Two rail workers are killed and about 30 people injured on Thursday when a high-speed train derailed before dawn near Milan in northern Italy, authorities say.

The crash occurred just after 5:30 a.m. (4:30 GMT) near the town of Lodi, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Milan. 

“It was a serious accident that had a tragic end with the death of two rail workers” aboard the train, Lodi Prefect Marcello Cardona told reporters, who added that an investigation was underway.

Cardona said none of the injuries suffered were life-threatening and all casualties had been taken to hospital. The Lombardy region’s health department put the number of injured at 31.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Cardona said, adding that there were only 33 people on board the train. Only one person was in the first car and two people in the second when the accident occurred, he said.

“I thought I was dead,” a survivor told local newspaper Liberta from hospital in Piacenza where he was being treated for minor injuries. “I closed my eyes and prayed.”

“The train was going very fast, perhaps 300 kilometers per hour (around 200 miles per hour),” said the unnamed man in his 20s.

“Suddenly, I felt a violent blow. A really loud roar,” said the man who was traveling with a friend in the second carriage.

“We held hands tightly to avoid falling. The wagon overturned and while waiting for help we went out through a hole to save ourselves,” he said, adding that they were stuck on the crashed train for 15 minutes.

The interior minister has been informed and the prosecutor was already at the scene of the accident, the cause of which was unknown, he said.

Two helicopters, hundreds of firemen, police and other authorities descended on the open farmland area outside of Lodi.

“We are greatly saddened by the two deaths, the two rail workers, and we express our solidarity with the families,” said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

“We can’t yet say anything” about the cause of the crash, he told journalists in Rome.

Ripped metal 

The Milan-Salerno train was en route to Bologna when it came off the tracks before dawn. 

Video images showed ripped metal at the front of the first car, where the engine separated from the train. The first car was flipped on its side and appeared to be still attached to the rest of the train. 

The engine car could be seen resting on its side on the other side of a nearby railway building several dozen meters away.

According to initial findings reported by the media, the engine went off the rails and struck a freight wagon on a parallel track before hitting the building.

Italian media reported that work had been done on the track on Wednesday night, but Cardona said it was premature to jump to conclusions on a link between that work and the accident.

“Line maintenance is done continually and it’s much too early to associate the accident to maintenance,” he said.

Dozens of high-speed trains on the north-south route were canceled following the derailment, while other trains were rerouted, adding an hour to the journey, operator Trenitalia said.

Italy’s last serious train accident occurred in January 2018, when three women died and about 100 passengers were injured when a packed train derailed near Milan due to poor track maintenance. 

Managers and employees of Italy’s state railway, RFI, as well as two former members of the national railway safety agency were charged with negligent homicide and other crimes.

(Source: AFP) 

Britain’s departure from the European Union was set in law Wednesday as, amid emotional scenes, the bloc’s parliament voted to ratify the divorce papers.

After half a century of sometimes awkward membership and three years of tense withdrawal talks, the UK will leave the EU at midnight Brussels time (2300 GMT) on Friday.

MEPs voted by 621 votes to 49 to pass the withdrawal agreement, which sees Britain leave the EU institutions but remain under most EU rules during a transition until the end of the year.

Following the vote, MEPs burst into a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne”, a traditional Scottish song of farewell.

The transition will see Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government try to negotiate an ambitious—unprecedented in the timeframe—free trade agreement with his 27 former partners remaining in the bloc.

“Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depth of love,” EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the chamber, quoting British author George Eliot.

“We will always love you and we will never be far. Long live Europe.”

In other words, as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “The hardest part lies ahead… we’re going to get down to brass tacks now.”

In the Brussels parliament, many MEPs made it clear that they were voting for the withdrawal deal not out of any support for Brexit, but to avoid the disruption of a chaotic no deal divorce.

Some expressed real anguish and regret, and pointed to Britain’s role not only in the development of the European unification project but also to its historic battles against tyranny on the continent.

“If we could stop Brexit by voting ‘no’ today I would be the first to recommend it,” former Belgian premier and chairman of the parliament’s Brexit steering group Guy Verhofstadt said.

