LONDON (Sky News) - London Underground workers will stage a new walkout on March 15 over pensions, job losses and contracts. Tube drivers represented by the Aslef union had already announced a strike for the same day, but will now be joined by members of the RMT. The latest industrial action will fall on the day Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is due to deliver his Budget to the House of Commons, with over 100,000 civil servants also expected to walkout over their pay and pensions dispute. And it will come a day before other rail workers across the country carry out their own strikes over pay and conditions.

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MOSCOW Reuters) - - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law officially suspending Russia’s participation in the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the United States. The law comes into force immediately and the decision to resume Russia’s participation in the treaty is up to the head of state, according to the published law. In his annual address to the Federal Assembly on Feb 21, Putin said Russia was suspending its participation in, rather than withdrawing from, the New START treaty. He also pointed out the combined strike potential of NATO as Britain and France also have nuclear arsenals that pose a threat to Russia.

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TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China sent 25 warplanes and three warships toward Taiwan on Wednesday morning, the island’s Defense Ministry said, as tensions remain high between Beijing and Taipei’s main backer Washington. The ministry said 19 of those planes crossed into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone while the ships were continuing to operate in the Taiwan Strait. Relations between Beijing and Washington, Taiwan’s primary ally and source of defensive weaponry, have spiraled.

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HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s Parliament gave final approval Wednesday to the Nordic country’s bid to join NATO, with lawmakers signing off on membership along with the required legislation. The 200-seat Eduskunta legislature voted 184-7 to authorize Finland’s accession to NATO, clearing the last required domestic hurdle to becoming part of the 30-member Western military alliance. Two of NATO’s 30 existing members, Turkey and Hungary, have yet to ratify the joint application Finland and neighboring Sweden made last year. Admitting new members requires unanimous approval.

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COLOMBO (Reuters) - Public sector staff at Sri Lankan hospitals, banks and ports walked out on Wednesday, with some taking to the streets and other employees including teachers dressing in black, in a widespread protest against soaring living costs. The island is grappling with its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, beset by inflation above 50%, a shortage of foreign exchange, a plummeting currency and a steep recession. The government has this year hiked income taxes to up to 36% and raised power tariffs by two thirds as it bids to put its public finances and debt in order and qualify for a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout provisionally agreed in September. Public sector unions have called for a fairer tax regime, and around 2,000 port workers, already staging a work-to-rule, on Wednesday held a demonstration in support of that demand during their lunch break in the commercial capital Colombo.