Volkswagen on Wednesday agreed a two-year wage deal for workers at its western German factories, offering around 8.5% more pay, which was below inflation but above what other employers have yielded in recent weeks.

A group of 17 investors managing 3.2 trillion pounds ($3.82 trillion) have called on Britain's biggest listed employers to offer more support to low-paid workers as inflation drives a sharp rise in the cost of living.

Since 2019, issues around pay and working conditions have now surpassed pensions and become the main driver for the strikes.

The French government plans to rein in unemployment benefits when the jobless rate is less than 9% under a plan presented on Monday that aims to tackle staff shortages that companies say are holding back business.

British inflation has jumped to a 41-year high on soaring energy and food bills in a worsening cost-of-living crisis, data showed Wednesday on the eve of a key budget.

Millions of Londoners faced travel misery on Thursday as another strike by Underground staff shut down most of the network, including almost all lines and city centre stations.

Commuters in London and Paris scrambled for alternatives Thursday -- or simply stayed home -- as public transport workers went on strike for higher pay, the latest industrial action seeking relief from soaring prices in Europe.

Greek workers went on a day-long strike on Wednesday, demanding higher wages to cope with surging inflation, as Europe's soaring energy prices and living costs trigger industrial action and protests across the continent.

European workers squeezed by the soaring cost of living went on strike in Belgium and Greece on Wednesday, with stoppages threatening to paralyse parts of Britain, France and Spain in coming days.

Britain's biggest domestic bank Lloyds has offered UK staff a minimum 2,000 pounds ($2,242) pay rise, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, as lenders and employees across the sector begin annual pay talks that could see wage bills soar.

Thousands of Spaniards packed Madrid's landmark Plaza Mayor square on Thursday to demand higher pay in the first mass protest since the start of the cost of living crisis.

The certificates allow LGBTQ partners to be treated as married couples for some public services in areas such as housing, medicine and welfare.

Hundreds of Apple workers in Australia are set to strike again after almost two-thirds of employees rejected a pay and benefits deal, the latest escalation of a fight that has seen weeks of walkouts at stores around the country.

The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) union, representing more than 6,000 members, said on Wednesday that workers voted against ratifying a national tentative agreement reached in mid-September, the second union not to approve the deal.

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

The screeching about-turn on tax cuts by finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday will not spare Britain from painful spending cuts and new tax hikes to fix the country's public finances.

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.

Vehicle owners have faced increasingly long waits to fill up after two weeks of strikes by workers demanding higher wages in response to soaring prices.

The question for Truss is whether any initial signs of growth could be used to deliver an election victory for the Conservatives in 2024 before the inevitable reversal kicks in.

Italian unions representing workers at Stellantis, Ferrari, Iveco and CNH Industrial will ask for a wage increase of over 8% to be paid in 2023 to help cover soaring energy and food bills, a senior source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Train travel in Britain was disrupted on Wednesday by the latest in a string of strikes by railway workers over wages.

From 1925, the Bank of England had kept interest rates high to keep the pound at a fixed parity to gold

Nearly 400 staff at BBC World Service will lose their jobs as part of a cost-cutting programme and move to digital platforms.

"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.

Britain's Labour Party will unveil on Monday its plans to set up a national wealth fund to invest in green projects which will benefit the public, part of the opposition party's answer to the Conservative government's tax-cutting approach.

Britain on Friday axed a cap on bankers' bonuses aimed at boosting London's finance sector after Brexit, raising anger amid a cost-of-living crisis.

France's biggest retailer Carrefour has increased its offer in the third round of wage talks with unions, suggesting a 2.5% pay hike from November this year, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

For years, Aracely Sanchez went to work without counting her hours, always fearful she could lose her job from one day to the next.

Oil prices edged upwards in early Asian trade on Thursday, as supply concerns and a looming rail stoppage in the United States, the world's biggest crude consumer, supported markets.

UK inflation has eased on lower motor fuel costs but remains close to 40-year peaks, official data showed Wednesday as the nation faces more strikes over a cost-of-living crisis.