France - Protests against the First Employment Contract (CPE), a law that would allow employers to fire workers under age 26 without cause during the first two years of employment, are continuing throughout the country. Unionists refused to go to work in observance of a 36-hour general strike, and sometimes violent demonstrations were held in more than 250 municipalities, including Rennes, Nantes, La Rochelle, Grenoble and Bordeaux. (see pictures)