“It is indeed a sad issue,” he said, turning to the World Wars of the first half of he last century. “We’re sad to see a country leaving that twice liberated us, twice has given its blood to liberate Europe.”

The day began with Britain’s permanent representative to the EU Tim Barrow—from Saturday to be its ambassador—handing back the withdrawal agreement signed by Johnson, to be stored in Brussels.

“This step ensures that the UK has fulfilled its legal obligations regarding our exit from the EU,” the British mission said.

Leaving the church

But it was still an emotional day in the European Parliament in Brussels, steeped in a mixture of nostalgia, political carnival and historical metaphor.

Nigel Farage, veteran MEP and leader of Britain’s Brexit Party, was in triumphant mood after two decades as a thorn in Brussels’ side.

After his final speech in parliament, in which he described Brexit as a victory for populism over “globalism”, Farage and his MEPs brandished British flags, in contravention of the rules, then left.

“We’re going to wave you goodbye,” he declared, as deputy speaker Mairead McGuinness cut his microphone.

“If you disobey the rules, you’ll get cut off,” she retorted.

At an earlier news conference, Farage said he had loved playing the “pantomime villain” in the Strasbourg assembly, feeding opposition to Europe at home with theatrical YouTube clips.

But he insisted on the seriousness of Brexit, comparing its significance to king Henry VIII taking Britain out of the Catholic church in 1534.

“He took us out of the Church of Rome, and we are leaving the Treaty of Rome,” he said, referring to the EU’s 1957 founding document.

Later in the day, Farage’s fellow MEPs gathered for the historic vote to incorporate the withdrawal agreement into EU law.

This was the last legislative act of the 73 remaining British MEPs, and departure was hard for some.

Bagpipe serenade

Iratxe Garcia Perez, the Spanish leader of the Socialist group, choked back tears as she said farewell to her British Labour Party comrades.

After Brexit the United Kingdom will be what the EU calls a “third country”, outside the union, but the political and economic drama will continue.

Britain and Europe will apply EU rules on trade and free movement of citizens until the end of the year, while negotiating a free trade agreement.

In the face of scepticism in EU capitals, Johnson insists he is optimistic that a comprehensive free trade deal can be done before the next cliff-edge.

But negotiations between the world’s sixth biggest economy and a 27-nation single market with a population of 450 million will be tricky

Fishing rights, residency and working rights for citizens, tariff free trade, access to Europe for Britain’s huge services sector: all will be on the table.

“We are considering a free trade agreement with zero tariffs and zero quotas. This would be unique. No other free trade agreement offers such access to our single market,” von der Leyen said.

“But the pre-condition is that European and British businesses continue to compete on a level playing field. We will not expose our companies to unfair competition,” she warned, to applause.

UK goes solo

Johnson’s government hopes more trade with the United States and Asian powers can help offset the costs of Brexit.

But the British premier was facing difficult talks on Wednesday with President Donald Trump’s secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Trump backed Brexit, but Washington opposed Johnson’s decision to allow Chinese telecoms giant to work on Britain’s 5G telecoms network despite security fears.

(AFP)

French police have evacuated President Emmanuel Macron from a theater in Paris after some protesters managed to enter the building, while many more were trying to enter.

Protesters chanting “Macron, resign” gathered outside the Les Bouffes du Nord theatre on Friday evening, after people shared on social media that the president was at the venue.

They were trying to enter the venue but the president was rushed out of the building, reportedly in a black car.

On the other side of capital, protesters blocked the entrance to the Louvre museum and forced the building to close Friday.

The museum’s Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, which was marking the 500th anniversary of the Italian master’s death, was also closed.

The incident occurred on the 44th day of strikes, which started in early December, against Macron‘s plan to overhaul the pension system that would see workers retiring later or facing reduced payouts.

This was the first time since then that the Louvre and its Leonardo exhibit were fully shut down.

The museum is visited by 30,000 people every day.

The weeks of protests and strikes have affected public transportation, disrupted schools, hospitals, courthouses and even opera houses and the Eiffel tower.

This is while unions have called for a seventh round of street rallies next Friday, when the pension plan is due to be presented to the Cabinet.

The government of Macron has already ruled out any possibility of abandoning the plan.

