World Briefs

Louvre workers vote to strike in another blow to Paris museum

PARIS: Workers at the Louvre Museum voted on Monday to strike over working conditions and other complaints, dealing another blow to the Paris museum after an embarrassing jewellery heist in October The CFDT union said the vote was taken at a meeting of 400 workers on Monday morning and that they decided to strike for the day.The world’s most-visited museum didn’t open as scheduled and turned would-be visitors away. A notice on the Louvre’s website advised would-be visitors that “the museum is closed for the moment.”The strike vote followed talks last week between labour unions and government officials, including Culture Minister Rachida Dati.

UAE-backed Yemeni separatists march to another southern province

cairo: An Emirati-backed secessionist group in Yemen said its forces were marching Monday to another province as part of the group’s push to expand areas under its control in the country’s south, at the expense of its allies in the internationally recognized government. The Southern Transitional Council this month seized most of the provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, including crucial oil facilities and the border with Oman. The move raised fears that the relative calm in the country’s stalemated civil war might be shattered. Efforts to deescalate in southern Yemen have not made a breakthrough as the separatists still reject the withdrawal of their forces.