Transports, éducation, fonction publique: à quoi s’attendre pour la grève du 18 septembre

Transports, éducation, fonction publique… Tour d’horizon des mobilisations attendues à la veille de la journée de grève du 18 septembre.TransportsLa circulation des trains sera perturbée dans toute la France, selon la SNCF.Sur les lignes Intercités, un train sur deux est prévu et un sur trois pour les TER.Pour les TGV, “quelques perturbations sont à prévoir (…) mais l’ensemble des clients devrait pouvoir voyager”.En Île-de-France, sur le réseau SNCF, le trafic sera “fortement perturbé” pour les RER D, RER E, ligne H, ligne N, ligne R et ligne U, et “perturbé” sur les RER A, B, et C, et les lignes K, L et V.A Paris, aucun métro, à l’exception des lignes automatiques (1, 4 et 14), ne circulera en dehors des heures de pointe.Certaines lignes franciliennes de bus pourraient être fermées.Par ailleurs, le service sera proche de la normale dans les aéroports français, puisque le principal syndicat de contrôleurs aériens, le SNCTA, a reporté sa grève.SantéL’ensemble des personnels hospitaliers sont appelés à la grève par l’intersyndicale. Du côté des médecins, la principale fédération syndicale, la coalition “Action praticiens hôpital” (APH) appelle à “soutenir” le mouvement. Dans les établissements de santé, l’administration a toutefois le pouvoir de réquisitionner une partie des personnels pour maintenir la “continuité des soins”.Les pharmaciens, mobilisés contre une baisse du plafond des remises commerciales sur les médicaments génériques, sont appelés à une “fermeture massive” des officines et à manifester, selon les deux principaux syndicats du secteur, l’USPO et la FSPF.La première organisation syndicale des kinésithérapeutes, la FFMKR, appelle à fermer les cabinets.Consommation et distributionLes salariés du secteur sont invités à faire grève par une intersyndicale. Celle-ci dénonce “les attaques répétées” contre les “droits” et le “pouvoir d’achat” des salariés. Les commerçants sont “très inquiets” face aux “mouvements de blocage”, s’est alarmé la semaine dernière le président du Conseil du commerce de France (CDCF), Guy Gras. Ce dernier s’attend à des “impacts plus graves” que pour le mouvement du 10 septembre, où certains magasins ont dû fermer par mesure de sécurité.Dans les rayons, l’impact devrait être limité, grâce à “un peu plus de stocks en magasins”, a rassuré le patron du Groupement Mousquetaires/Intermarché, Thierry Cotillard.ÉducationLa FSU-Snuipp, premier syndicat du primaire, prévoit qu’un tiers des enseignants du premier degré (écoles maternelles et élémentaires) seront grévistes. A Paris, ce syndicat estime même à plus de 45% le taux de grévistes, avec au moins 90 écoles fermées.Dans les collèges et lycées, les syndicats appellent aussi à se mobiliser. La nomination de Sébastien Lecornu n’a “pas fait redescendre la colère”, estime Sophie Vénétitay, secrétaire générale du Snes-FSU, principal syndicat du secondaire.Fonction publique Les huit syndicats représentatifs des 5,8 millions d’agents de la fonction publique appellent unanimement à la grève contre les mesures d’économies. La dernière mobilisation significative remonte au 5 décembre 2024, quand près de 20% des agents de la fonction publique de l’Etat, éducation nationale en tête, avaient défilé notamment contre l’allongement du délai de carence.Dans le viseur des organisations cette fois: la suppression de 3.000 emplois publics et le gel des rémunérations annoncé par le précédent gouvernement.ÉnergieLa CGT a lancé un appel à la grève depuis le 2 septembre pour les salaires et l’abaissement de la TVA appliquée à l’énergie, un mouvement qui se traduit selon elle par des piquets de grève dans les stockages de gaz, les terminaux méthaniers et devant les centrales nucléaires et hydrauliques.Le 18, la CFE-Energie, premier syndicat d’EDF et deuxième des industries électriques et gazières, a appelé à débrayer pendant une heure ou à venir dans les cortèges syndicaux.Dans la chimie, la CFDT, premier syndicat, s’attend à une mobilisation “très soutenue”, a indiqué Bruno Bouchard, délégué fédéral FCE-CFDT en charge de la branche.”On a référencé plus de 150 appels à la grève” dans des entreprises comme TotalEnergies, Sanofi, Arkema, Air Liquide, et Kem One, a indiqué Jean-Louis Peyren, secrétaire fédéral de la CGT Chimie pour l’industrie pharmaceutique.Avant la manifestation parisienne, son syndicat a appelé à un rassemblement le matin devant le site Sanofi de Maisons-Alfort (Val-de-Marne), que le groupe a décidé de céder au sous-traitant allemand Adragos.AgricultureLa Confédération paysanne, 3e syndicat agricole, appelle les agriculteurs “à se mobiliser partout en France” jeudi “pour plus de justice sociale, fiscale et environnementale”. Au vu du déploiement policier annoncé, il “alerte sur le respect du droit de manifester”.Le premier syndicat du secteur, la FNSEA, appelle pour sa part à une mobilisation le 26 septembre.

