Why are the French on strike ... again? The French government has been scrambling to keep gas stations from running dry and cities powered after workers at oil refineries and nuclear plants walked off the job weeks ago, but its worries grew worse Wednesday as transportation workers joined the strike, hitting the country's rail and metro networks. Just a third of rail services are running Thursday, and some air traffic controllers went on strike this week, grounding at least 10,000 British airline passengers. Some have agreed to return to work over the weekend, while pilots have said they will go on strike next week. In the industrial port town of Le Havre, workers who usually drive trains, sell tickets and maintain stations stormed the tracks Thursday to protest, only to be met by a storm of tear gas from riot police. Meanwhile, floods threaten to heighten the chaos in the country's east, which, like neighboring Germany, has been inundated by deadly storms.
What's all the fuss about? What is the point of the labor reform bill? Euro 2016 football tournament in France could be terror target, US warns. Image copyright Reuters The US has warned that the Euro 2016 football championship being held in France next month could be a target of militant attacks. "The large number of tourists visiting Europe in the summer months will present greater targets for terrorists," the State Department said. The event is being hosted from 10 June to 10 July at various venues. France is already under a state of emergency following last year's Islamist-claimed attacks in Paris. The near-simultaneous assaults on a stadium, concert hall, bars and restaurants left 130 people dead and many more wounded. In March, 32 people died in neighbouring Belgium when suicide blasts hit Brussels airport and a metro station.
Up to a million foreign fans are expected in France for the tournament, which involves the continent's top national teams. In its travel alert for US citizens, the State Department warns of the dangers of militant attacks throughout Europe. Image copyright AFP Travel alert is a precaution, not a warning. France’s Socialist Government Survives a Vote, but Remains Fractured. Mr. Hollande’s weakened condition has attracted predators not just on the left of his own party, but on the right as well. Mr. Macron, a former banker who is market-oriented by conviction, has started his own political movement, “On the Way,” much to the irritation of his colleagues in the government.
Yet the youthful Mr. Macron — he is only 38 — is way ahead of Mr. Hollande in recent presidential polls cited in the French news media, and only just behind a career mainstream right politician, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister who is currently considered the favorite in the 2017 presidential vote. Mr. Photo The labor law that has provoked months of protests here was Mr. The fury against Mr. “The left has ceased to exist, because it doesn’t represent anything,” said Gérard Grunberg, a professor at the Sciences Po political science institute.
The immediate result was “the madness of yesterday,” as Mr. “This is a law of deregulation,” Mr. Many mainstream economists disagree with Mr. Paris attacks: What happened on the night. France oil strikes: Government is 'weak, cowardly and at a total loss of authority,' says Nicolas Sarkozy. At Paris Exhibition, Tracing the Roots of the Velvet Underground. Revelation on Brussels Attackers Fuels Fears of New Assaults. It is sobering to look at the number of people believed to have some connection to the Paris and Brussels attacks: 36 are suspected of being active participants to varying degrees in organizing or carrying them out. Of those, 13 are dead, and most of the rest are in custody. A handful have been released but are subject to conditions, like daily check-ins at a police station. Others are probably lying low or on the run. What worries investigators is that many of the participants in the Paris-Brussels network were recruited by a preacher in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, Khalid Zerkani.
He was tried twice in Belgium, accused of recruiting more than 50 young men to join the fight in Syria and helping to finance their journey to the Middle East. Many of those recruits were also named in those trials and tried in absentia. OPEN Graphic While they could turn out to be minor players, they could also emerge as able organizers of new assaults. Four men in touch with Mr. Mr. Mr. Heavy rain brings floods to northern France. Image copyright AFP Torrential rain has continued to lash northern Europe, causing extensive flooding in France, Belgium and Germany.
The River Seine in Paris burst its banks, and the French Open tennis tournament in the city was hit for a second day by the miserable weather. In the centre of the country a prison had to be evacuated, with detainees bussed to other facilities. On the Franco-Belgian border, six weeks' worth of rain fell in 24 hours. Dozens of villages and hamlets are under water and forecasters have predicted more rain for Wednesday.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve advised people to exercise the "greatest caution". Image copyright AFP/Getty Emergency services were called out 4,500 times across the country between Monday evening and Tuesday morning as hundreds of evacuations were carried out. On Tuesday only two of 10 scheduled tennis matches at the French Open were completed following Monday's washout, the first time in 16 years a whole day's play had been cancelled. The Latest: Le Havre Citizens Not Worried About Lack of Fuel. The Latest on France's strikes and protests against the government's labor reforms (all times local): 10:30 p.m.
Residents in the English Channel port city of Le Havre have mixed feelings about the crippling strikes against a divisive labor law reform in France. While some are fearful of dangerous fuel shortages, others are more stoic. Union members at a major oil terminal Le Havre plan to block imports Thursday as part of broader one-day strikes against the labor bill.
Francoise Le Bon and Denis Jamet, both 65, say they have been struck by how quiet the city is. Le Bon described the atmosphere as "weird. " Neither seemed particularly bothered by the fuel shortages, although they did say others in their circle were anxious. Both identified as left-wing, but neither fully supported the strikers. Le Bon said that he found the law "a little slapdash, even if we're not totally for what the CGT (union) is doing. " 3:05 p.m. 2:40 p.m. 2:10 p.m. 12:05 p.m. 11:15 a.m. 9:30 a.m.