Striking workers march across UK

London (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of British teachers, air traffic controllers, customs officers and other public sector workers went on strike Thursday, causing potential chaos for schoolchildren and travelers.

Workers are demonstrating in many British cities, including London, where thousands of strikers marched peacefully in the center of the city, their route taking them near the prime minister's office at 10 Downing Street.

"We've paid into our pensions, we've paid our taxes," striking adult education tutor Annie Holder said, adding that she was "really angry about the government's politically motivated attempt to steal our pensions."

She blamed "the banking sector" for the country's budget woes.

And she rejected rhetoric from opponents of the strike about the public sector's "gold-plated pensions."

"Our pension will be about 60 pounds ($96) a week. It's hardly gold-plated. We'll have to work much harder and pay more," Holder said.

Police in London said they had made 24 arrests in total as of mid-afternoon.

Since Thursday morning, 18 had been arrested for offenses including possession of drugs, criminal damage and breach of the peace, the police said, with six others detained overnight in Trafalgar Square.

Police declined to estimate the size of the crowd, but one union said it was in the tens of thousands in London.

CNN reporters in the central Whitehall area said there were more police and media present than protesters, and that there were minor scuffles earlier. Some demonstrators continued to sit in the street in Whitehall in protest, but the public had been allowed back into Trafalgar Square.

Four unions have told their members to stop work over planned government changes to the pension system.

Perhaps ironically, state pension staff are among those on strike, as members of the Public and Commercial Services Union.

Three teachers' unions are also on strike -- the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and the University and College Union -- which together have more than 350,000 members.

The PCS, Britain's fifth biggest union, boasted it had 84% participation from its 300,000 members.

Some 80% of schools across the country are closed or partially closed as a result of the strike, the National Union of Teachers said, and there are fears that airports and ports will be snarled as well.

Nine out of ten police staff who answer calls from the public were on strike, London's Metropolitan Police said.

The National Union of Teachers said the strike is because "the government is planning to cut your pension. They want you to pay more, work longer and get less," arguing that because pensions are "deferred pay ... you are effectively being asked to take a pay cut."

The government, a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, is trying desperately to slash government spending in the face of huge deficits.

Danny Alexander, the No. 2 official in the British Treasury, argued earlier this month that "it is unjustifiable that other taxpayers should work longer and pay more tax so public service workers can retire earlier and get more than them."

"It is the employees who are benefiting from longer life and generous pensions, but it is the taxpayer who is picking up the tab," he said.

Alexander, a Liberal Democrat, said the changes the government was proposing aimed to ensure that "public service workers continue to receive among the best, if not the best, pensions available."

Holder, the striking teacher, said the government's explanations for planned changes to the pension system were "nonsense."

The government's Cabinet Office said less than half of PCS workers went on strike Thursday.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude, a Conservative, said Wednesday that the strike was "premature" while negotiations between the government and unions were still going on.

He argued that only a minority of civil servants and teachers had voted to strike.

Feelings were strong, however, among many of the workers involved.

Jenny Adams, a teacher from Croydon, said, "We've got a situation where young people are not going to want to stay in this profession.

"It's about who's being asked to foot the bill for a mess that was made by others. We're in a profession that is not kind when it comes to age. It's inconceivable to be in a classroom in (one's) late 60s."

Union leader Dave Prentis warned last week that if the government does not change course on pension reform, the country could face the biggest strikes since 1926. Between 1.5 million and 1.75 million workers participated in a general strike lasting nine days that year.

Prentis, the head of Britain's largest public-sector union, Unison, issued a similar warning in 2005.

Unison is not participating in Thursday's strike but has not ruled out holding one in the autumn if the government presses ahead with its plans.

CNN's Dan Rivers, Jonathan Wald, Antonia Mortensen and Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

CNN

Wildfires burn across the South

Texas Forest Service responds to new fires across the stateSmoke continues to cover skies in Florida and Georgia41 fires burn across the country, says Fire Center

Dallas (CNN) -- A new fire in Texas forced home evacuations and consumed hundreds of acres, while fires in other states across the southwest and southeast challenged firefighters' efforts to contain them.

The Texas Forest Service responded to a new wildfire Thursday in Wheeler County in the Texas panhandle and expects more critical fire weather conditions across the west and northwest parts of the state, said the service in their daily report Friday.

