Briefly

NIGER

First convoy of French troops leaves Niger

Niger's military announced that the departure of the first convoy of French military personnel based in Niger began on Tuesday under the escort of the Nigerien Defense and Security Forces. The French side agreed upon the schedule, said an official statement released on national television, calling for "vigilance and a sense of responsibility from each of us to ensure a peaceful passage for these convoys". A source close to the matter revealed that the first group of around 50 soldiers, including medical personnel, has already left the country via air transport, and another contingent will follow by land route heading for Chad.

CANADA

Union reaches accord, ending brief strike

Unifor, Canada's largest union in the private sector, and General Motors reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday, following a brief strike at GM facilities in Canada. According to Unifor, the strike actions, which began early on Tuesday at GM's Oshawa Assembly Plant, St. Catharines Powertrain Plant and Woodstock Parts Distribution Center, are on hold to allow the membership to vote on the tentative agreement. The deal follows the pattern agreement Unifor reached with Ford Motor Company last month. The agreement includes base hourly wage increases of nearly 20 percent for production workers and 25 percent for those in skilled trades over the three-year agreement.

UNITED STATES

Oklahoma massacre survivor dies at 102

One of the last three known black Tulsans, who lived through a 1921 race massacre in the Oklahoma town, has died at 102, Reuters quoted his family as saying on Tuesday. Hughes Van Ellis, who sued the city of Tulsa seeking reparations for one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in US history, died on Monday. As many as 300 people, most of them black, were killed when white residents burned Tulsa's African American neighborhood of Greenwood.

Agencies Via Xinhua