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Firefighters conduct extinguishing works after Russia's unmanned aerial vehicle attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine on December 19, 2022. Russia unleashed 35 "kamikaze" drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Monday morning as many people slept, damaging critical infrastructure in and around the capital, Kyiv. Governor Oleksiy Kubela said the assault was "fairly serious," after three areas in the region were left without power supply. The assault marks Moscow's third air attack on the city in six days. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble fell to a more than six-month low against the dollar.

☆ Iranian oil workers protest for higher wages
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Groups of oil workers held protests in southern Iran on Saturday, demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses, according to videos and reports posted on social media. There was no immediate comment from Iran's oil ministry about the reported oil worker protests. The activist HRANA news agency said a group of oil workers protested outside the Pars Oil and Gas Company in Asaluyeh in the southern province of Bushehr on the Gulf. HRANA and other social media carried videos and photographs of similar protests by oil workers in areas including Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province, Gachsaran and Mahshahr. Four decades ago, a combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and bazaar merchants helped sweep Iran's Shi'ite Muslim clergy to power.

Three people were killed in a three-alarm fire in Pittsburgh overnight, according to officials. The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire responded to the 3400 block of McClure Avenue after receiving multiple calls for a house on fire early Saturday morning. Pittsburgh Public SafetyThe fire started off as two-alarm, with "heavy fire throughout," but became a three-alarm fire a short time later, according to a tweet from Pittsburgh Public Safety. Roughly an hour later, officials reported that a female was taken to the hospital in "stable but serious condition." The three other occupants of the home were unaccounted for, Pittsburgh Public Safety said.

☆ With a recession looming, layoffs are in full effect. Here are some of the safest and most at-risk jobs, according to economists.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

US employees are worried about their jobs amid a looming recession. Insider spoke to economists to identify some of the safest jobs, and the ones most at risk. The grim economic outlook has caused employee concerns about layoffs to skyrocket, Lauren Thomas, a UK-based economist for Glassdoor told Insider. Insider spoke to labor experts and economists to identify some of the safest and most-at-risk jobs. Olga Rolenko/Getty ImagesConstruction, which relies heavily on borrowed funds, tends to get hit hard early on during a recession, experts told Insider.

☆ 5 children among 10 dead in France apartment fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

At least ten people, including five children, were killed after a fire broke out overnight Friday at an apartment building near the French city of Lyon, officials said. First responders were first alerted to the fire at the 7-story building in the Vaulx-en-Velin suburb at around 3:12 a.m. local time (9:12 p.m. Officials said a preliminary death toll found that 10 people had died, with five children among them. Four others were left in critical condition, while 10 sustained minor injuries, including two firefighters, they said. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he would be visiting the site along with France's housing minister on Friday morning.

☆ Two dead, 51 missing after landslide hits campsite in Malaysia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Two people died and 51 others were feared buried after a landslide hit a campsite outside Kuala Lumpur early Friday, Malaysia’s fire department said. A fire department official in central Selangor said 79 people were believed to have been at the campsite in Batang Kali, around 31 miles north of Kuala Lumpur, when the incident occurred. Three people were injured while rescuers were searching for the estimated 51 missing people, the official said. The scene of a landslide at a campsite in Malaysia. According to its website, there are three camping sites with facilities at the farm popular with locals and that people can bring their own tents and equipment or rent them from the farm.

☆ Fire near French city of Lyon kills 10, including 5 children
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Ten people, including five children, were killed - according to a provisional death toll - after a fire broke out on Friday morning at a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, the local government said. The local authority for the Lyon and Rhone region said the cause of the fire was not known at this stage. The fire occurred in the early hours of Friday morning at a seven-storey residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin. A security cordon has been set up at the site of the blaze, added the local authority. Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon workers will go on formal strike for the first time in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Though Amazon workers in the U.K. have previously stopped working in August and on Black Friday in November in protest over the summer pay increase, these were spontaneous, unsanctioned withdrawals of labor. Amanda Gearing, senior organizer at GMB, said the Coventry workers "should be applauded for their grit and determination." It's not too late to avoid strike action; get round the table with GMB to improve the pay and conditions of workers." "This represents a 29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. In recent weeks, upcoming strike actions have been announced by nurses, rail workers, postal workers, ambulance workers, airport staff, Border Force agents, highway workers, Eurostar staff, civil servants, bus drivers, firefighters, charity workers, meteorologists and offshore workers.

☆ Chile heat wave exacerbates forest fires, causes public health risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dozens of people have had to evacuate their homes because of the fires and the capital Santiago is under a public health alert due to a cloud of smoke, officials said on Friday. Among several localities in the Valparaiso region, around 40 homes have been evacuated and a dozen homes have been destroyed. [1/5] A helicopter assists as a wildfire burns parts of the rural areas around Curacavi town outside Santiago, Chile, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado 1 2 3 4 5Local authorities issued a public health alert. "What's being done is to monitor the fine and coarser particles to see how this may affect health," Santiago's government representative, Constanza Martinez, told reporters.

