Keeping French hours
The week's news at a glance.
Paris
Much of France’s public sector went on strike this week in an annual show of dissatisfaction with pay and hours. Air-traffic controllers stayed home, causing hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe. Public television and radio went off the air for a day. And tens of thousands of postal workers, subway and bus conductors, and others marched through the streets of Paris. In addition to the usual demands for more money, this year public-sector employees are also angry about a new government plan to privatize some services. They fear that their salaries and benefits will drop if their agencies are forced to compete in a free market. In an unrelated strike this week, truckers demanded a Christmas bonus of a full month’s pay.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published