Syrian air raids kill at least 21
BEIRUT – Syrian government helicopters and warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes overnight on a northern town controlled by the Islamic State group, killing at least 21 people, activists said Sunday.
The air raids struck the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province late Saturday and lasted through early Sunday morning. The Aleppo Media Center activist collective and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights both reported the attacks.
Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said there were 10 strikes in total, including seven so-called barrel bombs dropped from helicopters. He said at least 21 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.
Balloons symbolize fall of Berlin Wall
BERLIN – The citizens of Berlin on Sunday released almost 7,000 balloons into the night sky, many carrying messages of hope to mark the 25th anniversary since the fall of the wall that once divided their city.
The symbolic act recalled the giddy night of Nov. 9, 1989, when thousands of people from the communist East streamed through the Berlin Wall to celebrate freedom with their brethren in the West.
“For peace and freedom,” Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit told a crowd of ten thousands that had gathered at the city’s iconic Brandenburg Gate as he gave the signal to release the balloons, which has been placed, illuminated, along a 9-mile stretch of the former border.
Flight attendants reject union contract
WASHINGTON – Flight attendants at American Airlines rejected a five-year contract Sunday, forcing the world’s largest carrier and its union for cabin-crew workers into binding arbitration.
Just 16 votes blocked the contract – with 8,180 voting for and 8,196 voting against, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants said in a statement.
The rejection of the contract affects roughly 24,000 workers and complicates the integration of American Airlines and US Airways. The two merged last year to form the world’s biggest airline operator. The proposed contract included guaranteed raises but ended a profit-sharing plan.
Last month, American Airlines Group Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, reported an all-time best $942 million profit in the June-through-September quarter, nearly double the amount that American and US Airways earned separately last year. CEO Doug Parker predicted more records for the fourth-quarter.
Associated Press
