Thousands stage protests in France

Hundreds of thousands of French workers have taken to the streets across the country in an attempt to secure jobs and increase pay.Around one million civil servants staged a nationwide strike on Thursday, with more than 200 protest marches held, officials said, in protest against the government's handling of the economic crisis. Thursday's action, the second in less than two months, is a blunt criticism of the policies of Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, and the latest sign of social unrest due to the global economic downturn. A similar day of action at the end of January saw an estimated 2.5 million people involved.