Fired French Sony Workers Free CEO Hostage

Strikers let 3M boss walk after he agrees to better layoff packages

(NEWSER) - Striking French factory workers have freed their boss after barricading him in his office south of Paris for nearly a day, the BBC reports. The manager of the 3M plant, who was released only after he agreed to renegotiate compensation packages for laid-off workers, said conditions "were not so bad" during his captivity, and he was glad the deadlock had been broken. The action comes amid rising labor tension in the nation. Demonstrating workers burned tires outside the presidential offices in Paris yesterday. More»

Laborers 'sequester' Sony chief to get better pay

(NEWSER) - One country’s act of industrial terror is another’s negotiation tactic, the Independent reports. Disgruntled Sony workers in France weren’t shy about locking their bosses inside a factory overnight with trunks and tree branches, demanding better severance packages after job cuts were announced. Police didn’t interfere with the kidnappers, either. More»

Former rebel carried 8-year hostage out of the jungle

(NEWSER) - A commander who deserted Colombia's rebel group FARC has been offered $400,000 and asylum in France alongside Ingrid Betancourt, their former hostage. Wilson Bueno Largo fled the jungle in October after years in FARC, carrying a kidnapped congressman on his back. Bueno's defection from the group dealt a substantial blow to the rebel group's morale, writes the BBC. More»

(AP) - Sony is slashing 8,000 jobs, or 4%of its global work force, aiming to cut costs by $1.1 billion a year as a global downturn and stronger yen batters profits at the Japanese electronics maker. Sony, which has 185,000 employees worldwide, said today it will complete the layoffs by the end of March 2010. Some 80% of Sony's sales come from overseas. More»

Lecompte says love might have died in 6-year internment

(AP) - The husband of rescued Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt says their marriage may be over. In an interview with the Bogota newspaper El Tiempo, Juan Carlos Lecompte acknowledges what many noted when the two reunited in front of TV cameras after last week's rescue—Betancourt greeted him coldly. More»