France's sixth major round of pension protests since September brought about 1.1 million people onto the streets Tuesday, as strikes shut all 12 of the country's oil refineries and left one in three filling stations without fuel. Unions put overall turnout at 3.5 million, well above the police count.
The protests target President Nicolas Sarkozy's bill to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, now in its final parliamentary stages. Sarkozy declined to retreat, and major unions including the CGT called for stoppages to continue Wednesday, covering airports, air traffic control, rail, and public transport.
About a quarter of flights from Orly were cancelled for Wednesday morning, while roughly one in three departures at Charles de Gaulle and regional airports were scrapped Tuesday. The government convened ministers and oil industry officials to plan access to blocked fuel depots and coordinate distribution among carriers.
Violence flared in Lyon, where police arrested nine people after cars were overturned and at least five shops looted. Further clashes broke out in Nanterre, outside Paris. Across all demonstrations since Monday, 1,158 people were detained.
A poll published Monday showed 71 percent of French respondents expressing support or sympathy for the movement. A separate survey released Tuesday put Sarkozy's approval rating at 30 percent, a three-year low.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in October 2010, in its own words.