French Strikes Head Into Day 6

Workers have been camped at site for 10 days

(AP) - French riot police forced open a strategic fuel refinery today that had been a bastion of resistance to President Sarkozy's bid to raise the retirement age to 62, pushing striking workers aside with shields in a bid to end gasoline shortages. The operation came as the French Senate prepared to vote on a pension reform at the heart of the unions' anger, after the government short-circuited a protracted debate. More»

Lady Gaga cancels pair of concerts in furor over retirement age

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of workers barricaded Marseille’s main airport for three hours this morning, furious over today's Senate vote on raising France’s retirement age to 62. Meanwhile, protesters used vehicles to block highways and students blockaded a Paris high school. A quarter of French gas stations are dry amid the protests, and, crushingly, Lady Gaga has postponed two concerts in Paris "as there is no certainty the trucks can make it" to the shows, the AP reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Some 740 passengers had to be evacuated from a packed Eurostar train from Paris last night after the electricity failed. Passengers were plunged into darkness as they awaited rescuers with ladders shortly after the train left the chunnel and headed toward London. More»

(AP) - Hundreds of thousands of European workers feeling the pinch of the economic crisis rallied at May Day protests today from Moscow to Berlin to Istanbul. Violence and clashes between police and angry protesters disrupted some events, including in Greece, Germany, and Turkey. But overall participation fell short of what many countries' unions had hoped for on May Day, a public holiday that celebrates the achievements of labor movements. More»

Anger moves to menace as economic tensions mount

(NEWSER) - Worrisome "hijackings" of bosses are spiking in France, underlining the threatening tensions within a staggering economy, reports the Wall Street Journal. Workers angered by layoffs surrounded the car of Salma Hayek's retail tycoon hubby François Pinault in Paris yesterday for over an hour until they were dispersed by riot cops. Four bosses at a French Caterpillar plant were "detained" by workers earlier in the day. Several other incidents over the last weeks include a boss who was kept captive overnight. More»