The president is already faced with a major challenge to his rule from the “Yellow Vest” protesters, who have been holding weekly demonstrations for more than a year.

According to a poll, published on Thursday, almost two- thirds of French people ‘don’t trust’ Macron.

The survey, conducted by Elabe for the Les Echos newspaper and Radio Classique, indicated that 63 percent of respondents “don’t trust” the president, down two points in one month. 

His government intends to present the pension reform bill on Friday so that it can be debated in parliament starting in mid February, with the aim of passing a law before the summer break.

Source: Presstv

French hardline CGT union leader Philippe Martinez said on Thursday unions had decided to hold further strikes and demonstrations on January 9 after a meeting with prime minister Édouard Philippe on pension reform plans during which “nothing changed”, Martinez said.

Unions oppose Macron’s plans to streamline France’s state pension system and push people to work until 64, instead of the legal retirement age of 62.

Five out of the eight unions leading the 15-day strike called on further actions and demonstrations on January 9, Martinez announced on Thurday.

“The prime minister is committed to the financial balance” of the pension system.“On this matter, there has been no change”, the union leader regretted. “CGT obviously does not share this view, so on behalf of the (CGT CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, Solidaires and FSU) unions, I can announce that a new day of actions will take place on January 9”, he added, saying that “The prime minister hasn’t heard what the street is saying”.

Prime minister Philippe said progress had been made on Thursday and announced he will hold roundtable discussions with union leaders again “on the first days of January”.

After the meeting, Philippe reaffirmed that the government remained fully committed to end special pension regimes. He also said at a press conference he hoped the pension reform law to be voted on before the summer.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out dropping 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.

“The president will not abandon the project nor water it down, though he is willing to improve it,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“An improvement is possible concerning the pivot age” of 64 at which a worker would qualify for a full pension — a particular target of union ire that has sparked two weeks of massive public transport strikes, the official added.

Macron’s office also said the government was talking with unions to get a break in transport strikes for Christmas holidays.

Earlier on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the government was determined to implement its planned one-size-fits-all model for the pension system, even though the nationwide strike in protest at the policy plan has crippled the country.

“Democratic and union opposition to our project is perfectly legitimate. But we have stated clearly what our project was and my government is totally determined to reform the pensions system and to balance the pension system’s budget,” Philippe told parliament.

Unions say the new system will introduce a “points system” for retirement, which will have a significant impact on both the public and private sectors and will force them to work well beyond the official retirement age of 62.

However, President Macron, whose government has been under constant pressure by weekly Yellow Vest protest rallies over the past year, insists that the reform plan will make for a fairer system and help erase pension system deficits forecast to reach as much as 17 billion euros (19 billion dollars) by 2025.

In central Paris on Tuesday, police fired tear gas canisters at protesters, who responded by throwing projectiles at lines of police officers.

Also on Tuesday, clashes occurred between riot police and protesters in the western city of Nantes. During the past months, the city has been the scene of frequent clashes between police and far-left radical groups. The plan has also sparked a crippling strike in the transport sector.

Source: Presstv

Estonia apologised to Finland on Monday after Estonia’s interior minister mocked Finland’s new prime minister — the world’s youngest-serving government leader — as “a sales girl” and questioned her ability to run the Nordic country.

Mart Helme, 70, Estonian interior minister and leader of the populist far-right party Ekre, on Sunday ridiculed Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, 34, and her government, in which four out of five coalition leaders are women under 35.

“Now we see how one sales girl has become a prime minister and how some other street activists and non-educated people have also joined the cabinet,” Helme said on his party’s radio talk show.

His comments prompted the opposition to call for his resignation, while Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid asked Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto to pass on her apologies to Marin and her government.

Social Democrat Marin, who has spoken about growing up in a disadvantaged family, worked as a cashier before studying at university and embarking on a political career.

“I’m extremely proud of Finland. Here a poor family’s child can educate themselves and achieve their goals in life. A cashier can become even a prime minister,” Marin wrote on Twitter.

Helme, a former Estonian ambassador to Russia, is known for outspoken statements that regularly embarrass Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his Centre Party, Ekre’s coalition partner.

