Spanish Unions Strike Against Cuts

As the Spanish government plans to unroll new cost-cutting measures, union workers have called a general strike in a country with a nearly 23 percent unemployment rate. Unions said Thursday that factories in Spain have already been shut down by the strike, the seventh in the country since 1985. Authorities reported that transportation, power, and other manufacturing have been disrupted as well, but the government, which took power under conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy three months ago, said it will make no changes to planned labor reforms in response to union demands.