Latest News
Iceland’s PM to strike over gender pay gap
Tens of thousands of women in Iceland, including Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir, will refuse to work on Tuesday.
The “kvennafri”, or women’s day off, has been called in protest at the gender pay gap and gender-based violence.
Fields in which women form the majority of workers, such as healthcare and education, will be especially affected. The planned walkout will mark the first full-day women’s strike since 1975.
Women and non-binary people have been urged to refuse paid and unpaid work on Tuesday, including household chores.”I will not work this day, as I expect all the women in the cabinet will do as well,” Iceland’s PM Ms Jakobsdóttir told the mbl.is website.
Ms Jakobsdóttir said her government is looking into how female-dominated professions are valued, in comparison to fields traditionally dominated by men.
According to the Icelandic Teachers’ Union, women make up the majority of teachers at every level of the educational system, including 94% of kindergarten teachers.
Around 80% of workers at the National University Hospital of Iceland, the biggest in the country, are women.
Iceland has been ranked the best country in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for 14 years in a row. But the country is not completely equal, with the WEF assigning it an overall score of 91.2%.
The volcanic island, which is one of the most sparsely-populated countries, ranks 14th in the world for economic participation, below countries including Liberia, Jamaica and Norway.
Around 90% of Iceland’s female workforce went on strike in 1975, seeking to highlight the importance of women to the economy. The strike prompted the country’s parliament to pass an equal pay law the following year.
Former Icelandic president Vigdis Finnbogadottir told the BBC in 2015 that the 1975 strike was “the first step for women’s emancipation in Iceland,” which paved the way for her to become the first woman to be democratically elected head of state in the world in 1980.
(BBC)
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.
“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.
But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.
According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.
(BBC)
A large fire near a Canadian military base in Alberta has killed and injured some people, the defence minister said, without confirming the number of casualties.
The Canadian Armed Forces were working with local authorities to manage the fire and were looking into what caused it, David McGuinty said, describing the situation as “very, very active and delicate”.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on X that a “serious incident creating a major fire” had occurred, adding his “thoughts are with all the brave women and men affected”.
Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, where the fire broke out, is one of the country’s busiest military training bases.
The blaze “spread rapidly due to high winds” and had torn through the fences of the base, the Municipal District of Wainwright said.
McGuinty told reporters he “cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory”.
It is unclear when the fire broke out, but the district first posted about the incident at about 17:30 local time.
Local authorities have urged residents to avoid the area and give all emergency vehicles right of way.
(BBC)
The Asian Youth Games gold medallist who has run sub four minutes previously returned a time of 3:55.97 seconds to become the first athlete in his age category at these championships to run the distance under four minutes.
Achintha who has a personal best of 3:53.05 from last year was representing Prince College Ratnapura today.
In another impressive 1,500 m feat Tharushi Abhisheka of Lyceum International School, Wattala established a new meet record in the Under-20 Girls’ 1,500m as she returned a time of 4:34.59 seconds to win.
By the end of the second day of the meet seven new meet records had been established.
D. V. C. de Soysa (of Galewela Central College) Under-16 Boys’ Discus Throw – 55.83m.
D. G. Lahiru Achintha (of Ratnapura Kumara Vidyalaya) Under-18 Boys’ 1,500m – 3:55.97 secs.
W. P. Nethula Induwara (Rahula College, Matara) Under-14 Boys’ 100m – 11.70 seconds
K. V. R. Gayesha (Ira Handa Kotuwa Wewa Maha Vidyalaya, Polonnaruwa) Under-16 Girls’ High Jump – 1.70m
H. M. D. S. Herath (Maris Stella College, Thimbirigaskatuwa) Under-20 Boys’ Long Jump – 7.65m
P. M. Amaya Semindi (Vijitha Central College, Dikwella) Under-14 Girls’ High Jump – 1.58m
Record 1,600 students take Russian Classical Ballet examination in Sri Lanka
Half a million people join protests in France, but some turn violent
Deadly fire breaks out at Canada military base
Showers or thundershowers will occur in most parts of the island after 1.00 p.m.
Buddhist hierarchy demands prison perks for monk convicts
Debate on NCM against Speaker postponed indefinitely
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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