Strike at SNCF: unions have until 12 p.m. to vote on a new agreement

The SNCF has made new proposals to prevent the controllers' strike from continuing until the New Year, while many passengers will remain at the dock starting this Friday and throughout the Christmas weekend.

SNCF in a press release that, during a meeting with unions Thursday evening, the group management proposed “strong additional measures to promote the recognition of the profession of chief executive, the creation of jobs, and the advancement of their careers”. Thus, the unions have until 12 noon to vote on this new agreement. Nearly half of the controllers will be on strike this weekend. This caused the cancellation of one train out of three on Friday, and of two trains out of five on Saturday and Sunday, especially TGV trains.

Epidemics: a critical situation is descending on France

The Minister of Health, François Braun, on Thursday evening referred to a “critical situation in the health system”. This is the triple winter epidemic of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and flu, which is weighing on “saturated” emergency services. According to the minister, “the health system is particularly under pressure at the moment, with Samus having an increase of 30 to 40% in the number of calls.” Before going to Delafontaine Hospital in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), in order to provide government support to all the teams mobilized, François Braun paid a night-time visit to Samu in Paris, based at Necker Hospital.

United States: Thousands of flights delayed or cancelled due to a storm that causes polar cold and severe disruptions

Thousands of delayed or cancelled flights, freezing temperatures, and heavy snowfall are events observed in the United States as Christmas approaches. Indeed, the first effects of a storm, as is the case “once a generation”, were felt on Thursday in a large part of the United States. Thus, the authorities warn about the very dangerous conditions for getting around. President Joe Biden is urging his people in these words: “please take this storm extremely seriously”, “I encourage everyone (...) to listen to the warnings at the local level,” he added. Several states have declared a state of emergency, including Oklahoma, Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Covid-19: China requisitions medical products

At a time when millions of Chinese are struggling to obtain basic medicines to treat themselves in the face of an unprecedented wave of Covid-19, China is requisitioning the production of some pharmaceutical companies. Beijing has been imposing strict health measures since 2020, in the name of a so-called “zero Covid” policy that has protected the people most at risk and those who are poorly vaccinated.

Few Chinese people knew anyone around them who was ill with Covid for nearly three years. However, the government ended most of the restrictions without notice in early December amid growing public frustration and a significant impact on the economy.

IN SHORT

Weekly figures from health authorities show that the current wave of Covid-19 in France is slowing in terms of contaminations and now hospitalizations.

As the army began to deploy on the streets of the capital Suva, the Fijian opposition accused the government on Friday of sowing “fear and chaos” in an effort to stay in power.

Rwanda is accused of carrying out military operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and of providing “arms, ammunition, and uniforms” to the M23 rebellion. It was in a report he found himself accused in a new report.

The president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët told the daily Ouest-France on Thursday that he had “written a letter” to the Argentine Federation after being mocked by Albiceleste players, in particular at Meet Kylian Mbappé.