Brazilian police demanding better conditions and more pay went on strike on Wednesday, just 37 days before the country hosts the World Cup, and threatened to do so again during the soccer extravaganza.
Federal police walked off the job in several cities that are to host World Cup games, and in Rio de Janeiro — which is to stage seven matches, including the July 13 final — they held a peaceful protest just as Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari unveiled his World Cup squad.
In Brasilia — another city staging games — striking police surrounded their headquarters and prevented colleagues from entering, Globo’s G1 news portal reported.
They also went on strike in several provincial cities including Fortaleza, Natal and Porto Alegre — all World Cup hosts.
“This is a 24-hour strike which has been well supported,” federal police union leader Andre Vax de Mello told reporters.
“We have provided a minimum service for the public, notably at airports, but we are going to stop during the World Cup if the government does not provide a satisfactory response,” he said.
“Salaries have been on the slide,” de Mello added, saying that of the 13,000 federal police employed countrywide “250 per year leave and take exams to gain entry to other, better-paid public bodies.”
SALARIES
The police are paid between 7,500 and 12,800 reais (US$3,200 and US$5,800) a month before tax and social security contributions.
At Terezina, capital of the northeastern state of Piaui, strikers also gathered outside their headquarters with their eyes masked in symbolic protest at what they say is the authorities’ inability to improve their conditions, G1 reported.
Last month, troops were forced to patrol the streets of Salvador de Bahia after a wave of looting and murder erupted amid a police strike in the World Cup host city.
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS