Students in France are on a ten-day mid-term break but have vowed to continue opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial pension reform plans, which are set to be approved by the Senate on 27 October. The strikes and demonstrations have paralyzed parts of France, leaving others relatively unscathed.
France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, has said that the strikes are costing the French economy up to €400 mn a day and threaten a feeble recovery. Seven out of 12 fuel refineries are still closed, all the country’s fuel depots are open, and the energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo says four out of five petrol stations will be operating normally on Tuesday 26 October.
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Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Seven top executives of Foster Wheeler, a major producer of power plants and refineries, are to move from Perryville, New Jersey to Geneva, Switzerland in order to be closer to the company’s markets. The company is domiciled in Zug, Switzerland, and employs 14,000 people worldwide.
