Exotic and National delicacies

It said acts of sabotage overnight, including fires, caused huge delays to TGV services already hit by a long transport union strike over reforms.

The SNCF blamed militants for the attacks, saying they wanted to harm ongoing talks to end the strike.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said the saboteurs would be severely punished.

Millions of French people... are tired of being used as hostages Nicolas Sarkozy Sarkozy: 'Thatcher moment'?

In a statement, the SNCF said there had been "several acts" occurring "at the same time" on lines in the north, east and south-west of the country.

It said these included a "very large" fire on the TGV's Atlantic branch that damaged signals affecting 30km (18 miles) of track.

Union officials deplored the attacks as acts of vandalism, warning that they put people's safety at risk.

The open-ended rail strike is over planned changes to the pension system by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Sarkozy has vowed to press on with the reforms.

'No budging'

The TGV network was targeted several hours after French Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand said he hoped that talks between rail unions and the government would help end the strike.

'SPECIAL' PENSIONS SYSTEM Benefits 1.6m workers, including 1.1m retirees Applies in 16 sectors, of which rail and utilities employees make up 360,000 people Account for 6% of total state pension payments Shortfall costs state 5bn euros (£3.5bn; $6.9bn) a year Some workers can retire on full pensions aged 50 Awarded to Paris Opera House workers in 1698 by Louis XIV Can street protests succeed? Solidarity amid French crisis France's workplace anger

The talks opened on Wednesday.

"I think the conditions are there for everyone to get out of it honourably," Mr Bertrand was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

President Sarkozy also urged the protesters to go back to work now that negotiations were beginning.

"Everyone must ask whether it is right to continue a strike which has already cost users - and strikers - so dear.

"I think of those millions of French people who after a day of work have no bus, metro or train to take them home and who are tired of being used as hostages."

The government has said there could be incentives of salary rises and a top-up scheme for pensions.

But it has stressed that there will be no budging on the core issue of eliminating special pensions which allow 500,000 transport and utility workers to retire early.

Didier Le Rester of France's General Labour Confederation has predicted that the negotiations could last up to a month.

Commuter havoc

Before the latest incidents, SNCF had estimated there would be slightly improved rail services on Wednesday as the number of strikers steadily declined.

Paris transport operator RATP said about 25% of its metro trains would be running.

The week of strikes has caused havoc for millions of commuters across France.

Businesses have started complaining that the strikes are hurting their operations.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the dispute was costing France up to 400m euros (£290m) a day.

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of civil servants joined striking transport and energy workers over what they say is an erosion in their earnings and proposals to slim France's large public sector.

But Mr Sarkozy said reforms were overdue and that they were necessary "to confront the challenges set by the world". "We will not surrender and we will not retreat," he said.

TGV ROUTES Very large fire reported to have damaged signal equipment affecting 30km of track on the Atlantic line Signal switches in the South East and East lines reported to have been sabotaged Fire reported to have damaged signal cables affecting the North line

Teachers, postal workers, air traffic controllers and hospital staff are holding a 24-hour stoppage over planned job cuts and higher wage demands.

Students are continuing to demonstrate over university funding plans.

Many thousands joined street protests in Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg, Marseille, Grenoble, Lyon and other cities.

It could end up as the biggest show of defiance at President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform plans since his election in May.

The latest nationwide stoppage left many schools closed, hospitals providing a reduced service and newsagents without newspapers.

Sarkozy's silence

The French capital's two airports and Marseille airport in the south suffered delays and cancellations.

The civil servants' purchasing power has dramatically lowered. I think they have the right to go on strike Paris commuter Strike fever hits France France's workplace anger In pictures: Strikes spread

French energy workers, who began a third 24-hour strike on Monday night, have cut nearly 9% of capacity at nuclear plants, union officials said.

And rail and bus workers are on their seventh day of an indefinite stoppage against planned pension cuts.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the dispute was costing France up to 400m euros (£290m) a day.

Half of the country's high-speed TGV trains were operating on Tuesday, while in Paris only one metro train in three was in service and less than half of buses were expected to run.

State rail operator SNCF, which is due to hold talks with transport unions on Wednesday, says the number of its workers on strike had fallen since last week.

