NewsLast night's news: Portugal EasyJet strike strands thousands; Hamburg balcony collapse injures six

Last night's news: Portugal EasyJet strike strands thousands; Hamburg balcony collapse injures six

216 Easyjet flights to and from airports in Portugal have been canceled by the carrier.
216 Easyjet flights to and from airports in Portugal have been canceled by the carrier.
Images source: © PAP | Soeren Stache

5:21 AM EDT, August 15, 2024

It happened while you were sleeping. Here is what global agencies reported overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

The carrier canceled at least 216 EasyJet flights to and from Portugal

  • . The reason is a strike by the cabin crew of this company's branch, which started just after midnight on Thursday. As a result of the three-day protest, thousands of passengers, especially tourists vacationing in Portugal, were forced to rebook their flights. According to the Portuguese Union of Civil Aviation Cabin Crew (SNPVAC), which supports the protest, the canceled flights make up 70 percent of all connections planned by EasyJet from Thursday to Saturday at Portuguese airports.
  • Six people were injured, including one seriously, after falling from the balcony of a residential building in Hamburg, the local fire department reported late Wednesday evening. Five men and one woman fell from the third floor of a multi-family building. The balcony, where they spent the evening, unexpectedly "folded" down by 90 degrees. However, the structure did not detach from the house facade but hung on it. The injuries of one of the men are very serious and life-threatening.
  • The Central Bank of Iran and several other Iranian banks fell victim to cyberattacks on Wednesday, causing significant disruption to the Iranian banking system, reported the Tehran-opposed portal Iran International. This could have been one of the largest cyberattacks in history targeting Iranian infrastructure, added the portal edited in London. The regime in Tehran has been trying for several hours to cover up the attack, in which hackers obtained the bank data of millions of Iranians, journalist Babak Itzhaki said on Israeli television Channel 12.
  • During the fight against a large forest and meadow fire in northern Moldova, one firefighter died, reported the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs late Wednesday evening. The man's body was found in the area of Radulenii Vechi, on one of the fields affected by the blaze. Since Saturday, an elevated fire hazard warning has been in effect in Moldova due to temperatures over 86°F (30°C). It will last at least until Friday.
  • Ukrainian military operations are ongoing in the Kursk region of Russia. On Wednesday, regional authorities announced the forced evacuation of the entire Glushkovsky district.
  • The two pilots who went missing after the collision of two Rafale fighters in Lorraine on Wednesday have died, French President Emmanuel Macron announced late Wednesday evening on platform X.
  • Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness declared a state of emergency on Wednesday in the Clarendon region in the south of the country, where eight people, including a seven-year-old boy, died in two shootings on Sunday evening. Authorities fear retaliatory killings. The Prime Minister did not specify the exact regulations that would be imposed under the state of emergency. Usually, it involves a curfew, police authority to search without a court warrant, and extending the period for which suspects can be detained without formal charges.
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