News Wrap: Amazon workers across Europe walk out on Black Friday protesting pay

Nick Schifrin:

In the days of other headlines: A wave of walkouts across Europe hit Amazon on this Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Earlier today, more than 1,000 Amazon workers in Britain joined the job action. It's part of a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

Stuart Richards, Senior Organizer, GMB Trade Union:

In the protest here, we have got people joining us from Germany, from the U.S., from Italy. There are also Spanish workers that are out on strike today. This is now a global wakeup call for Amazon. They can't keep ignoring the concerns of these workers and the workers in warehouses right across the world.

Nick Schifrin:

Organizers said the Amazon strikes are planned to last through Cyber Monday.

Meanwhile, in Washington state, more than 400 Macy's employees walked off the job today at selected stores over safety concerns and pay demands. They're expected to return to work before Monday.

In the Russian-Ukraine war, fighting escalated in key areas as both sides try to make gains before the worst of winter sets in. Russian forces in occupied Crimea claim they shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones overnight. And Ukraine's military said it blunted heavy new assaults on Avdiivka, north of Donetsk. Russians have been trying to capture it for two months.

A tense calm has returned today in Dublin, Ireland, after anti-immigrant rioting. It began Thursday when three children were stabbed outside of school. Police arrested a suspect, who is still unidentified, but rumors spread he was a foreigner. With that, far right protesters stormed the streets, burning buses, battling police and looting stores.

Officers arrested 34 people. And, today, the prime minister condemned the violence.

Leo Varadkar, Irish Prime Minister:

Yesterday, we experienced two terrible attacks. The first was an attack on innocent children, the second an attack on our society and the rule of law.

I want to say to a nation that is unsettled and afraid, this is not who we are, this is not who we want to be.

Nick Schifrin:

The violence came amid rising tensions over asylum seekers in Ireland, as elsewhere in Europe.

The double amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole today in South Africa. He fatally shot his girlfriend in his apartment 10 years ago at the height of his worldwide fame. Pistorius said he thought an intruder had broken in, but he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He's scheduled to be released on January 5.

And on Wall Street, trading was shortened to a half-day for the holiday weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 117 points to close at 35390. The Nasdaq fell 15 points. The S&P 500 added two points.