diverse, reactions among French observers. The action is attracting sympathy from many in the left-wing press, but is being met with weariness and unease on the right. France's eight largest union federations called the strikes, dissatisfied with the 2.65bn euros of additional public spending pledged by the government following the last day of industrial action on 29 January. The unions are calling for the government to do more to prevent private sector lay-offs and to halt to its own plans to reduce the...

ATHENS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Greeks disgruntled by their country's economic woes ramped up protests against the government on Wednesday, shutting down airports and disrupting many public services. Public schools and tax offices shut down, and services at ministries and public offices were suspended, as hundreds of workers marched to parliament with banners reading "No to pension reforms, privatisations and job cuts".

January 31, 2009 Dawn of new age of industrial unrest as wildcat strikes spread across UK Strikes at 19 sites over ‘British jobs for British workers’ Francis Elliott, Sam Coates and Fran Yeoman Gordon Brown’s pledge to create “British jobs for British workers” came back to haunt him yesterday when a dispute over foreign labourers sparked a wave of industrial unrest. Wildcat strikes flared at more than 19 sites across the country in response to claims that British tradesmen were being barred from construction jobs by contractors using cheaper foreign workers

A nationwide protest against Nicolas Sarkozy's economic policies drew more than one million demonstrators into the streets of France on Thursday, in the biggest popular challenge to the president since he took office in 2007. Organizers hailed the demonstrations - meant to highlight unemployment and declining spending power in a time of crisis - as a great success. François Chérèque, secretary general of the CFDT union, called the protest "the biggest nationwide demonstrations in 20 years." He said in Paris that private sector workers had turned out in surprisingly large numbers, showing that workers from across the spectrum were "expressing...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The White House Friday refused to comment on Pakistani reports that suspected US drones had fired missiles into presumed militant dens in the northwest tribal belt. "As you know I am not going to comment on those matters," spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters despite being repeatedly pressed to discuss the reports.

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets resumed after a brief pause Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where an Israeli warplane dropped leaflets urging some residents to flee because of imminent attacks. Even as the Israeli government tentatively welcomed a cease-fire proposal from Egypt and France, its military was instructed to continue its assault on Hamas.

Teachers unions routinely claim that the interests of students are their top priority. So we would be interested to hear how the Pennsylvania affiliate of the National Education Association explains the proliferation of teacher walkouts in the middle of the school year. According to a recent study by the Allegheny Institute, Pennsylvania is once again the worst state in the country for teacher strikes. No less than 42% of all teacher walkouts nationwide occur in the Keystone State, leaving kids sidelined and parents scrambling to juggle work and family, potentially on as little as 48 hours notice required by state...

States news agency the Associated Press (AP) are withholding their bylines to protest management's stance in contract talks, their union said on Monday. "Staffers recognise the tough times, but they also understand that quality journalism at AP means attracting and retaining the best employees," Tony Winton, president of the News Media Guild, said in a statement. The Guild said AP reporters and photographers were withholding bylines and personal equipment "in protest over the news agency's proposals that would threaten job security, dramatically raise medical costs, and freeze wages". "They're making it clear that AP's future success means respecting its workers,...

NEW YORK – "Joe the Plumber" is lashing out at the media for analyzing his personal life since he suddenly became a focal point of the presidential race last week. --snip-- Wurzelbacher said he felt terrible after reading some of the criticism of himself posted online. "I felt about that small," he said. "I mean I really did." --snip-- Wurzelbacher became famous after he met Obama and said the Democrat's tax proposal could keep him from buying the two-man plumbing company where he works. ... --snip-- "You know, when you can't ask a question of your leaders anymore, that gets...

LONDON (AFP) – The euro on Tuesday slid below 1.45 dollars for the first time since February as the market anticipated lower interest rates in the eurozone and stronger growth in the United States, analysts said. In early London trade, the European single currency dropped to 1.4467 dollars, the lowest point since February 12. It rose from this level to trade at 1.4524 dollars in late European trade, compared with 1.4606 dollars late on Monday in London. Elsewhere, the yen fell slightly after Monday's abrupt resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. The pound meanwhile struck a record low versus...

British fear US commander is beating the drum for Iran strikes By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 1:53am BST 05/04/2008 British officials gave warning yesterday that America's commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Baghdad government. A strong statement from General David Petraeus about Iran's intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian military facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment. In closely watched testimony in Washington next week, Gen Petraeus will state that the Iranian threat has risen as Tehran has supplied and directed attacks by militia...

President Hugo Chavez ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage. Speaking during a nationally televised address Thursday, Chavez said the affected cement companies, which include Mexico's Cemex SAB, France's Lafarge SA and Switzerland's Holcim Ltd, will be paid fair compensation in the state takeover. "We are going to prepare a plan to modernize these cement plants," he said. Chavez, who says he is leading Venezuela toward "21st century socialism," said the nationalization would take place in the "short term," but did...

(IsraelNN.com) Iran's fundamentalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unleashed a fresh round of threats Wednesday against Israel, calling the only Jewish country in the world a "filthy microbe" and a "savage animal." Speaking to an Islamist rally in the southern city of Bandar Abbas that was broadcast on national television, Ahmadinejad told supporters "World powers have created a black and dirty microbe named the Zionist regime and have unleashed it like a savage animal on the nations of the region." The attack was the latest in a recent flurry of Iranian threats against Israel. In recent weeks two leading Iranian generals have...

12/20/2007 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- With the help of volunteers from around the base, the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing flight safety office reduced the number of bird strikes on aircraft by 30 percent here in November. They accomplished this through the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program, which uses awareness and proactivity to reduce the number of bird-strike threats against aviation assets. "We are here preserving the Air Force's combat capabilities," said Master Sgt. Brian Saunders, a flight safety office member." Last year alone $42 million in damage was done to Air Force aircraft from bird strikes." Helping...

President Sarkozy of France is on the verge of a breakthrough in his ambitious plan to wean his country off the restrictive working practices he believes stand in the way of national prosperity. Yesterday, the strike of rail and subway workers that has crippled France for nine days was clearly crumbling, as workers began returning to work in large numbers and union branches conceded that support for the dispute is collapsing. "We think a dynamic of return to work has begun," Julie Vion, a spokeswoman for France's state-owned railroad network, SNCF, said. Union leaders began to concede defeat yesterday. "We...

In a showdown over pension reform, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is trying to wrestle power from the unions and establish himself as the steward of the country's long-overdue modernization process. Meanwhile, as fears grow over possible job cuts and rising prices, new strikes could be on the horizon. Four million flyers have been printed, the slogans have been approved and strategists are already contemplating the march routes and rally locations. At the headquarters of the country's ruling party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), in Paris's 8th Arrondissement, plans are underway for a confrontation "with the France of the...