Sunday, November 11, 2007

Besides becoming a political stomping ground for the Pan-Green and Pan-Blue coalitions, there are other changes from past years of Taipei Audio Video Fair (TAVF). With those changes in mind, Wikinews reporter Rico Shen interviewed You-peng Wang, chairman of the Taipei Electrical Commercial Association (TECA), the main organizer of TAVF, about the 60th year anniversary of TECA and the changes to the show.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Student protests against the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin job reform plan to give employers the right to dismiss young employees within the initial two years of their employment turned increasingly violent over the last two weeks.

The controversial program called the CPE, “First Job Contract”, is to encourage employers to hire people under the age of 26. The French government claims that this process is necessary to reduce the unemployment rates of young people, which is pegged as high as 23% (this rate is the quotient of the number of people under 26 deemed to seek employment over the total of those employed and deemed to seek employment, which excludes the large proportion of students in that population). However, student protestors and trade unions say that the legislation infringes on workers’ rights, and opinion polls show that some two-thirds of the population want the CPE either modified or dropped altogether.

The CPE allows employers to hire people age 26 and younger on a contract for up to two years which may be terminated at any time without explanation. While supporters of the law say that it will make younger people more attractive for employers, opponents say it makes it harder for young people to find long-term employment as there is no incentive for employers to offer any other form of contract.

Labour unions and student organisers are calling for a national strike on Tuesday, the fifth strike in the past two weeks.

The French labor laws are claimed to be among those protecting employees the most in Europe; they prevent employers from trimming their workforces without paying substantial severance packages. Prime Minister de Villepin’s claims to intend to reduce youth unemployment by focusing on attracting modern industries relying on higher employee turnover and more flexible employment arrangements.

The current program is similar to the CNE ordinance the Prime Minister issued last summer for small businesses in France.

CPE was adopted under an exceptional “fast-track” procedure allowing the executive to pass legislation through Parliament without Parliament having to approve it, known as “49-3” following from the number of the relevant article in the French Constitution. This procedure is normally reserved for important but controversial texts considered a crucial and urgent element of the policies of the Prime Minister. Once 49-3 is declared, the law is considered adopted by Parliament unless the National Assembly votes a motion of censure, which terminates the Prime Minister and his cabinet’s term. Following standard practice when 49-3 is used, a motion of censure was proposed by the opposition, then voted down by the Assembly (in which the ruling UMP party has a majority).

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

India‘s steelmaker Tata Steel, of the Tata Group, buys Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus Group for £6.7 billion ($12 billion), making it the world’s fifth largest steel manufacturer. 70-year-old Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, from one of India’s best-known business families, won the race against Benjamin Steinbruch, 52, a famous Brazilian executive who is the chief and main owner of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). Tata paid investors 608 pence a share, whereas the Brazilians final offer in an auction by the U.K.’s Takeover Panel was 603 pence.

The deal triples Tata Steel’s capacity to almost 28 million tons a year. Tata: “This is the first step in showing that Indian industry can step outside its shores into an international market place as a global player.”

Corus, which was created from the merger of British Steel and Hoogovens, currently employs 47,300 people worldwide. Last year the company was the ninth-largest steel maker worldwide.

The takeover may start a round of consolidation in the fragmented steel sector.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

A freighter hit a fishing boat around midnight on Sunday morning in the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea. Of the 40 Egyptian fisherman on board, thirteen are dead and thirteen more missing.

Survivor Al Sayyed Mohamed Arafat told local media he jumped from the fishing boat, named Badr al-Islam, as the container ship approached. He says he hung onto a wooden crate for four hours before rescue. Local authorities have promised compensation to each survivor.

A vessel, flagged in Panama, suspected to be involved in the collision has been detained by the military. The army said yesterday one victim raised the alarm by phone and the military sent four boats and a helicopter to commence search and rescue off the Gabal al-Zayt coastline.

A plane has since joined the search. The military say the fishing boat lacked safety equipment for emergency communications.

The detained ship was found south of the Gulf, near the port of Safaga. It was carrying 220 tonnes of cargo according to the General Authority for the Red Sea Ports.