The strike coincided with the start of the European summer holidays

International News via Reuters:

French air traffic controllers began a two-day strike on Thursday to protest over staff shortages and ageing equipment, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations just as the summer season gets under way.

France’s civil aviation agency DGAC told airlines to revise their schedules, including at Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport – one of Europe’s busiest hubs – forcing the carriers to cancel flights. 

Air France, France’s largest airline, said it had adapted its flight schedule, without giving details, but that it was maintaining its full long-haul flight schedule. IAG-owned British Airways was using larger aircraft to mitigate disruption.

Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel 170 flights affecting over 30,000 passengers on Thursday and Friday.

“Once again European families are held to ransom by French Air Traffic Controllers going on strike,” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said. “It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays.”

Easyjet said it would be cancelling 274 flights over Thursday and Friday.

The strike coincided with the start of the European summer holidays, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

France’s second-largest air traffic controllers’ union, UNSA-ICNA, said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture. Another union, USAC-CGT, said the DGAC had failed to comprehend the frustration felt by controllers.

“The DGAC is failing to modernise the tools that are essential to air traffic controllers, even though it continues to promise that all necessary resources are being made available,” UNSA-ICNA said in a statement. 

“The systems are on their last legs, and the (air traffic control) agency is constantly asking more of its staff to compensate for its difficulties,” it added.

The DGAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the trade unions’ concerns.

Their complaints echo grievances expressed by air traffic controllers in the United States over outdated infrastructure, dramatic staffing shortfalls and failing technology.

French Transport minister Philippe Tabarot called the unions’ demands unacceptable.

The DGAC asked airlines to cut one in four flights in and out of Paris airports and almost half of flights out of the capital on Friday. Elsewhere, airlines were asked to reduce flights by 30%-50%, with the south particularly hard hit.

“Despite these preventative measures, disturbances and significant delays are to be expected at all French airports,” the agency said, urging passengers to change their flights if they were able to.

Luxair Luxembourg Airlines warned that “additional delays and schedule changes are possible across other destinations, as air traffic rerouting and capacity constraints may cause knock-on effects throughout the network.”

Ryanair’s O’Leary urged the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, to reform EU air traffic control services to ensure adequate staffing at peak periods and to protect overflights – those that pass over a country or region without landing there – during national strikes.

Reporting by Makini Brice, Richard Lough and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, Sarah Young in London; Editing by Mark Potter

The deal will create a free trade area with almost 300 million people and a combined GDP of more than $4.3 trillion

International News via Reuters:

South American bloc Mercosur and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) concluded talks on Wednesday on a free trade agreement that will open access for 97% exports, ministers announced during a Mercosur summit in Buenos Aires.

The deal, which still requires parliamentary approval and a legal review from members of both blocs, will create a free trade area with almost 300 million people and a combined GDP of more than $4.3 trillion, according to a joint statement published by the commercial blocs.

“Both parties will benefit from improved market access for more than 97% of their exports, which will increase bilateral trade and benefit companies and citizens,” the statement said.

Talks between the EFTA group of four non-EU nations – Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – and Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia, began in 2017. 

Talks began in 2017 between the EFTA group of four non-EU nations – Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – and Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia that is still in the process of becoming a full member of the bloc.

Reuters reported last year, citing sources, that an agreement with EFTA was among the most likely to be signed by Mercosur this year.

Foreign ministers of both blocs said during a press conference they were committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure the treaty is signed in the coming months.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that Brazil was ready to move “as quickly as possible to sign the agreement.”

He added that the government hoped to finalize the deal during the second half of 2025 when Brazil takes over the rotating Mercosur presidency, along with the deal between Mercosur and the European Union.

The EFTA deal comes as Mercosur and the European Union continue to finalize a long-delayed free trade deal that was agreed, at least in principle, in December last year.

That agreement still needs to be translated and then ratified by all 27 EU member states, but has faced pushback from countries such as France.

“I believe there may be some resistance or difficulties in certain countries, but the outlook from the European Union is positive,” Vieira said.

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Lucila Sigal in Buenos Aires; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliott in Montevideo, Andre Romani, Isabel Teles, Madeline Chambers, Walter Bianchi, Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Kylie Madry, Brendan O’Boyle, Stephen Coates, Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy

The cases were the first in South Africa since September last year

International News via Reuters:

South Africa has reported the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, on two poultry farms in the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health said on Wednesday.

The cases were the first in South Africa since September last year, Paris-based WOAH said in a notification.

South Africa’s poultry sector has been recovering from an outbreak in 2023 that led to the loss of a third of the national chicken flock. The industry has been wary of a resurgence of the diseases amid criticism of the rollout of a government vaccination programme.

Bird flu has ravaged poultry flocks worldwide in recent years, including in the United States, and top poultry exporter Brazil this year reported its first known case on a commercial farm.

In South Africa, the new outbreaks killed 1,150 poultry birds on the affected firms, Paris-based WOAH said, citing South African authorities.

This included 300 birds killed on a farm in Tswaing in North West province and 850 birds that died on a farm in Mkhondo in Mpumalanga province.

Reporting by Gus TrompizEditing by Ros Russell

The company planned to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles

International News via Reuters:

Microsoft will lay off nearly 4% of its workforce, the company said on Wednesday, in the latest job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company, which had about 228,000 employees worldwide as of June 2024, had announced layoffs in May, affecting around 6,000 workers. It was planning to cut thousands of jobs, particularly in sales, Bloomberg News reported last month.

The Windows maker had pledged $80 billion in capital spending for its fiscal year 2025. However, the soaring cost of scaling its AI infrastructure has weighed on its margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year.

Microsoft said on Wednesday it planned to reduce organizational layers with fewer managers and streamline its products, procedures and roles.

The Seattle Times first reported on the layoffs earlier on Wednesday. Separately, Bloomberg News reported Microsoft’s Barcelona-based King division, which makes the Candy Crush video game, is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 200 jobs.

Microsoft confirmed to Reuters that its gaming division was impacted by the layoffs, although not the majority of the unit, but did not provide further details.

Big Tech peers, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have also announced job cuts.

Facebook parent Meta earlier this year said it would trim about 5% of its “lowest performers”, while Alphabet’s Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year.

Amazon has also cut jobs across its business segments, most recently in its books division. The company had earlier laid off employees in its devices and services unit, and communications staff.

Economic uncertainties and rising costs have triggered layoffs across sectors in Corporate America, as companies rush to streamline operations and hedge against further cost pressures.

Reporting by Aditya Soni and Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sriraj Kalluvila