Retirement age strikes hit France again

French commuters squeezed on to limited public transport and fought for rare parking spots today as a second round of strikes against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 hobbled trains, planes and schools across France.

Fewer than half of the lines of the Paris Metro were working normally, according to the RATP public transit network, and half the scheduled long-haul trains were expected to be cancelled, according to the SNCF state-run rail system.