French government survives no-confidence vote

In France, embattled Socialist government survived a vote of no-confidence over its decision to force a controversial labour reform bill though parliament. The motion brought by the centre-right opposition Les Republicains party won 246 votes in the National Assembly, falling short of the 288



required to bring down the government. The draft law will now be debated in the Senate. Unions and student groups marched yesterday in Paris and other cities including Marseille, Nantes and Toulouse, as they have done regularly since the government put forward the reform two months ago.