On the heels of Tuesday's lower-than-expected inflation reading, the Federal Reserve is expected to tap the brakes Wednesday on its aggressive rate-raising plan designed to cool price growth in the U.S. economy. In addition to the slower price growth, layoff announcements are mounting. Notably, demand for bonds has increased, reflecting growing interest in more stable returns that are often correlated with slower economic growth. Out with inflation worries, in with recession fearsKey stock market gauges, meanwhile, continue to decline on concerns about flagging corporate earnings. If it was still worried about inflation, then interest rates, energy and banks would all be higher.

☆ Emergency-response technology with a 5G upgrade is having an impact in places like hurricane-battered Florida
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Clara Mcmichael | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's likely to become commonplace that tools used by first responders and police will run on 5G networks. This article is part of "How 5G Is Changing Everything," a series about transformational 5G tech across industries. In June, from a remote farmer's field in Missouri, where cows wandered through the grass, AT&T tested its first 5G drone. Helped along by 5G, new technology designed to speed up disaster response is under development. In the meantime, though, networks and companies say they're continuing to innovate and expect 5G to have a profound impact on disaster response.

☆ Britain's new 'winter of discontent' deepens as widespread strikes mount over festive period
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In recent weeks, upcoming strike actions have been announced by nurses, rail workers, postal workers, ambulance workers, airport staff, Border Force agents, highway workers, Eurostar staff, civil servants, bus drivers, firefighters, charity workers, meteorologists and offshore workers. For the public sector, real earnings were 5 percentage points lower, and Hollingsworth suggested that the growing gap had become "unsustainable." "I think there's clearly a lot of pressure here for some catch-up on the public sector side of things, and it's clear that there is that labor bargaining power there." "However, the gap between private and public sector pay narrowed slightly, with private sector pay up 6.9%, while public sector pay is up by 2.7%." However, with negotiations remaining fraught and unions showing no signs of backing down, he said some catch-up on public sector pay growth will likely be required to prevent further disruption.

☆ US lawmakers want answers on FTX's collapse. Sam Bankman-Fried may not have them.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But first, we are going to hear more from Sam Bankman-Fried this week, even if you think we've already heard quite enough from him. Sam Bankman-Fried testifies during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC. Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who said he once considered himself a "model CEO," tweeted last week that he would testify before tomorrow's House Financial Services committee hearing focused on his firm's blowup. FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, who oversaw the bankruptcy of Enron, will testify in the first part of the hearing. A private lunch with the billionaire is on the table if you're willing to pony up the cash.

☆ China expands hospitals and ICUs as it faces Covid surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Medical workers wear PPE as they stand next to people waiting in line outside a fever clinic on Dec. 9, 2022 in Beijing, China. A Cabinet meeting called Thursday for "full mobilization" of hospitals including adding staff to ensure their "combat effectiveness" and increasing drug supplies, according to state media. Officials were told to keep track of the health of everyone in their area aged 65 and older. It isn't clear how much infection numbers have increased since Beijing last week ended mandatory testing as often as once a day in many areas. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country.

☆ Fire rages through shopping mall in Moscow suburbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 9 (Reuters) - Fire engulfed one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow early on Friday, emergency services said, leading to the collapse of part of the structure, which complicated firefighters' efforts to douse the flames. The conflagration spread over an area of about 7,000 sq m (75,000 sq ft) in the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital, authorities said. Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it was looking into the cause of the fire. The head of the Moscow region's emergency services agency said it appeared the blaze was the result of safety regulations being violated during repair work on the building. Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Raissa KasolowskyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China eases some of its Covid restrictions, in significant step toward reopening
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNS/AFP/Getty ImagesSince early in the pandemic, China has used health codes on mobile phones to track individuals’ health statuses. Residents line up for Covid tests in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China on December 1. Schools with Covid cases can continue “normal teaching and living,” as long as they designate certain “risk areas” with control measures. Since early in the pandemic, China has required a prescription and negative Covid test to buy these. Some experts have warned that a broader reopening inevitably brings health risks, especially to those vulnerable groups.

