No relief for French motorists as petrol strike hardens

Filling stations across France were low on petrol on Monday as a strike by workers at energy giant TotalEnergies entered its third week despite government pressure to negotiate. According to official estimates, around 30 per cent of service stations were out of all or at least some fuel types, causing long queues for increasingly desperate motorists. There had been hopes that the pay-related strike action at TotalEnergies, among the world's biggest energy multinationals, would end rapidly after management on Sunday agreed to bring forward salary talks in return for workers resuming service. But the hard-left CGT union declined the offer, accusing management of "blackmail". - AFP