General strike in Portugal causes major disruptions in national servicesPrime Minister Luis Montenegro has insisted that the labour reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries”. But the communist-leaning General Confederation of the Portuguese Worker (CGTP) and more moderate General Union of Workers (UGT) have lambasted the plans. The CGTP organised about 20 demonstrations across the country. Its secretary-general, Tiago Oliveira, called the reforms “among the biggest attacks on the world of work”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/11/portugal-set-for-major-disruptions-in-first-general-strike-in-12-yearshttps://archive.ph/n3PhCBritain threatened to defund ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant, claims prosecutorKhan does not name the individual who made the threats, saying the call on 23 April 2024 was with a British official, but reports have suggested the caller may have been the then British foreign secretary, David Cameron. Khan said the official had argued that issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, was disproportionate.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/dec/11/britain-icc-funding-netanyahu-arrest-warrantLammy refuses to meet MPs worried about constituents on hunger strike in prisonFive hunger strikers have been taken to hospital. Their lawyers warned of a “real and increasingly likely potential” their clients will die in prison on Tuesday. In his letter, Mr Corbyn said that he would seek assurances from Mr Lammy that he would take steps to protect the political prisoners’ rights. The detainees have all been charged with offences relating to alleged break-ins or criminal damage on behalf of Palestine Action, charges that are denied, before the group was banned under terrorism legislation.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/lammy-refuses-meet-mps-worried-about-constituents-hunger-strike-prisonFrance Unbowed 'has become a target' of the UAE, Melenchon says“LFI has become a target of the Emirates,” he wrote on his blog on Tuesday, shortly after his party, the largest left-wing group in parliament, filed a complaint to the public prosecutor regarding a highly controversial poll on Muslims in France, suggesting it could be part of an Emirati “influence operation” in the country. The survey, which suggests that there is “a phenomenon of 're-Islamisation'" in France "accompanied by a worrying increase in adherence to Islamist ideology”, has been the subject of several legal complaints from Muslim organisations, who accused it of being “based on biased questions” to spread “the poison of hatred in the public sphere”.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-unbowed-has-become-target-uae-left-wing-party-leader-saysIsrael approves nearly 800 housing units in three West Bank settlementsSmotrich, who formulates settlement policy and is a settler himself, called the council's decision part of a "clear strategic move to strengthen settlement and ensure continuity of life, security and growth." Wednesday's decision puts the total of housing units approved in the West Bank since Smotrich assumed his post at 51,370, he said in the statement.
https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-approves-nearly-800-housing-units-w-bank-settlementsPro-government protests in Honduras as electoral body vows not to validate presidential poll resultIn a statement, the National Electoral Council said: “We denounce the existence of an ongoing electoral coup.” The panel said it “absolutely condemns” the interference of President Trump. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa on Wednesday to demand a rerun.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pro-government-protests-honduras-electoral-body-vows-not-validate-presidential-poll-resultEl Salvador teams up with Elon Musk’s xAI to bring AI to 5,000 public schoolsIn a statement Thursday, xAI said that its Grok chatbot will bring “personalized learning to over one million students” by creating tutoring “that adjusts to each student’s pace, preferences, and mastery level — ensuring every child, from urban centers to rural communities, receives world-class education tailored to their needs.”
https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-xai-schools-artificial-intelligence-a1c6e41b84cf5cfa8a9b20bd15dc12f3One year since the murder of four Afro-Ecuadorian children, soldiers face up to 34 years in prisonOne year after the murder of four Afro-Ecuadorian children in Las Malvinas, Guayaquil, the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office requested the maximum sentence for the soldiers who are accused of torturing and murdering Steven Medina, Nehemías Arboleda, Josué Arroyo, and Ismael Arroyo. In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office requested that each of the soldiers pay USD 100,000 to the children’s families for the crime of “forced disappearance”.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/12/10/one-year-since-the-murder-of-four-afro-ecuadorian-children-soldiers-face-up-to-34-years-in-prison/Argentina's Milei submits labor reform proposal to CongressThe proposed labor bill will seek to give employers more flexibility on working hours and vacations, as well as modify the system of severance pay in order to reduce costs for companies. It also provides financial incentives for employers to hire workers on-the-books and allows salaries to be paid in foreign currencies. Unions have strongly opposed the bill, which also states that unions must receive authorization from employers to hold assemblies in the workplace and characterizes a union takeover or obstruction of entry to a workspace as a "very grave" infraction.
https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/argentinas-milei-submits-labor-reform-proposal-congress-2025-12-11/Indian farmers protest new seed bill, calling it a threat to the country’s sovereigntyThe proposed bill will establish MNC control over the supply of seeds, ending the existing arrangement, which provides greater flexibility to the farmers to source the required seeds from local or public sectors. The control of MNCs will endanger indigenous varieties, public institutions, and traditional/informal seed networks and “bring disaster for sustenance farming in India,” claims SKM in a statement. The bill will leave the crop cycle in India at the mercy of the MNCs.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/12/10/indian-farmers-protest-new-seed-bill-calling-it-a-threat-to-the-countrys-sovereignty/Bangladesh president, feeling 'humiliated', wants to step down halfway through termHe later said that despite his personal desire to resign, he would let the next government decide his future. “If they tell me they plan to choose their own president, I will step aside,” he said late on Thursday. Opinion polls suggest the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami will be the frontrunners to form the next government. They were part of a coalition that ruled between 2001 and 2006.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-president-wants-quit-halfway-through-term-after-february-election-2025-12-11/General strike in Portugal causes major disruptions in national servicesThree Thai civilians were killed as heavy combat continued along the country’s border, the Thai military said on Thursday, marking the country’s first civilian fatalities since the fighting resumed. Eight Thai soldiers have also been killed in the fighting so far this week, with 80 more wounded, it said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/11/cross-border-fighting-between-thailand-cambodia-enters-fourth-dayhttps://archive.ph/nVltZ