STRIKERS' GRIEVANCES Teachers, civil servants oppose job cuts and want more pay Newspaper distributors angry at planned restructuring Transport workers on strike for a week over pension reforms Students protest at changes they say could exclude poor

BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says the French president has been keeping a low profile ( 保持低姿態, 小心行事), perhaps to test the public mood.

Mr Sarkozy may wish to avoid a counter-productive confrontation, but his public absence risks being construed as a sign of weakness, our correspondent says.

Opinion polls suggest voters back the French leader's plans to reform "special" pensions which allow transport and utility workers to retire early, but a majority sympathises with civil servant grievances.

Analysts say Mr Sarkozy is attempting to succeed where his predecessor Jacques Chirac failed, by standing firm against the strikers and completing his reforms.

Walking to work in the centre of Paris, commuter Guy Cousserant, 56, told Reuters: "A small group of people are holding the country hostage. It's lamentable (可悲的), very annoying."

But one woman in the capital told AP news agency: "The civil servants' purchasing power has dramatically lowered. I think they have the right to go on strike."

The education ministry said 40% of teachers had walked out but union officials said the figure was more like 60%.

Eight unions representing 5.2 million state employees - around a quarter of the entire workforce - say their spending power has fallen 6% since 2000, though the government disputes that figure.

They also oppose plans to cut 23,000 jobs in 2008, half in education.

Students are continuing to block access to campus buildings in half of the country's 85 universities.

They have been protesting since the start of November over plans to let faculties pursue non-government funding.

'SPECIAL' PENSIONS SYSTEM Benefits 1.6m workers, including 1.1m retirees Applies in 16 sectors, of which rail and utilities employees make up 360,000 people Account for 6% of total state pension payments Shortfall costs state 5bn euros (£3.5bn; $6.9bn) a year Some workers can retire on full pensions aged 50 Awarded to Paris Opera House workers in 1698 by Louis XIV Can street protests succeed? Solidarity amid French crisis

Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Monday the government was ready to talk with unions but insisted it would not budge on plans to overhaul (全面檢查) the French economy. 


( above info from BBC)

A BBC poll suggests that three-quarters of Britons are optimistic about their family's future - a much higher figure than when people were asked more than 40 years ago.

Family life is changing in the UK - but not in the way we might expect.

Most people described family life as fairly or very happy

When the BBC commissioned its survey of families in Britain, I think our expectation was that we would be measuring the extent to which people's closest relationships were suffering as a result of the decline in traditional family structures. 

When the results came in, we had a surprise. 

Compared with historical polling, people are more optimistic about their family's future, more people describe their family as close and they are more likely to say their parents did their best for them. 

Despite all the changes, we remain remarkable happy with family life - 93% of us describing it as fairly or very happy. 

The results don't seem to make sense when we look at academic data which links looser family structures to poorer health and happiness. 

Marriage levels in Britain are at an all-time low. For every three weddings there are now two divorces - the highest rate in Europe. 

Cohabitation has risen 64% in a decade, with almost half of children now born outside wedlock. 

Lone parenting 

We also have by far the highest proportion of lone parents in Europe - a quarter of children now live with a single mum. 

Families' future 'looks brighter'

Academic studies consistently find that such children do less well at school and at work than the offspring of cohabiting or married couples. 

So how does one explain this apparent contradiction? 

It may be that our expectations of family life have changed, that we are content with arrangements that would have dissatisfied our forebears. 

Perhaps our optimism reflects contemporary affluence and stability rather than a confidence in the strength of family structures. 

After all, increasing numbers of people - now seven out of 10 - believe that family life is generally becoming less successful, even if they are optimistic about their own. 

Technology's role 

Another possible factor is technology. Most people have access to a car or good public transport making increased distance between family members less problematic than it would have been 50 years ago. 

The ubiquitous nature of telephony - particularly mobile phones - has made family contact easier, although the internet has not yet become a major method of family communication. 

In the poll less than a third of internet users said they used it to contact their family every week and only 8% made contact every day. 

Perhaps the most intriguing explanation for the up-beat view of family life discovered in this poll is that it reflects the increasing importance we place upon it. 

The global fascination with genealogy and family trees may stem from the same psychological need to understand who we are in a world where identities can easily become blurred. 

Despite the changing nature of family life, perhaps we value those ties more than ever. 


Above news from BBC