Tuesday, October 19, 2010

France Pension Protest : 290 protestors arrested according to French Ministry of Interior


French truck drivers staged go-slow operations on highways, trains were cancelled and gas stations ran out of fuel yesterday as strikers dug in ahead of a key government vote this week on an unpopular pension overhaul.

Riot police used tear gas and rubber pellet guns in the Paris suburb of Nanterre to break up a crowd of youths who set fire to cars near an anti-reform protest by secondary school students. They intervened for similar reasons in the city of Lyon.

The interior ministry said police arrested 290 rioters in various towns

Wider strikes will hit everything from air travel to mail today when unions opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 have called for another street protest.

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