Hong Kong leader unveils plan to boost growth with border mega-project, AI push

Hong Kong’s leader outlined plans Wednesday to diversify the city’s economy and accelerate growth, including fast-tracking an ambitious border development project and establishing the artificial intelligence sector as a “core industry”.In his annual policy speech, Chief Executive John Lee reaffirmed a growth forecast of two to three percent for the year.His announcements come as the global financial hub — which beat estimates to grow by 3.1 percent in the second quarter — navigates volatile trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and a dampened economic climate in mainland China.Hong Kong was “moving through an irreversible economic transition, but it is an essential process for a stronger and more robust economy in the future”, Lee said in a nearly three-hour address, stating his “ultimate objective” was to improve citizens’ livelihoods.Central to his plan is accelerating the development of the Northern Metropolis, a mega-project aimed at urbanising land near the border with tech hub Shenzhen in mainland China.Lee said he would personally lead a new task force and introduce dedicated legislation to “fast-track” the initiative.To reduce costs and construction time, Lee pledged to adopt building technologies from China and overseas. The Northern Metropolis, first proposed in 2021, is envisioned to eventually cover a third of Hong Kong’s total land area. Activists and locals have raised concerns over its potential environmental impact as well as the strain it will put on the city’s public finances.- AI as ‘core industry’ -Hong Kong’s capital market has rebounded strongly this year, with dozens of companies from China piling into the city to raise overseas capital due to policy support from the Chinese government and optimised listing rules by Hong Kong regulators.On Wednesday, Lee said the city’s authorities would set up a task group to attract more Chinese enterprises to use the city for expanding their overseas businesses.Lee also vowed to promote AI as a “core industry”, saying the government would also use the technology to improve governance efficiency. The government plans to establish an AI research hub, tender a 10-hectare site for a data centre cluster, and use AI to improve its own governance efficiency.Hong Kong will also establish gold storage facilities to solidify the city’s role as a “regional gold reserve hub”, he added.

Ghana midfielder Partey pleads not guilty to rape chargesWed, 17 Sep 2025 09:47:52 GMT

Ghana and Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault at a London court.The 32-year-old is accused of raping two women, as well as sexually assaulting a third.The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022, when he was an Arsenal player.Partey spoke …

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Trump to get royal treatment on UK state visit

Britain readied to roll out a supersized royal welcome for Donald Trump’s unprecedented second state visit on Wednesday, with King Charles III set to greet the US president amid tight security and out of sight of noisy protesters.From a carriage ride with the monarch to a flypast and a lavish state dinner in the nearly 1,000-year-old Windsor Castle, the UK is going the extra mile to dazzle and flatter the unpredictable Trump.A huge security operation will keep the 79-year-old Republican far away from demonstrators and the British public -among whom polls indicate Trump remains unpopular -with the extraordinary show of pomp and pageantry unfolding entirely behind closed doors, and outside London.Knowing that Trump is obsessed with Britain’s royals and loves showy displays of pomp, Britain has turned up the pageantry to the max as he becomes the first US president to receive a second UK state visit.The trip will involve what British officials call the biggest military ceremonial welcome for any state visit in living memory — even bigger than when Queen Elizabeth II hosted Trump in 2019.Trump will also get the first joint flypast by US and UK fighter jets at an event of its kind, and the largest guard of honour at a state visit, featuring 120 horses and 1,300 troops.It’s all designed to appeal to a US leader who this year crowed “LONG LIVE THE KING!” about himself on social media before the White House posted a fake magazine cover of him wearing a crown.- ‘Warm my heart’ -The question for Britain is whether the red carpet welcome will win over Trump, whose unpredictability on everything from tariffs to Ukraine and Gaza has caused global turmoil.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be hoping Trump leaves on Thursday feeling the warm glow of royal soft power — but there are no guarantees.Trump appeared to be feeling the love as he arrived by helicopter at the US ambassador’s official residence in London on Tuesday with First Lady Melania Trump.”A lot of things here warm my heart,” said the president, whose mother hailed from Scotland and who owns two golf resorts the country.He described Charles, 76, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, as “my friend”.The Republican may also relish a chance to escape a turbulent period at home in the United States, where the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk has caused deep turmoil.But the spectre loomed of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who is providing domestic headaches for both Trump and Starmer and who has caused the royal family considerable embarrassment.Police arrested four people after they projected images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle late Tuesday. Thousands were expected to attend protests planned in London on Wednesday.Trump’s day will begin with heir to the throne Prince William and his wife Catherine welcoming him and Melania to Windsor Castle, the home of the British royals for nearly a millennium.Charles and his wife Queen Camilla are then due to join them for a carriage procession through the grounds of Windsor estate towards the castle — again behind closed doors.The Trumps will lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in 2022.- Shadow of Epstein -Trump will also witness a military band ceremony, ending with a flypast by US and British F-35 military jets and the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows display team.The president and Charles will wrap up the day with a white-tie state banquet, where they are due to make speeches.Starmer will host Trump on the second day of the visit on Thursday at his country residence, Chequers.The pair will be buoyed by British pharmaceutical group GSK’s announcement that it will invest $30 billion in the United States over the next five years but talks could turn awkward on several fronts.Starmer in particular faces political troubles at home, after sacking his UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over a furore involving the diplomat’s connection to the late Epstein.

Gunmen fire on Niger baptism ceremony, kill 22 villagersWed, 17 Sep 2025 08:57:56 GMT

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.The shootings happened Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.A resident of the area told AFP 15 …

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Malawi counts votes as two presidents battle for powerWed, 17 Sep 2025 08:20:37 GMT

Malawi counted votes Wednesday after general elections overshadowed by surging costs and chronic fuel shortages that have hampered the term of outgoing President Lazarus Chakwera. The ailing economy of the southern African country, one of the poorest in the world, dominated Tuesday’s voting with front-runner and former president Peter Mutharika promising solutions and a “return to …

Malawi counts votes as two presidents battle for powerWed, 17 Sep 2025 08:20:37 GMT Read More »