U.K. rail strikes to disrupt holiday weekend

Two British rail unions called a series of 24-hour strikes to begin next week and include the long August holiday weekend. In a long-running pay dispute, members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union on Arriva Trains Northern say they will walk out for 24 hours on Wednesday and again on Saturday, disrupting services across Northern England, reported the Associated Press. The Association of London Government said striking would not find what it called the "missing millions" needed to meet the pay demand, said the news service. The union had called off the series of strikes earlier this month but reinstated them last week after accusing First North Western, which runs local trains across northwest England, of changing an agreement reached on pay, said the AP.