LONDON (Reuters) -- The United Kingdom recorded the highest number of working days lost to labor disputes in 2022 for more than 30 years, official data showed on Tuesday, as a cost-of-living crisis led employees to walk out in demand of higher pay. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said nearly 2.5 million working days were lost to industrial action last year, the highest since 1989 when 4.1 million days were lost.  With inflation at its highest in four decades, workers across a range of sectors from train drivers to teachers and healthcare workers have held strikes over the last few months.  The ONS data showed 843,000 days were lost to strike action in December alone, with border force staff, around 100,000 nurses and thousands of ambulance workers among those who staged walkouts either in the run up to or during the Christmas period. While some smaller disputes have been resolved, the most high-profile show little sign of abating. Up to half a million teachers, civil servants, and train drivers walked out earlier this month in the largest coordinated strike action for a decade and many trade unions have further days of strike action scheduled.

 

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia rejected on Tuesday an accusation by Moldova’s president that Moscow is plotting to destabilize the former Soviet republic. Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, complained on Monday that Russia was planning to use foreign saboteurs to bring down her tiny country’s leadership, stop it joining the European Union and use it in the war against Ukraine. “Such claims are completely unfounded and unsubstantiated,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Russia blamed Ukraine for stirring tension between Russia and Moldova, saying Kyiv was trying to draw Moldova “into a tough confrontation with Russia”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week his country had uncovered a Russian intelligence plan “for the destruction of Moldova”. Days later, Moldova’s government resigned.

 

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SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australian officials said Tuesday dozens of Chinese-made security cameras would be ripped out of politicians’ offices, days after the country’s defense minister announced his department would remove the devices from its buildings due to security concerns.  At least 913 Chinese-made security cameras have been installed across more than 250 Australian government buildings, including the Department of Defense’s facilities, according to figures released last week. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told national broadcaster ABC last week that all these cameras within his department’s buildings would be removed, saying it was to “make sure that our facilities are completely secure”. After Marles’ statements last week about removing Chinese-made cameras, Beijing accused Australia of “misusing national might to discriminate against and suppress Chinese enterprises”. Similar moves have been made in the United States and Britain, which have taken measures to stop government departments installing Chinese-made cameras at sensitive sites. 

 

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NAIROBI (AFP) -- Kenya will deploy troops in the country’s drought-stricken north on Wednesday, the government announced, accusing bandits and cattle rustlers of killing scores of people. More than 100 civilians and 16 police officers have lost their lives at the hands of “marauding bandits and livestock rustling terrorists” in the Northern Rift Valley region over the past six months, the interior ministry said in a statement late Monday. The theft of livestock or quarrels over grazing and water sources are common between cattle herding communities in northern Kenya.  Hundreds of people have been forced to flee their homes, the ministry said, declaring a national emergency and ordering citizens to surrender any illegal firearms within the next three days. Kenya, the most dynamic economy in East Africa, is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after five failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops. 

 

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COLOMBO (AFP) -- Sri Lanka will ban single-use plastics, the government said Tuesday, in a move that follows a series of wild elephant and deer deaths from plastic poisoning. Cabinet spokesman and media minister Bandula Gunawardana said the manufacture or sale of plastic cutlery, cocktail shakers and artificial flowers will be prohibited from June. The move was recommended by a panel appointed 18 months ago to study the impact of plastic waste on the environment and wildlife. Non-biodegradable plastic bags were banned in 2017 due to concerns over flash floods.

 

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LIMA (AFP) -- Peruvian prosecutors said they are investigating whether security forces were to blame for the deaths of several protesters during anti-government demonstrations in December. Peru has been engulfed in relentless, sometimes violent protests following the removal from office of leftist President Pedro Castillo on December 7. According to the country’s ombudsman, at least eight people, including a minor, died in the city of Ayacucho, some 560 kilometers (350 miles) southeast of Lima, in clashes with security forces on December 15. The prosecutor’s office said Monday the investigation, led by a special human rights unit in Ayacucho, is targeting police personnel, the army and those “responsible for allegedly committing the crimes of manslaughter and injuries,” according to a statement.  Protests in Peru, which erupted a day after the president took office on December 7, have left 48 civilians and a police officer dead.