Labor strike costs India $2.7 billion

MUMBAI, India — Earlier this month, tens of millions of Indian workers staged a one-day general strike that unions billed as the biggest work stoppage in human history.

By the unions’ count, 180 million workers stayed home to demand changes to labor laws, including establishing a $270 monthly minimum wage for unskilled laborers and ensuring social security for every worker.

The 24-hour strike cost the Indian economy up to $2.7 billion, by one estimate, and affected electricity, mining, telecommunications, banking and insurance operations in several states.

Libyan intervention hit

LONDON — A committee of British lawmakers issued a damning assessment Wednesday of the intervention in Libya led by Britain and France, concluding the military action had lacked a coherent strategy, had been based on poor intelligence and had led to a political collapse that aided the rise of the Islamic State extremist group in North Africa.

Fearing civilian deaths, a coalition assembled by France and Britain launched air and missile strikes in March 2011, after Moammar Gadhafi’s forces threatened to attack the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

Philippines explains

MANILA — Military cooperation between the Philippines and U.S. appeared to be undisturbed, as the Southeast Asian country sought to temper comments by its president suggesting American troops should leave Mindanao, where they have been helping to fight an insurgency.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, a spokesman for the Philippine armed forces, said remarks by Rodrigo Duterte on Monday at a swearing-in for officials were an expression of “his concern to the U.S. servicemen in Mindanao.”

Hungary’s ouster urged

LUXEMBOURG CITY — Luxembourg’s foreign minister issued a stern warning to Hungary’s right-wing government Tuesday, arguing that its anti-refugee policies justified expulsion from the European Union.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s refusal to accept refugees — and instead build border fortifications — “massively violated” the principles of the European project, said Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s top diplomat.

Lula faces charges

BRASILIA, Brazil —Prosecutors filed charges against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as part of a sweeping investigation into corruption and money laundering, adding to the legal troubles of the country’s once hugely popular leader.

News media said the former president and his wife, Marisa Leticia, are accused of receiving improper benefits from a construction company.

Scientists flee bears

BERLIN — Five Russian scientists trapped by more than a dozen polar bears for two weeks used a shipment of flares and air horns to free themselves this week, according to Russian and European news reports.

Because of the endangered status of polar bears, the scientists were willing to use only non-lethal methods to scare the bears away.

The researchers were on Troynoy Island, north of eastern Russia and inside the Arctic Circle.