The fire, although 90 percent contained, covered 500 acres and forced evacuation of three homes, the report said.

The Texas Forest Service and fire departments have battled 12,779 fires that burned more than 3 million acres since the beginning of fire season on Nov. 15, 2010. The report stated that 228 of Texas' 254 counties have burn bans in place.

In Florida, satellite pictures showed the extent of the fires' reach through blankets of smoke that covered much of Florida, parts of Georgia and some of the Atlantic Ocean. There are currently 14 active fires in rural Florida and Georgia, which have eaten up thousands of acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Currently, 41 active fires exist across the southwest and southeast. Firefighters contained eight fires Thursday, one in Arizona, Oklahoma and Florida and five in Texas, according to the NIFC.

CNN

Protests break out across Yemen

(CNN) -- Demonstrations swelled in several cities across Yemen on Friday, a week after the country's president was injured in an attack on the mosque at the presidential palace.

In Sanaa, demonstrators participating in a large protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's continued rule could be heard chanting "Saleh will fall" and "The end is near for Saleh," according to eyewitnesses.

In a separate large protest in the city, pro-government demonstrators carried signs of Saleh and chanted, "We are with you, Saleh," according to witnesses.

Another large demonstration was occurring in Taiz, according to witnesses. Protests were also under way in Ibb and Mukalla, witnesses said.

Yemen has been consumed with unrest for months as protesters demand an end to Saleh's rule.

In recent weeks, government troops have battled both anti-government tribal forces and Islamic militants.

On June 3, the presidential compound was attacked, injuring Saleh and other senior officials. They went to Saudi Arabia for treatment.

Tareq al-Shami, a spokesman for the ruling party said Saleh was in good health and would be returning to Yemen "within days."

The government has also been battling Islamic militants, including in Zinjibar, an Abyan province town that had been taken over by militants. Yemeni state TV said this week that the government had ousted the militants from Zinjibar.

A six-nation Gulf Arab alliance has tried to broker a government-opposition agreement that would lead to Saleh's departure, but that effort has so far been unsuccessful.

CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom and Hakim Almasmari contributed to this report.

CNN

PSN update now live across the U.S., go change your password now (Digital Trends)

In case you missed it — and you very well might have considering what time this ball got rolling — Sony has officially flipped the switch on the PlayStation Network, restoring service in a limited capacity as a gradually filling map of the United States. charted the progress of the rollout through the night. The map is now fully green, which means firmware update version 3.61 is now available for download to all U.S. users. In addition to online gameplay, the update brings back video rental playback, Music Unlimited on Qriocity, Netflix/Hulu access, Friends Lists, chat, Trophy comparison and PlayStation Home.

The update is a zippy download and installation as of 9:30 a.m. eastern time today, taking no more than 10 minutes to load into your console and do its thing. We’ll see if that changes as more of the country wakes up and tries to bring PS3s back online. In order to complete the update installation, you’ll need to change your password. Not that you wouldn’t want to, since… you know… your private information was compromised and stuff. That said, the real safeguards built into 3.61 are presumably under the hood, since even the most complex password won’t do you a lick of good if all of your info is stolen from the network servers again.

Sony no doubt wants to put this whole unfortunate affair behind it, but there will very likely need to be an extended healing period before consumer confidence can be restored. “Welcome Back” promotions and the like are all well and good, but only time is going to make this mess go away. Look at Microsoft and the whole “Red Ring of Death” circus; slightly different situation but with a similar reach. Both companies made mistakes before stepping up and doing what needed to be done; like Microsoft, Sony’s got a large enough user base that a return to business as usual is a certainty, even if it does take some time.

After all, that new Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack is going to come to PSN at SOME point.

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Reactions to bin Laden's death vary across Mideast

BEIRUT — The demise of Osama bin Laden was praised by many nations victimized by the jihadist violence of al-Qaeda, though some said it would not by itself end the jihadist movement he helped create.

Douglas Sidialo, who lost his sight in al-Qaeda's 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, prays on Monday at the memorial in Nairobi to those who died in the attack.

By Khalil Senosi, AP

Douglas Sidialo, who lost his sight in al-Qaeda's 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, prays on Monday at the memorial in Nairobi to those who died in the attack.

"This is the fate that evil killers deserve," said outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, deploring the harm that bin Laden did to "the image of Islam and Arab causes."

