| Students' views on unlimited fees Students from the University of Birmingham have given their reaction to proposals to remove the cap on tuition fees. bbc.co.uk |
Paris airport fuel is running out as protesters block refineries Government warns that Charles de Gaulle airport risks running out of fuel by Monday night and tries to prevent panic buyingThe battle between Nicolas Sarkozy and leftwing protesters over pension reform intensified today as the government admitted that the country's biggest airport might only have enough fuel to last until Monday night.A statement from the ecology ministry said that Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris currently had supplies that would last until Monday evening or Tuesday. It did not elaborate on what would happen after that.In a bid to prevent people from panic buying petrol, finance minister Christine Lagarde took to the airwaves to insist there was no shortage. "We have reserves for several weeks," she told French radio, saying only 230 of the country's 1,300 petrol stations had been affected.Today, as France's 12 petrol refineries were blockaded, a million protesters demonstrated in Paris and other cities against President Sarkozy's raising of the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.Sarkozy insists the changes are essential not only to prevent a €32bn (£28bn) pension shortfall growing to €50bn by 2020, but to provide for future generations. "What would become of them if there were no money to pay for their pensions?" he asked.But trade unions say the plans to raise the age of retirement – with a reduced-pension entitlement – to 62 by 2018, and the age of full-pension entitlement from 65 to 67, are unfair. Opinion polls show that many French people believe the reform targets the most vulnerable: women, workers in hazardous jobs, and those who started working at a young age.Despite minor concessions to ease such concerns, the government has failed to placate its critics, who are determined to force Sarkozy to back down by the end of the month, when the bill is due to be made law.Today the unions reiterated their demands for the government to open talks with their representatives and for lawmakers to heed the protest's message. "We ask the senate clearly to not vote in favour of this law in its current state," said the head of the CGT, Bernard Thibault.FranceNicolas SarkozyProtestLizzy Daviesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Players cry foul over drugged drinks Peruvian football players claim they were given sedatives in their water which caused them to faint in the middle of a match bbc.co.uk |
Kazakh Leader to Visit EU Kazakh President Nursultan Nazerbayev is set to this week visit Brussels and Paris, aiming to strengthen economic ties between the resource-rich central Asian nation and the European Union. online.wsj.com |
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