Ekre was accepted for the first time into a government coalition in April, after Ratas lost parliamentary elections but clinched a deal with Ekre to stay in power.

Estonian opposition leader Kaja Kallas said on Monday the opposition would organise a no-confidence vote in parliament if Helme does not resign after his comments about Finland’s new leaders. Previous such attempts have failed.

“The interior minister has offended the Finnish government and personally attacked the newly-appointed Finnish prime minister,” she said in a statement.

(REUTERS)

France’s general strike reached its eight day, and appears stronger than ever.

Yesterday the administration of President Emmanuel Macron finally revealed the details of their globally-unprecedented, one-size-fits-all pension plan – which includes a 2 year hike to the retirement age.

The reception was near-universal rejection, with even conservative unions vowing to finally join the strikes.

Nationwide protests were immediately called, and day eight saw more of the same public transport chaos, energy shortages, school closings, worker shutdowns, grounded airplanes and now blockades of key maritime ports.

Businesses in urban centers are down 15-30%, but it’s the small businessman who has been the most hurt. Many believe that Macron will only compromise if a general strike reduces the profits of the owner class and high finance.

Many want the pension rollback totally withdrawn, now that the unpopular, right-wing details are finally known, and few understand why the system must be scrapped entirely.

The rollback is not being openly forced by Brussels, unlike many similar austerity policies, but in a rare comment today Macron admitted he was ‘advancing our European agenda’.

The slogan of the general strike has become ‘(Choose) A few weeks of chaos or years of misery’. A key rail workers union has declared, ‘There will be no truce for Christmas,’ meaning that France’s General Strike will almost certainly reach the level of 1995’s massive labor victory.

Source: Presstv

Day six of France’s largest general strike since 1995 saw massive union-led protests nationwide for the second time in a week. 

Public transport continues to run at only around 10% capacity and both public and private sector workers waked off the job in huge numbers yet again.

Nearly one million protesters rallied nationwide which is especially impressive given the lack of union solidarity. 

Tomorrow the government will finally unveil the details of the pension reform, which they have delayed to avoid further inflaming public opinion. The nation’s largest union has not joined the strike, but they will make their crucial decision once the unprecedented system is finally revealed. 

However, the nation’s prime minister announced that nobody should expect him to say anything which would immediately stop the protests; that’s another indication of President Emmanuel Macron’s infamous reluctance to negotiate or compromise. 

The one-size-fits-all pension system touted by Macron would be a world’s first. When it is finally clear how it plans to work, it seems highly unlikely that citizens will get larger pensions instead of smaller ones. The plan will include a backdoor two-year high to the retirement age. 

New polls show 70% of the nation supports the strikers, making them as popularly supported as the Yellow Vest anti-government movement. A majority of France says the general strike is about the ensemble of Macron’s policies, which have drastically increased economic inequality and societal instability.

For many December 9th was the true start of France’s general strike. The strike began on December 5th, but the country had expected for unprecedented shutdowns through the weekend.

Many waited to see if the strikes would continue when the new work week started, and the answer it is in: it was Black Monday.

Record morning traffic jams were caused by heavy rains, as commuters couldn’t walk or bicycle to work. Nearly 90% of trains continue to be shut down, buses were at half capacity and 20% of flights were cancelled.

President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis cabinet meeting Sunday night to devise ways to undermine the strikers.

The last general strike, in 1995, was also against pension reform, but this time the right-wing government wants to change the entire system, and to a globally-unprecedented one-size-fits-all model.

Polls show that nearly 70% of France does not trust Macron to change something as important as the pension system. However, the man known as the “president of the rich” has shown that he’s not just willing to ignore democratic public opinion, but also willing to brutally represent dissenters.

Many private sector workers are striking, but public sector workers are leading the way, because they have more legal protection from getting fired just for going on strike. Transportation workers are so committed to the strike because they usually work outside in the elements, or underground, and surrounded by polluted air – few could stay healthy doing such difficult work until the age of 64, as Macron is demanding. Rail workers announced they will keep striking until at least Friday.

December 10th will see a second day of nationwide union-led protests, with more than a million people expected on the streets for the second time in less than a week. 

Source: Presstv