French pension bill faces final vote

President Nicolas Sarkozy's flagship reform was passed in the second chamber by 177 votes to 151 and, if voted through today, will become law. Demonstrations against the changes have raged across the country for the past month, with students and public sector workers taking to the streets and blockading fuel depots, cutting off supplies. Reuters reports after demonstrations in four universities yesterday, protests are starting to dwindle. French finance minister Christine Lagarde told Radio Classique yesterday: "There are no winners and no losers in this affair. "What is importa...