Author and Al-Hayat journalist Hazem al-Amine, who specializes in radical Islamic groups in Lebanon, saw hope in the death. "Bin Laden's assassination comes as the crowning of a new peaceful movement that is taking the Middle East by storm," he said. The popular uprisings taking place in the Middle East "are showing Arabs that democratic revolutions are an efficient substitute to violence, one that can trigger greater change than traditional terrorist attacks."

Al-Qaeda has lost standing among Muslims as its use of terrorist tactics has resulted in significant Muslim casualties. A recent survey of Muslims around the world found little support for bin Laden, according to the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. The al-Qaeda leader received his highest level of support ? 34% ? in the Palestinian territories.

"They have lost the support of the Sunni community in Iraq. This has constituted a major drawback for the organization, which depends essentially on guerrilla warfare," and cooperation of local populations, al-Amine says.

Still, al-Qaeda's attacks have continued in many countries. Sheik Omar Bakri, a radical Lebanese, expects al-Qaeda to retaliate in the West in a manner that "will befit bin Laden's reputation.

"The assassination of Sheik Osama will further boost the organization's efforts to recruit followers."

In Afghanistan, where bin Laden was given refuge by the country's previous Taliban rulers, local officials erupted in applause when President Hamid Karzai told them the news.

Bin Laden's hands "were dipped in the blood of thousands and thousands of children, youths and elders of Afghanistan," Karzai said.

Others in the war-torn nation disagreed about bin Laden's legacy.

"He was like a hero in the Muslim world," said Sayed Jalal, a rickshaw driver in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. "His struggle was always against non-Muslims and infidels, and against superpowers."

Those who followed or sympathized with bin Laden expressed shock and dismay, or vowed revenge.

"My heart is broken," said Mohebullah, a Taliban fighter-turned-farmer in eastern Afghanistan. "In the past, we heard a lot of rumors about his death, but if he did die, it is a disaster and a black day."

Contributing: The Associated Press

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NYC taxi driver takes 2 guys across the country

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City cab driver has racked up the fare of a lifetime.

Mohammed Alam is being paid $5,000 to drive a pair of friends to Los Angeles. The trio left Saturday night and had reached Las Vegas by Thursday.

Investment banker John Belitsky, of Leonia, N.J., tells the New York Post that the idea was hatched during a birthday celebration for Dan Wuebben of Queens.

Belitsky said they wanted to do something ?magical.? When they decided on a cab ride to California, they found Alam at LaGuardia Airport and brokered the deal.

The two friends haven?t decided how they?ll get back yet. As for the cab driver, he says a friend will meet him in Los Angeles and help him make the drive home.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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NYC taxi driver takes 2 guys across the country

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City cab driver has racked up the fare of a lifetime.

Mohammed Alam is being paid $5,000 to drive a pair of friends to Los Angeles. The trio left Saturday night and had reached Las Vegas by Thursday.

Investment banker John Belitsky, of Leonia, N.J., tells the New York Post that the idea was hatched during a birthday celebration for Dan Wuebben of Queens.

Belitsky said they wanted to do something ?magical.? When they decided on a cab ride to California, they found Alam at LaGuardia Airport and brokered the deal.

The two friends haven?t decided how they?ll get back yet. As for the cab driver, he says a friend will meet him in Los Angeles and help him make the drive home.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

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Fires burn across Texas with no end in sight

Hundreds of fires threaten TexasSTORY HIGHLIGHTSSpring winds combined with dry conditions typical of late summer have "not boded well"A Forest Service spokeswoman says conditions in Texas are the driest since 1917Authorities have responded to 7,807 fires across more than 1.5 million acres since this year's wildfire season beganIn southwest Austin, 10 homes suffered major damage Dallas (CNN) -- Dozens of large fires burned out of control Monday in Texas in what officials described as unprecedented conditions that show no signs of abating soon.

"We're experiencing conditions never seen in Texas before," said Marq Webb, a public information officer with the Texas Forest Service, which was devoting massive resources to the effort. "Yesterday, we had 1,400 people and that number will go up today," Webb said Monday in a telephone interview from the service's incident command center in Merkel just west of Abilene.

In all, the Forest Service has been asked to help battle fires covering some 700,000 acres, he said.

Thirty-one fires were being fought in East Texas; another 11 fires in West Texas, officials said.