☆ In Chile, amateur beekeeper rescues hives from coastal tourist city
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Rodrigo Garrido | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Amateur beekeeper Angel Nieto, known as "the Bee Rescuer", prepares to remove a swarm of bees from a tree on a private property, in Vina del Mar, Chile December 3, 2022. REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoVINA DEL MAR, Chile, Dec 6 (Reuters) - A goldsmith by trade, Angel Nieto carefully pries away a beehive from an inner-city tree in Chile's coastal Vina del Mar. Chilean scientists have warned of declining bee populations, threatened by agricultural pesticides and the impacts of climate change. "In this space we prepare for them, they can be free, live peacefully, without any aggressive interventions," he added. Reporting by Rodrigo Garrido; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China eases controls but gives no sign when ‘zero Covid’ will end
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING — China is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. That spurred hopes for a quick end to “zero Covid.” But health experts and economists warn it will be mid-2023 and possibly 2024 before vaccination rates are high enough and hospitals are prepared to handle a possible rash of infections. Ahead of the protests, the Communist Party promised to make “zero Covid” less costly and disruptive but said it was sticking to the overall containment strategy. Travelers at the Chinese capital’s train stations and three airports are required to show a negative virus test within the previous 48 hours. Xi’s government has held up “zero Covid” as proof of the superiority of China’s system compared with the United States and Western countries.

[1/3] Firefighters work outside an office building destroyed in shelling in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, Ukraine December 5, 2022. A new Russian missile barrage had been anticipated in Ukraine for days and it took place just as emergency blackouts were due to end, with previous damage repaired. "In many regions, there will have to be emergency blackouts," he said in a late Monday video address. The United States said it would convene a virtual meeting on Thursday with oil and gas executives to discuss how it can support Ukrainian energy infrastructure, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Russia says it is waging a "special military operation" in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities.

☆ UK government could bring in military to ease strikes- Conservative chairman
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The British government is looking at bringing in the military to help keep public services running if key workers, including in the state-run National Health Service, take strike action, the chairman of the governing Conservative Party said on Sunday. "We're looking at the military, we're looking at a specialist response force... a surge capacity," he said, adding that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances. Zahawi again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for fuelling energy price rises and inflation, calling on public sector workers to "come together". "There is a minimum safety level of delivery in place already, but the NHS will look at all contingency planning," he said. Reporting by Elizabeth Piper Editing by Gareth Jones and Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK could use military to ease strikes, Conservative chairman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain's government is looking at bringing in the military to help keep public services running if key workers, including in the state-run National Health Service, take strike action, the chairman of the governing Conservative Party said on Sunday. "We're looking at the military, we're looking at a specialist response force... a surge capacity," he said, adding that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances. Workers at post and parcel company Royal Mail have held several rounds of strikes this year in a dispute over pay and working conditions and more strikes are planned this month. Zahawi again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for fuelling energy price rises and double-digit inflation, calling on public sector workers to "come together". "There is a minimum safety level of delivery in place already, but the NHS will look at all contingency planning," he said.

☆ Former NBA star Jeremy Lin fined for comments about Covid quarantine while playing in China
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Police fanned out across Shanghai, Beijing and other cities to try to prevent additional protests. A representative of Vision China Entertainment, which says on its website it represents Lin, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Jinzhou in the northeast lifted curbs on movement and allowed businesses to reopen. On Thursday, the metropolis of Guangzhou in the south, the biggest hotspot in the latest infection spike, allowed supermarkets and restaurants to reopen. Other major cities including Shijiazhuang in the north and Chengdu in the southwest restarted bus and subway service and allowed businesses to reopen.

☆ Ex-Virginia trooper posed as teen for ‘sextortion’ in catfishing of girl whose family he killed, police say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

"Sextortion" drove an ex-Virginia trooper’s catfishing of a teen girl and killing of her mother and grandparents in Southern California last week, police said at a news conference Wednesday. “This is yet another horrific reminder of the predators existing online who prey on our children,” Gonzalez said. A spokesperson for the Riverside Police Department did not immediately respond to follow-up inquiries from NBC News. Police are also are investigating what Edwards' intention was with the girl following the fire and murders, officials said. When deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department caught up to Edwards, the suspect fired gunshots at them, before being fatally shot by at least one deputy, police said.

The move was criticized by some mental health professionals who said the city should focus on long-term solutions and avoid treating people who refuse. New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman also condemned the plan. New York City continues to contend with crime on public transit. Instead, he said, the city needs sustained engagement, housing, health care support and financial assistance for those in need. “In an ideal situation, you want mental health crisis teams to be the front line.

CNN —Severe storms and tornadoes swept through parts of the South from Tuesday into Wednesday morning, killing at least two people in Alabama and damaging homes, other buildings and downing trees in several states, officials said. Tornadoes decimate parts of AlabamaThe tornado that killed two in the Flatwood area near Montgomery had winds estimated at 110 mph, the National Weather Service said. The storm, which might have included a tornado, sounded “like a train coming through,” Perkins told CNN on Wednesday. “We were successful in getting (to) some people that had to hunker down in their homes that were messed up,” Austin told CNN on Wednesday. Some parts of the South, including between Huntsville and Birmingham in Alabama, saw between 2 and 4 inches of rain Tuesday.

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