French strike turns up heat on Macron

Oil crunch: A motorist is seen refuelling at a petrol station in France. The strike in the country comes on the back of weeks-long blockades at refineries and fuel depots that are still causing shortages at close to a quarter of the country’s filling stations. — AFP

PARIS: French rail, energy and other key workers were striking on Tuesday to demand a bigger share of corporate profits through higher wages, raising pressure on president Emmanuel Macron to take further steps to ease the pain of surging inflation.

Thousands of people joined demonstrations in cities across France, leading to some disruption on regional trains, with around half circulating.