British nurses will go on strike this week, hitting already stretched hospitals and cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to quell the biggest wave of industrial action to hit the country in decades.

An independent review was set up to investigate the workplace culture at the London Fire Brigade.

At a vast warehouse in the southern Dutch city of Roosendaal, automated cranes and driverless vehicles silently stack clothes for the French and Italian stores of retailer Primark, reducing the need for hard-to-come-by labour.

Numerous other public and private sector staff, from lawyers to airport ground personnel, have also held strikes this year

Around half of all employees in the sector are from non-professional backgrounds

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced new aid for Ukraine on a visit to Kyiv on Friday, including ambulances and support for victims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers.

Numerous other public and private sector staff, from lawyers to airport ground personnel, have also held strikes this year.

EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers are likely to reach a deal on a 6-billion-euro ($6 billion) satellite internet system next week, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, driven by the bloc's push to cut its dependency on foreign companies and the Ukraine war.

Britain's House of Lords shares some characteristics with the Chinese National People's Congress: their signature colours are red, and neither is elected by popular vote.

Amazon.com Inc on Thursday forecast a slowdown in sales growth for the holiday season, disappointing Wall Street and warning that inflation-wary consumers and businesses had less money to spend.

A failure to secure meaningful progress on a debt relief for the world's poorest nations at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meeting in Washington has left policymakers, campaigners and investors frustrated.

France faced disruptions on Tuesday after unions called a nationwide transport strike.

The French government on Wednesday ordered some staff at an Exxon Mobil depot back to work and warned a TotalEnergies' depot could be next, risking a wider conflict with trade unions as it battles to secure petrol supplies following weeks-long strikes.

Britain's private-sector economy last month suffered the sharpest contraction in activity since a COVID lockdown early last year, underlining the challenge facing Prime Minister Liz Truss who on Wednesday emphasised her push for economic growth.

"Speaking truth unto power" has long been the motto of Britain's civil service, but now some government workers charged with offering ministers impartial advice whatever their party are fearful of their political bosses and are keeping quiet.

In a meeting, government authorities decided "TikTok must be banned within a month's time from now, and 'PUBG' should be banned within next 90 days."

Manufacturing activity across the euro zone declined again last month as consumers feeling the pinch from a deepening cost of living crisis cut spending, a survey showed on Thursday, providing more evidence of the growing risk of recession.

The International Energy Agency expects Russia to meet 25% of EU gas demand in 2022, down from over 40% in 2021. There are fears that Russia will stop supplies all together.

The independent US senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday gave his backing to striking British railway workers.

They died shortly after being pulled from the water at Lough Enagh, Co Londonderry on Monday evening.

For those seeking proof that even modest foreign investment can help propel Cuba's fledgling entrepreneurs, look no further than Oscar Fernandez's Havana-based dried fruit business.

It's a weekday, but 50-year-old Lebanese finance ministry employee Walid Chaar is not at work and hasn't been since June.

Britain's workers are striking in vast numbers as decades-high inflation erodes the value of wages at a record pace.

America's tech giants are taking a modern-day crash course in India's ancient caste system, with Apple emerging as an early leader in policies to rid Silicon Valley of a rigid hierarchy that's segregated Indians for generations.

Rapidly rising global energy prices could see Great Britain's energy price cap (the maximum amount consumers can be charged) rise to £3,582 at the end of August.

London 2012: what the Olympic Games' legacy of sustainability means for events today

At an industrial yard in southwestern Norway, decommissioned oil platforms are slowly being dismantled for a second life in the circular economy.

The university spends £4.5m a year on mental health services, but its lack of planning and direction has led to the finding of the university's mental health services are "likely to have significant inefficiencies."

For ongoing strikes today to have any prospect of success, unions must carefully balance industrial action with negotiation to maintain public support.