RELATED TOPICSFiresWildfiresRick Perry"We've had 19 consecutive days of just super-dry weather, relative humidities in the single digits," said Forest Service spokeswoman C.J. Norvell in Midland. "What we're seeing right now is winds that are typical of spring, but everything else is typical of late summer -- no rain, vegetation that's just super dry. When you combine those two, it really has not boded well."

The Wildcat Fire just north of San Angelo has led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from their homes, Norvell said. The same fire threatens three small communities just north of Saint Angelo -- Robert Lee, Bronte and Tennyson, she said.

A predicted change in wind direction from south to southwest could worsen the prognosis, she said. "This little change is going to test some infrastructure and fire lines that we've set up," she said.

The fires have a variety of causes -- some of them acts of nature, such as lightning strikes -- but most of them acts of man, said Webb. Those include anything from fence welding to debris burning, despite the fact that burn bans are in effect for 195 of the state's 254 counties, he said.

Texas authorities have made an arrest in connection with one of hundreds of blazes scorching the state in what a Forest Service official called the "perfect storm for wildfires."

A man was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, which is a felony under Texas law, Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Palmer Buck said early Monday. The man, whom authorities did not immediately identify, was being held under a $50,000 bond.

According to Buck, the man started a campfire at a homeless camp in a remote area, which got out of control and prompted evacuations. The fire burned about 60 acres.

"We're experiencing conditions we've never seen in Texas before," he said. "We have a huge area of Texas with abundant fuels and they are tinder dry -- and I'm talking about probably half of the state."

Monday's forecast was worse than Sunday's, "and tomorrow's supposed to be worse than today," he said. Though temperatures are expected to dip Wednesday, they were predicted to ramp back up on Thursday and Friday.

Such weather has taxed the resources available to fight the fires. "We're stretched pretty thin right now," Webb said.

Conditions this spring are the driest they've been in Texas since 1917, said a Texas Forest Service spokeswoman.

Authorities have responded to 7,807 fires across more than 1.5 million acres since this year's wildfire season began, Gov. Rick Perry wrote over the weekend in a letter to President Barack Obama. Perry requested that the federal government declare Texas a disaster area. Fires have affected all but two of the state's 254 counties.

Perry noted that one firefighter has died and 18 others have been injured, while 244 homes have been destroyed and another 8,514 threatened residences "saved."

In the Possum Kingdom complex west of Fort Worth, approximately 90 head of cattle were killed by the fire, said Webb.

In southwest Austin, 10 homes suffered major damage and six suffered minor damage in a 100-acre area, said Matt Curtis, a spokesman for Mayor Lee Leffingwell. Curtis said Monday morning that the fire was contained, though firefighters were expected to spend the day looking for potential flareups and hot spots.

Officials were to decide later in the day whether to allow evacuees -- some 50 of whom spent the night at a shelter -- to return home, Curtis said.

"Luckily, this fire happened in a somewhat unpopulated part of that neighborhood," he said. The multi-jurisdictional effort included the Austin Police Department, the Austin-Travis County Fire Department, the Austin-Travis County EMS, the Travis County Sheriff's Department and the Texas Forest Service.

"The mayor, who has lived in Austin all 72 of his years described this as the largest fire he had ever seen in Austin and largest multi-jurisdictional effort," Curtis said.

CNN's Leslie Tripp and Stephanie Gallman contributed to this report.

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Storms, tornadoes kill at least 17 across South

Storms, tornadoes kill at least 17 across the South By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Flood warnings were issued across portions of western Alabama SaturdayNEW: Hazardous weather warnings were taken down in Mississippi, the weather service reportedNEW: Survey teams spread out across Alabama, conducting aerial evaluations NEW: Tornado warnings remained in effect for the Carolinas until later Saturday afternoonIf severe weather happens near you, we want to hear your story. Share your photos and videos with CNN iReport, but please be careful.

(CNN) -- A band of fast-moving storms brought reports of more than one hundred possible tornadoes across the South on Saturday, toppling trees, snapping power lines and bringing the two-day death toll to 17.

Emergency crews in Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama worked to assess the damage as the storm system moved north into the Carolinas and southern Virginia, according to the National Weather Service.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency Friday after reports of tornado touchdowns in at least six counties.

Multiple injuries were reported in Sumter and Marengo counties, with at least one fatality in the latter, he said.

Three people were also killed in Autauga County after fallen trees crashed into mobile homes in the area, police said.

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