French garbage collectors waded through mounds of reeking trash as they headed back to work yesterday and some oil workers deserted their picket lines — signs of fading momentum in the battle against raising the retirement age.

Uganda: PFC Energy, a US oil and gas industry consultant, backed a planned partnership between Tullow Oil Plc, Total SA and China National Offshore Oil Corp to develop Uganda’s oil fields, the East African nation’s presidency said.

Iran test-fired more long-range missiles in a second round of exercises meant to show that the country can defend itself against any attack by the US or Israel, Iranian state television reported today.

French fishermen angry over soaring world oil prices disrupted shipping in the English Channel and blocked deliveries today at two refineries of oil giant Total SA, stepping up protests that have hobbled ports around France.

President Hugo Chavez’s government took over Venezuela’s last remaining privately run oil fields today, intensifying a decisive struggle with Big Oil over one of the world’s most lucrative deposits.

A trial begins in Paris today to decide whether oil company Total SA and 14 other defendants were criminally responsible for France’s worst-ever oil spill eight years ago.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is set to assume unbridled powers to remake society as the National Assembly prepares to grant him authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential decree.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez declared he would nationalise electrical and telecommunication companies, taking a bold step toward increasing state control as he promised to transform Venezuela into a socialist country.

About a dozen gunmen attacked a Total SA oil pumping station in Nigeria early today, killing three police guards and shutting down the facility, company officials said.

Local unrest in Nigeria has forced Total SA’s onshore Obagi oil field to shut down production for the past five days, the French company said today.

As Iraq’s political factions move closer to forming a new government, the world’s oil leaders are dusting off their Baghdad contact books with an eye toward lucrative production agreements.

Saudi security forces have stormed an expat housing complex where suspected Islamic militants are holed up with a reported 50 hostages after attacking oil company offices.