Iceland PM to take part in first women’s strike in almost 50 years: ‘Women’s Day Off’
Tens of thousands of women in Iceland are due to take part in the country’s first day-long strike in almost 50 years to raise awareness of gender-based violence and the gender pay gap. Katrin Jakobsdottir, Iceland’s prime minister, will participate in the protest which will involve women and non-binary people stopping paid and unpaid labour on Tuesday. Teachers, nurses and fishing industry workers have said they will take part in the women’s strike which is the first day-long protest since 1975 when women also downed tools and stopped work. The original protest, dubbed “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic language, brought the nation to a standstill due to women refusing to work, do childcare, or cook. Some 90 per cent of Icelandic women are estimated to have stopped work for the day - with schools shut down and flights cancelled due to a dearth of staff. While children were brought to work by their fathers due to a lack of childcare. The protest triggered far-reaching change in the country - with Iceland subsequently electing the first woman to be an elected president in the world and rolling out its first Gender Equality Act. BSRB, the country’s biggest federation of public worker unions, as well as 31 associations, are taking part in the strike, according to local publication Mbl.is. “First and foremost, I am showing solidarity with Icelandic women with this,” the country’s PM told the news outlet. The protest’s organisers want the strike to raise awareness of sexual violence and domestic abuse as well as the undervaluing of sectors where women are over-represented. Campaigners hope more people will take part in Tuesday’s protest than those who took part in the 1975 strike. The World Economic Forum recently declared Iceland as the world’s most gender-equal nation for the 14th year in a row. Read More ‘18 more months, baby. Then I’m in Iceland’: The group helping trans people to leave the US
2023-10-23 20:15
Turkey sends two more planes of aid to Egypt for Gaza, plans more
ANKARA Turkey sent two cargo planes to Egypt on Monday carrying medical equipment and supplies for Gaza, Health
2023-10-23 19:58
Bishan Singh Bedi: Indian cricket legend dies aged 77
One of the world's finest spin bowlers, Bishan Bedi took 1,560 first-class wickets, the highest by an Indian.
2023-10-23 19:53
Trey'shawn Eunes, who wanted to make his mother proud, was killed at 12 in an accidental shooting in Texas
Trey'shawn's death makes Lakesha Bay one of many mothers struggling with the pain of losing a child to the scourge of American gun violence.
2023-10-23 18:45
House enters third week without speaker as nine Republicans vie for gavel
As the House enters its third week without a speaker, nearly a dozen Republicans are vying to earn the support of their conference to wield the gavel, throwing the chamber into even more uncertainty.
2023-10-23 18:26
Chevron to buy Hess Corp for $53 billion in all-stock deal
Chevron Corp said on Monday it will buy smaller rival Hess Corp in a $53-billion all-stock deal, as
2023-10-23 18:18
Republican search for new US House leader returns to square one
By David Morgan and Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON Republicans, whose party infighting has paralyzed the U.S. House of Representatives
2023-10-23 18:16
Ukraine destroys all Russia-launched drones and cruise missile in overnight attacks
Ukrainian defence systems successfully destroyed all Russian air weapons fired in the east and south directions, including a cruise missile fired overnight, its air force said on Monday. A total of 14 attack drones, including 13 Iran-made Shahed drones and one unspecified drone as well as one cruise missile, were destroyed, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on its official Telegram channel, lauding Western-supplied air defence systems. “Western weapons have proven and continue to prove their effectiveness on the battlefield,” Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the air force, wrote in a statement on Telegram. However, debris from a downed drone struck a warehouse and damaged it at the Black Sea port of Odesa, officials said. No injuries have been reported so far, Odesa governor Oleh Kiper said. The attack in the short hours of Monday comes as a part of Russia’s campaign to target port and grain infrastructure since quitting a UN-brokered deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to ship its grain via the Black Sea. Russian forces also targeted the regions of Kherson in the south, Donetsk in the east and Sumy in the northeast in its overnight attack, the interior ministry in Kyiv said. For more than 600 days now, Russia has carried out frequent air strikes across Ukraine’s regions. Now soon to enter its second winter, the attacks have sparked fears that Russia is going to step up strikes on Ukraine’s power grid to cripple infrastructure as the winter begins to set in. This comes as at least six people were killed in Ukraine’s Kharkiv after a Russian missile struck a mail depot, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. Another 17 people were injured in the blast. The explosion on the Ukrainian postal and courier service Nova Poshta is believed to have been caused by a widely used Russian S-300 rocket, said Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov. All victims killed in the attack were employees of the private postal service. Nova Poshta published the names of the six young employees between 21-31 years old who lost their lives “as a sign of commemoration and sorrow”. In a statement published after the attack, Nova Poshta said the air raid siren had sounded just moments before the missile struck, leaving those inside the building with no time to rush to a basement shelter. Russia scaled up attacks on Ukrainian cities and villages on Sunday as officials said two more people had been killed in a shelling attack in the Donetsk region. The casualties include a 58-year-old man who died in his home in the village of Kalinovka and a 61-year-old man was killed in the town of Vasiukovka from a direct hit to his car, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said. A 71-year-old man was killed in a separate incident while fishing at a local reservoir on Saturday, Nikopol military chief Yevhen Yevtushenko said. He said the victim had been found with a fishing rod in his hand. The mayor said Russian forces deliberately targeted the man with artillery fire. In southern Ukraine, the Russian military had used a record number of aerial bombs over the country’s Kherson region in the previous 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. At least 36 missiles were recorded over the area with some villages being hit by several strikes, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces could be diversifying the mix of missiles, guided bombs, and drones used in strikes on Ukraine. The Washington-based think-tank speculated that the change could be part of an attempt to find gaps in Ukraine’s air defences ahead of further strikes over the winter. Read More Ukraine-Russia war - live: Putin forced to increase number of soldiers on ground as UK estimates death toll Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 82 times in a single day Six killed and 16 injured in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv mail depot
2023-10-23 17:49
EU agrees on framework for Niger sanctions
BRUSSELS European Union countries on Monday adopted a framework to impose sanctions on members of a junta that
2023-10-23 17:47
'Not in our name': Jewish peace activists across the US call for immediate ceasefire and justice for Palestinians
Thousands of Jewish peace activists across the United States are calling on President Joe Biden and other elected officials to rein in Israel -- arguing more civilian deaths is not the answer to Hamas' deadly attack.
2023-10-23 17:45
South China Sea: Why the Philippines and China are on a collision course
A new sense of urgency is pushing Manila and Beijing to greater assertiveness in the South China Sea.
2023-10-23 17:20
US, Allies Hold Talks On Concerns Israel-Hamas War Will Spread
US President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Canada spoke on Sunday about
2023-10-23 16:29