Paris, Dec 7 (AFP/APP): France was on Saturday expecting its most serious nationwide strike in years to paralyse the country over the weekend, with unions warning the turmoil would last well into next week. The challenge thrown to President Emmanuel Macron over his plans for radical pension reform has seen hundreds of thousands take to the streets and key transport services brought to a standstill. The strikes, which began on Thursday, have recalled the winter of 1995, when three weeks of huge stoppages forced a social policy U-turn by the then-government. Unions have vowed a second series of mass demonstrations nationwide on Tuesday after big rallies on Thursday and there is expected to be little easing of the transport freezes over the coming days. Macron was widely believed to have ridden out the challenge posed by the “yellow vests” whose weekly Saturday protests against inequality in France have shaken the government over the last year. But the yellow vests have also sought to utilise the momentum of the strike movement and are expected to hold protests across France this Saturday. With Macron seeking for now to rise above the fray, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe insisted that the government would not … Continue reading No let-up in French strikes with fresh turmoil awaited