Headline
Strike: UK Records Largest Walkout In 12 Years
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorHalf a million workers went on strike in Britain on Wednesday, calling for higher wages in the largest such walkout in over a decade, closing schools and severely disrupting transport.
As Europe battles a cost-of-living crisis, Britain’s umbrella labour organisation the Trades Union Congress called it the “biggest day of strike action since 2011”.
The latest strikes come a day after more than 1.27 million took to the streets in France, increasing pressure on the French government over pension reform plans.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for pay rises to be “reasonable” and affordable” warning that big pay rises would jeopardise attempts to tame inflation.
But unions have accused millionaire Sunak of being out of touch with the challenges faced by ordinary working people struggling to make ends meet in the face of low paid, insecure work and spiralling costs.
Teachers and train drivers were among the latest groups to act, as well as border force workers at UK air and seaports.
“The workload is always bigger and bigger and with the inflation, our salary is lower and lower,” London teacher Nigel Adams, 57, told AFP as he joined thousands of teachers marching through central London.
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“We’re exhausted. We’re paying the price and so are the children,” he added as protesters held up placards reading “Pay Up” and “We can’t put your kids first if you put their teachers last”.
Britain has witnessed months of strikes by tens of thousands of workers – including postal staff, lawyers, nurses and employees in the retail sector — as UK inflation raced above 11 percent, the highest level in more than 40 years.
Job centre worker and union representative, Graham, who preferred not to give his last name said workers had no choice but to strike faced with soaring costs.
“Some of our members, even though they are working, still have to make visits to food banks,” he said.
“Not only are wages not keeping up, but things like fares, council tax and rents are going up. Anything we get is eaten away,” he added.
– ‘Slap in face’ –
At London’s King’s Cross rail station, Kate Lewis, a 50-year-old charity worker, said she sympathised with the strikers despite her train being delayed.
“I understand. We are all in the same boat. All impacted by inflation,” she said.
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Another major commuter hub in the capital, London Bridge station, was completely closed.
One train driver who gave his name as Tony, 61, said the sort of pay rises on offer were insulting, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
“We worked all through Covid. We were being praised as key workers and then there is this slap in the face,” he said.
“I was leaving (home) at 3 am to go to work. People were having barbecues, you could hear the bottles. I think we deserve a pay increase that keeps up with inflation.”
Government and company bosses are standing firm over wage demands.
With thousands of schools closed for the day, Education Minister Gillian Keegan told Times Radio she was “disappointed” teachers had walked out.
But union boss Mark Serwotka said the government’s position was “unsustainable”.
“It’s not feasible that they can sit back with this unprecedented amount of industrial action growing, because it’s half a million today,” he told Sky News.
“Next week, we have paramedics, and we have nurses, then will then be the firefighters,” he added, warning that unions were prepared to strike throughout the summer.
Prime Minister Sunak on Wednesday told parliament the government had given teachers the “highest pay rise in 30 years” including nine percent for newly qualified teachers.
He urged opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer to say “that the strikes are wrong and we should be backing our school children”
– Nationwide rallies –
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The latest official data shows 1.6 million working days were lost from June-November last year because of strikes – the highest six-month total in more than three decades – according to the Office for National Statistics.
A total of 467,000 working days were lost to walkouts in November alone, the highest level since 2011, the ONS added.
Alongside the strikes, unions are also staging rallies across the country against the Conservative government’s plans to legislate against public sector strike action.
Sunak has introduced a draft law requiring some frontline workers to maintain a minimum level of service during walkouts.
AFP
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Headline
Group Of Top Male Footballers ‘Planning To Come Out As Gay Next Month
Published
5 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorA group of top male footballers ‘are planning to come out as gay on May 17.
German outlet Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung claims a group of professionals across the country will declare publicly their sexual orientation.
The date in question is of particular reference as it is the International Day Against Homophobia.
It is believed that all of the clubs the reported players are aware of the planned proposals.
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However, Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung adds that some players still have reservations about revealing their homosexuality and could still make a U-turn in doing so.
Marcus Urban is a former footballer in Germany who came out as gay in 2007, 16 years after quitting the sport. Urban, now 52, is the co-founder of Diversero, a global community for diversity, and hopes next month’s plans do come to fruition.
‘I think they are respected and celebrated for that. Not by everyone, that’s clear. But hate speech cannot be a criterion for a life,
‘May 17 is an offer,’ he told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). ‘A date that you could use as a guide and get together as a group.
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‘There is controversy there. Do I still want to wait until the world of football becomes the way I want it to be? Why should I wait? An interesting dynamic has come into play, you can see that people’s minds are starting to move and are thinking about whether it really makes sense to continue to hide and deny themselves.
Urban went on to reveal that there are gay couples playing in the Bundesliga too – declaring it would be ‘liberating’ if they came out.
‘There are also gay Bundesliga couples who are in hiding,’ he continued.
‘That would be so liberating. What’s wrong with it.’
Headline
Saudi Arabia Opens First Alcohol Store, Nigerian Muslims React
Published
5 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorNigerian Muslims have gone on X to express outrage after it was announced that Saudi Arabia has opened its first alcohol store in Riyadh.
Alcohol consumption is against the teachings of Islam and Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, has always obeyed to this law by forbidding the operation of alcohol stores in the country.
However, for the first time, the country opened its first alcohol store in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh.
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After it was announced on X, Nigerian Muslims took to the platform to express their displeasure.
“Disgraceful,” one Nigerian Muslim wrote on X. “They’re slowly turning Saudi Arabia into Las Vegas and it’s making me mad. At the rate they’re going , very soon they’ll legalize prostitution and same sex marriage in our most sacred city.”
Nigerian Muslims read the riot act after Saudi Arabia opened its first alcohol store.
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Another said: “It’s baffling and disgusting to see that Saudi Arabia has opened the first alcohol store in Riyadh.
“I wonder why the current crown prince is going against the teachings of the holy prophet by accommodating western cultures in a country like Saudi Arabia where the two most holy mosque are situated.
“This is an insult to the religion of peace and the entire Muslim ummah. It’s disgraceful.”
Headline
VIDEO: Meet Nigerian Pastor Who Predicted World Will End April 25
Published
8 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorAn unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed that God informed him of the end of the world during a prayer session.
The pastor emphasised that he clearly saw the date and that God mentioned it to him twice.
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He said, “By the 25th of April, the world is going to end. If you like take this serious, if you don’t like don’t take it serious.
“But this is real, rapture is coming, on the 25th of April 2024, I saw it very clear, do you understand? I saw the date very clear and the lord ministered to me. He mentioned it twice, it has happened twice.”
Watch video below:
VIDEO: Nigerian Pastor Claims World Will End April 25th
An unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed… pic.twitter.com/9xFXAtVCNl
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) April 25, 2024
Source: PUNCH
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