Thousands of people around the world were forced to make alternative travel arrangements as a public sector strike in Germany shut down air travel.

The Canadian Pacific Railway strike means more than 2,000 non-striking unionized CP employees will be laid off, a spokesman for the company said Wednesday, as the federal labour minister said she may force an end to the work stoppage.

European Union naval forces and attack helicopters conducted their first onshore raid on a suspected pirate lair in Somalia Tuesday.