French Strike Disrupts Rhine River Traffic
Rhine river traffic came to a standstill in some places on Wednesday due to strikes against French government plans to raise the pension age, with sections of the river in France, Germany and Switzerland affected, a CGT union representative and Germany's Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSA) said.Around 1.28 million people in France had participated in a sixth day of protests on Tuesday against a draft law that would see the pension age delayed by two years to 64.A blockade at Strasbourg lock on the Rhine was cleared by police and an evacuation of the blockades at the Marckolsheim lock…
Greek Authorities Continue to Mull Cause of Ferry Disaster
Greek investigators are still struggling to shed light on why a passenger ferry hit rocks and sank, killing at least 63 people in the country's worst sea tragedy for 35 years. ``This shipwreck was incomprehensible and totally inexplicable,'' said Merchant Marine Minister Christos Papoutsis. The Express Samina ferry carrying more than 500 passengers hit the islet of Portes and sank shortly before reaching port at the Cycladic holiday island of Paros late on Tuesday. ``How can one not be outraged at a shipwreck that has cost so many lives just a mile and a half from the shore, in an area that any captain sailing in the Aegean is familiar with,'' Papoutsis was quoted as saying. Investigators said they were baffled by how the ship could have missed a charted islet with a lighthouse.
