NEWSWORTHY
French rail strikes resume as unions square off with Macron, gird for 'marathon'
Travelers grappled with another crippling wave of transport strikes in France on Sunday, as train workers protested President Emmanuel Macron's economic reforms and a stand-off between the government and rail unions hardened. Train staff last week began three months of nationwide rolling strikes in a ...
French rail strike call sets stage for showdown with Macron over reforms
French rail unions on Thursday called a wave of strikes, setting up a confrontation with President Emmanuel Macron as he tries to push through an overhaul of the state-run rail operator. Reforming the debt-ridden state-run operator SNCF has long been a political hot potato in ...
INCJ looks to become holding company in bid to boost investment in startups
The state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan investment fund will turn itself into a holding company to strengthen governance and boost investment in promising startup firms, a draft plan showed Thursday. The INCJ has been criticized for an excessive emphasis on rescuing financially struggling companies ...
Economic revitalization chief Motegi to tackle education, labor reforms
The new Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to carry out drastic reforms to the nation's labor and education systems in a bid to wean the country off its "one-track" career tradition as the population rapidly ages, the newly appointed economic revitalization minister ...
Renzi quits as Italian populists seek quick vote to win power
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi quit in the early hours of Monday after losing a referendum he'd called to push through constitutional changes, threatening renewed political and financial turmoil for Europe. "I lost, and the post that gets eliminated is mine," Renzi said early Monday ...
U.S. eases some Myanmar sanctions to push reforms but keeps most economic curbs in place
The United States eased some sanctions on Myanmar on Tuesday to support ongoing political reforms, but maintained most of its economic restrictions in an effort to punish those Washington sees as hampering the country's newly elected government. U.S. officials said they were easing sanctions to ...
Panel calls for cuts in Lower House seats, reallocation of others to correct vote-value disparities
The reform would rectify gaps in the weight of votes between constituencies, and also cut the total number of seats to a postwar low of 465.
Pope tells bishops to shun power temptations, pushes reforms amid new Vatican scandal
Pope Francis insisted Tuesday that the Catholic Church shun all temptations of power, prestige and money as he pressed his reform agenda amid a new scandal at the Vatican. Francis outlined his vision of the church in a lengthy speech to Italian bishops gathered in ...
Ranking priest, past pope-picked reform panelist arrested by Vatican over document leaks
The Vatican said Monday it had arrested a high-ranking priest and another member of a papal reform commission on suspicion of leaking confidential documents — a stunning move that comes just days before the publication of two books promising damaging revelations about the obstacles ...
Pope pens letter reminding Vatican ranks to obey the rules, hastens internal reform drive
Just days after closing a contentious meeting of bishops from around the world, Pope Francis turned his attention Tuesday to more domestic but equally contentious affairs. He issued a stern warning to Vatican bureaucrats to obey Vatican rules and laws as he goes about overhauling ...
Pope overhauls 300 years of church practice, initiates fast-track marriage annulments
Pope Francis radically reformed the process for annulling marriages Tuesday, overhauling 300 years of church practice by creating a new fast-track annulment and doing away with an automatic appeal that often slowed the process down. The move, which came a week after he said he ...
Thousands rally across Iraq behind al-Abadi's reforms; Anbar bloodshed continues
Thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Iraq on Friday to show support for a reform plan put forth by the prime minister this week while still demanding that greater measures be taken to target corruption and restore basic services. People sang, chanted and played ...
