Strike Keeps Le Monde Off Newsstands

Le Monde was absent from French streets today for the first time in more than 30 years as staff went on strike at the debt-ridden newspaper. In the ongoing battle over the future of the prestigious evening title, which saw the editor-in-chief pushed out, management is now trying to eliminate 130 jobs, or 25% of journalists. That was too much for staff, who walked off, reports the Times of London.

Despite its position as the most respected paper in France, Le Monde has not turned a profit for seven years and carries a debt of $237 million. Looming over this week's job action is the possibility of a takeover bid by two minority shareholders, one of which is owned by a bosom buddy of Nicolas Sarkozy. Le Monde's staff still control a majority stake in the title. (More newspaper stories.)