Lufthansa pilots to strike again

GERMANY: Lufthansa pilots will walk out today in the latest in a string of strikes over early retirement payments.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union called a one-day strike at the German airline’s long-distance and cargo operations yesterday, saying that talks with management had made no progress.

The dispute centres on the airline’s plans to cut transitional payments for pilots wanting to retire early.

Unions condemn attack on reporter

SERBIA: The International Federation of Journalists yesterday condemned the beating of a prolific Serbian investigative reporter who specialises in corruption cases.

Ivan Ninic was attacked on August 27 in front of his home as he was locking up his car. Two young men brutally beat him with metal rods.

The federation joined its three Serbian affiliates in calling for the culprits to be brought to justice.

Tsipras vows to seek majority

GREECE: Former prime minister Alexis Tsipras said yesterday he is seeking an absolute majority for his radical left Syriza party in upcoming snap elections.

But Mr Tsipras, who resigned following a rebellion by the Syriza left, indicated that he was open to forming a coalition government if no party wins the poll outright.

Polls show Syriza neck and neck with the conservative, pro-EU New Democracy party.

Qatar sends ground troops into Yemen

YEMEN: Qatar has deployed ground forces to fight the forces backing de facto president Ali Abdullah Saleh for the first time, Yemeni officials said yesterday.

The dispatch of 1,000 troops to the oil-rich central province of Marib is another major escalation in Yemen’s civil war

A Saudi-led coalition of countries is backing forces loyal to former president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against Mr Saleh’s supporters in the army and the Houthi clan.

Talks on family reunions begin

KOREA: Pyongyang and Seoul began talks at the border peace village yesterday on a resumption of the reunions of families separated by the Korean War in the early 1950s.

The talks between the two republics’ Red Cross officials at Panmunjom follow a deal earlier this month that defused a military confrontation.

The reunions were suspended early last year. Most applicants are elderly and desperate to see their loved ones before they die.

Rainbow Warrior bomber apologises

NEW ZEALAND: A retired French secret service agent has apologised for planting the bombs which sank Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior 30 years ago, killing a photographer.

Jean-Luc Kister told Television New Zealand on Sunday that he and his colleagues had not meant to kill anyone when they attached two bombs to the ship in Auckland harbour.

The Rainbow Warrior was due to sail to French Polynesia to protest against nuclear testing.

Tory in tea mug toilet shame

CANADA: A Tory parliamentary candidate apologised on Sunday after being caught urinating in a tea mug while working as an electrical repairman.

The Canadian Broadcast Corporation used hidden cameras in 2012 to record Jerry Bance relieving himself into the cup and pouring it down the sink while on a service call. The home owner was in the next room.

Toronto candidate Mr Bance claimed he “deeply regrets” the act.

Anti-gay official fights jail order

UNITED STATES: A county clerk in Kentucky has appealed against a judge’s decision to jail her for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on religious grounds.

Kim Davis’s lawyers lodged the appeal on Sunday. She stopped issuing all marriage licenses in June after the US Supreme Court legalised gay marriage nationwide.

US District Judge David Bunning ordered her to issue the licenses after two gay couples and two straight couples sued her.